In Correspondence #57

The Emerge Institute, Open Social Awards and the Tapestry of Fate

Dear friends,

Welcome to another In Correspondence! Runa is almost 4 months old now, and has recently started laughing 🤭

What I’ve been up to

Ellen Keys Strand in Omberg, Kulturmat in Järna and Saltsjöbadens Friluftsbad

• I was invited to become a Fellow of the new Emerge Institute

• Laura and I hosted Futurecraft at Lakefront where I held the discussion on Unravelling the Dream

• We spent some days with my brother and his family on Lake Vättern near Omberg, with Laura’s family in Söderköping, and celebrated midsommar at Oscar and Olga’s lovely gård near Flen

• We spent a dreamy day at Björnö naturreservat with lunch at Bistro Björkvik. I’m also getting to know the lovely Fjällnora naturreservat

• We visited Järna (my first time) and checked out the remarkable Kulturhuset (like stepping inside a Hilma painting)

• We discovered Saltsjöbadens Friluftsbad – maybe the best open-air swimming facility in Stockholm, I can’t believe I wasn’t aware of it until recently! They even have monthly ecstatic dances

Dandelion at the Open Social Awards

Dandelion was one of 8 projects recognised at the inaugural Open Social Awards ☺️

The awards “showcase leading projects by those seeking to develop alternatives to Big Tech products and platforms, leveraging any of the open social protocols”, with judges including Right Livelihood 2025 Laureate Audrey Tang.

At the invitation of the organisers, I recorded a one-minute acceptance video which was shown at the awards ceremony.

What I’ve been reading/watching

• I devoured the two Amina al-Sirafi stories, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi and The Tapestry of Fate. Highly recommended!

• Walking the New Camino by Richard D. Bartlett:

“For the past couple years Nati and I have been talking about the ‘New Camino’: a new generation of retreat centres, community hubs, and co-living spaces we see emerging across Europe. New spaces supporting a new kind of pilgrimage...”

• Towards a more self-reflective Green politics by Jamie Bristow and Paul Powlesland:

“Some therefore suggest that building on the Green Party of England and Wales’s success will require a more self-aware political sensibility: a movement conscious of its own style, instincts and assumptions, and able to see its foundational values as partial and contextual even as it seeks to realise them. A Green politics shaped by greater awareness of its own worldview as construct, rather than reality itself - that can discern what’s valid in opponents’ perspectives without simply reproducing their frame.”

More articles on my knowledgegraph.

Plans for the future

• Spending a few more days in the Stockholm archipelago, on Värmdö

• July in the UK: Staying with my sibling and their partner in Brighton, heading to Buddhafield festival, staying two weeks at Staverton Mill in Devon, spending a few days in London with my brother’s family

• Emerge Institute’s Worldmaking Forum, Oct 23-25, Berlin

• (Possibly) The Microsolidarity Intensive or Coliving Week, Aug 11-15 & Aug 16-22, Spain

And finally…

• Curious about the jhanas, meditative states of profound joy, peace and wellbeing? Receive $500 off a retreat with Jhourney via this link.

• I will run another Technological Metamodernism course in Sep/Oct – watch this space for more details.

Mettā,
Stephen

p.s. I love to hear from readers. Hit reply and tell me what tickled you?