October 24, 2026
We met at the lovely Morning Parade Coffee Bar near Trinity Bellwoods. The topics we decided on were play and identity.
Play
Here is an interesting flow they came up with: authentic play needs an element of spontaneity. Spontaneity needs a space to feel free and welcome in - and this space can only be created through a certain regularity of being in that space and meeting its people.
The idea
They want to develop something akin to the Jewish Shabbat: a Friday evening without technology in which we can simply decompress and be present together. The idea is to host local neighbourhood dinners and gatherings with different phone-free activities on a weekly basis. The app from TMA regular Stephen, Lock Party, can support enabling people to be present.More information on this will follow soon!
Identity
Questions they explored:
- •Do you have a strong sense of identity, and where does it come from?
- •The role of identity in bringing people together vs. pulling them further apart
Ideas from the group
As general ideas, they suggested constantly exposing yourself to the unfamiliar. As our identities are not completely rigid, expanding who you are (or think you are) can help you find more inner wealth and peace. They also pointed out the importance of mentoring: ideally, people from an early age should have mentors to help them navigate the complexities of their identity.
We were pleased to see new people joining our events - and we surprised them with a new idea we wanted to try out: question cards.
A Old New Tool To Think & Connect
In ancient Athens, an ostrakon was a pottery shard on which citizens wrote the name of a person they wished to vote on. Our Modern Ostraka carry a question instead: pick one up, scan the code, and share your answer with the community.
Since then, we have renamed them Isos Cards, and their answers live in our Who Wishes To Speak? section. Each attendee took one or two of them home - we are looking forward to seeing their answers. You can grab your own Isos Card at any of our next events. Looking forward to seeing you there!