Intentional Society: Adult Development, Breaking Social Norms, & The Paradox of Being & Becoming | James Baker

James Baker is an inner work practitioner and founder of Intentional Society — an online transformational community centered on developmental and relational practices. After spending 15 years in software development, he became disillusioned with the corporate world and decided to pursue his passions. He launched Intentional Society, and after over 150 weekly gatherings, the community has grown into a distinctive space for personal transformation and interpersonal exploration.In this conversation, we explore the role of relational practices in human development, what Intentional Society is and the premises it's built on, and the major takeaways from over 150 weekly gatherings with a community of dedicated inner work practitioners.We get into moving from modern to postmodern to metamodern perspectives, playing with power dynamics, breaking through social conventions and stretching boundaries, navigating the relationship between safety and growth, and the three principles of Intentional Society.We also explore transforming our relationship to judgmental thoughts, becoming developmentally aware, the paradoxical dance between being and becoming, the future of transformational online communities, cultural evolution vs individual development, the increasing need for an ecology of practices, and a message of fundamental okayness.🔗 LINKS & RESOURCES 🔗Intentional Society — online transformational community Follow James on Twitter Becoming Developmentally Aware — Artem Zen Already Free — Bruce Tift🕰️ TIMESTAMPS 🕰️0:00 - Introduction1:30 - From software development to human transformation7:13 - What is Intentional Society and the premises it's built on10:21 - Interpersonal development and relational practices13:09 - Major takeaways from over 150 weekly gatherings18:48 - Moving from modern to postmodern to metamodern perspectives21:24 - Playing with power dynamics24:10 - Breaking through social conventions and stretching boundaries29:55 - The three principles of Intentional Society34:45 - Navigating the relationship between safety and growth — Meta-Safety43:18 - Transforming our relationship to judgmental thoughts45:40 - What Intentional Society members have in common49:52 - Becoming developmentally aware53:39 - The paradoxical dance between being and becoming1:02:55 - The future of transformational online communities1:10:27 - Cultural evolution vs individual development1:13:25 - The increasing need for an ecology of practices1:19:15 - A message of fundamental okayness*Subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the video versions of the Elevating Consciousness Podcast *Subscribe to the Insighter Substack to get in-depth articles on the theory and practice of human transformation through a post-conventional