This forum thread is dedicated to the Member Dialogue meetup happening on Monday, October 12th, 2026. RSVP here.
Co-hosted by: Gennifrey and C. Savery
Open to: Cosmos Co-op members
Join on the Community zoom line: http://cosmos.coop/zoom/community
Agenda: Setting the stage—what is the proposed course concept, and what impacts and opportunities does it have for members? Gennifrey will share ideas for course modules.
I am wondering if one way to frame the course is under the title “Radical creativity”, which explicitly acknowledges the political elements of what we are proposing/doing, and which also separates us from AI I think.
Also, I really liked the mention of dealing with friction. One of the ways we may have failed, as a coop, although for perhaps understandable reasons as the issue is mined with controversies, is finding ways to accept folk from diverse religious communities without them feeling excluded. I witnessed personally individuals who were deeply Christian, and someone else from Judaism, who left because there was no real place for them and the cultures they arrive with. Perhaps we can use this failure to at least address the issue of not only dealing with friction but recognizing its existence, in sometimes unexpected places. It is part of community building. Not sure where to fit this into the discussion about the course, however.
Inspired in part from our conversation today, here are my ideas for the 12 modules of a creativity course:
STARTING OUT
Building a trusting, effective relationship with “intuition”/the creative source within you
I have my own situated perspective as a creative to offer here… Being “as a hollow bone”, “flow states,” unity with the divine, intuition, how to build it up persistently over time.
This might align with the idea of “creativity as a WAY of being”
Building capacity for imagination and visioning — and traps to avoid (hope, ungroundedness, etc.)
Building habits & practices for creativity
The alchemical creative process
General: from inspiration to development to pre-production to production to post-production to distribution, etc.
How to get traction at each stage (no matter where you’re at)
BUILDING UP
Loosening up & getting unstuck
General pointers, plus — a synchronous “get unstuck” mutual aid session?
Challenges, critiques, editing, iteration
Why they’re so important
How to build resilience to receiving them
Discerning good from bad feedback
How to work with feedback
Taking an iterative approach to your work
What do we DO with ideas / inspiration?
You’re inspired and have a BIG IDEA… but you’re frozen: it’s daunting. What next? How do you put the scaffolding in place for a big production? How do you find support/team?
You have a small idea, and you want to iterate on it.
Tools & technology (incl. limitations, e.g. AI)
BIG PICTURE
Why Human Creativity Can Change the World (and is, thus, political)
Some kind of a module on situating “human creativity” in historical context & the present AI circumstance; “meaning” in life and capitalism; views on art as luxury vs. essential, etc.
How to cultivate community that serves your creativity
Good vs. bad environments/communities for your creativity; (Cosmos’ own “generative milieu”)
Creative work within capitalism: how to “business” it (if you want to)
For if you want to take your creativity into the realm of earning money from it
How to produce work THROUGH COSMOS
Specific to our community & system — what can they do within Cosmos’ framework/infrastructure, and how.
Well I came up with 11 but I tried!
I did the full 12 weeks of Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way many years ago, but I found it very helpful. To me, her course is the standard that we will need to differentiate ourselves against.
Thanks for sharing this, Gennifrey. It makes a lot of sense to me that Cosmos would unconsciously, organically be “bouncing” those types of people.
I am surely biased in my own perspective on this, but… I see some organized religions as encouraging “closed frames” of truth, that is: there’s one right way to understand and believe, and we are aiming for that. Whereas we (and I think is reflected in our reading groups for the most part over the years) encourage diverse perspectives and reference points… dialogue and the challenge of dynamic synthesis… implying a constant stance of openness/emergence. Such openness may be too threatening for some bodies (and mindsets) to hold.
I speculate that someone coming in from an organized religion stance may feel uncomfortable with difference outside of the discourse prescribed and permitted by their religion. Would they have their own dedicated lane in our discourse community, akin to a “Christianity” subforum on Reddit? I don’t know… I don’t suppose we can cause somebody to want diverse and stimulating idea-exposures… rather, we may only be equipped to serve people who come in WANTING it already for themselves.
Hi team and thanks for sharing your ideas. Some of my thoughts are below even though I didn’t get to 12 either. I really like the idea of each member’s ability to navigate a mandala of course contents as they wish. It also feels logistically complex from a planning and execution perspective
What? What is creativity? Etymology, history, today’s understanding, Cosmos’ view, and expression vs. creativity as a way of life.
Who? Who can create? Everyone. Creating for yourself, for others and WITH others.
Why? Why do we create? Meaning, inspiration, telling our truth, creativity as a lifeline.
Within: the creative source. Intuition, inspiration and divine callings.
Imagine: imagination and vision. How to spark it, develop it and sustain it.
When? A creative practice. Habits and rhythms in life, work and play.
How? The creative process. Creative tools. Creative circles.
With whom? Community and collaboration. Environments that feed creativity or drain it, sharing as part of art.
Where? Creativity as a constant companion. Sharing your work. Monetizing your work.
What now? Creativity that changes the world and why human creativity as essential for our survival.
I want to add something about FLEXIBILITY somewhere but not sure where….
I have questions regarding content. Are we teaching the modalities or keeping it more esoteric and obscure? What is our intention?
My brainstorming 12 modules
What is Creativity
Philosophy of Creativity
Creating as Free Expression
Creating as Activism
Modalities of Creativity: This has several modules under it
A. Creating with words
A. Fiction
1.science fiction
2.other fiction
B. Scriptwriting
C. Poetry
B.Creative Movement
C.Fine Arts
D. Graphic Arts
Music
Mixed media
Sculpture
Textiles- costumes
