“Going to Rally was like discovering the secret entrance behind Havi’s blog, and finding an amazing cave of wonder hidden there.”
– Jesse who got 18,000 words written on her novel at Rally
The next Rally with openings
available is Rally #26!
The 2014 Rallies.
Rallies fill quickly, often several months in advance.
- Rally #26. February 11-14, 2014 — This Rally is Floop only.
You know who you are! - Rally #27. May 6-9, 2014.
- Rally #28. Oct 7-10, 2014.
Timetables.
In the tradition of Christmas Eve or Erev Shabbat, Rallies begin in the evening.
Erev Rally (Toozday evening) is for embarking and getting oriented. We begin at 17:00 and go a bit over two hours.
After that (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) we play each day from 9:30 to 17:00.
Get crazy amounts of stuff done..
In a magical, massively supportive environment. There are blanket forts. There is wonder and delight. There is structure and flexibility and time to rest. There are pretzel sticks in wine glasses.
Also laughter and silliness and intense periods of being in the zone and getting stuff done.
Transform your projects into playful, creative adventures. Acquire skills and superpowers you’ll use every day for the rest of your life.
You’ll leave with a happier relationship with both time and space, as well as an entirely different way of approaching how you work. How you everything.
Come to the most magical and delightful place ever to work on play with a project that is secretly an adventure. You do not need to know what this project-adventure is yet! It will reveal itself during Rally!
“I got more done in the hour and a half between our morning practice and lunch on one Rally day than I have in the past four months put together. Ridiculous.”
-– Tim O’Brien (Rally #10)
Rally always works. It’s incredible, and really hard to describe.
Once you’ve rallied, you know how to turn annoying and stressful into playful and exploratory. You find the unlikeliest just-right creative solutions to challenge. You are not impressed by stuck. You find hidden pockets of light-heartedness.
Don’t worry about what your Rally project-adventure will be yet.
Projects are about exploration and discovery.
Any time you ask a question: “What can I do to make this phone call less painful?”
Any time you express a desire or a gwish: “A kinder, gentler relationship with my body.”
Or wonder about change: “What if I had designated weekly creative time?”
Those are all projects. Projects are about play, discovery, creativity and process.
And they’re part of your bigger project of “How do I best function in the world? What do I want? What do I need? How do I get better at taking care of myself? A project is a piece of the ongoing process of you working on your stuff.
What other people are playing with at Rally.
Sometimes starting or finishing something. A book proposal, grant proposal, ebook, product, outline, table of contents, marketing plan, business plan, website plan, art installation, a business or a non profit organization or a new career.
But also things like…
- What am I like when I’m not pushing?
- What would it be like to not be stressed out all the time?
- What do I want to do if/when I grow up and is that even the right question?
- What do I know about what I want to be different in my relationship with time/space/money/love/person?
What happens at Rally? (Rally!)
Stuff gets done.
Insane amounts of stuff.
It gets done while you’re having fun, laughing your ass off and possibly eating crepes. And with plenty of naptime.
There’s designated time, space, and love for getting stuff done. And specific things to do when it feels like nothing is working.
We have all the right things to get you out of the hard and into the space where creative inspired magical things happen.
And we will integrate this so you can take Rally back with you when you leave.
Also expect our hilarious morning practice to generate epiphanies and insights, melt blocks, generally blow your mind.
And something fun: The Cheesening.
On Wednesday evening, we have this very fun (optional) hanging-out thing where there is cheese and music and togetherness. In the winter we turn the Playground into a secret planetarium. It is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen.
Also you will get other things at the Rally, like:
Unconditional love. Snacks. Epiphanies and realizations. Superpowers. A chance to soak up the goodness of both the Playground and Stompopolis, my favorite places in the entire world and catalysts for things happening in wonderful and unlikely ways.
“Things have really changed for me since Rally (and not in the usual way where you feel different for a day or two after a conference and then slip back into the habits of daily life).
It feels different at a deeper level. A palpable inner shift that’s reverberating into every part of my life. I’ve brought Rally home with me, consciously and subconsciously. Pure magic. Also: so much fun!
Since Rally I’ve been writing more than I can post. So productive! Eeeeeee! Cannot wait to return. Mwah mwah mwah!”
– Kylie Springman (Rally #13)
“My project became a person, a landscape, and a child to put to bed each night. My extraordinary fellow rallions became co-conspirators.
The nonstop dancing, processing, costuming, playing and pirate shanty singing has left me sticking out my tongue at ordinary life (phttt!).
Rallying is how I approach my life. My inspired path into that more beautiful world where sparkly glitter breadcrumbs guide me to where I need to go. ”
– Cynthia
Side Effects.
As in: more stuff you get that also isn’t officially part of it but still incredible.
Companionship.
I am constantly knocked over with amazement at how great the people are who come to Rally. All of them. And then everyone says “I can’t believe this amazing group!?!?!”, but really, it happens every time.
You’ll come away with at least one new friend-friend, and probably many more than that.
Extra destuckification.
After Rally, people accidentally solve things they weren’t even working on.
Once your body has had the physical experience of working on a thing in a way that is not stressful, not painful and not stuckified … everything is different. In a good way.
Your brain has new neural pathways to follow. You have new patterns that are supportive and powerful. You have choice.
Repeatedly giving your brain and your body this beautiful experience,over the course of Rally will change everything you do (and how you do it) from now on.
