Undersurface
*UPDATED
2018 - present
Co-founder • Community nanny :)
Are humans living at their most together, conscious, and creative capacities? Are the young satisfied with the direction of their life? Are people living a life of meaning and fulfillment?
The challenge
Having left university and growing increasingly socially minded, I struggled to find a peer community to exchange ideas and grow with. It seems that I wasn't alone, and in fact, stumbled upon a bigger systemic problem...
Navigating contemporary young adulthood is challenging. We are unsure whom should we become. We see the tremendous creative opportunities, yet we haven't been much tooled to pursue them. We see the world facing growth and knowledge, but also tremendous challenges. And we want to place ourselves within it.
I suspect that thanks to the advent of single global market and the vastly networked world, we have entered a new era of enlightenment. And with it, a new opportunity to transform how we get educated, what values we adopt, and how we 'Become'.
I started Undersurface out of a personal need for self-understanding & self-fulfillment. Together with my good friend Marian, we faced these similar questions, and so we thought to bring action-oriented dreamers under one roof and see what would happen.
It became a home for a few who want to do more, who want to live purposefully, who want to create. We gather to help one another get there. To help each other grow personally and professionally. But we also increasingly explore the purpose of being, creativity, and activating the potential for stimulating positive change that lies within each of us.
The community operates mostly virtually, but our members have met in person and we’re planning another offline event next spring.
It’s not just about talking and connecting, however. We organise events, talks and classes, and build tools to support our journeys. The biggest virtual project this year is GoalsPact19 — a system and a promise to help us stick to our goals. And the biggest offline project was our first Ūnderconference — a small "un-conference" aimed to help us co-develop our personal visions.
The intently designed, guided year-long experience of self-discovery, deeply personal sharing, and genuine mutual support has been transformative for all of us.
For example one of us zoomed on the global problem of Climate change, which has been one of her long-term interests, and dreamed up a way to concretely contribute to addressing the problem — she is now working on the first season of her podcast around the topic and is in discussions with Finnish national broadcasting company (YLE) to have it featured in their programming.
Others have left with no less significant revelations, bringing new thinking to their companies, re-aligning their business vision towards social impact. But perhaps most importantly, we all realized much more what it means to be human, to care, and to create something of value.
Undersurface is just the last example of my lasting inquiry into what it means to be human and what it means to learn. Projects such as Lifetab, Matrix-memorisation, Yousician, or Personal Essence hint at my continued fascination with the area.
I am hoping to explore the global opportunity of actively designing the future of youth in our society. Very likely as the piece of work to which I'd like to dedicate a significant time to in the near future. Provided it will prove to be viable and meaningful.
I would possibly like to kickstart this journey at GID if I can confirm my approach through initial mentorship, self-inquiry, and research.
