Conference for Global Transformation

Inquiries of the Social Commons

Weekly Calls

Guest Host Calls

Papers and Reports

We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.
– e. e. cummings

We all start life wondering about the world. Somewhere along the way we tend to lose our natural curiosity, and the world becomes more and more about what we know, or don’t know. Our natural instincts to inquire are suppressed.

We invite you to join us in rediscovering, celebrating, and developing the free spirit of human inquiry.

We have six realms of inquiry, each with one or more weekly 55-minute online sessions. Join a meeting via computer.

We have a Facebook group, Inquiries of the Social Commons. It’s a closed group, so ask to join. We also have a monthly newsletter, Wondering. Subscribe

Wondering Newsletter Archive

More About Listening & Inquiry

Inquiries of the Social Commons – Weekly Sessions

To Join the Inquiries

Join the Zoom session from anywhere.  Meeting ID: 240 694 3472

To join from the US and Canada by phone only, dial 1-408-638-0968
When prompted, enter the Meeting ID: 240 694 3472#
For more information about joining by phone from outside the US and Canada: Find out more >

Download the Inquiries of the Social Commons Flyer

Inquiry Calls by Day and Time

 

Day/Time
US Pacific Time – Unless specified		 Topic
Sunday, 4:00 pm Social Commons: The memory you forgot
Monday, 10:00 am Discourses: The building blocks of meaning
Monday, 5:00 pm Contribution: Why busy people listen
Monday, 6:00 pm Living as a Created Self: Carving out new pathways for life
Tuesday, 8:00 am Public Persona: Who do they think I am?
Tuesday, 9:00 am Contribution: Why busy people listen
Tuesday, 4:00 pm Social Commons: The memory you forgot
Tuesday, 6:00 pm Public Persona: Who do they think I am?
Tuesday, 7:00 pm Measures: The art of comparison
Wednesday, 8:00 am Measures: The art of comparison
Wednesday, 9:00 am Living as a Created Self: Carving out new pathways for life
Wednesday, 1:00 pm Contribution: Why busy people listen
Wednesday, 4:00 pm Discourses: The building blocks of meaning
Wednesday, 6:00 pm
Sydney day/time		 Social Commons: The memory you forgot
Wednesday, 6:00 pm  GUEST HOST CALLS
Thursday, 10:00 am Social Commons: The memory you forgot
Thursday, 4:00 pm Discourses: The building blocks of meaning
Thursday, 6:30 pm Social Commons: The memory you forgot

Inquiry Calls by Topic

 

SOCIAL COMMONS: The memory you forgot.

Tuesdays 4:00 pm – 4:55 pm US Pacific Time
Wednesdays 6:00 pm – 6:55 pm Sydney Australia Day & Time
Thursdays 10:00 am – 10:55 am US Pacific Time 
Thursdays 6:30 pm – 7:25 pm US Pacific Time
Sundays 4:00 pm – 4:55 pm US Pacific Time

What if I see myself as a person of the social commons? If we are the resource that’s shared, how could I access that resource? Could I increase my reach and range into the world? What other social commons and groups affect ours? Whose voices matter there and what are they saying?

PUBLIC PERSONA: Who do they think I am?

Tuesdays 8:00 am – 8:55 am US Pacific Time
Tuesdays 6:00 pm – 6:55 pm US Pacific Time

The basis of my public persona, and yours, is what others think of us. How do we even know what our public persona is? What could we do about our public persona? For what might we be responsible? Who is the real me?

MEASURES: The art of comparison

Tuesdays 7:00 pm – 7:55 pm US Pacific Time
Wednesdays 8:00 am – 8:55 am US Pacific Time
Consider that life is wrapped up in measurement – birthdays, statistics, recipes. Might measurement bring certainty, completion and new beginnings? Could developing mastery in measurement open new avenues to freedom, power, creativity and making a difference?

LIVING AS A CREATED SELF:
Carving out new pathways for life

Mondays 6:00 pm – 6:55 pm US Pacific Time
Wednesdays 9:00 am – 9:55 am US Pacific Time
What does it take to create every piece of your life, big and small, day in and day out? Could carving out new pathways for life be an access for discovering yourself and others newly — bringing new love, freedom, joy and results?

DISCOURSES: The building blocks of meaning

Mondays 10:00 am – 10:55 am US Pacific Time
Wednesdays 4:00 pm – 4:55 pm US Pacific Time
Thursdays 4:00 pm – 4:55 pm US Pacific Time
What if we consider humanity to be something other than the collection of more than eight billion plus individuals? If we consider language and culture, who we say we are in the matter, and who we have others be, becomes relevant, if not central, to global transformation.

