Synthesis, Synergy, Co-creation ...

Some years ago, in the time before Ed Miliband committed political fratricide and after Durham County Council had well and truly shafted our micro social enterprise, Du, and its integrated transport project, Du-it, Cameron and I wangled an invitation to a meeting in Jarrow, where Ed and his older brother and Labour leader in waiting, David,  were speaking.

In the audience was an official from the Regional Development Agency, Chris Pywell. After our public, caustic observations about the bureaucratic suppression of social enterprise, based on our painful experience, Chris approached us, piqued by our cheek, and asked us what projects we had in mind. Building on the corpse of the murdered Du-it, we proposed a peer to peer community development design, which we called communityNet. Having an idea of the sum he might be able to disburse without too much red tape, we proposed an outline design paper of 50 pages for £5k, which he agreed and indeed paid, within days.

Having requested a month to deliver this paper, we set off on an amazing adventure of co-creative activity, engaging local community activists and turning the usual top down approach upside down ... or rather, the right way up ... with an infrastructure of community hubs, owned and governed by local communities, community animateurs as outreach staff, projects that the local community wanted and the whole thing linked horizontally, ideas shared and services aggregated.

The month was not just hugely creative, but great fun too ... all consuming ... awake with ideas bubbling pre-dawn, discussing with Cameron over phone and internet and face-to-face, back and forth with versions, until within the month we had a document of 52 pages, full of radical suggestions and highly commended by folks in the field, such as the Chief Executive of Ruralnet.

At our meeting with Chris, he said he had never received a report like it before. He didn't elaborate on whether he loved it or loathed it, but he brought in his assistant to take it forward.

The assistant, an ambitious young man without any obvious sense of humour, really didn't like it, and managed to kill it, while Chris was either away on holiday, looking the other way, or otherwise engaged in matters more important than a bright idea which could only bring trouble to the very staid status quo, which was the N.E. England establishment.

Or maybe it was rubbish!

Du found other work, some equally energising, like the Hi3 event at the Sage in Gateshead ... Hi3 being Cameron's inspired title for the rather wordy "Health Inequalities in the North East the 3rd sector way" ... and co-created with many enthusiastic players ... it was a day when at least three things were happening at once, with participants advised not to hang around at events that did not excite them ... a tasty peasant lunch to remind folks that health inequalities worldwide were often life or death issues and over £1k raised for an Africa project, most of it from the savings from the reduced budget for the free food expected in those pre-austerity days ... echoing Chris' remark about communityNet, the speaker from Durham University, who had previously explained how most government programmes designed to reduce health inequalities had the opposite result, having stayed all day, said it was a conference unlike any other he had attended ... and this time in an unequivocally good way!

More about Du things in another blog perhaps ... the time and place were not propitious and we moved on to other things ... Cameron to set up a very successful cafe up Weardale in St John's Chapel, me a variety of jobs to see me through to pension time (for younger readers, this system operated for the benefit of the Babyboomer generation and ran out of money when demand exceeded supply) ... and a legacy project with Weardale Community Transport, based at the local community hub, "Wheels to Meals" ... still going strong and much loved locally.

The trigger for all this nostalgia was a Facebook post reminding me of the Hi3 event ... which raises the issue of FB knowing things about me I have long forgotten, as well as photos from devices deceased and not backed up ... maybe a tool when Alzheimer's arrives ... more likely a whole new application, with our own avatar holding all the information about us, ready to share as required with health services, employers, children, grandchildren .... and so on ...

Synthesis was the card given at the start of Experience Week at Findhorn in 2011, and in a nice synchrocity, it popped up in a video clip of the Dalai Lama during a blog break just now ... whilst another Syn, synergy is buzzing around with the Noomap folks ... other Syn words will be explored in future posts, suffice it to say that things are coming together beautifully at this time and in this unlikely, soon to be vacated place ...

Blockchains and other mind boggling ...

As this lazy summer heads toward Autumn, the tranquil mind finds space for frankly boggling new tools ... today's being Ethereum, dreamt up by young Canadian Vitalik Buterin .... if you want the tutorials try You Tube ... it resonates intuitively, whilst the ancient processors plod away to understand any of it ... Noomap may nestle into it, crypto-currencies too ... handy as the old world financial system creaks and crumbles ....

Speaking of crumbling, the Casa ... living metaphor for the old and decadent world, set in the deluded dystopia of the Costa, has had two spectacular crashes in a week ... first a palm tree in the drive gave up and fell with a thump ... this in the daytime and soon identified ... second, at half-past midnight and well into the deep sleep time, an almighty bang ... a quick torch-lit check established no sledgehammer assisted forced entry, and finally the source was traced to a fall of masonry onto the covered way ... and pleased to report equanimity was restored and sleep resumed quite soon ...

