The Connectorship Project: The Enquiry Takes Shape

An update, February 2021

A few months back I introduced my enquiry into ‘what lies between’ — into connectedness, connectivity and connectorship. It seemed to resonate — the feedback has been galvanising. A fellow ‘connector’ had tears in her eyes as she told me it had finally given words to the unseen work she’s always done.

In February, I wrote an update on how it’s all sitting as the new year began to unfurl. In order to experiment with a newsletter format, I published on a different platform. Playing catch up a little, I am republishing here to continue the thread of my previous work and for those who take the time to follow it.

February 2021: Summer months here in Aotearoa New Zealand so the pace has been gentle. I’ve been continually exploring — lots of conversations, reading, writing, formulating. Thoughts, ideas and questions marinading through the days. Also riding some big emotional waves through these strange times. The impossible dissonance of our sunshiney Covid-free bubble here in New Zealand while our hearts are breaking for all the sadness and darkness elsewhere. Realising what deep connectedness really feels like, when those you care for most are far away — and struggling.

The story so far…

In November I hosted a ‘Connecting the Connectors’ workshop for the EHF community, and sent round a short survey — both revealing some fascinating insights into ideas of connecting and ‘connectorship’. I’ve also kept exploring some of the science around connectedness and connectivity — theories of belongingness, multiplexity, relational ecology and social capital amongst others. Away from the words, attending an Unchatter event was a thought-provoking highlight. And it was lovely to talk in a bit more depth about where all this has come from and see it all shiny in this EHF article.

I’ve continued to ask myself questions about purpose, focus and where to begin. How to translate this hunch I have about the value of this work into tangible, valuable outputs. Not to mention how to resource it. More than once, the words of poet Rainer Maria Rilke have come to mind: ‘try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and books written in a very foreign tongue…’ . After all, ‘loving the questions’ feels critical to the spirit of any enquiry. Being able to walk a path without any certainty as to where it lead. Rilke continues:

‘…do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given to you because you would not be able to live them. The point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer’

These words have helped me conclude that ‘living the questions’ is a helpful organising principle. Exploring through experiencing. Letting myself be led by the relational. Having the courage to get on the water and seeing where the river takes me. So far, a fascinating journey.

Introducing — The Connectorship Project

A second conclusion is that this project needs a name. And so I’m calling it The Connectorship Project. Already my shorthand when I talk about it. And ‘connectorship’ by far the word that seems to most intrigue and fascinate. Not yet in the dictionary (as far as I know) and yet immediately graspable. The idea that creating and growing connection is a thing — a craft, a practice, a skill. By naming it, we shine a light on it. Meaning more people can see and appreciate it.

Thirdly, a few defined ‘mission areas’ will be a useful lodestar. For now these are the ones that feel right:

• Evidence building: exploring ways to quantify and illustrate the development of connectedness and connectivity, and the value of connectorship
• Language building: sharing words and stories that help us better articulate and discuss the realm of connection
• Connectivity building: actively contributing to growing real-world connectivity in communities of purpose — here in Aotearoa and beyond

The active experiments begin

My first open experiment is a series of connection-focused gatherings for people in Wellington working in some way to make the world a better place. The first of these I’m calling an Entanglement Evening. The name is inspired by an interview I heard with one of my favourite writers — Robert Macfarlane — who makes a beautiful distinction between the simplicity of ‘connection’ and the heady complexity of ‘entanglement’.

“At the core…is something a bit more complex than just connection. It’s entanglement. And for me, entanglement is different to connection, because connection is purely a structural effect. Entanglement … requires a mutualism to be recognised… We have too long thought of ourselves as an arrogant species that can draw on the world as inexhaustible standing resource …[this] relies on a very monadic notion of being. And these revelations of entanglement, they destroy those ideas… they show us to be profoundly porous”

Much more than ‘networking’, the intention is that it will be gentle, intimate, energising evening that develops and deepens connection between various pockets of people motivated by making change. We are being hosted in Wrestler’s airy studio space — a generous offer that emerged from a conversation after my workshop back in November. Which feels like lovely serendipity.

With interest and resource, there will be more — both in person and online. Take a peek at The Connectorship Project page on Open Collective if you’d like to get behind the idea. It’s a platform that enables fledging or community initiatives to gather a crowd and find backing for their work. Nothing would make me happier than if someone reading this chose to contribute — in even the tiniest way.

Finally, as part of my practical explorations into the ‘how’ of growing connectedness, I’ve made a commitment to regularly volunteer for local dune restoration work with Conservation Volunteers NZ. For me, understanding how we grow our connectedness with our places and the natural world, is a huge part of this enquiry. Being more connected with the systems that sustain us feels entirely essential if future generations are to have any chance of a safe and healthy world.

This is incredibly valuable time. Not only because I understand on an intellectual level the importance of what I’m doing but because — in doing it — I become physically more connected to the land on which I stand. There is dirt under my fingernails, scratches on my skin and what’s right under my nose becomes many times more vivid.

That’s all for now. Next time, some deeper reflections on emerging insights and some of the models I’m exploring. I’ll finish here with some deep appreciation for the a few more of the souls who’ve walked a part of the journey so far with me — offering encouragement, challenge, support and blissfully broad conversation.

Fellow EHF Fellows — Alanna Irving, Peter Maher, Kat Lintott, Jon Lee, Dan Khan, and Ian Harvey — as well as Ants Cabraal and everyone who took part in the EHF ‘Connecting the Connectors’ workshop.

Further afield — Karen Darke, Laura Melissa Williams, Natasha Zimmerman, Tania Bearsley, Eleanor Ford and Victoria Stoyanova (whose Institute of Belonging newsletter is a marvel). Am so grateful to have so many wise, thoughtful humans within such easy reach

Thanks for reading, stay safe, and happy connecting.