Who are WE?

I am about to begin a kickstarter campaign and it is the kind of experience that really pushes me to think about my relationship to my people.

As Americans is it is really hard to think about ourselves in "collective" ways -- we naturally tend to think in mythological terms that are profoundly individualistic.  But crowdfunding does allow us to start to think like a "we" (like many other of the mysterious algorithms of web 2.0).

Kickstarter (and other crowdfunding websites) invite creators and inventors and authors and makers to put their ideas out in public and see if they will be supported by the world.   Kickstarter adds a competitive (American!) twist to this idea and makes the process an all-or-nothing-race.

When I open a kickstarter project and ask the public to get involved? Not only do I have to find supporters, I have to find the RIGHT supporters to raise ALL the money in my goal.

What I love about this process is that it gives me a chance to sublimate my own dreams to the will of the Universe.

It is humbling and humiliating and very very good.  I stand: small, insignificant and hopeful and I shout:

Hey Universe!?  Do you want to support this project?  Do you want to add this story to the stories that people hear and know?

And every day of the campaign as I wonder whether the answer will be YES! or Sorry, not now.   I have to acknowledge the goodness of that dependence.

It also encourages me to remember that my relationship with you (dear reader) is embedded within so many other relationships -- so many other priorities -- and I remember that kickstarter is really only the beginning of a new chapter of our relationship.

Of OUR relationship.

Because it really does more than raise funds.  It raises friends.  It raises followers.  And much more important than these:  it raises hope, imagination and vision.

Click here to find out more about my upcoming kickstarter project!