What happens when people who don’t share a common language or culture gather to create something together?
Honestly, I wasn’t sure.
This week we hosted the first Orientation sessions for the Collaboratorium, a creative laboratory bringing together artists, technologists, storytellers, facilitators and community builders from around the world.
Our goal is wildly ambitious:
To help create an experience of peace at the foot of Mt. Fuji, Japan, in commemoration of 1,001 moons since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
What we’re doing is beautiful, inspiring…and gloriously messy.
The first version of our website confused even our closest friends.
I managed to send the wrong dates and times for the Orientation. Twice.
Our zoom sessions had us scrambling to create breakout rooms and find whiteboards.
We’re still navigating the translation between English and Japanese.
Some moments it feels like we’re building the airplane while we’re already flying towards Japan.
But I’m okay with making these mistakes. The thing I was most concerned about was whether our Japanese participants, many of whom don’t speak English, actually feel included.
Can meaningful connection happen across language and culture?
Then we got this feedback from our first experience:
“Mina-san does not speak English at all. She said that she felt very comfortable and truly enjoyed being there. It was a beautiful reminder that connection can be felt even beyond language.”
I read that multiple times.
That’s exactly what we’re exploring. This isn’t just an experience of creating cool things, but in exploring how presence, play and curiosity in service of a beautiful purpose might connect people when words cannot.
Apparently, we’re doing something right.
We’re still making mistakes and will almost certainly make plenty more, but I’ve already discovered something I didn’t expect.
Connection doesn’t require perfect communication. It just requires the willingness to show up.
If you’re intrigued by this idea, I’m helping to gather a group of magical creators…
…artists, technologists, storytellers, community leaders, facilitators…
…whose hearts and minds come alive with the intention behind this project.
I’d love to invite you to have a taste of the Collaboratorium experience for yourself.
Join one of our upcoming Orientation sessions on July 13, 14 or 15.
You’ll meet the team (including me), experience a taste of the Collaboratorium, and discover how you can participate in this extraordinary international experiment.
Learn more and reserve your place here:
https://radiantiris.org/colab
Yours in love and play,
Steph 🐲❤️
If you enjoyed this article, join my Daily Dragon emails list here for more playful and provocative musings on business, being gloriously human and changing the world.
