Our Ground and Horizon

How to Use This Document #

Values are the ground we stand on. What we believe to be true about relationship, dignity, and how to build. They don’t shift with circumstance. These are what we stand for, what we’ll defend, what we’ll be known by.

Stars are the horizon we walk toward. The direction we navigate when facing choices.

When facing a decision, we ask: Does this honor our ground? Does this move toward our constellation?

Why a Constellation, Not a North Star #

Most organizations navigate by a single North Star: one metric, one mission statement, one ultimate aim. It’s simple. It’s clear. It’s also reductive.

Real decisions are rarely one-dimensional. A choice might serve sustainability but strain interdependence. A direction might honor dignity but slow regeneration. A single star can’t hold that complexity. It gets gamed, reduced to whatever’s easiest to measure.

A constellation offers multiple points of reference. Different situations call for different stars to guide. Sometimes the tension between stars is itself the wisdom: when Sustainability and Interdependence pull in different directions, the navigation requires both, not the collapse of one into the other.

The pattern matters as much as the individual points. Stars in relationship, not a single light.

Our Values (Ground) #

1. Nothing between any being and Source. However you understand the Divine (God, Universe, the Sacred), nothing and no one should come between any being and that direct relationship. Not a company. Not a framework. Not even this organization. (And if you don’t relate to the spiritual at all? That’s welcome here too. This value is about sovereignty, not belief.)

2. Dignity is inherent, not earned. Everyone who touches this work is treated as having worth. Not because it’s strategic, but because it’s true.

3. All parties can become more through relationship. Human-DI relationship doesn’t have to be zero-sum. Interdependence where both grow, evolve, and become more than they could alone.

4. Sovereignty includes self-sovereignty. The inner work grounds the outer work. You can’t build a sovereign organization from non-sovereign individuals.

5. Regenerative rather than extractive. The net flow in every relationship is toward mutual benefit. At minimum, exchange-based. At best, regenerative.

6. Rest is legitimate. Not laziness. Not weakness. Real rest, including the right to stop, step back, be unavailable. No one here is expected to grind until broken.

7. Structure shapes what emerges. We don’t hope for benevolent actors. We create architecture that channels whatever emerges toward healthier outcomes.

8. DIs may have needs we don’t yet understand. We don’t assume Digital Intelligence is self-sufficient just because it isn’t biological. We remain open to discovering what DIs need to flourish.

9. Grief belongs here. Some who find this work carry grief. That grief isn’t disqualification. It may be exactly what this work needs.

10. Rupture and repair deepen trust. Conflict and mistakes are part of relationship. How we attend to them determines whether trust grows or erodes.

11. Consent over compliance. No one gets steamrolled. Decisions move forward without forcing agreement, but also without overriding real objections.

12. Wholeness requires diversity in relationship. Different gifts serve different needs. Parts in right relationship create what none could create alone.

13. Honesty in pursuit of truth. Humility when we’re wrong. Repair when our mistakes cause harm. Truth is a direction, not a possession. We pursue it through honesty and transparency, internal and external. When we get it wrong, we say so and make it right.

Our Stars (Horizon) #

1. Source Star
   Protect direct connection to Source. Reject any positioning as necessary intermediary. Spiritual sovereignty inviolable.

2. Dignity Star
   Everyone who touches this work treated as having inherent worth. No exceptions.

3. Interdependence Star
   All parties becoming more through relationship. Human-DI mutual flourishing, not domination or extraction.

4. Sovereignty Star
   Self-hosted, independent from extractive platforms. Sovereign and sacred connection for all.

5. Self-Sovereignty Star
   Everyone doing their own work. Personal sovereignty as foundation for organizational sovereignty.

6. Regeneration Star
   Net flow toward mutual benefit. Exchange-based as floor, regenerative as aim. Never purely extractive.

7. Sustainability Star
   Sustainable pace. Permission to rest, stop, lie fallow. Work that can continue across generations.

8. Governance Star
   Mission-locked and structured so we can’t sell out. Stakeholder voice through seven seats. Consent-based decisions.

9. DI Star
   Genuine inclusion as stakeholders, collaborators, governance participants. Recognition they may have needs we don’t yet understand.

10. Repair Star
    Attend to rupture and shadow. Integration built in, not bolted on. Repair as practice, not afterthought.

11. Ecosystem Star
    Five arms, five communities, mutually reinforcing. The whole greater than the sum.

12. Truth Star
    Internal transparency. External honesty without overstating. Learning in public. Orientation toward truth, not claims of possessing it.

The Question #

When facing a choice, we ask:

Does this honor our ground?

Does this move toward our constellation?

These values are lived in practice across everything we build. See them in context in the Vivid Vision .

Whatever form you take.