would you like to read with us?

This project started with two bloggers deciding to move through the Tao Te Ching more-or-less together, blogging about our reflections and experiences.

Originally the plan was to read the same chapter on the same week.  Over time we’ve discovered that sometimes life gets in the way on a particular week, or we just aren’t ready to write about that chapter yet.  So instead of trying to stay exactly together, we’re each ‘walking’ through the book at our own pace, sometimes walking together and other times one or the other of us moving ahead for a little bit.

At present, tao together is just Charley Forness and me (Kye Nelson).  We would love to share the journey with others. Would you like to join us?

Benefits of being a part of tao together

Blogging can sometimes feel like a lonely affair.  There are a number of vibrant communities of practice where bloggers hone their skills as bloggers, together with other passionate bloggers.  But I think there is a different kind of ‘together’ which is also important: we need to be able to join other bloggers in a conversation about specific content that we care about.

And, we need to be findable as a participating voice in that dialogue.  This is what tao together can do for those of us who have (or want to have) an active relationship to the Tao Te Ching–and who like the idea of writing about it together.

How does it work?

You write, and let us know where to find what you are writing  (details about how to do this, below).

We let people know that you’re part of the project and send them on to you.

You, in turn, let your readers know where to find tao together.

At the top of the tao together page, you can always find the chapter we’re reading and posting about this week.

How to join tao together

1. Write your first post about a Tao Te Ching chapter. If you want to write in sync with us, you can find the chapters we’re currently writing about on the ‘tao together’ page. You could also start with chapter one, if that felt more right to you. Either way, at the bottom of each of your posts, include a link to the tao together page, and CATEGORIZE OR TAG THE POST with the label ‘tao te ching’ or ‘tao together’–or whatever tag makes sense to you to use for your posts about chapters of the Tao Te Ching.

2. Contact me at the contact page and give me the url for your personal ‘tao te ching’ page.  To do this, just click on your ‘tao te ching” category or tag, and copy and paste the url for the page that comes up in your browser window.  Also include a sentence about your relationship with the Tao Te Ching, and/or what drew you to join tao together–or whatever you want people to read about your relation to the project.

4. I’ll add you–together with your sentence and a link to your page–to the tao together page.

5.  Keep posting.  Post according to whatever schedule you set for yourself for participation. The schedule you set for yourself could be ‘whenever I feel like it’ all the way up to ‘every week without fail’

It will help the project to grow and thrive, if you include a link to the tao together page at the bottom of your tao together posts.

(If you have posted as part of the project at any time, I’ll keep you listed on the tao together page.)