For the url of this website, I chose callisabel.org. At some point I’ll write something about the “call isabel” part — though, on the surface, it’s pretty self-explanatory! But why .org?

As with Unitarian Universalist theology — which is so often defined by what we don’t (necessarily) believe — it’s easier to say what isn’t a fit and why. 

• not .com: I’m not centering my work in the extractive economy, so I don’t identify first and foremost as a “company.” If com connoted “community” I’d be all in. Maybe we can shift culture in this direction, hmm?
• not .net: This would have been a fine choice. I like that my congregation uses this suffix (uufm.net). I love my network and don’t exist distinct from it. But the “net” connotes the internet, which is only a means to an end. I wasn’t excited to highlight it.
• not .art: while I do identify as an artist, the images and utterances shared here include direct information and invitations.
• not .info: I am sharing my heart and mind as well as raw information.
• not .AI: everything here is made from scratch or — more accurately (since I’m not inventing the universe) — it’s made in conscious collaboration with organic inspirations.

But as I’ve learned in articulating my theology, it’s important to frame the answer in the positive. The “org” in  callisabel.org announces to the world (and reminds me) that I am a community organizer. My work lives as a single organ in a complex organism that is transforming our world. I am both leader and follower, organized by and organizing with thoughtful radical grounded creative souls across time and space. Including you.
Furthermore, the dot org domain is administered by an organization whose values I support, the Public Interest Registry. I’d never heard of them before building this website. Now I know that the money I spend on this domain is going toward helping mission-driven organizations get their word out and keeping the Internet free, open, and accessible.