Inkhaven is a month-long blogging fellowship at my favorite place in the world, Lighthaven. I’m not participating, both because I’m too poor these days to afford admission, and because I’m not quite so dedicated to writing that I want to stress about publishing every single day. However, I do often want to be at Lighthaven! Partly for the intrinsic beauty of the space, but far more importantly, several people I like are currently there for Inkhaven. I’ve been pretty successful at hanging out at Lighthaven this month. I’m heading over again tonight, and I’ve heard that a lot of people are hanging out in the winners lounge (the area reserved for people who have already published on any given day). I’d like to be able to join them. Probably I can just walk in, as I’ll explain later, but if I’m challenged, it’ll be nice to be able to say “look, I published!”. So, here’s an essay about how I’ve been hanging out at Inkhaven all month despite not being part of the program.
Get Invited
As Inkhaven was spinning up, I asked if residents were allowed to invite guests to campus. With the answer in the affirmative, I asked my friend Aaron for a standing invitation, which he happily gave.
Get The Door Code
Getting the door code meant that I didn’t have to get someone to let me in every time I came by. This decrease in friction made my life more pleasant (no need to ping someone and wait for a response), saved time for the friends who would otherwise be letting me in (busy blogging!), and supported the next couple points I’ll discuss.
Ignore The Rules
In theory, a resident is only allowed to invite a given guest twice. Or something like that. I heard about this policy and promptly decided it obviously didn’t apply to me. It has not in fact been enforced, in my experience. I think it’s on the books for selective application purposes (valid and useful!).
Don’t Cause Trouble
C’mon, this one’s obvious. Don’t give admin a reason to enforce policy against you! I try not to eat too many snacks or distract residents from writing. I heard another guest was starting fights. Don’t be like that guy.
Be Well-Liked
This is the high-level key to it all. People like me, and that makes things go smoothly. I have a friend here to invite me, and other friends happy to see me around. I know the Lighthaven staff and cheerfully greet them. Rules are made of people, no one had particular reason to enforce them against me, and it would be kinda awkward. Aim to make the lives of people around you better, and you will find a welcoming world.
An Inkhaven post is 500 words minimum, and I’m just about reaching that threshold. Time to see if I can get into the winners lounge and hang out with my friends. If you’re reading this post because you called out my presence there and I pointed you here, I hope you’ve enjoyed the bit!