Tom

Thanks Patrick, I like your 'have your cake and eat it too' approach to this! I'll certainly bare your suggestion in mind. Thanks so much for your support btccoach, that was exactly what I needed to hear! I agree that I need to be 100% specific about my goals because my time is so limited. I'm focused on putting one step in front of another and my next one is really difficult: writing about me. Here is my first draft of my 'About Thomas' page: "Thomas Bell is a writer and a philosopher who has used his free time since 2007 to really focus on rational philosophy by devouring dozens of books, thousands of hours of podcasts and by befriending people to learn from the more experienced. His life has greatly benefited from two years of healing and re-parenting in psychotherapy. The hard work there is what helped him to explore and understand how the adverse childhood experiences he suffered were impacting on his decisions and emotional world as a young adult. He has enthusiastically thrown himself into activities and groups of people to create a varied and enjoyable social life. He journals extensively and practices nonviolent communication to really connect with those few he knows more personally. This is what has helped him bring his authentic self fully into his relationships and uphold the virtues of honesty, courage and curiosity." My thoughts about this first draft is that it's intended to concisely get across what I know about peaceful parenting, Intimacy and Integrity. I'm not totally comfortable with it being in the third person as I think the more friendly sounding first person might be more appropriate. Also I think it's too short to get across the story of how I got here so I'd like it to be longer. I'd love to hear your thoughts as this part is a real bitch to write.

OK, so I gathered from the silent feedback that my mission statement was way too long for people to read. Let me know what you think of this: Ethical Canary is a collaborative blog, podcast, call-in show and meet-up group which link together individuals who are applying rational philosophy in their lives. The ultimate goal is to bring forward the day when child abuse is stopped by helping each other learn peaceful parenting, achieving intimacy and living with integrity. The project is 100% funded through donations and warmly welcomes philosophy ninjas and newbies alike.

Here's the shining, sparkly first draft for my mission statement. I'd hugely appreciate any feedback people can give on this as it at the heart of what helps me clarify my intention. Ethical Canary Mission Statement Ethical Canary is here to bring forward the day when child abuse is stopped. Slavery ends and dictators fall once a critical mass is reached, one of people ready to oppose them with their full and united moral conviction. Healing the damage of child abuse is a multi-generational project, but the good news is that we needn’t wait that long to feel the rich benefits of freedom from trauma our own lives. In this age of self-reflection, there is a new generation of people who are ready to really thrive by living with impeccable integrity. Thanks to the internet, billions now have access to revolutionary resources at their fingertips. In this pivotal moment of change, for the sake of being the change we wish to see in the world, we must replace Diaspora with community. Attempting to apply rational principles from philosophy in isolation is attempting to reinvent the wheel. By connecting and discussing the hurdles we face in our daily lives we reveal our blind spots and are able to help each other overcome them. By organising as a community we turn rumination into revolution. By being present for one another we get the opportunity to practice being fully ourselves so that we can make that the norm. By sharing our goals and aspirations we can hold each other to account, share our gifts and build motivation. The image of Ethical Canary is one of a grass-roots movement busy creating positive change in people’s lives and accelerating the rate at which we reject out-dated forms of parenting and relating. The approaches can be seen as innovative and original solutions to serve a world afflicted by traumas which stem from child abuse. This image is built by transparently reviewing progress, by using multiple forms of communication and media, by soliciting and using feedback, and by linking in other resources, thinkers and communities. The site is 100% funded by donations so as to reflect the importance of reciprocity. Anyone who finds the site valuable is welcome to donate so as to help cover the running costs. The content and meet-ups are designed to make the most of people’s time and provide insight using passion, compassion and humour. Ethical Canary is remarkable in the way it brings together three rare things; the clarity of rational philosophy, the compassionate support of fellows on paths to self-knowledge and the power of intentional community both online and offline. My role as the founder is to physically build the site, solicit feedback, establish the media streams by creating content, to host the call in, moderate comments and arrange UK meet-ups. The sooner more people get involved with these tasks, the sooner the site can be about collaboration and uniting community. It’s my intention not to bottleneck the community but to feed it and let it spring into bloom under the power of the community. What sets Ethical Canary apart from similar websites is its focus on linking together members of the community who are working on the same obstacles. This serves to move beyond a simple one-way dialogue and in its place create an organised hive of action. It builds a sense of efficacy and confidence to inspire individuals to fulfil their own potential. Other resources about philosophy and psychology have thankfully prepared and primed many thousands of people by describing theory. What they have struggled to do though is to effectively link people together and organising to create a functioning community. To make all this happen, the site will use a blog, a podcast and video stream, a regular e-newsletter, a recorded call-in show, a resources page, an online forum, and of course the all important real-life meet-ups. All of these methods follow the same strategy of linking the community together under our shared values.

