A bonding began to occur within a circle convened by Axiom News founder and CEO Peter Pula in a call last week. The intent of the gathering was to explore the possibilities in sparking a cross-community alliance for a local, living new narrative.

All in the circle have some kind of leadership presence in either media or community building or both.

At the invitation of Peter to share what brought them into the room, most touched on sensing a movement afoot towards a citizen-led, “radically inclusive” and compassionate community and economy.

Feeling the importance and urgency of creating narrative art that makes visible and enlivens that movement was also a common theme. “There is something about writing things down that creates the world,” said author, consultant and Cincinnati resident Peter Block, who was present on the call.

Of course, each person brought their nuances to the conversation. For instance, Chuck Peters, CEO of The Gazette Company, a media outlet based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is on a quest to learn how a community develops better narratives about itself — and how a media company can be helpful in that respect.

The hope and intent for the cross-community alliance is that it will be a home and place for all of those kinds of questions, urges and insights to be explored further and acted upon.

The call last week is the first of what’s anticipated to be an ever-widening circle of gatherings centred on this broad experience of creating the conditions for a local, living new narrative to emerge and thrive.

As for the bonding that occurred, besides the shared intuitions and aspirations, Peter Pula’s transparency about the struggles of the work and gratefulness for companions also deepened the connection.

Near the end, Peter Block opened things up even more with a refreshingly straightforward question: If this thing is truly central to our lives, what do we want from each other? The responses were as straightforward as the question, and some things have been started to make good on what was asked.

If it’s true that a surer measure of accomplishment is not how much impact one has generated but how much more connected one has become through an experience, then this first circle took an energizing first step in the right direction.

To learn more about the intentions for this cross-community alliance, visit AxiomNewsDialogues.com.

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