Introducing Parousia
Hey experientials, I wanted to share a special project I’m working on that’s quite fun and open for anyone to be involved.
About three years ago, I met a boy, Izel, who told me this fascinating story of a faraway place called Parousia. There were mythical beings, natives who thrived on cosmic connection and magical plants and animals. Being an experiential designer, I thought this would make for an epic immersive experience.
For two and a half years, I’ve been developing this experience with our friend Izel and a group of Imagineers. Together, we’ve formed The Imaginarium of Parousia. We are Imagineers creating social experiences for human connection at the intersection of art, story, and the metaverse to help Izel share his fantastical journey in Parousia.
We believe that Izel’s journey can help humanity navigate some of the significant challenges of our time, such as loneliness and disconnection from self, others, and nature. We hope for you to experience the world he’s traveled. Meet the beings he has met. Learn from them what he has learned.
I’d love to invite you to join us on this journey into this world by reading Izel’s story: Read the story
In the story, you’ll find clues to the hidden portals to drops for live-experiences, NFTs, immersive content, and art.
Breaking the fourth
As experiential designers, I feel you’ll appreciate the story behind the story.
I’ve been working on Parousia for quite some time, and it all started with wanting to create an IRL experience inspired by Meow Wolf and Sleep No More. While I love the experience they produced, I wanted more. I wanted to see an experience in the world that would deliver on meaningful social connections - something I had been experimenting with for almost a decade in San Francisco.
In my experiments, I learned that immersive experiences could go far beyond entertainment and be a catalyst for human growth and shape the nature of how we bond.
In the experiences I designed, I realized some patterns for engineering human connection:
Presence
Breaking guests away from the world behind them and bringing them into a world anew allowed them to be present with the moment, in the conversations, and with themselves. Presence allowed for conversations to become personal, intimate, deep, thus increasing the connection quality.
Vulnerability
When I used art to model vulnerability, it empowered guests to open up and be vulnerable themselves. And even if they didn’t, it impacted the quality of the conversations.
Gratitude
Our spaces were intimate, and as a result, the experience of gratitude was potent. Featured artists shared intimately, and it was received wholeheartedly. There was a sense of reverence to be part of what felt very special.
I was doing a ridiculous amount of events in San Francisco, and when I wasn’t producing one, I was studying them. I immersed myself in Burning Man experiences, carefully observed what was inspiring these ways of being. Can it be engineered? Is it just the people? The community? San Francisco hippie culture?
Well, I tested that.
The experiences I created were open to the public. Found it on Eventbrite? Great. A friend told you? Wonderful. Facebook? Alright. In the end, I found it had little to do with the community and so much to do with the environment we engineer. Sure, an existing community goes deeper, yet the experiences I produced were able to create tribes, foster business partnerships, relationships and spin out communities I didn’t know existed until after the fact.
I synthesized practices like presence, vulnerability, and gratitude into what I called psycho-social skills and weaved them more intentionally into gatherings to shape behaviors. This was 2015! When we shape behaviors to practice these psycho-social skills, we shift the quality in how we relate, increasing how we connect.
That’s what I was missing in Meow Wolf, Sleep No More, and other immersive experiences I see. I also know that many of you here have been creating along these same lines. That’s been quite inspiring and motivating in my endeavor.
I did run into one problem. What I refer to as psycho-social skills, some refer to as new age, spiritual, hippie, and so on. These labels trigger barriers, and then one’s openness to experience ratio all but plummets. I wanted a way for people to engage in new concepts without judging them to be something else.
Ah! George Lucas is a genius.
I had learned from films like Star Wars that people are receptive to new concepts in stories. Miyazaki is another brilliant storyteller that uses stories in this way. Star Wars took Eastern Philosophies, wrapped them in a story, and no one would label it religious, spiritual, or anything of the sort because it was “The Force.” Izel’s story of Parousia created a way for us to explore a culture of connection. How would a race of beings be cultured to relate?
I’ve brought together the most impressive friends I know as Imagineers to form The Imaginarium of Parousia. Most, if not all, of my continued learning, will come from creating Parousia. That’s what this publication is about, sharing my learnings and so moving forward, will refer to it as The Imaginarium’s Digest.
In the next digest, I’ll share just how I ended up taking a Meow Wolf x Sleep No More inspired idea into the virtual.
For now, let’s go back to story mode with The Story of Parousia, follow the portal and let it take you through space and time into the Parousia-verse.
Prototypes
This is a great time to play. We’re prototyping, so your participation, insights, feedback, and introductions are most welcome.
The Sound of Cosmosis
Friday & Saturday: https://bit.ly/event-the-sound-of-cosmosis
Imagineers
We’re always looking for creative beings to join us as Imagineers
We’re currently hiring…
Character Designers • Performance Facilitators • Community Manager
Thanks for your continued support.
Damian
Really enjoyed your principles. We need to scale intimacy.