Thanks for your insight Carl, I'll certainly bear all this in mind whilst constructing the site. I'm pleased that you like the metaphor Luxfelix! I'm writing a mission statement which I look forward to sharing with you all here soon when It's done so I can get more of your priceless feedback.

Hey thanks for your support you three. To answer your question Kevin, yes, it's about living or dying by your values so to speak. The insight you're sharing with me is very useful to me as it'll help to guide me in designing the website to be as intuitive as possible. People need multiple and clear hints before the penny drops in their minds. Metaphor is a key part of the way I communicate ideas so I'm keen to have it at the heart of this project. I'd like to incorporate pictures and video as soon as possible to compound the meaning of the name. Thanks for reminding me of that quote Ryan, and for your offer to get involved. I'll certainly need help seeking out philosophers in the offline world so keep doing the good work on that front. Ahh I'm glad to see you appreciating the deeper facets of meaning there Patrick. and thanks for your suggestions, I'll certainly keep them so we can do a vote some time soon.

Hello genius philosopher people! I need your help and guidance on a new project I'm undertaking. I'm setting up a website for the thousands of people who are newly being inducted into rational philosophy, psychology and voluntarism through resources like Freedomain Radio. It's going to be a blog, a podcast, a listener call-in, meetups in the UK, a monthly bookclub and in time also a forum. The focus is on living with integrity to our values and connecting both online and offline to build community between us everyday philosophers. First things first, the name. The one I'm liking the most at the moment is Ethical Canary, with the tagline "Virtue is the air we breathe". The name should hopefully capture our shared values of philosophy, self-knowledge and freedom but also focus on connecting as a community. What do you guys n gals think of it? Does it work? Can you think of anything else I can call it? One drawback of my idea is that it requires that everyone understands the metaphorical reference to a canary being used in a mine to test that the air is breathable. I'd love to gather your ideas and put together a poll to so we can vote for the best one. Thanks in advance for your ingenious input! I will no doubt be asking many questions like this in future so I can put the website together using the best suggestions we agree on.

This change is certainly fine by me.

I think the walk in Regents Park on 20th July is a great suggestion. Shall we meet at 10am? Where do you reckon is a good spot to meet? Thanks for sharing RyanT. For me, the great thing about these FDR meetups is getting to make some steadfast friendships with likeminded people. Also, in the long term, I'm feeling inspired to co-create an intentional community in the UK where we can meet regularly to philosophise, dance, sing, play, share food, study, network and laugh together. I'm wondering if we've reached the critical mass necessary to populate such a community. I'd like to see meetups like this one bring more people out of the woodwork and in touch with a community which is more tangible.

I'm with you all the way. I'm free on 15th June to join in the call too.

Hey, thanks for getting in touch. I hope there are also southerners willing to flock to this sunny corner of the country. I'd also be happy to travel. Manchester or Scotland dooesn't make a big difference to me as I'd go on the train and take a couple of days to explore a bit too. So tell me, who's everyone? Have you met many kindred spirits already?

Greetings fellow islanders, I'm really rather keen to meet other FDRers in the UK so I've begun hosting meetups in my local area of Lewes in East Sussex. Here's a link to the next facebook event that I've created for it: https://www.facebook.com/events/1498764510344402/?ref=2&ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming Do get in touch if you'd like to join in the philosophising, food-swapping, rambling fun. I like the idea of meeting to co-create something rather than just consume, so let me know if you have any activities you can suggest doing together as a group. I want to make these meetups the best they can be so I welcome the feedback. Also, I'm sure there must be other groups meeting in the UK already. Please, tell me who you are! Where do you meet? I'd really like to go explore and meet you all. Tom