The Sanity & Sanctity Project in the Grunky Cyberspace

The beggining of the Sanity & Sanctity Project

My first idea for this project was just to be a podcast where I could expose my opinions, like in it's description, about "life, the universe, and everything else", and also to be a way to make more known the personality of G. K. Chesterton whose life and work impacted me tremendously. I wanted a space to talk without judgments and that could service as a tool of discernment, without ready-made answers, but that explains the reasons that there are limits imposed by faith or human life itself, and that life can only be appreciated within these limits. I didn't want it to be like so many other podcasts or other medias that already worked with catechesis (and much better than me), I wanted it to be a personal space with friends talking about life and the path of faith with all their aspects: the dreams and frustrations, worries and hopes, joys and sorrows. But I also didn't want it to be an ephemeral conversation, that the moment each one had finished they would returned to their lives like nothing happened, I wanted to talk about the concrete reality but aspiring to something else, I wanted whatever was said in each episode, it would be like the beginning of an adventure or like remembering the "first love".

Just as Chesterton himself could be friends with his debaters, I believe that in this project I can bring together different people to put their views and find those elements that make us friends because they make us human, and make us human because they make us more of ourselves as God dreamed about us. It is the paradox of announcing that the unity Truth wanted to be united to a diversity as great as is the number of souls who have passed through here and who will still pass through here, that Perfection wanted to serve and suffer for men as a slave so that man could come out of slavery of being a mere animal, that the fullness of Life plunged into the darkness of death to suffocate it into the endless abyss, and that even suffering all the "misfortunes" of the world it's enough to have the "fortune" of God to find peace. As Chesterton said: "The optimist's pleasure was prosaic, for it dwelt on the naturalness of everything; the Christian pleasure was poetic, for it dwelt on the unnaturalness of everything in the light of the supernatural. The modern philosopher had told me again and again that I was in the right place, and I had still felt depressed even in acquiescence. But I had heard that I was in the WRONG place, and my soul sang for joy, like a bird in spring. The knowledge found out and illuminated forgotten chambers in the dark house of infancy. I knew now why grass had always seemed to me as queer as the green beard of a giant, and why I could feel homesick at home."

In 2020 then I started with the first episodes (some of which I am proud to have managed to accomplish) with the help of some guests, i performed all the technical part of recording and editing alone, still testing what I thought would be best for the format of the podcast, but some things can still change and he can receive more proposals from different approaches.The pandemic was kind of a boost for the project to start those first steps, but I also had been thinking of ways to make money from something other than formal work, because I was still connected to the seminar, and a podcast seemed like a good opportunity (which so far hasn't helped at all). The ideas for new episodes were also becoming ideas for new projects, which I will publish here as it's possible.

The expansion of the Sanity & Sanctity Project

This project stood still for a while for several reasons that made me unproductive, but the more I thought about it, and coming back with the possibility of continuing it, also came a more "bold" idea, that of creating a community (or at least a communal space) where it might be possible to enjoy all the freedom within the spiritual walls of the Catholic Church. It's not something that fits the canon law (such as an "association of the faithful", for example), nor is it submissive to any local authority of the Church (although they are respected), but it is proposed to be a virtual space of coexistence of the different Catholic realities of Brazil (or of Portuguese speakers, which makes it a little more ample) where it is possible to share about life and debate about the universe (with a special place just for Chesterton related topics). Although not tied to any local authority, all members who participate in this space are encouraged to maintain obedience to their respective local authorities, for the universal law of the Church is already naturally maintained for all.

Today it is possible to create Discord servers that have these community features, so I created a server, but the configuration process is very complicated and to adjust all automations, besides being able to recruit the first moderators, is not an easy task, also because Discord is often used by a much younger audience, but I still believe it is a valid idea of virtual space. Having this space means a lot to me, because it represents the freedom of the Church, especially in these times when it's perceptive the growing of explicit censorship of the Christian faith, so the proposal is to have a place (even being a virtual place) of encounter between people who share the same faith and grow in it as their lifestyle allows them, where debates have that freedom of a medieval university and life can be enjoyed without the concern for judgments (the moderators will be there to ensure that conflicts are resolved between the parties involved, and not only as censorship, although it is always possible to occur cases in which for the good of the community one or another person have to lose their privileges, but the conduct of conflicts is to avoid these extreme cases, as we say in Brazil: "this is not the house of mother Joana", meaning a house have rules and those who want to stay in the house have to respect the rules). Despite all this, this is not a space for political articulation, so there will be no mobilizations, petitions, or partisan disclosures, the debate will be open on political principles (acording to the CSD) and government projects, but each one must assume it's own civil responsibilities.

So for this space to be possible, I need the help of people who want to keep it alive, safely and freely, and I need guests to record the podcast episodes on the most varied topics. I intend to make a selection to find people who want to be part of this project in some way, and if you have read all this and are interested, wait for more information here on the site or on any of the social media of the project (are still in preparation), but this Project is being made only in Portuguese (for now). Here's the link of the podcast on Anchor, where you can listen directly there or choose some other podcast platform according to your preference.

Another proposal from the Sanity & Sanctity Project

In addition to the expansion of the project through a server in Discord as a communal virtual space, another idea also arose, that of streaming on Twitch, more specifically, to stream literary content from Chesterton, following the template of a "productivity stream", where a task is performed (in this case, read some of Chesterton's works) during certain periods called "sprints" with intervals between them that serve as a pause and for comments or interaction with viewers and possible guests. Since the communal virtual space matched the need to expand the project on the Church's freedom, the Twitch channel matched the need to expand the project on Chesterton's personality so that it is better known and can continue its canonization process (to be a saint recognized by the Church).

After performing the first stream (which I'm not even sure if it was transmitted because it was not recorded after and I'm not sure if it's some technical problem), with 0 viewers and without the possibility of playing it, the situation worsened after I lost the OBS settings because I had a problem with my computer. I still need to fix a few things, rethink and redo the setup to get started on this project, but as my time has been short (because I'm dedicating myself to develop this site) it will take a while to get on with this project. If you are interested wait for more information.