The Outlier Gang: (New Venue)

Sunday May 3rd. Hosted by Fenix.
First time at this location.
We will have a quiet room at the top floor. It has a sink, an ice machine, and a great view, but unlike other venues there is no food or drink available for purchase. Before you enter the building, you can pick something up at Sister's Coffee across the street, or Safeway on the same corner.

Building Address:
Asa Flats in the Pearl
1200 NW Marshall St
Portland, OR 97209

Street parking or public transit - only 1-3 blocks from all 3 streetcar lines.

Go to the Front Door on 12th and Marshall.
Intercom instructions (use screen, not keypad):
Select "Visitor Pass", enter 568464, and tap Enter.
Go to the Elevator, press PH. Left out of the elevator, down the hallway, last door on the right.

I like to describe this meetup as a philosophy club + support group. We often start by talking about whats going on in our own life and then explore where that fits into human nature, society, or simply the bigger picture of life.

out·li·er: Noun

“a person or thing situated away or detached from the main body or system”

As life travelers, in body and spirit, we all have deeply personal burdens and struggles that we carry. Some of our burdens are named ones: depression, anxiety, loss, addiction, shame, religious guilt, codependency, physical illness, etc….. Some of our pains are unnamed. What they all seem to have in common, however, is that they make us feel like we don’t belong, tearing us away from the present moment and the 'now'.

Eventually, we seem to figure out somewhere along the journey that it is better to embrace openness and vulnerability in dealing with these challenges, rather than trod a path of hiddeness and repression. Though this road is not necessarily easy, its travelers slowly begin to feel and claim their purpose and connectedness………

The Outlier Gang is a meetup that allows us to safely share our stories about how we deal with named or unnamed struggles, what tools, guides or practices have helped us along our journeys, and how to explore potential creative ways that help turn any seeming weaknesses into strengths for us and others…………

The only agenda is to listen, share, and honor each story, with some good tea or coffee............Note that we aim to balance our conversation between "head" and "heart", but may occasionally stray toward either direction at times.........