Circling has changed thousands of lives, but the introduction book which most people read is a decade old. People are still confused what it’s actually about, creating negative impacts on group attendance and experiences that are not optimal.
The original Circling Guide has become the most widely used introduction to Circling in the Authentic Relating tradition. Dozens of people have written to me to share how useful it was to them in understanding the practice, developing their skills or even getting into leadership. It’s now time to create the book that will reach a global audience. We need to elevate Authentic Relating from a small cult-practice to a worldwide movement.
This campaign directly funds the writing of the Circling Guide, 3rd Edition. Your contributions buy three focused months of my time at a modest rate of $1,000/month to research, write, and edit a vastly expanded, up-to-date guide which will be the first anthology of Authentic Relating.
To see a book sample (Preface and TOC) click here.
To join the project as a editor or reviewer fill in the form here.
What your support makes possible:
- Part I — Circling Quick-Start (updated): A tight, 30,000-word, read-in-one-sitting manual so anyone can walk into a circle anywhere in the world, contribute meaningfully and feel safe.
- Part II — Authentic Relating & Circling: Chapters from about 12 founders and senior leaders of the AR and Circling movement, sharing what actually works in practice.
- Part III — Applied We-Space: New, AR-derived practices from 7 more leaders for bringing AR into business, community, dating & sexuality, addiction recovery, family, social justice, spirituality and daily life.
Confirmed contributors so far include
- The Roots of Authentic Relating — Susan Campbell
- Authentic Relating Games — Sara Ness
- Surrendered Leadership — John Thompson
- T-Group — Justin Navetski and Matt Minahan
- Non-Violent Communication — Karl Steyaert
- Why Circling Works: The Architecture of Transformation — Jason Digges
- Connection Games and One Connected Life — Mihai Banulescu
- Relationship as a Wholeness Practice — Ellen Waenink
- Authentic Relating & Gift Economy — Peter X & Carol Xu
- From Authentic Relating to Meta-Relating — Michael Porcelli
- Circling as a Path of Awakening — Andrew Venezia
- Business — Robert MacNaughton
- Spirituality — Jordan Allen
- We-Flow — Stéphane Segatori
- Addiction Recovery — Taylor "Tikva" Kingrea
- Regenerative Culture — Hannah Hirsh and Nina Chausow
- Authentic Dating — Ryel Kestano
- Marriage & Partnership — Damien Bohler
- Liberation for All Within Communities — Miki Kashtan
Why now?
The project is well underway: I’ve completed a full draft of Part I and committed contributors for the anthology. This is a significant amount of work. Your support now lets me edit contributions and prepare the material for publication (including cover design and layout).
If Circling or AR has impacted your life, this is a concrete way to give back and help create a resource the whole movement can point to — a book you can hand to friends and clients instead of trying to explain it from scratch.
Stretch Goal: Forming the We-Space Federation
This is a project dear to my heart and the next step beyond the 3rd edition of the Circling Guide. Any money in excess of the $3500 target for this campaign will be used for that purpose. The idea is to form an industry / membership association for the AR and Circling community that would do both PR / Media outreach about the movement as a whole, and also list the services and products of the members and member organizations. It might be hosted on Mighty Networks which would also facilitate networking and collaborations among AR enthusiasts. Ideally it would also include organizations from "sister networks" as well including NVC.
Below is the temporary book cover.
Note: Donations to this GoFundMe campaign will not include any contests, promotional gifts, or returns on investment.
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