CONTRIBUTION: Why busy people listen

Mondays 5:00 pm – 5:55 pm US Pacific Time
Tuesdays 9:00 am – 9:55 am US Pacific Time
Wednesdays 1:00 pm – 1:55 pm US Pacific Time

Who are all these busy people? What are they up to? What are they listening for? Who are they listening to? What differences do their activities make for people around them? Does what they engage with occur as contribution? Are you one of them? What is contribution?

Inquiries of the Social Commons – Guest Hosts

Wednesdays 6:00 p.m. – 6:55 p.m. US Pacific time.

Join the Zoom session from anywhere. Meeting ID: 240 694 3472.

Oct 14, 2026 Rose Grant The paradox of “explanation”
Oct 21, 2026 True Shields Content creation for fulfilling on a Commitment for the world
Oct 28, 2026 Rachel Barwell Tackling the “hard stuff:” transforming areas of life that seem impossible
Nov 04, 2026 Amrit Kendrick What do we see about humans being the voice for other organisms?
Nov 11, 2026 True Shields Envisioning your Commitment for the World fulfilled
Nov 18, 2026 Rose Grant The generative power of “commitment”
Nov 25, 2026 Rachel Barwell Our neurodiverse brain: discovering expressions of neurodiversity all around us
Dec 02, 2026 True Shields What might happen if you started writing weekly or monthly “reports from the field”? What’s in the way of taking that on?
Dec 09, 2026 Rose Grant The Co-existence of Threat and Possibility
Dec 16, 2026 True Shields What do you see about not knowing how and bringing Beginner’s Mind to things you’ve never done before – like creating videos to get your commitments in front of the public’s eyes?
Dec 23, 2026 Ariela Marshall Threat: Welcome it, or kick it to the curb!
Dec 30, 2026 Dave Flattery & Michelle Hastings Scorecard Team Inquiry (TBD)
Jan 06, 2027 True Shields Reports from the Field: To go for it or not?
Jan 13, 2027 True Shields What Artist or Collaborative Video would you propose this week if you got that you have until April to actually make it?
Jan 20, 2027 True Shields Poster Videos: Do you already have to know how to make one before you can propose one?
Jan 27, 2027 True Shields What’s in the way of proposing the Poster Video that’s wanting you to propose it?

Fridays 10:00 a.m. – 10:55 a.m. US Pacific time.

Join the Zoom session from anywhere. Meeting ID: 240 694 3472.

Oct 16, 2026 Ann Lewis Lloyd The silence of the in-betweens: Caught in the crossfire of polar opposites
Oct 23, 2026 Liz Gardiner Do artists have anything to offer to various policy areas?
Oct 30, 2026 Barbara La Valleur What do you see about the memory you forgot and the forgetting of memories?
Nov 06, 2026 Eileen Epperson TBD
Nov 13, 2026 Angelika Schlauß TBD
Nov 20, 2026 True Shields What might a Report from the Field look like if you wrote it to fulfill on what you’re up to in life instead of to meet a deadline?
Nov 27, 2026 Ann Lewis Lloyd Listening where there is no voice
Dec 04, 2026 Liz Gardiner TBD
Dec 11, 2026 True Shields Looking good and looking bad: Can you propose and make a video without having to win an award?
Dec 18, 2026 Helena Valorinta Luoga What does having all people thriving look like? What can thriving provide when people disagree?
Dec 25, 2026 Anna Rosenberg Well-being: Just tell me what to do!
Jan 01, 2027 Ariela Marshall Exploring the edges of threat
Jan 08, 2027 True Shields Reports from the Field: To go for it or not?
Jan 15, 2027 True Shields What Artist or Collaborative Video would you propose this week if you got that you have until April to actually make it?
Jan 22, 2027 True Shields Poster Videos: Do you already have to know how to make one before you can propose one?
Jan 29, 2027 True Shields What’s in the way of proposing the Poster Video that’s wanting you to propose it?

 

Inquiries of the Social Commons Paper Submissions

For those of you have participated in one or more of the Inquiries of the Social Commons, we invite you to submit a paper or report from the field collectively, or individually. You could report on what you, or your group, has discovered, encountered or want to contribute from your inquiries. Please consider the custodians of the inquiries as possible resources as you develop your paper or report from the field. Follow the guidelines for writing a paper or submitting a report from the field. Visit Contribute Content for more information