The Social Studyz newsletter serves as a mix of weekly tools (question starters for building community), how we're practicing it together, and the occasional update on how we're building Social Studyz all in real time.
Hi in-betweeners,
This week: the 3am spiral I can't blame on caffeine, a question about how we relate to nature, and the case for asking one good question before everyone heads home.
🌀 What I'm spiraling out about this week
Spiraling thoughts are the ones we think on repeat, or that send us straight down a rabbit hole. Each week I'll share mine so we can all normalize the 3am can’t-go-back-to-sleep spiral.
This week it's the literal 3am spiral that's got me spiraling. (Spiraling about the spiraling — it’s very meta.) For the last week I've been waking up a little before 3am and lying there until almost 5am 👀 Thoughts include a to-do, a thought, a friend I need to text — something always surfaces. I try the 30-second eyes-closed trick. Doesn't work. I get up, clear my head, read something deeply boring on my e-reader — no light, low stimulation, dense material. If that fails, I count backwards from 100.
Somewhere in the low light and the boring book, I also start diagnosing myself. What organ is this connected to in Chinese medicine? Is this my blood sugar? A topic for therapy? Then a friend mentioned Mozart wrote most of his music between 1am and 4am. Which raises a real question: am I fighting the wrong battle, or should I be making my masterpieces in the dark hours instead?
What is your current relationship to the 3am spiral?
💬 Question starters for the group chat
Since this newsletter is about building community, we’re sharing low-risk, interesting questions to ask with the goal of getting to know our friends, lovers, family members, and acquaintances more intimately.
This week at Kuruvungna Village Springs, we were reminded that our relationship with nature is reciprocal — without the trees and the water, we don't exist. We are the trees and the water, and the trees and water are us. To that end:
What's a place in nature that's given you something you didn't expect?
Bonus question: What’s a way you give back to a place you love?
🧮 The connection equation
A tip or practice we’ve tried in our quest to build community — broken down for you to apply IRL.
Last Saturday was our first Social Studyz field trip — a land tour, a history lesson from elder Angie, a walk through the plant medicine garden, and a debrief with snacks to close it out.
Our first group field trip
A Mexican cyprus planted over 150 years ago
Getting in touch with the sacred springs
The debrief itself was simple: one word or phrase — what are you taking away today? Even though everyone had just done the same morning, the answers all hit on different topics. Some people held onto a fact that stuck. Others got hit by a memory. A few sat with a violent reminder of California's colonial history. Same space, same activity, wildly different experiences — which is why it’s so important to name the experience out loud. People don't compare notes unless you give them the two minutes to do it. A debrief is a really powerful tool to not only check in but to also see each other in a shared experience. This is a low-risk way to build community.
The debrief formula: pick a question anyone can answer without overthinking it, ask for the first thing that comes to mind, and keep it moving. Try it anywhere:
Trip with friends: What's a word or phrase you're taking away from this weekend?
Work meeting: What's one piece of information that stood out to you?
With kids, end of the weekend: What's one word for how you're feeling at the end of this weekend? And/or heading into this week?
After a hard conversation: What's one word or phrase for how that conversation landed with you?
We're starting to plan fall events. What's your level of interest if we planned this event again?
🌟 Come sit with us
Our first round of gatherings - co-creating and testing one spot at a time
As a reminder, I need your help to start testing in-person experiences. We're in the pilot phase, and these first gatherings are co-creations, built by us, together, one at a time. Every gathering right now is discounted while we test. The sooner you grab a spot, the sooner we actually start building this.
And because each gathering is shaped by the in-betweeners who show up to it, no two will ever feel quite the same.
For an overview of what the experiences will look like, you can read the post here.
Grab a spot
🗓️Saturday, Aug 8 — A Total (Solar) Eclipse + Sound Journey
🗓️Sunday, Aug 16— An Afternoon at Sake School: Pour One Out for Small Talk
Looking forward to meeting you in the soupy middle,
Lauren