ANNOUNCING THE 2025 PORCH GATHERING - Gareth Higgins

Clearly we're experiencing a time of upheaval and uncertainty, and some of us are feeling exhausted or hopeless. Dreams are deferred, fear rises, and there’s a sense of "spiritual homelessness".

This has happened before, and is often woven with a sense of profound compassion and yearning for a better world.

The wisest people know that the deepest truths are often the simplest.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

What we need to survive are food, water, air, and shelter.

But shelter is far more than four walls and a roof. Shelter is the story we live in. These days, it seems that we need to co-create our own shelter - but that has always been true. Equally true is that we co-create it with others, and a larger Story woven from the ineffable. Whether you find yourself in the story that says we’re made in the image of God, or from stardust, or both: being human is worth a far bigger story than we usually tell.

When the dominant cultural, political, and even religious narratives are variations on "us versus them", individualism, and ideological purity (of any kind), we may well feel that the dream of a safer and more compassionate world, in which everyone lives at peace with their own garden to tend and share is far off indeed.

But on a porch, and at a Porch Gathering, the dominant narratives are suspended for a few days, and we get to experiment with the expansive, daring, imaginative, and open possibility that there really is a better world, waiting for us to live into it. There is no less wisdom or courage available today than there has ever been.

We often say that the world isn't falling apart, but the story we're telling about it could use some help. Another way of saying that is that the primary crisis we face is a crisis of storytelling - about who we are, why we're here, what we're here for, and ultimately what life itself can be.

We wouldn't say that the crisis will be resolved simply by changing the story, but we've spent nearly a decade now with The Porch, and all the connected endeavors interlaced with the good folks in The Porch community, and we keep discovering that much unnecessary suffering results from bad stories. Better stories aren't merely the antidote to unnecessary suffering, but can release us into new ways of thinking, living, and being.

It has been said the most important human need is the need for mutual recognition - not elevating one of us over another, but simply truly being seen, and seeing each other. We're here for a short time, although sometimes it seems awfully long. We can spend that time in panic or ignorance, by seeking to dominate others or serve the common good, by indulging in fantasies of retribution or transformation, withdrawing into isolation or nurturing a contemplative life, scapegoating others or taking our place in the ecosystem of interdependent responsibility, weaponizing victimhood or binding the wounds of the brokenhearted, accumulating more and more for ourselves alone, or learning to steward (and craft) beautiful things, and share them.

Porches are "in-between" spaces, the mid-point between home and the world. They're often sheltered, though not sealed. They're places for rich conversation, exploration, play, a shoulder to cry on, or even a nap can be found.

This is the shelter we need. The best way to respond to a bad thing is to do something better in its place.

The best way to respond to panic and ignorance, to the devalued bonds and faded hopes is to - radically, truly, beautifully, experimentally - live.

So at the Porch Gathering this coming March, we're opening a space for significant ideas of grounded hope, individual and communal purpose, provocative and meaningful storytelling, and - frankly - enjoying life together. We truly believe that we are here not just to save the world, but to be changed.

Our work is forged partly in real suffering, conflict, and trauma - as individuals and in the societies in which we were born and raised. But we also learned creativity, resilience, and the kind of deep love that goes beyond platitudes or feelings. What we seek to offer is not a panacea or quick fix, but deeply rooted in the history of transformative storytelling, authentic spirituality, and courageous creativity for the common good.

Our vision is that the Porch Gathering would be a place where a couple hundred people could come together to take life seriously without taking ourselves too seriously; meet brilliant people from all kinds of places; and better understand ourselves, our place in the world, what we can do for the good, and the ways in which we can authentically give ourselves a break.

The third annual Porch Gathering runs from Thursday evening March 13th through Saturday evening/Sunday morning March 15th/16th, 2025 (the program ends on Saturday night, with breakfast available on Sunday morning for those staying over) with a range of storytelling, music, breakout sessions, talks, movies, and opportunities for quiet or just connecting with friends old and new. We'll have a dozen or more speakers/musicians/facilitators distinguished in their fields, and lots of options for engaging a better story and way of being, including deepening a sense of community together, and practical tools for the journey of living with courage and creativity.

It's not a typical conference - more like an informal festival-meets-retreat, where conversations on the sidelines matter as much as anything that happens on a stage. The times are showing us that we need each other - and we need truer and more helpful stories to guide us beyond cultures of domination and polarization, hopelessness, and constant activity. The Porch Gathering is a place to find those stories, and to meet people who will share the journey.

ABOUT ASHEVILLE AND WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

Hurricane Helene has had an enormous impact on our city, region, and community. Many people in The Porch community have been directly affected, and been directly involved in supporting the thousands who have suffered as a result of the storm. We aim to make the Porch Gathering accessible to anyone who would benefit from it, regardless of ability to pay.

We are intentionally returning the Porch Gathering to the Asheville area, and responsibly engaging inviting folks back to a community in recovery.

In this moment of heightened cultural anxiety/tension/confusion, we believe a gathering of like spirited folk committed to transformative storytelling (a slow conversation about beautiful and difficult things) is important and necessary.

We want to support the place The Porch was born and is most closely associated with, in two ways:

1: Please support the Gathering by registering to attend, and if you can, please contribute to the scholarship fund so we can offer discounted or free registration to anyone from the local area who was directly affected by Helene.

2: If you are one of those directly affected, or if you are experiencing financial hardship that would affect your ability to pay for registration for the Porch Gathering, please click here to fill out a short form. We’ll do the best we can to help you join us.

The Porch Gathering

The Porch Gathering builds a better world through telling better stories. We gather as a diverse community to laugh, learn, sometimes cry, celebrate and learn around the “campfire experience” of transformative storytelling, and gain tools for constructive, respectful, and thoughtful conversation. We believe mutual recognition matters more than elevating one person over others, and that each human being has a unique creative contribution to make to a better world.  Everyone is invited to bring what they have, and ask for what they need. 

Our stories often hold us back. The Porch Gathering is a space where better stories come to life.

P.S. A Whole Life In Twelve Movies - Launch Event Recording

Thanks to those of you were able to make it to our launch of A Whole Life in Twelve Movies. We recorded the discussion between Kathleen Norris & Gareth Higgins, hosted by Barry Taylor, and are glad to share it here.

It helps get the book out into the world if you leave a review on any book site, and of course telling others about it.

Thanks for your support, and wishing you all good things.