School of the Small and Imperfect is a weekly gathering where we explore what happens when a group slows down enough to notice what’s actually moving as we’re together. We attend to small shifts: moments when something opens, when something tightens, when we drift, when we return. Often, these tiny movements matter more than the stories we tell about ourselves.

The School is a living experiment. Like a school of fish moving together without forcing coherence, we learn what becomes possible when attention isn’t organized by any one person. We work inside moments that are usually passed over because they’re subtle, awkward, or hard to name. These are the moments where something is actually happening.

And sometimes it doesn’t feel elegant at all.

We’re not here to become better communicators or calmer people. We’re practicing a different way of participating, one that doesn’t rush toward explanation, resolution, or agreement. Instead of working on ourselves, we work in what’s unfolding between us. If parts of this feel frustrating, confusing, or oddly limiting, that doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.

What the School offers

This is a steady weekly space to explore:

• small relational experiments that gently shift how we show up

• interruptions to reflexes that organize a moment too quickly

• contact that doesn’t collapse into caretaking or consensus

• how tiny gestures can quietly reorganize a group

• connection that doesn’t depend on sameness

Nothing needs to be polished here. The imperfect isn’t a flaw; it’s the material of the work.

How we meet

Each gathering has a clear shape but no script. The structure holds us without deciding what will happen.

Arriving
A simple invitation helps us land in the room together.

Tuning
A brief shared activity (somatic, material, or relational) brings us into contact.

Practice
A live moment we make together. There’s nothing to perform or get right; the work is the participation itself.

Witnessing
We reflect from contact rather than interpretation, noticing what shifted, what surprised us, what became available.

Closing
A small collective gesture that lets the work settle without needing to conclude or summarize.

Each week is different. The form is just the container; the life comes from the group.

Who the School is for

People come to the School because they want to explore relational life in a space that doesn’t center expertise, identity management, or being “good” at group participation. They’re curious about what becomes possible when we stay with difference and when coherence isn’t forced.

No background is necessary, just a willingness to participate without knowing exactly where things are headed.

This is not a support group, therapy space, or forum for processing personal material. You’re allowed to arrive unfinished, quiet, unsure, or inconsistent. Participation doesn’t have to look any particular way.

You don’t need to be articulate, consistent, or insightful to participate.

Why this work matters

We’re living in a moment where it’s often easier to take positions than to stay in relationship. Belonging gets tied to agreement. Solidarity becomes a posture instead of a practice.

The School exists as a counter-practice.

We gather to work at the level where relation actually happens: in timing, attention, restraint, and response. This is not work about holding the “right” positions. It’s about staying present long enough for difference to remain without collapse, for coherence to arise without force, and for control to loosen enough that something else can emerge.

Change doesn’t come from beliefs alone. It comes from how we participate, moment by moment, together. This doesn’t resolve anything. It just changes what we can stay with.

The practice is not preparation. It is the work.