Monday, June 1, 2009

Transition Handbook, Transition Movement 2

I changed an old post from another blog I used to have now that I have more perspective. This is dated around the time I was speed-reading the book, and the insights that ensued invited a deeper level of my being to become conscious, confident, and loved. I quit a job I loved, so I could more fully embody the wisdom this book aroused in me: wisdom about myself, and about my role in the context of my neighborhood.

If you plan on reading this book, please don't read it alone. Regardless, also, please read the 3 segments in the following order, so your brain doesn't make you top-heavy: Hands, Heart, Head.

Though it's a great thing he did, and I'm very very happy with the book that became my Bible for a year or more, I was never completely satisfied with the causal orientation of it (peak oil, living without oil) (...in fact, noticing the feelings of guilt that came up for me regarding CO2 while reading this book helped me to see the false motivations my environmentalism had been partially based in in the past and let that go.)

Frankly, I was happy at reading the (then) news (to me) of peak oil, since it would cause everyone to be an environmentalist... the thought of which brought me to consider the following issue I find to be both an effect and a cause of environmentally unwise behavior: loneliness (perpetuated by goals to unite too many people to remedy loneliness in one way or another, and frustration to the point of self-isolation).

I think the author has a good point: through collaboration on a local basis, on a manageable scale, guided by common vision, we can transcend the all of issues arising from peak oil and climate chaos without exacerbating either of the 2 aspects... AND I think there is a third aspect... an aspect of human perception very easily exacerbated in cultures where the issue is under-recognized already, an aspect of sustainability that is equally pivotal: the balance of living in both privacy & isolation, uniqueness & loneliness, empowerment & restraint, an image of humanity & a role in the whole, survival & spiritual transcendence, Response-ability & Trust.

I commit to being inspired by the Transition Movement, and embracing it as a wake-up call to my role as an invitation to healthy interdependence on the scale that I can affect, in the realm that I am naturally talented, with an eye for authentic and deep sustainability. I'm not a scientist (anymore). I shouldn't talk about science. I'm a social being. I'll be a neighbor on purpose.

Of course my efforts are part of the global transition, and I am in the 'heart and soul' area described as necessary for a good transition... I just don't want to call it that, and I don't have to wait for someone to host alarming movies in my neighborhood to have the same positive effect. I believe that when my life is a party boat, and more and more people get on it, and they inspire more, and learn how to invite more... there's no need to tell the last few they're on the Titanic. When it's just them, they're bound to get together and find community of some kind... and we'll just keep inviting them to the party... or rescue them out of the water later.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Facing the Future

I love these Curriculum Guides, because they help real, human, loving teachers of all age groups teach Global Sustainability, Biodiversity, the Interconnectedness of All Things, Life-Size Math, Social Responsibility, and SELF-EMPOWERMENT, all the while
- building a curriculum students love,
- getting all types of learners to engage actively,
- accounting for fulfilling requirements for testing and meeting standards, by equipping teachers to evaluate student progress with precision in a non-invasive way.

It leverages free resources and copy-write free materials to provide a rich multimedia, multiple senses ‘workshop’ feeling. It puts the student first, gives them context, and helps them know themselves better as creative, powerful people. I simply can't say enough about good things about it!

I gave a copy to a neighbor who is a teacher aligned with her purpose. Her response? Ecstatic wonderment and enthused gratitude.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Transition Handbook, Transition Movement 1

Thank you Margo Adair!! I'm about to start (speed)reading The Transition Handbook, and attending the Training May 1st and 2nd. I'm so excited to apply myself to this project:
Big enough for my intentions,
Realistic enough to be broken down bite-size,
Author-modeled, and so: inviting...
And! explicitly guaranteeless - and thus, a worthy challenge!

The book offers a full-on case study of the first Transition Town - a town that, in 2006, decided it would be fun to challenge themselves with a living social experiment, sprouting from the question: "How would we choose to live in an age without oil?" Taking one action at a time, doing the inner and the outer work, they now live in resilient local communities that hold a shared vision.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

This post is from an additional blog I used to have... interested in sharing in where I was at? I posted:

"For everything, turn, turn, turn, there is a season..."

Now that I've gone through a time of intense inner focus (on how I think and feel about every kind of action I undertake (while implementing the GTD system)) I am finding myself attracted to large, highly social undertakings:
- I'm facilitating 3 workshops at a state conference for educators of young children October 15-17 in Bellevue
- I'm inviting everyone who is able, to attend CANFEST October 17/18th, a festival celebrating Compassion in Action, harvesting your story regarding Seeds of Compassion!
- I'm most excited about gardening, tapping into my neighborhood's know-how of sustainable practices, and facilitating the inner work that accompanies outer transition.

In synch with all the blossoms around me popping open for all to engage with,
~Briana

Saturday, March 28, 2009

A 'Hood for Good 2

The beginning of Neighbors On Purpose in our new home began before we signed the lease in December of 2008: we interviewed (visited) the tenant next door!

She was happy to welcome us into her home, and into the small building as neighbors. She eagerly told us about the landlord, the building, what she likes about living there and why, and so forth. She relayed who had been in our apartment before us (which explained why she was so happy to welcome us!).

We told her some of the things that we appreciated about the place as our potential new home, why we were moving, and what we missed in this place when we compared it to our ideal... Then she showed us how we DID have a garden, we DID have neighbors who all knew and celebrated one another (she just likes to keep to herself more than that group, "but you'll just Love them!"). We were ecstatic. Almost all of our desires were confirmed! Well, except the "jacuzzi on a balcony just outside our bedroom" one, which was a bit outrageous anyway (some neighbors got a jacuzzi a few months later).

We found our ideal home, and (for me) realizing that it was already perfect was very important BEFORE signing the lease. We met our new neighbors on purpose!

Friday, March 20, 2009

A 'Hood for Good 1

When my partner and I were looking for a place to live together, we physically got into the neighborhoods and felt the vibe there (I wish we'd biked or walked instead of the driving experience.) Equipped with our list of things that our ideal place had, we dealt with awareness of our optimism as well as our ability to welcome upgrades into our life. We used our intuitions to select places (and landlords' voice mails) that felt like "all green lights" and interviewed for an understated place that was surprisingly Out Of This World. The things that made it affordable were things that we could do something about (clean the carpet ourselves, replace the electrical outlets, get some curtains, accept the color scheme) and our structural and feng-shui desires were fundamentally met.

We knew we were lucky, because we knew what to focus on, and what wouldn't phase us. We knew the hard as well as the soft goals we shared, and what was basic and what was frills. We were becoming neighbors ...on purpose.