Tuesday 24 January 2012

Call for May Global Action

I was at the conference in Sheffield, and have taken part in some of the discussions re the days of action in May.

What Angel writes is significant. 'The 15May is going to be an important date. It will not be only a protest. It will be something else. Something can start that day, as people are getting ready for a change.'
 The image I have is of a tide turning, at the moment we are on the incoming tide, and most of what we are aware of is the friction, as we meet the out going tide, - the spray, the pull of the water, resistance. But there is something larger than us surging, and if we can open ourselves to it, we would see that it's the same water, no different. That is what is underlying this whole movement, a realisation that we are one big family, not in some gushy way, but that is the reality of our interdependence. It is what binds us to eachother and to the earth.

For me that is the message of the May actions, not protest but WELCOME! This is the time to cross the barriers that separate us and surge together. If we tune in to this deeper meaning there is an opportunity to really unite and start to build the world we all long for, to bring it into being by being the change. This means each of us working on ourselves as well as collectively, listening carefully to the impulse of rEvolution within and without.

WELCOME ALL

Anna

Sunday 8 January 2012

What is leadership? Can a leaderless movement survive?

Leadership is not a position, it is a process in which we all participate. At times we are leaders, at others followers, at times we teach, at others learn. The best is to be able to do both simultaneously, so that whatever view we hold we are open to seeing another, or the opposite as having something to contribute. This is a completely different mindset from having to find the ‘correct’ answer to a problem. Combining different ages in education gives children the experience of learning and teaching, and thus avoids the hierarchy being set with the teacher exclusively at the top. Same applies within the family. Parents can share decisions with their children rather than seeing themselves as solely in charge.

What we are looking for now is not just some improvements to our living conditions but a fundamental transformation of our relationships with eachother and the planet we live on, a transformation where sharing arises naturally because we see that we are all part of one family, where feeling our togetherness is more important than efficiency or getting it right. Nourishing that simple enjoyment of bonding with one another does not rate very high in assessment of GDP, yet it forms the foundation of our lives. Our ability to see the value of each unique individual, and for each individual to appreciate their own unique contribution is what true democracy is about. When that happens leadership is something we can all share.

Thursday 5 January 2012

Comment on Raising Occupy -Jennifer Hazard (http://www.occupycafe.org/profiles/blogs/raising-occupy)

Nice image Jennifer. But you make it sound as though the 'big sisters, aunties and mothers' have something special to offer because they have been around a while. It would be fairer to say that this is a mutual learning situation, where we can all see possibilities we could not see before this birth, and where we need to be open to learning from the baby as much as, or perhaps more than, from our past experience. What is 'healthy development'? and taking her place in the family guided by 'elders and mentors' sounds like she will end up in exactly the same mess as before.

How do we really open to this new situation and encourage and support these new possibilities against the background of fears and uncertainties of 'fucking up'? By trusting that this child knows what she wants, in spite of often appearing confused and contradictory. And going with the lack of identity, of a single voice, at this time, and appreciating the richness of the variety and spontaneity, with all the chaos and unpredictability that comes along. Not easy......But nobody ever said it was going to be easy

Tuesday 3 January 2012

THE REVOLUTION IS LOVE Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRtc-k6dhgs

The New Union -Gaia

http://www.ted.com/talks/kiran_bir_sethi_teaches_kids_to_take_charge.html

Here is another inspiring video about how chikdren can bring about change in India. I have been feeling that the ones who will need to lead this transition will be the unemployed, the disabled, the homeless, the retired, the marginalised for whatever reason, the mentally ill, the women, because, though they generally have little money, they have the time. And I was forgetting the children, who have so much energy, and time.

This new union we have been talking about setting up, (Gaia?) should also include children, they need to have a voice, and they need to know how valuable their contribution can be. I hope we can talk about this at the Sheffield Occupy conf. 21/22 Jan 2012. everyone welcome

Susan Livingstone on Occupy Cafe.org Declarations of Possibility for Occupy and the New Economy

Some of the Transition Towns are experimenting with community-based economic systems and finding that they have the potential to render the entire notion of exchange obsolete.  Mostly this happens because people are sharing their gifts with their communities rather than "working for the man every night and day."  It's not about this economic model or that economic model - it's more about decentralizing our economy by acknowledging, supporting, making visible, or replicating local initiatives that are already in place (like clumps of imaginal butterfly cells scattered throughout the muck of what used to be the caterpillar) such as farmers markets, flea markets, community gardens, alternative currencies, buyers cooperatives, and "maker" and service collectives of all sorts.  The acceptance of a unified economy was sold to the sheeple based on the convenience of a single currency for "all debts public and private" and the efficiency of debt-driven competition and growth.  If we want to reclaim our birthright of community-level interdependence and trust, let's throw off the shackles of our wage slavery and enjoy the GIFT of life instead of "earning a living" and devaluing the gift into a right or entitlement.  That's the world I want to live in!

Sunday 1 January 2012

My response to:- *How the People Got Their Groove Back: What a Bunch of Farmers Can Teach a Bunch of Occupiers About How to Keep on Going* By Ashley Sanders

Some valuable points. She's great on talking about her own experiences in the camps. Comes over with integrity and self-awareness. But when she turns that into a should, other people should do what she did she becomes preachy and didactic. My respose - You wanna plan? - go make a plan. Don't tell others to do it. And she lost me with so many isms.
Also totally disagree that the entire point is to win. With winners there are always losers. There are no losers in this game. Winning and losing is so last year, and such a masculine mindset. The new game is the realisation that we re all one. No-one is left out of that. Fighting and enemy are not words I want to see used in this movement. Non -violence also means in words. Challenging power and government is more about understanding that I maintain it by my allegiance, I give it power. Once I really understand that I am free, I have a choice, I can move my energy to where it is going to be the most effective, and that is in building the alternative. Engaging in politics is in my view a waste of time - ok if you want to do it, but not for me. At the end I just wanted to yell - get off your soapbox!

http://warisacrime.org/content/how-people-got-their-groove-back-what-bunch-farmers-can-teach-bunch-occupiers-about-how-keep