What a busy and eventful year it’s been! And since it can be easy to forget all the cool stuff that’s happened in the dizzying blur of social media feeds and ephemeral posts, it’s nice to take the New Year as an occasion to review and reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re headed. To that end, here’s a brief recap of what went down in 2023…
2023 really saw the community grow and ideas spread! The Metamodern Spirituality Facebook group doubled in size, for one thing, from 603 to over 1.2K members by year’s end. My YouTube channel also doubled, adding about 2K new subscribers. 118K views (and thousands more listeners on Spotify) suggests these ideas are resonating!
It’s been a dream to finally connect with so many other people about such important issues. And the message is really getting out, it seems. Over 1,000 copies of my various books sold in 2023, and got thousands more reads as free posts on my Substack.
The big publication of the year was my new book Metamodernism: Or, The Cultural Logic of Cultural Logics (which was even #1 for a few weeks in a few niche fields on Amazon when it came out in October, whatever that means). All proceeds go directly to the Archdisciplinary Research Center, a big picture think tank I’m part of that launched this year, and I’ve been happy to help support that organization through the book.
There were also a number of notable presentations this year, such as the one to the 2023 Consilience Conference (my full paper can be read here), as well as to the re:build regenerative futures online summit, a popular one to Integral Life entitled "Is Metamodernism Integral? Is Integral Metamodern?", and even a joint presentation with Cory David Barker and Bobby Azarian to Michael Levin’s research lab.
I also helped set up a couple of journals in the field, including the Journal of Archdisciplinary Studies and the Journal of Metamodern Theory & Praxis. So 2023 was a big year for bringing metamodernism and metatheory synthesis to the institutional level! (Call for papers still open.)
Speaking of research and institutions, 2023 also saw the founding of Sky Meadow Institute, a not-for-profit organization “dedicated to advancing systems-based thinking about the things that matter most.” I’ve already started a major research initiative looking at complexity and culture, with articles to come in 2024! If you’d like to support it, please contribute to my GoFundMe page.
Teaching-wise, I began the year leading an online course through Parallax Academy, Emerging Mythos, exploring metamodern mythopoeia with an intimate coterie of fascinating co-learners.
I also did a good number of interviews to talk about Emergentism and metamodernism, such as for the Jim Rutt Show, Artem Zen's Elevating Consciousness, The Truth with Carlos Farias [1, 2], Mahon McCann, Life Itself, Voices with Vervaeke, UTOKing with Gregg Henriques, Parallax Deep Futures with Tom Amarque, Deep Talks with Paul Anleitner, and a couple times on The Integral Stage with Layman Pascal (both as myself and as the puppet seer Adyahanzi). I was also a guest for two episodes of the truly excellent Transcendent Naturalism series being put out by John Vervaeke and Gregg Henriques.
On the other side of the chair, I got to talk to some notable thinkers on my Metamodern Spirituality podcast, including Jason Ananda Josephson Storm (x3), Ellie Hain, Damien Walter, Raymond de Oliveira, Daniel Görtz, John Vervaeke, Susanne Cook-Greuter, Gregg Henriques, Bonnitta Roy, Jared Morningstar, Michael Moscolo, and Matt Segall (x2). All were fascinating conversations from which I learned a lot. The digital academy is alive and strong!
Ultimately, though, there’s no substitute for real, in-person, embodied being and doing, and the “IRL” happenings this year were amazing!
May’s Metamodern Spirituality Spring Retreat led by Layman Pascal was truly epic, full of deep talks and dirty hands, emergent ritual and communal deepening.
I was appreciative for all the help getting the starters into the ground during the extended pre-retreat…
Which brings me to the other huge undertaking of 2023: the Sky Meadow garden!
Erin and I planeted cabbage, broccoli, onions, potatoes, green beans, peas, kale, squash, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, herbs, and of course garlic!
In September, we hosted a Harvest Gathering to bring in the last of the crops and help put the garden to bed for the winter. The conversations had and connections made from that were significant and deeply meaningful.
There was, however, no Fall Metamodern Spirituality retreat, because of—the wedding!
Erin and I tied the knot (literally) September 30 with a magical ceremony here at Sky Meadow, officiated by none other than the great metashamanic wizard Layman Pascal.
So, a busy year indeed! With a lot already in store for 2024, including more books, research articles, retreats, podcasts, and delicious veggies. Hallelujah!
Stay tuned for updates about gatherings, including Bonnitta Roy’s 3 retreats here in 2024, and the next round of metamodern spirituality “labs”!