As a further warning about charismatic leaders, a post appeared this morning about a "Truther" and ex-marine, called Ken O'Keefe, outed as a swindler ... contemporary Elmer Gantry maybe ... and followed by a sub-set of self-styled "awake" folks ... many betrayed not just by Ken, but also their own gullible minds and fondness for strong leadership ... the ones who set alarm bells ringing here go in for righteous anger and ranting, along with particularly ugly phrases derived from the USA, which will not be written here, since they not only insult the Sacred Mother archetype, but also the personal link between the man (it usually is) and his own mother in the most degrading terms ...  beware the charismatic leaders ... and paradoxically the leader role wants playing sometimes ... as long as the leader remembers it is just a role and the followers remember the script includes their responsibility to work on dependency tendencies ... and as a group to watch out for the human frailities. .. sex, money, power, which the lurking ego feeds upon ...

In all this, A Place to Be is reforming, using the new tools and new allies too ... so many people, of all ages and nationalities yearning for new ways to live in harmony ... peacefully with all sentient beings ... in co-creation with Nature ...

And Diogo calling down after his very hot summer job in Badajoz finishes next weekend ... in human endeavour, two minds are much much more than the sum of their parts ...

Rules ...

Recent discussions with visitors bring the intentional community building question to the fore ... online connections to Noomap as a tool for such work lead round to lots of activity in Portugal ... seems to be a serious contender for A Place to Be ... which brings up the practical question of rules ... resisted intuitively, yet whatever word is used and however codes of behaviour are developed and implemented, it is well to consider the experience of past pioneers .... and to remember the amusing tale of the world expert on intentional communities ... had experience of so many because he was impossible to live with!

Perhaps, to start, we can accept that many different forms can co-exist ... and to set out what A Place to Be aspires to achieve, at least in its first model.

So, for discussion ... recognising that APtB has a history, but no longer a legal form, bank account or formal leadership ... and that, as above, so below, congruence in thought, word and action practiced ...

Spiritual core: commitment to co-creation, compassion, tolerance, simplicity and respect for all sentient beings and our Mother Earth ...

Personal development: commitment to address the psychological issues which may block our personal development and following from that affect community life ...

Taking responsibility: eschewing gurus, blame and passivity, we take responsibility for our lives and the way they affect the whole ...

Healthy bodies: consciously exercising our minds and bodies and eating wholesome food ... avoiding toxic and addictive substances ...

Returning to Love: accepting that co-creation is challenging as well as rewarding, employing processes that transcend thought-provoking differences and bring us back to our spiritual core ...

Astute readers may have noticed an absence of rules in the five principles proposed ... of course the messy business of living aligned to them may change all that!

Lots of friends are interested in Permaculture, which is not specifically mentioned ... though fits well with the principles ... corpse eaters and smokers may be wondering if their conditioned behaviours will fit in ... respect for sentient beings, avoiding toxic and addictive substances, taking responsibility, will have doubtless led them to their own conclusions ...

After this provocative starter for discussion, what is really exciting is the energy which is building for new ways to live together ... based on cooperation and compassion with new economic forms ... and for this would-be participant, as well as promoting an international membership, it is essential that folks from the host countries and local areas are involved from the start.

Portugal here we come ... via France and a Spanish Camino del Norte if the replacement housesitters arrive in time!

Fakery

Readers may have noticed a sense of unease about the Costa in general and golf, polo, urbanisations and Marbella in particular.

Longer term readers may have observed a similar sense in the pages from the walk along the Algarve coast, particularly Albufeira.

Pedantic readers may have noticed these opening paragraphs are traditionally punctuated .... don't get used to it ...

Russ, who has been earning a crust (when they get round to paying him), driving the polo ponies from their stables to the matches at one of the many polo grounds to be found at this end of the Costa, says it's all fake... imagine how much water it takes to keep the vast lawns green in this climate ... golf too ... and the whole polo drama is immensely costly, just for a few very wealthy folk to flaunt their money ... a whole economy with groundkeepers, stable hands, saddlers, farriers, riders, caterers .... all for a fairly short season in August ...

Yet fakery also has a relative sense ... perhaps ... my experience of the polo crowd is non-existent, so why speculate? The sporting dramas of other strata of society may be equally fake or real to non-participants ... political dramas too ... and excess of money may not be better or worse than the lack of it ... so-called spiritual seekers embrace ascetism or abundance depending on their "path" ... who is to judge?

Anyway, whilst polo has never called, it seemed a one off opportunity, being in San Enrique a few more weeks,  to pop along and check for resonance ... there was none, so it's not for me ... which does not mean it's not for others, of course ... and the problem of Russ getting paid is common for all the employees apparently ... according to him it is to do with cash flow, currency controls across borders and so on ... another informant, from a wealthy family, reckons it is the casual arrogance of the rich ... not concerned or truly aware that the plebs are often skint ... what is seen is that this behaviour spreads down through the supply chain ...

Let's say fakery is for each to own ... becoming aware, developing authenticity ... the bank balance not the issue ... and this sometime social commentator may develop his own faculties to be less critical of the lifestyles of others ...

