Last night, I attended a volunteer appreciation dinner hosted by WakeUp Sonoma. It was a modest gathering in size, but profound in spirit. I’ve lived in this town for many years and have known many of the people who were there—some through work, some through neighborhood ties, and some simply because Sonoma has a way of weaving people together over time.
There was something unmistakable in the room: a quiet sense of shared purpose, of trust, of people showing up for reasons that go deeper than any particular issue. It wasn’t flashy or performative. Just neighbors, gathering in gratitude, in solidarity, and in the spirit of service.
It struck me as something we rarely name—and perhaps don’t fully appreciate. In a time when so much of the world feels fragmented, confused, or collapsing under the weight of its own dysfunction, here was a pocket of coherence. A small system of care, tending to itself and to others.
There’s Something Bigger Happening
Many of us feel it: a hunger for something more grounded. We’re surrounded by noise, division, endless headlines, and a sense that the systems meant to support us are fraying. But beneath all that, in places like Sonoma, something else is stirring.
Ordinary people are stepping forward. They’re offering their time, their skills, their care. They’re trying to protect what still works and repair what doesn’t.
WakeUp Sonoma is a beautiful example. From standing with immigrant neighbors facing detention and deportation threats to supporting those struggling with economic uncertainty or social isolation, this group is doing the real work of democracy—community‑building from the inside out.
A Hidden Pattern We’re All Part Of
In my own work, I’ve spent years studying how systems—from atoms to ecosystems to human societies—find ways to hold together, adapt, and grow more capable over time.
There’s a word I use for this pattern: infropy. It’s not a buzzword or an ideology. It simply names the opposite of entropy.
Entropy pulls things apart. Infropy is what happens when relationships create coherence. It’s the pattern behind every act of care, every team that learns to work together, every movement that builds trust and capacity. It’s what makes a group of volunteers not just helpful—but powerful.
You don’t need a PhD to understand it. You just need to notice what happens when people listen to each other, align their efforts, and build something that lasts.
We Already Know How to Do This
The truth is, we already know how to live infropically. You see it in the circles of people who showed up last night. You see it in the way Sonoma has preserved its character through so many changes. You see it in every parent, teacher, nurse, or neighbor who decides to help rather than withdraw.
We’ve been trained to think of change as something “big”—something political, or technological, or dependent on distant systems. But the deepest kind of change starts here, where people meet, reflect, and act.
A Future We Can Build, Together
If entropy is the force that pulls things apart, then our role—quiet, local, and deeply human—is to become the force that helps things hold together.
Call it what you want: community, care, stewardship, love. To me, it’s all infropy. And it’s already happening here.
Let’s keep growing it—together.
— Gil Magilen, Sonoma
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