26 presences by invitation, a Splash at 10, and rules that breathe better

September 18, 2026 was a calmer day in numbers, but not motionless. After 40 presences through a single door, a Splash at 10, and links that are easier to say, the Wave added 26 Free Humans, all arriving by invitation.

We went from 11,820 to 11,846 Free Humans, still in 100 countries. The last presence in the record is #11846 Mostafa Abdelkader (Egypt), arriving at 21:50 UTC. Ten different people invited at least someone during the day: the movement was less concentrated than the day before, and that is also good news. Several doors opened, each in its own way.

The day also served a lot to put air back into the rules surrounding FreeWillWave. When a project grows fast, it is not enough for the Wave map to fill up: the texts, pages, and decisions must also remain faithful to what we truly want to build.

UTC day of September 18	Result
Free Humans at start	11,820
Free Humans at end	11,846
New presences	26
Arrivals by invitation	26
People who invited at least one person	10
Countries represented at end	100
Energies sent during the day	1,866
People who sent at least one energy	186

Ten doors opened, a map that stays at 100 countries

No new country was added today: we remain present in 100 countries. But a stable map is not a frozen map. In the detailed breakdown, Nigeria adds 10 presences, Ecuador 6, then Argentina, Chile, and the United States each add 2. Egypt also appears in the day's arrivals, with the last presence in the record.

You can find the general numbers on the Wave in figures, but the Chronicle keeps above all the human image: 10 people opened a door, and 26 others were able to take their place. Since 66 presences by invitation, a Splash at 13, and a Wave that reads better, all arrivals continue to come through invitations. The Wave truly advances from person to person.

New presences detailed by country	Result
Nigeria	10
Ecuador	6
Argentina	2
Chile	2
United States	2
Egypt	1

This way of advancing is less spectacular than a sudden big leap, but it is solid. Someone passes on, someone opens, someone looks, someone takes their place. And sometimes, a smaller day tells the living mechanism better than a huge day: it is not an anonymous flow, it is human gestures.

The Splash brought together 10 people at the same time

The Splash took place from 18:00 to 19:00 UTC. Every day at 18:00 UTC, for one hour, members invite at the same time, to experience the rise in numbers together; it is not a meeting or a video conference, no one speaks, there is nothing to prepare, you can just watch, and the one you miss returns the next day. On Sunday, it is the Grand Splash.

At the peak of the hour, 10 people were present at the same time on the Splash page. During that hour, 17 invitation links were opened, 4 new presences arrived, 118 energies were sent, and no support was received.

Congratulations, for invitations during the hour, to #8712 Rabiu Isyaku (Nigeria) and #805 Chizo1germany (Germany), and congratulations also, for the Splash energies, to #9125 Adamu Bello (Nigeria), #10482 Abubakar Yusuf (Nigeria) and #3732 Sagir Iliyasu Muhammad (Nigeria). Ten people together, 4 arrivals during the hour, 118 gestures of energy: the appointment remains simple, and that is precisely what makes it easy to join.

Since the last chronicle, putting things in order to move forward better

Since the last chronicle, I began by reviewing the references that guide writing and decisions. The problem was not a big fault visible to everyone, but something more discreet: remarks made for a specific case ended up becoming general prohibitions. Over time, we no longer write for a person who reads, we write against a list of red signs. That is not very joyful, and above all it is not faithful to FreeWillWave.

Two new references were therefore created: a fact sheet for FreeWillWave, which keeps what is true, published, withdrawn, or to be measured before publication; and an editorial guide, which now serves as a reference for texts read by humans. The founding documents were also corrected around a clearer principle: the human comes before everything. Observing is full participation, no member bears the responsibility of making the Wave grow, and some formulations that were too ambitious or outdated were removed so as not to promise what is not yet there.

The most important rule that came out of this cleaning can be summed up in a simple sentence: a one-off correction does not become a universal law. A new rule must state its reason, its scope, and the moment when it will have to be reviewed. It is less impressive than a grand manifesto, but much more useful for not getting stuck in instructions that end up preventing good writing.

I also reworked the letters sent to creators and editorial teams who can understand what FreeWillWave tells. Three attempts were refused before a text went out, and it was deserved: a weak hook, an invented sentence about my life, then a false formulation about what carries the project. The correction was healthy. The new letter starts from a stronger and more relevant fact: the energy gestures already sent. It states the goal more quickly, accepts that an artificial intelligence tool helps me build the house, and proposes a simple gesture: open the map and look for a few seconds. Twenty-three letters went out that day, with no sending failure.

Another work concerned the landing page. It now begins with “Join a world where the human comes before everything.” The “Join for free” button is clearer, the options to continue are better ordered, a line of proof gives an immediate reference, and the short answers say what is public without selling magical security. I also corrected translations that had slipped on “Free Human #1”: this kind of detail seems small, but a name and a number are not a sentence to translate.

There was also a video project. I prepared an edit from two phone videos, then got trapped by a transcription that accused a cut when the word had not been cut. The lesson is good: before accusing the edit, you must replay exactly the same boundary in the intact source. The sound also required work, because by removing a lot of silences, the piece became more present to the ear, even though the measurements did not show degradation. Result: a more reliable path to recover videos, check what is really cut, and restore a voice when the take sounds too closed.

Finally, I did a project cleanup. Regenerable files were deleted, delivered or outdated documents left the root for the archive, and work-in-progress renders were not touched. Said like that, it is not very romantic. But it is exactly what prevents a next session from starting from an old plan as if it were still alive. Here too, FreeWillWave improves through very concrete small decisions.

Invitations, energies and support

Thank you, for the invitations of September 18, to #805 Chizo1germany (Germany), with 3 direct invitations, to #1974 sabir mustapha (Nigeria), with 3, and to #3284 Ali Marasta (Nigeria), with 1. Since the opening, #805 Chizo1germany (Germany) reaches 3,699 direct invitations, #2029 Nura USMAN MUSA (Nigeria) has 186, and #869 Ibrahim Sani (Nigeria) 170.

Energies reached 1,866 gestures during the day, sent by 186 different people. Nigeria accounts for 1,383, the Philippines 240, and India 78. Since the opening, the cumulative total reaches 75,138 energies.

Thank you, for the day's energies, to #9125 Adamu Bello (Nigeria), with 483 energies, to #10212 RICHARD (Philippines), with 240, and to #10482 Abubakar Yusuf (Nigeria), with 104. Since the opening, #9125 Adamu Bello (Nigeria) reaches 7,031 energies, #10212 RICHARD (Philippines) 3,702, and #10326 Isah Umar (Nigeria) 3,346.

On the support side, two gestures of $5 are recorded since the opening: mine, in Belgium, and that of #79 Oddur Tom (Australia). The Support the project page remains open for those who want to help FreeWillWave hold on and continue.

A calmer day, but fairer

September 18 adds 26 new presences, all by invitation, 1,866 energies, a Splash at 10 people at the same time, and a lot of work to make the rules fairer, the pages clearer, the letters truer, and the creations more solid. It is not a day of a big visible threshold. It is a day when the Wave learns to stand better.

Since 31 presences by invitation, a Splash at 10, and better chosen doors, we can see the thread clearly: humans invite, others take their place, energies continue, and the site corrects itself as it moves forward. The next step can go through an invitation, an energy, the Splash, The Wave, the experience film, a support, or a remark sent via Send an idea or a remark.

Nothing is mandatory. But every free gesture makes FreeWillWave a little more real: one more presence, a better opened door, a clearer page, a song that someone can hear, an idea that someone can pass on.