“Direct access to pure undiluted inspiration. LIKE CRAZY. A new kind of productivity without struggle, strain, pushing … for the first time in my life.
The work I got done here should have taken 3–4 months. Ridiculous.”
– Emmanuelle Archer, Winning Away
“I came prepared to work on a book-writing project, but ended up working on a
grant to submit to the National Science Foundation… and it’s the best I’ve written by a long shot. Three days to complete work that would normally have taken a month or so. Thank you, Rally and Playground!(I am in the process of converting a small room next to my research lab into a mini-playground.)”
Where you can work/play.
At the Playground: at a desk, under or on top of a desk, in a nest of blankets and cushions, in a hammock, inside a blanket fort …
In Stompopolis: You get free access to the amazing world of Stompopolis!
Outside of the Playground: No shortage of cafes and bars and parks and benches. The whole city is playspace.
Why this is so much better than working on your project at home by yourself.
- The power of zoom (everyone working on stuff at the same time, companionable silence, cozy and supportive, epiphanies!)
- You’ll have Actual Things To Do if you get stuck.
- Everything works so much better when there’s a strong, flexible, loving container, guilt-free accountability if you want it, magical naps and a beautiful space to play.
- Your fellow Rallions will be a huge source of support, comfort and hilarity as you go through this process and after the Rally too.
See Jesse’s awesome update too …
How this all works:
Foods. There’s always tea and snacks at the Playground.
Lots of terrific, affordable food (cafes, food carts, restaurants grocery stores, pubs) on the street. Also tamale ladies.
There are two vegan bakeries on our street. And a gluten-free cafe. And no one will raise an eyebrow if you want vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free options anywhere else either. Just ask.
Places to stay. Lots of options.
We have a list of AirB&B and couch-surfing options within walking distance in addition to hotels and hostels. Often people end up using the private Rendezvous page to set up a room share.
What to bring. Pens. Notebooks. Computer if that’s how you play.
A raincoat. This is Portland. It will rain. And warm socks. Just in case.
What to wear. Whatever you feel like. Something you can move around in a bit for our morning practice. There is no way to dress wrong for a Rally.
We have costumes, so if you need to add a feather boa, you’re set!
See the Rally FAQ page for more…
“It only took one Rally to completely change how I think about and interact with my projects. I no longer work on my projects. I work WITH them.
Work is now like Rally: Adventuring. Unexpected things happen. I love it!
And: There’s something so powerful about doing this with people who get it and give you space and quiet. Unless you ask, of course and then, omg, the support, brainstorming, encouragement and celebrating — to die for!”
“Hey so my publisher (my! publisher!) called Thursday to say they want to publish my novel. Motherfucker! This is so. Um. No words, really.
I’ve been working on this since 2004 but I know that putting on a jester hat and brandishing a plastic sword in your Playground helped get me here and make me ready for this.
Man: do I get a fucking nickel for all the times I’ve said this to you? THANK YOU!”
– T.J. Beitelman (Rally #11)
Four more things.
- After Rally, you’ll end up changing your space. Everyone does.
All your work and play spaces will become more fun, useful, and enjoyable. And the process itself will be surprisingly easy and pleasurable.
- After Rally, you’ll end up having more time.
Well, it will seem like you have more time, because you’ll be better at consciously entering and exiting project space.
Quicker at recognizing stuck and interacting with it in creative ways instead of trying to push and making it worse. Not nearly as much time in planning mode or avoidance/procrasti-guilt mode. This is a very big superpower. Use it wisely!
- Possible Unexpected Bonus. It’s just one guy.
I also get insane amounts of stuff done at Rally. If I create something at your Rally, you get a copy when it’s finished.
- And — this is weird — Rally also makes you way better looking.
Ah, Playground Glow. I have no idea how it works, but it’s a thing. Every single time. So really, if for nothing else, come to Rally for the hotness.
Come Rally the Rally!
Okay! Let’s play. In all the different ways.
How it works.
The quest of Rally (Rally, along with all the superpowers that you will have with you forever after having Rallied,) works like this: An initial 525 clues followed by five additional monthly playments of 328 clues, beginning one month from now.
Or! Playing all the clues at once = 12.5% fewer clues (!) in the form of a one-time playment — 1895 clues.
The big orange button takes you to the Pickle page which has a love letter and a pickle. And some useful capers to play with.
When you “check out” (wink-wink, cough-cough, mark well what I do say), there’s a box marked Comments. Use that to leave a not-too-coded message about which Rally.
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about the particular Rally you desire.
1. Included: Passage, materials, snacks, huge realizations, hilarity, bubble-blowing, presents/presence.
2. Up to you: Travel, lodging, meals.
3. Before signing up, check in with yourself, breathe, say a quiet loving yes.
4. Up to 60 days prior to your Rally a change in dates can be requested. (Each rescheduling: 85 clues.)
5. To keep the safe strong container for Rally, no reschedules or cancellations can be accommodated later than that.
6. If you can’t make it, we turn your clues into a stowawayship-scholarship so someone else can come. See Incredibly Boring Policies page.
What happens now…
Sparkliness. Wonder. Plus we’ll be sending you a ton of information. Hugs to come soon.
Adoringly,
Havi
Postscript. If it doesn’t work out this time, there will be a next time. It will happen!
Photos by Jillian Kay Photography. Click any image to enlarge and scroll through!