Bcc: those mentioned below & a few friends
Friends,
Please don't miss Tom Atlee's conference announcement at the bottom, "A
gathering for people bringing transformational practices to social
change".
rkm
--------------------------------------------------------
Preface from yesterday's posting.
From: "Claudia Woodward-Rice" <ricesofhi-at-hilobay.com>
> Even tho I'm a pretty independent soul, I have found myself thinking
more and more about intentional communities...as survival nodes in a
world becoming more and more authoritarian and zombie-like. Wondered if
your visit in So. Oregon prompted similar thoughts? Are there small
cities or communities of like-minded people there? In other countries?
-----------------------------------
From: "Aurora Farm" <aurora.at.kootenay.com>
To: <•••@••.•••>
Subject: Re: dialog re: "I'd like to hear from you"
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 15:33:32 -0700
Richard [& Claudia]:
http://www.ic.org is the link for the Intentional Communities website.
The organization publishes The Communities Directory every few years,
and Communities Magazine several times a year, and has done so for many
years. Both print publications and the website are very useful for
searchers and researchers.
Woody Wodraska, Aurora Farm--growers of authentic, safe, sane garden seeds
http://www.kootenay.com/~aurora
---------------------------
Dear Woody,
Many thanks for the ic link, and congratulations on finding a green way to be
economically viable!
rkm
--------------------------------------------------------
From: "T K Wilson" <ommani-at-getgoin.net>
To: <•••@••.•••>
Subject: ICs
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 17:25:39 -0600
Here's an Intentional Community clearing house http://www.ic.org/
Here's a place down the road from me. It's been around for 30 years.
http://www.eastwind.org/membership.html they've got beau coup' acreage
and make nut butters and hammocks.
This is my favorite in Oregon http://www.windward.org/
And there's one forming on 17 acres, right now, in the middle of Port
Townsend, WA
I don't have a website for it but if you are seriously (seriously)
interested get ahold of me at <ommani at getgoin.net> and I can put you
in touch.
------------------
Dear T K,
Thanks for sharing the additional links! Could you tell me just a bit
more about the Port Townsend group, privately if you prefer?
cheers,
rkm
--------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 10:29:11 -0500
Subject: Re: dialog re: "I'd like to hear from you"
From: Bill Ellis <tranet.at.rangeley.org>
To: <•••@••.•••>, <ricesofhi-at-hilobay.com>
"Communities" quarterly magazine (Rt.1 Box 146; Rutledge. MO 63563 USA)
It also produces an directory that lists and describes thousands of
communities world wide. The quarterly has a long classified section on
"Communities Forming" and other informative topics as well as special topics
in each issue such as "Right Livlihood," "Consensus," "Seniors in
Community,"Children in Communty" and other informative topics.
For starts you might visit them on URL:
<www.ic.org>
or subscribe ($20) at:
<communities.at.ic.org>
Bill Ellis
<www.CreatingLearningCommunities.org>
PEOPLE ARE NOT THE PROBLEMS, THEY ARE THE SOLUTIONS
IF THE PEOPLE LEAD, THE LEADERS WILL FOLLOW.
--------------
Dear Bill,
If THE PEOPLE LEAD, then why does their remain a class called THE LEADERS?
puzzled,
rkm
--------------------------------------------------------
From: "Claudia Woodward-Rice" <ricesofhi.at.hilobay.com>
To: "'Bill Ellis'" <tranet.at.rangeley.org>,
<•••@••.•••>
Subject: RE: dialog re: "I'd like to hear from you"
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 06:22:41 -1000
Thanks for the info. After I wrote I realized I was thinking about
towns, regions and institutions. Having lived in Berkeley from 1963-89,
I miss the multiplicity of resources and synergy (mostly ended by
gentrification). As the world seems to teeter on the brink of meltdown,
one wonders what repositories of freedom, knowledge and wisdom will
survive.
I'm on the Big Island btw.
Claudia
------------
Dear Claudia,
I've never been to the Big Island... one of these days!
Are we the people not our own repository of freedom, knowledge, and wisdom?
thanks for inspiring a promising thread,
rkm
--------------------------------------------------------
From: "bill aal" <waal-at-toolsforchange.org>
To: <•••@••.•••>
Subject: RE: dialog re: "I'd like to hear from you"
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 14:04:50 -0800
Hi Richard,
I am sorry that I was unable to get to Port Townsend when you were
there. I think the issues of community are different for Americans and
Irish people. Most of us even in rural areas have little or no sense of
community, and even less sense of mutual responsibility, so I think that
some form of intentional community might be helpful for activists etc,
to counteract our individualism and help to sustain us for the long
haul.
On the other hand many if not most intentional communities in the US
tend to fall on the insular side of things, falling in on themselves.
...also not going to make for long term survival of the planet. Some of
us in the Seattle area are trying to learn from the many wonderful
attempts at community to see if we can find a blend that sustains us for
the long haul, has intention for creating justice in the world and helps
create community spirit.
One of these is called the Long Haul, a group of people in their 20's
who are tired of the isolation of American activist life, wanting to
develop theory and relationships that would lead to a project perhaps
similar to the Highlander Center in Tennessee
Bill Aal
codirector- Tools for Change Institute
www.toolsforchange.org
206-329-2201
---------------------
Dear Bill,
I'm also sorry I didn't get to meet you. I hope to return again this
year.
