Government As Conscience

A government is like the organ that reflects what the body (of citizens) is doing. A good government, one that keeps us happy and successful, is like an organ made to hold whatever creative tension lies between what is actually happening on the ground, and what is alive in the spirit of the people. A good government organ is able to align (not consolidate, hide, or justify, but align) where we currently ARE, with our goals, priorities, and visions. A healthy government affirms what seems to be working, reminds us of our goals of holistic functioning, and asks us, like a brain or a battery: what is the happiest way to wield the power of today's momentum, plus the potential energy generated by the tension between that, and what we know we desire?

I'm happy to say we have such a government in Seattle. At least, I reflect on the City of Seattle as having momentum in the direction of being an 'organ' in the Seattle 'body' aiming itself to be/become good, healthy, and able to hold a lot of healthy, creative tension... How do I help us see ourselves this way?

Keep on doing what I'm doing in my neighborhood...
and collaborate in this group seattleneighbors.org making a white paper and presenting it before City Council on tv Septemeber 14th. My 3 minutes of fame?

Seattle Night Out

I loved our SoZoo block party!!

The musicians really had it together, basically 3 local bands, followed by a midnight acoustic jam...
the other activities were fun and well-intuited,
there was plenty of everything,
cool lighting...

Thanks to MarkeTime, our local mini grocer, we had over-abundant BBQ goodies and buns, (and free photocopies for the paper-airplane-survey explained below!)

Thanks to other local businesses, we have over $200 of incentives. I gathered these with the promise to give them to neighbors who jump in and cultivate a small monthly gathering.

Thanks to: Hunger tapas café,
Swingside Little Italian café, Fremont Abbey Arts Center,
Richard's Salon, Hansen's Florist,
Rialto pasta bar & grill,
Video Isle,
American Music,
Lighthouse coffee,
Caffé Vita,
our local Dry Cleaner,
and an Extra Special BIG thanks to the Zoo!!!!!!!!

...As a direct result of these enticing gifts, 3 new groups got started who will meet monthly! One will be crafting, one will be a book group, and one will organize more neighborhood parties... plus our holiday caroling group just
doubled in size and quintoupled in frequency, and might ACtually practice in advance this time (haha)! I wish much joy to the neighbors who are spearheading these efforts, and to those who responded on the sign-up sheets! I'm supporting them in getting up and going within 2 months.

I feel hugely supported as a community organizer/spearheader-support-person now. In the picture you can see some bright green surveys I handed out regarding 'How I would like neighbors to invite me to come together' ... they were filled out, folded into paper airplanes, and flown in!! We now have a poll of how a sample of our neighbors indicated they'd prefer to be kept abreast of neighbors' invitations. Half of the surveyed neighbors signed up for a conversation to help make at least one of these 'media' a reality!

Perhaps our private online social network will become much more active, or something else, the jury is still out on which mode of communication wins our attention first...

Oh, and in the middle of it all, the mayor McGinn popped by and asked me for my business card and some of my time to help his office - I'm in heaven. Sol Villirreal in his office is engaging Seattle's Neighbors, On Purpose!

Exercise Generates Local Energy

I struck up a conversation with a neighbor today who runs a local triathlon training center. Knowing beforehand that I was going to suggest that he generate power with his training machines would have made the conversation awkward, had I not remembered to just connect heart to heart in the moment, and trust whatever will happen to happen at the rate it wants to.

Well, this man and I connected on many, Many more levels than I'd have dared dream possible!! And, long story short: he actually worked at the place that makes the machines he trains people on and was influential enough to ENSURE that they would easily convert to energy-generators... And my enthusiasm prompted action: He's going to convert all of his training gear into grid-feeding machines! When I bump into a neighbor who wants to store/use the energy, I'll hook 'em up... on purpose.