The Sanity Project
A program and forum to hold and grow sanity in turbulent times. Hosted by Charles Eisenstein.
Background
With this offering, I aim to establish an oasis of sanity, a studio of sanity, and an incubator of sanity for coming times. We have seen in recent years a mounting madness that took on a new and virulent form during the Covid era. Though that particular expression of madness has abated, the social and psychic conditions that spawned it are still in place. Our politics, our culture, and our public discourse swing to new extremes of derangement.
Getting swept up in mass hysteria is just one type of insanity. Resisting it takes a psychic toll. Those who try often succumb instead to despair, depression, addiction, extremism, and conspiracy theories.
I speak here from experience – I too went a little crazy during the Covid years. The experience confirmed that I cannot stay sane alone. At key moments, friends and allies said the right thing to me at the right time and brought me back to sanity. With this program, I aim to pass that gift onward and to create conditions by which many of us can stay sane together.
What do I mean by staying sane?
- To hold center, and return to it when you lose it
- To hold a good and true story of self and world
- To be able to abide in not-knowing for as long as it takes for authentic knowing to emerge
- To hold peace amid information warfare
- To distinguish and hold your truth in the midst of hysteria
- To build resistance to manipulation and covert fundamentalism
- To build sustaining connections with human and other-than-human beings, to have an ongoing experience of kinship.
- To access a wholesome wellspring of sense, meaning, and identity
- To fortify the integrity of body/mind/spirit
- To mutually reinforce all of these with others, to form islands of sanity in a world that is still far from sane
- To be a seed crystal that brings a higher level of sanity to all you touch
Program Structure
Enrollment – The Sanity Project is a variable-intensity 6-month program centered on video content, forum discussions and building deeper connections through member events (see below for more explanation). The enrollment is on-going. You can start at any point of a monthly series in the program table of content and return to the beginning for a complete 6-month experience. Each unit can be experienced independently and will build over time. The original start date is June 11th, 2023. Live sessions are recorded and added to the table of content. Please take this into consideration as you register. After December 2023, this course becomes a DIY course.
Live Calls Videos – There are about 2-3 live calls per series. Each video is either a conversation and Q&A with a guest and me, or a Q&A session with just me that incorporates breakout rooms and meditation. Relevant portions of these will be recorded and saved onto the table of contents page.
Video Content – There are short videos, provocations, and reflections from my new insights on sanity organized on the table of contents page.
Discussion Forums – Our forum space is designed for members’ collaboration and connecting through discussion, story sharing for integration through written posts, and member event video calls, and if/when feasible, in-person gatherings. Members are empowered to organize their own events hosted on the network.
The Sanity Pods -During the months of July to December 2023, our team has helped members form smaller groups of 20 in regionally based Sanity Pods to go through content together and cultivate deeper connections. There are more instruction in the forum about forming pods.
Hosting Platform – The entire network space, which includes the Sanity Project, pods, interest groups, regional groups, meetups, and action groups, etc., is hosted by my wonderful former wife, Patsy Eisenstein, and a small team she has assembled. The culture of the network is the hosting of respectful dialog and the building of a resonance chamber to support our sanity.
Annual In-Person Retreat – By being a member, you will be able to register for our 5-day retreat. As spaces are limited, we can only open to our network members.
Samples of Our Program Guests
Your Commitment
The Sanity Project is now a DIY, a variable-intensity, 6-month program. This means the time commitment can be as low or high as you like.
The variety of content and the open forum of the structure are to provide ample space for participants to take a slow drip of nourishment and illumination over a long period of time. They are punctuated occasionally with live calls requiring the application of practice and attention.
The model is punctuated equilibrium: Deepen, consolidate, maintain, then deepen again.
The full value of this program comes through information followed by application & practice in your own life when you exercise the capacities of sanity to build a field together.
I will adapt it in real time according to what is coming up—current events in the world, and issues that arise from the group. I have courted a vast amount of material for this program, and will use those portions of it that meet the developing needs of the group. I myself don’t know in advance what will be called forth. It is actually a bit insane to think one can foresee everything and plan it all out in advance, especially when entering the uncertain territory of coming times.
Please understand that collectively held sanity does not require uniformity of opinion. The purpose of this program is not to inculcate you with my opinions. That kind of solidarity is fragile, so easily sundered in the face of any disagreement, and so easily wedged apart by external forces, whether hostile or unconscious. The insanity of my country and the world is the madness of division, of decoherence. A divided society mirrors a divided self. To unify, to re-cohere, doesn’t require that we agree with all of each other’s opinions. It requires standing together on a ground prior to opinion. You might call it our basic humanity. The arc of madness is coming to an end. Let us join there.
Charles
Program Cost
The cost of this program is self-determined. While it was running live, the standard amount for the 6 months was $33 a month for a total of $198. Now that the program is DIY, we suggest a one-time payment. If $198 seems too high or too low for you, you may choose another amount. If your budget is genuinely tight, please choose less with our sincere blessing. If you feel affluent, go ahead and up it to a level similar to other programs of this nature. We trust you to choose the amount that feels right and fair, that represents a real commitment, and that respects your financial circumstances. For some people, that amount might be zero, in which case please write to us at admin@charleseisenstein.org with that request.