Why The Gates Close This Friday
Dearest Ratties,
While I was down with the Plague last month, something happened inside the Circle that I haven't been able to stop thinking about.
Our newest Inmate, Greta—who had only just arrived behind the striped walls—stepped forward to lead an Asylum Oracle Group Reading in my place.
She had every reason not to. She was new. The room was full of people who had been here far longer.
And yet, she drew out insights and personal revelations from her fellow Inmates, giving the whole experience a trajectory—a sense of genuine progress and transformation.
In a larger room, Greta might have spent months quietly watching from the corridors before anyone knew she was there.
Here, she had a place from the moment she arrived. And she felt safe enough to see a spotlight and step into it.
That is what the Asylum Inner Circle has become.
It is a place of intentional intimacy. I want to know every Inmate by name. And I want them to know that they are seen as individuals whose presence is felt by me and by one another—that their participation changes the taste of the tea, the key of the song, the volume of the laughter in our live gatherings. (We laugh a lot.)
And because I want to protect that, the Circle will move to a new rhythm beginning in May:
The gates will open on the first of each month, and close again after the first week.
The current gates close this Friday, April 11.
If you're not yet inside the walls, the stripes will remain parted until then.
And if you are already inside the walls—thank you. Thank you for sharing yourself, supporting your fellow Inmates, and growing together. Thank you for making our Ward a place worth protecting.
P.S. Sometimes the only thing needed to bridge the past and the future is a key change.
