Community Bonding

[Rogue Community College Theater]

Yesterday a few if us were thinking about why we're so tired and came to a realization: we've been sprinting for a month! First, we had to prepare the land for an outside gathering. During their gathering we had to run our own kitchen, feeding 20 people in a small cabin. We also took on a significant role in facilitating their gathering.

Then we were to have a week of light preparation before enjoying the Summer men's gathering. Instead, we planned menus, shuffled money to pay for gathering expenses, bought food, created accounting and registration systems, cut fire breaks, and more.

Then the gathering arrived and required our constant attention. Somehow, in the midst of it, we met every day to craft a few proposals for Great Circle.

Then Great Circle happened. It came at the tail end of our crazy month, so it's no surprise that we weren't at our freshest. We got through it mostly alive, though.

Yesterday we received a generous offer from our friend, Ocean. He is a theater director in Grants Pass. This is the closing weekend for their production of Annie, Get Your Gun. He called us up and offered free tickets to anyone who wanted to go.

The show was amazing! It didn't feel like small town theater at all. The performers were real professionals, top notch singers and engaging actors. It was the most fun I've had in a long time.

Piwacket had overseen the creation of an awesome picnic dinner: trays of carmelized onion, turkey and cheese crostini, watermelon, and a fantastic quinoa salad.

Knowing that our folk can be rowdy, we sat way up in the back separate from the paying guests. (You can see how many we were from the photo... 15 or so, I think.)

All-in-all, it was a perfect night, and the perfect way to bring us together after a month of grueling work.

Trash Talk!

[Hops plant climbing a pole]

I've gone through lots of growth in the last few years. I finally decided to stop dabbling in different crafts and focus on just weaving. Then I decided to get even more serious by turning it into my livelihood. This meant learning to manage my time and money like an adult. (shudder)

Then I moved to Wolf Creek Sanctuary and started taking on a leadership role in bringing consensual reality back into the core of this culture. All of these things involve personal growth, but with an outward focus: the business, the sanctuary, etc. At this Great Circle, I realized another part of my leadership role here on the land: personal deportment, even outside of meetings. It's the first time in a while that I've had a strictly personal goal.

It's very easy to believe that the structure of our decision-making process is the only thing that matters when we sit down to govern ourselves. This week, I've come to understand that this isn't the case. When leading members of the community are heard speaking about others without discretion, it creates fear. This fear undermines the trust that's required for the consensus process to work.

The trash talking behavior also discloses a lapse in the embodiment of our subject-SUBJECT ideals. When someone speaks about another without the chance to hear that person's perspective, he has silently decided that he knows the other's motivations. Our foundational beliefs tell us that this intimate knowledge of another person isn't possible. The other person needs to be given the chance to speak for himself. (This is the definition of subject-SUBJECT reality.)

To break the cycle of trash talk and enhance the reality of empowered communication even outside of official meetings, I sat in a circle with recorded minutes and made a promise to the community: if I feel the need to "vent" frustration about another person, I will then speak to that person directly within 24 hours. I have asked the community to hold me to that promise. They've agreed. This isn't meant to shift the responsibility to them, only to give clear accountability to encourage me to follow through.

I've been living with this promise for about two days now. (Although yesterday shouldn't count since I accidentally slept through most of it...) It is having an immense impact on my world view! I find myself happier, less stressed out, and more optimistic about the future. I find myself believing better of people, giving them the benefit of the doubt, and actively looking for ways to understand their behavior. I found myself in conversation with someone who was speaking ill of a third person while I gently defended this person who had been a "sworn enemy" just a few days ago. Even if I hadn't defended him, my support for the person in front of me but silence on the topic itself could have helped keep the ill will between the two of them from becoming stronger. I also find myself feeling more open to the people around me. I don't need to defend myself so heavily because everything doesn't feel like a fight.

In making this promise, I am not saying that I will ignore people's behavior and neglect to hold them accountable for their actions, only that I will do it directly instead of talking behind their backs. I can't believe it took me so many years to come to the realization of how important this is for me and for the community. Better late than never!

Great Circle

[The place where it all happened]

The last two days have been the most grueling time I've ever spent working within the consensus system. It was the semi-annual meeting of the general membership of our organization.

Throughout the history of our organization, there has been a schism between the folks who live in the city and the folks who live on the land. In recent years, this has grown to the point that we've found it difficult to govern ourselves. The difference of opinions has come to dominate most of our interactions.

In this two-day meeting, we attempted to address the "root anxiety", as it were. And we did. The first day saw no decision-making at all. Instead, we went over many of the business items and just discussed our opinions on them, trying to find our common ground.

The second day was more difficult as we sought consensus on these things. Most difficult for me personally was my proposal for Caretaker status here on the land. There are very few differences between Caretakers and visitors: they are obligated to take responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the land and the functioning of the community in exchange for housing and utilities. Visitors work here, but don't answer to the greater organization and aren't guaranteed housing. They also have to pay utilities in the Winter.

My proposal was debated hotly for over two hours while I worked to understand and address every concern. In the end, the deciding factor was the fact that there are others to keep my strong personality in check.

On the day of decisions, I mixed up a new version of a very old recipe. It's a toilet water that helps a person feel fresh and cool. It's part of an old purifying ceremony that I use to prepare myself for deep spiritual work or clear the air after an emotionally difficult experience. Boy, was I glad I had it with me!

Agua Florída (Water of Flowers, Florida Water)
By Blossom Merz
(All oils are the highest quality essential oil. Synthetic or "perfume" oils will not give a satisfactory result.)
In a 10 oz bottle, mix the following:
2 oz 190-proof grain alcohol
32 drops lavender oil
32 drops sweet orange oil
20 drops white grapefruit oil
20 drops lemon oil
5 drops clove bud oil
1 drop cinnamon oil
1 drop kewda oil (Rare, expensive, and undetectable in the final result. Used because it is historical, going back to Old Testament times.)
Shake hard for 1 minute, then add:
8 oz water
Keep tightly sealed, shake before using.

Day Off, Then Another Fundraiser

After feeling completely burned out on Friday, I decided to take a day off from bookkeeping. The last of the food had been purchased and we were slightly over zero. So I relaxed and enjoyed the company of my friends for the day. Nobody else seems to care about the bottom line anyhow. I got to go to heart circle, talk with friends, and just relax for a whole day. Yes, I made my dinner announcements, but without specific numbers. Nobody complained.

Then today I realized something we could do to bring in the last bits of money. People have been saying throughout the gathering that they didn't bring cash and that they'd go to the computer and donate through PayPal. It's tough to remember and follow through once you walk away from the circle.




[Credit card donation station sign.]

So, today we got wi-fi to the parking lot registration tent and set up credit card processing. It worked! People realized that the gathering was over, they hadn't donated, and we were making it easy for them. They paid for their rugs and gave us general donations to pay our expenses.

It ended up running over my commitment to typeset the proposals for Great Circle so we won't be as prepared as I'd like. Ah, well. We're more prepared than most others who bring proposals.