The Clearing: An Invitation to Read the First Draft
The story behind the genesis document and an opportunity to help shape what comes next
Hi everyone,
There is one part of my journey over the last few years that I haven’t really spoken about yet.
Many of you know about the writing, the long retreat, the travels, the periods of solitude, and the inner work that has been unfolding. What I’ve shared less about is my interest in conscious community.
Years ago, I bought land in Madeira with the idea that it might one day become part of something larger. Around the same time, I became increasingly interested in how people were attempting to live together in different ways - not just humanly but consciously. How do people create lives built around deeper connection, shared values, honesty, support, meaningful work, real peace, genuine understanding and a different way of living?
The questions stayed with me. Over the last few years, I spent quite a bit of time in a number of well established, intentional communities in Costa Rica, Portugal, Germany, and Scotland. They were all beautiful, inspiring, and doing remarkable things.
What struck me most was the one thing they all had in common. Regardless of the location, the vision, or the beauty, the same human challenges kept appearing: conflict, projection, misunderstanding, power dynamics, unresolved wounds, fear, control, avoidance, money beliefs and the stories people carry about themselves, each other, and life. It didnt take long before it became obvious that what was happening in conscious communities was the same patterns we see everywhere else - only magnified.
None of this felt like failure to me, in fact it all made perfect sense. If anything, it increased my respect for the people involved because they were attempting something difficult and important for future generations. I was also deeply inspired because I could see people dedicating their lives to building something real and lasting.
But it also revealed that the primary challenge wasn’t actually the land, the buildings, the money, the vision, or the structure. The challenge was the inner landscape human beings bring with them wherever they go.
At the same time, I was going through my own version of that discovery in very committed way.
Despite years of personal development, spiritual exploration, success, failure, learning, teaching, and intense inner work, I knew something still wasn’t fully resolved.
So I made the decision to get to the very bottom of it.
That led to the deepest investigation of my life.
Over the following years, my attention turned entirely toward understanding what was creating unnecessary struggle, conflict, resistance, and suffering within me -directly through my own lived experience (I shared about this in depth in The Burden I Didn’t Know I Was Carrying).
As more of that began to clear, it became obvious that the same things I was seeing in myself were appearing everywhere - in relationships, families, work, communities, and everyday life.
Slowly, my interest began to shift.
Because what I kept seeing was that communities don’t struggle because they lack buildings, land, resources, vision, or good intentions. They struggle for the same reason individuals struggle.
Human beings are mostly carrying some degree of fear, assumptions, unresolved pain, projection, identities, stories, and ways of relating that create separation, conflict, and misunderstanding.
I eventually became less concerned with the physical bricks and mortar expression of community and more interested in the foundation underneath it.
The more I looked, the clearer it became that communities do not ultimately succeed or fail because of infrastructure, governance, resources, or even shared values.
They succeed or fail on the quality of relationship.
Relationship with ourselves.
Relationship with each other.
Relationship with life itself.
Because the quality of those relationships shapes how we participate in everything else - our work, our creativity, our decisions, our communities, and ultimately the lives we create together.
That realisation became the seed of something I’ve been working on for a few months now: a genesis document called The Clearing.
At the moment, it’s simply the clearest articulation I have of a question that has been shaping my life for years: What happens when life is no longer being obscured by everything we’ve placed on top of it and is met more directly?
I don’t know exactly what The Clearing will become, and I’m not trying to force that answer. I’m simply staying open to what wants to unfold.
What I do know is that writing this document feels incredibly alive.
What makes it feel different is that it isn’t simply an article, an essay, or a collection of ideas.
In many ways, it feels like the first foundational piece of work for The Clearing itself.
So, before I finish it, I’d love some help.
If you’ve been following along, if any of this conversation resonates, or if something about it feels familiar, I’d love to invite you to read an early draft and share your honest reflections. Your feedback will help shape whatever this becomes next.
This isn’t really about copy-editing, analysis, or improving the writing. I’m genuinely interested in your experience of it.
What resonates?
What opens up?
What feels true?
What feels unclear?
What questions does it leave you with?
The most valuable feedback for me won’t be intellectual critique. It is your direct experience of reading it.
If you’d like to be part of that, simply reply with “I’m interested” before the end of the week (Sunday 14th).
If you’re reading this by email, just hit reply. If you’re reading via the app, send me a direct message.
Over the next few days, I’ll send the document along with a few simple questions. It’s currently around 4,500 words and takes approximately 30 minutes to read.
If possible, I’d love to receive your reflections within a few days of receiving it so I can gather feedback, continue refining the document, and share the final version more widely.
If that sounds like something you are interested in and can make work, let me know.
Thank you for reading and for all your support,
Ryan
Interested to know more.
Interested