Many paths lead to San Francisco; many more lead away.

To survive in The City requires persistence, grit, tenacity.

But to thrive here? Well, that is another thing altogether.

I spotted a red-tailed hawk one morning up on Twin Peaks. It hovered, motionless, riding the wind above me as I slogged along on my run to the peak and then back home.

It was a beautiful, freeze-frame moment as The City, bridge, and bay spread out before me in the early morning quiet. Even the hawk sat still in the sky as I alone moved through this living picture of a moment.

And then a realization struck me. Nothing about this hawk was still. A thousand opposing forces were fighting against each other — updrafts, downdrafts, tiny muscle-mechanics in the hawk's wings, tail, its entire body quivering, contracting, and extending to stabilize itself.

The appearance of graceful stability in this creature was an intense battle between powerful opposing forces.

My perception of movement, of progress—in the world around me and within myself—is interpreted relative to my surroundings and therefore skewed.

Stillness is not simply the lack of movement. It is an active force. Progress doesn’t always progress. Stability is costly. Rootedness to a place requires intentional effort over a long time.

— Jamin

To thrive in San Francisco requires a cultivation mindset, like the tilling of the soil so that good seed can take root and flourish. In a city built (in part) on a history of pillaging, whether fortune seekers chasing dreams of striking it rich in the 49ers gold rush or modern fortune seekers chasing dreams of striking it rich in the tech boom that has fueled much of The City’s growth over the last few decades.

Tillage was founded here in San Francisco to do something different: to cultivate connection and imagination through intentional communities across The City.

Tillage exists because we believe there is a better way of not simply surviving here, but thriving. A way of living a flourishing life that is beautiful, lofty, and often counter-cultural. A way of living that opens the imagination, cultivates curiosity, develops inner stability, supports integration, and leads to wholeness. Of you. Of your neighbor. Of this city.

In part, Tillage is the expression of our own lived experiences here in The City over the last twelve years. But much more, it is the beginning of something that can only be built together with you.

At Tillage, we celebrate:

PLACE, NOT PRODUCTION

CULTIVATION, NOT COERCION

MISSIONARY, NOT MERCENARY

These ideals inform and guide everything we do, from Tillage Gatherings, to our neighborhood Coworking locations coming in 2025, to an invitation to explore spiritual formation.

We invite you to join us on this journey.

Jamin & Mel, cofounders of Tillage