Meanwhile, the political dramas in UK and US of A become more bizarre ... to be a player in them a real test of credulity ... most of my friends in the UK, leaving aside Cruella aka May, are cheering for J.C. a decent chap with social democratic credentials, whilst a strangely faceless establishment social democrat plays Aunt Sally ... it may be instructive to read Yanis Varoufakis' version of his pal Tsipras' treatment at the hands of Merkel and the ECB ... cross the lines we draw and the ATMs are turned off tomorrow ... so UK has a bigger economy than Greece? Sure ... and we voted to leave the EU ... let's see how all that plays out ... it is capitalism that is the problem and the capitalist stooges who are trying to solve the problem ... and that, of course, is the real problem ...

Whoops. .. wandered about a bit there ... never mind, it's all fake on one level ... keep on stripping away the fakery ... the real is there somewhere ...

Guests, plans, waves ...

After posting an invitation on FB, for folks interested in taking A Place to Be forward , Aga arrived for a week from Newcastle and Diogo drove down from Badajoz for a an evening, stayed overnight and drove back early next day ... a lovely meeting of minds over a meal and three visions energising one, inspiring all to move forward ... and each bringing others into the mix .... Portugal still calling ... let's see ....

After so much time embracing solitude, a week one to one was an interesting opportunity to practice being in relationship ... starting on the same wavelength, adjusting the dials to match frequencies. ... keeping space for silence and reflection ... and observing all that, enjoying the self-discovery as well as finding out more about future collaborators, their aspirations ...

The routines were shared, amended ... the sea turned turbulent and offered elemental fun ... sun, sea, sand and wind whipping up the waves ... Malaga.eu reported 12 drownings already this season, warning of the dangers of the waves ... no mention of ingesting alcohol and heavy food before swimming, though herein lies the real danger ... closer examination of the data may be revealing ... after all, surfers seek out the biggest possible waves ... anyway, the sea has calmed now and the dance of embracing the undertow, passing over, under or through the breaker waiting in the brief calm, riding the wave back in, tumbling over the gritty sand has been exhilarating. .. or maybe safer to obey the red flags and all the other rules to keep us safe ...

As for frequency matching. .. this story comes with the usual warning about words, paradoxes and all that ... if some of it resonates, fine, if not fine also ...

The tale imagines the brain, with all its infinite complexity, as basically a radio transmitter and receiver. .. maybe some memory storage in there too, but the evidence has not been found ... which leaves us with all the thoughts ever thunk out there in the noosphere ready to be accessed as required ... the frequency of the universe is taken as ohm (whatever that is, we are well past the rational now) and the gift of the quiet mind is tuned closely to that ... the wavelength is taken as some paradigm shifting process ... coarse vibrations being associated with pain, suffering, violence and so on ... finer ones with peace and equanimity ... at ohm it's Love, our basic state once all the layers of delusion and confusion are stripped away ...

Drugs, alcohol, rubbish food, rubbish thoughts generally coarsen ... advocates of hallucinogenic shortcuts may disagree ... feel free! Hormones also disturb the equanimity and these are harder to manage, maybe impossible given the processes of the human body ...

All of which illustrates some of the challenges of creating intentional community where rules are kept to a minimum and leadership spread equally ... plenty of folks have written of their experiences dancing this dance ... processes tried and tested are shared ... looking forward to getting to that stage ... meanwhile the idea has picked up some energy ...

And the Casa del Puente has enjoyed hosting two beautiful souls with dreams of the future ... and Susie and Aga made a lovely connection too ... from this week we have four decades engaged on the ground, with other generations ready to join ...

If you are looking for Diogo, by the way, we missed the photo since time was tight, as was the light ... you can see him on the blog from Coimbra in March 2015 maybe. .. when we first connected ...

Noomap

Hot today and ready for a shady coffee at the Tubalito after a brisk walk across the campo ... the return leg looks challenging, the dip eagerly anticipated ...

Pre-walk browsing produces new information from a recently acquired FB friend, which resonates immediately and looks set for this afternoon's study .... new tools for the new story and the beautiful new earth being birthed ...

The Noomap is giving practical expression to the noosphere imagined by Teilard de Chardin through mystical insight some years ago ... and the observation of sometime colleague in redesigning public services in County Durham, Cameron Gordon: interactive internet means hierarchies become redundant ...when everyone can talk to anyone about anything at any time, peer to peer replaces them ....it takes a while to rearrange the furniture and we were premature in trying to persuade folks whose livelihood depended on the old ways to willingly embrace the new ... prematurity is a necessary, if uncomfortable, stage ... a seeding ... many of these paradigm shifts take generations to build ... the old thinkers have to retire or pass on before the new enters the mainstream ... though time itself is speeding up as information increases exponentially ... and the new applications of peer to peer enter quietly and grow ... Couchsurfing, Blablacar, Abundance and now this meta application from Chris Larcombe, pressing all the buttons for me ... exciting stuff and one to investigate further. ..

Meanwhile, the energy is moving as the end of this retreat comes into sight ... first a visit from Agnieszka next week, to talk about a Place to Be, then wrapping up with the new housesitters, and on the road, earlier than anticipated ... maybe a trip to France to see blog supporter and friend from those premature days of peer to peer community development ... a rare long term Durham council officer who maintained independence of thought in that wilderness of innovation ....

Exciting times!