Most of my life was in California... so I understand what you mean about
the differences from Ireland.
Can you tell us more about the Highlander Center?
It does seem to make sense, for wannabe communitarians (eg Long Haul
folks) to look closely at the experience of already-established
communities. Can you tell us more about your group in Seattle and what
flavor of "blends" you have been looking at?
I like your list of "necessaries" for a successful activist community.
You want it to be sustainable and that makes a lot of sense. It's rare
that the energy arises to launch a community, and a real waste if it
isn't set up in a way that can last. You also want the community to
have an activist role in the larger Movement (eg., "creating justice in
the world"), and to avoid "falling in on itself". Good stuff.
It seems to me that "sustainable" and "activist role" are both dependent
on the economic vitality of the community. If the community is
struggling to survive at a subsistence level, then it may not last and
it will be lacking in excess energy or resources to contribute to the
larger Movement. One way to deal with the economics is for folks to
have outside jobs. Another is for the community as-a-whole to operate
some kind of profitable enterprise on a co-op basis, as with EastWind's
nut-butter & hammock businesses (TK's message above). Of course one can
mix the strategies, and some degree of internal self-sufficiency is also
helpful (food growing, service trading, etc.).
Personally, I find the "enterprise" option very appealing. People
working together seems like an ideal way to build community spirit. And
with a business there is presumably more control over being "green" (in
various senses) than if people go out on the job market working for
corporations. It might even be possible for the enterprise to be
directly in service to The Movement (eg., publishing radical magazines,
arranging activist conferences, or your-own-creative-idea-goes-here).
Indeed, the development of "enlightened, community-based enterprises" -
presumably networking with one another globally - could be an ideal
foundation of a New Society Economics, a locally-based economics, a
radical transformation from centralized capitalism. This itself could be
an important primary thread of The Movement for a New Society. There's
a lot of potential synergy in this picture.
Let's look at community through a "project" lens... An intentional
community is a collective project. The community members are the project
team. If the community is in the planning stage, then the team has an
immense range of possibilities before it. Even after you research
everything on the web, you may still not have found the "path of power"
for your own unique team. For that to emerge, you need to harness the
"co-intelligence" - the innate wisdom - of the collective community. By
using appropriate processes, it is possible to facilitate the emergence
of maximum synergy and creativity among the members of a community, and
to build a strong spirit of community and trust at the same time.
From the very beginning, the imagination stage, effective process seems
to be one of the cornerstones of effective community. As things move on
to implementation and operation, process continues to be a central
contributor to community effectiveness in every area - from economic
vitality, to movement role, to local quality of life.
please stay in touch,
rkm
PS> If these observations make sense, then this next contribution from
Tom Atlee comes at just the right time in our dialog. I only wish I could
be there! This conference might push the envelope of Movement
development - especially if the conference itself uses max-synergy
internal processes!!
--------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2004 13:46:12 -0800
To: cii.at.igc.org (CII Associates)
From: Tom Atlee <cii.at.igc.org>
Subject: Transformational Practices and Social Change conference
This is an invitation from CII Associate Kaliya Hamlin, to all other CII
Associates. -- Tom
http://www.spiritedaction.net/standing_together.html
STANDING TOGETHER: A gathering for people bringing transformational
practices to social change
April 26-29 at Omega
New York
Introduction to the gathering
__________________________________________
We are living in perilous times. Many activists and social change
leaders are struggling to find a source deep enough to sustain them in
the face of the violence and despair so prevalent in our nation and our
world, and to create new models of living and acting even while engaging
directly with the impact of a society deeply out of balance. Thousands
of people are developing and implementing transformative practices to
support and sustain the social change movement, and to help our efforts
to be more effective, unified and healthy. These practices aim to bring
transformative principles ("inner work", authentic communication,
spiritual/contemplative or mindfulness practice, community building,
etc.) into progressive organizations and movements. A large subset of
this movement is using experiential group work to awaken, explore and
demonstrate the power of these transformative principles. We are
beginning to recognize each other, to see similar hopes and challenges.
And as we find ways to gather, we find we stand on firmer ground, and we
can stretch further. Please consider applying.
__________________________________
We will officially begin on Monday at dinner at 6:00 and end with lunch
around 12 on Thursday. It is possible to arrive earlier then this and
even on Sunday. Informal connections and group discussion will be
possible as people arrive.
I N T E G R A T I V E A C T I V I S M :
Catalyzing Transformational Social Change
with Social Networking and Collaborative Technologies
Co-Executive Director, Kaliya Hamlin
kaliya.at.earthwaters.net
________________________________
Tom Atlee * The Co-Intelligence Institute * PO Box 493 * Eugene, OR 97440
http://www.co-intelligence.org * http://www.democracyinnovations.org Read THE
TAO OF DEMOCRACY * http://www.taoofdemocracy.com
Please support our work. * Your donations are fully tax-deductible.
----------
Dear Tom,
Keep up the excellent work!
in community,
rkm
--
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"...the Patriot Act followed 9-11 as smoothly as the
suspension of the Weimar constitution followed the
Reichstag fire."
- Srdja Trifkovic
There is not a problem with the system.
The system is the problem.
Faith in humanity, not gods, ideologies, or programs.
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