“Commons” is a growing buzzword again, usually pointing to forests or fisheries or cooperatives. I’ve been gratefully learning with and from David Sloan Wilson, whose life’s work shows how cooperation survives “in the wild” when groups have the right conditions - real rules that help us function as wholes. With David’s @ProSocialWorld lens (Ostrom’s design principles + ACT skills), I see the most common commons all around us: care (trust, attention, belonging, safety, empathy). These are finite (at least in time) and renewable (through basic protocols). When groups name what care looks like here, make clear commitments, witness follow-through without shame, adapt rules with psychological safety, and nest with neighboring circles - they are stewarding a care commons. At @grassecon we’re mapping this into practice through Commitment Pooling: tracking offers/requests with consent and exit, keeping relational memory (“who showed up, when”), using parity guides to avoid hidden inequities, setting gentle credit limits with emergency overrides, and closing loops with witnessed completion. Not measuring love - recording promises kept. The various protocols David champions and practices is how we cut down selfish drift, spread burdens fairly, and keep generosity renewable. Light, human, revisable protocols -- so the living thing can keep living. Grateful to David for his heart, his practice and for maintaining an intellectual rigour (a clear science), and to all who keep tending the everyday commons of care. Full essay: willruddick.substack.com/p/p…