Welcome to Starter Cultures
Because who doesn't need some microorganisms fermenting goodness into their world
Hey there.
What’s alive in you right now? A hope? A dream? A sprout? A glimmer of something new?
We are Starter Cultures—a budding community which emerged through the pandemic as an experiment in deepening relationships and exploring practices that help us feel more aligned, whole, and alive. Together, we work to develop new, and rediscover old, ways of being, living, and working together.
We—Brandon Dubé, Carol Xu, J.D. Nasaw, Jordan Lyon, Meg Buzzi, Sam Greenwood, Sarah Durlacher, and Stephanie Soussloff—have been offering a diverse set of crew-led projects, playspaces, and learning circles for many months now (things like Sanctuary Playground, Communication Dojo, Writing Circle, Collective Breather, and more), and as these projects have grown within our constellation, and the relationships bringing them to life have deepened, we began co-dreaming up a larger collective vision as we asked—what could we do and be together, that we couldn’t alone?
In exploring that question together, we found resonance and a deeper potential for healing, collaborating, and cultivating interdependence within a supportive community structure we’re calling Starter Cultures.
To learn a little bit more about Starter Cultures and see all of our current projects and offerings, please visit us at startercultures.us.
Our aim is to always follow the energy within our relationships as they evolve and we already see you as a part of that mycelial, relational network of dreamers, weavers, creators, artists and healers. So whether you’ve attended one of our crew offerings in the past, collaborated with one of us on a project, or simply been a partner in crime for quite awhile—welcome!
With an open horizon in mind, we invite you now to explore and build this ecosystem with us. A relational space. A space of practice, care, and experimentation that builds the magic between, within, and around us.
Thank you. We hope to see you soon.
Bi-Weekly Round-Up
What’s giving us hope —
🐛 Listening to earth as a practice
🆘 Elevating indigenous knowledge systems
📓 Hackschooling holistically like a teen
What we can’t wait for —
💩 Composting like a vulture
⚰️ Holding space for death
🌱 Co-creating a regenerative future
What needs cross-pollination —
🔺 Embracing a people ponzi scheme
🕸️ Innovating through market networks
💓 Incorporating deep equity into work
What’s sparking tension —
🌭 Defining a box for everything
💼 Changing the world the corporate way
💣 Destroying our assumed uniqueness
What needs tending —
🎼 Orchestrating not managing
😴 Resting the right way (or 7)
🌹 Shedding romanticism for relationship
What we’re doing and being —
🌐 Launching a fancy spancy website
🐣 Hosting our first “Emergent Me” pod
🍳 Cooking together in emergence and style
A Story of Us
Breaking an Old Story. Fixing an Old Betty.
One of the oldest stories I hold as a protecting truth is that my needs are a burden. The story is that if I share my needs and ask for help, support, and care from others, that I’ll destroy the relationships that mean so much to me.
From the earliest of my memories, my needs have been a bomb that can destroy a family. This story has caused so much pain and ultimately has created such a low ceiling on my life. It is a limiting belief I dream of shattering one day.
So while I hold space and love for that boy who needed to create that boundary to protect himself from further pain and suffering, and put all his needs on his own shoulders to carry, I now yearn to break open from it…
Calendar of Offerings
collective breather — tuesday, may 4th, 12:40pm-1:10pm pt / 3:40pm-4:10pm et (register here)
writing circle — tuesday, may 4th, 2:30pm-4:00pm pt / 5:30pm-7:00pm et (register here)
booklander— tuesday, may 4th, 3:00-4:00pm pt / 6:00pm-7:00pm et (full cohort)
collective breather — wednesday, may 5th, 4:15pm-4:45pm pt / 7:15pm-7:45pm et (register here)
collective breather — thursday, may 6th, 4:15pm-4:45pm pt / 7:15pm-7:45pm et (register here)
writing circle — friday, may 7th, 8:30am-10:00am pt / 7:15pm-7:45pm et (register here)
collective breather — friday, may 7th, 12:40pm-1:10pm pt / 7:15pm-7:45pm et (register here)
collective breather — monday, may 10th, 9:00am-9:30am pt / 12:00pm-12:30pm et (register here)
emergent cooking — monday, may 10th 3:00pm-5:00pm pt / 6:00pm-8:00pm et (email greenwood.samuel@gmail.com to join)
communication dojo — monday, may 10th, 4:30pm-6:00pm pt / 7:30pm-9:00pm et (register here)
communication dojo — tuesday, may 11th, 12:00pm-1:30pm pt / 3:00pm-4:30pm pt (register here)
collective breather — tuesday, may 11th, 12:40pm-1:10pm pt / 3:40pm-4:10pm et (register here)
collective breather — wednesday, may 12th, 4:15pm-4:45pm pt / 7:15pm-7:45pm et (register here)
collective breather — thursday, may 13th, 4:15pm-4:45pm pt / 7:15pm-7:45pm et (register here)
communication dojo — friday, may 14th, 10:30am-12:00pm pt / 1:30pm-3:00pm et (register here)
collective breather — friday, may 14th, 12:40pm-1:10pm pt / 7:15pm-7:45pm et (register here)
collective breather — monday, may 17th, 9:00am-9:30am pt / 12:00pm-12:30pm et (register here)
emergent cooking — monday, may 17th, 3:00pm-5:00pm pt / 6:00pm-8:00pm et (email greenwood.samuel@gmail.com to join)
in community and with love,
Starter Cultures
written by jordan lyon with love, care, and a dash of sass
Welcome to Starter Cultures
This is super exciting! What an amazing collection of offerings and humans! Looking forward to participating!