Sunday, June 26, 2005
Revolution of One in Southern Indiana
On June 10 through 14, I spent five days enjoying the great outdoors and fomenting revolution in Southern Indiana. I would like to share with you a few highlights of my time there, taken from a mix of email sent to loved ones and more recent reflections as I write this entry.
It was such a good weekend with so much to talk about that I hardly know where to begin!
My friend Hope picked me up on Friday afternoon, and we headed out to Lothlorien Nature Sanctuary. It was really good to spend some quality time with such a good friend! Somewhere between the workshops, the travelling, activities at Lothlorien, and so on, we managed to have some good conversations and catch up on how life's been going for both of us. I enjoyed getting to see the campsite and the tipi that Hope is living at/in for the summer, and I slept in a geodesic dome across from her tipi for the entire stay at Lothlorien. I also enjoyed seeing her three year old son Phoenix again! He was quite a handful sometimes after spending a few days in town without his mother and his usual boundaries. But it was worth every bit of whining and fussing to catch another glimpse of this little boy slowly growing into a big boy. Before you know it, he'll be more mature than most adults!
The first workshop on this stop of the Tour was hosted by Boxcar Books in Bloomington, IN. It was a wonderful experience! It started out in a funny way though. When I first walked into the store, the person behind the counter didn't know that there was an event that night! We couldn't get in touch with my contact at Boxcar who had booked the event for me, but luckily it was on their events calendar, and a copy of my flyer was on the door. So, one of their workers set up some chairs and we got started with the workshop. There were only half a dozen people, but we had a very positive and creative discussion together, so that was more important to me than a large turnout. [It's all about quality, not quantity, eh?] I sold and authographed a couple of books, and I also spoke one on one with one of the participants for a while before saying goodbye.
Then, the second workshop of the weekend was hosted at Lothlorien. For some reason, the group discussion didn't seem to come together as personally and smoothly as it did at Boxcar, which is almost the opposite of what I was expecting. But we did have some good discussion, and I feel like I made a few excellent connections with people who share in these sorts of visions for revolutionary transformation.
Then, there was Lothlorien's Council meeting. Once a month, the Council [similar to a Board of Directors] meets to talk about all of the details of keeping Lothlorien in operation. Since I'm not involved in any of their projects and have only been there at all on a handful of occassions, this was mostly just a quiet time for me to eat some snack food and contemplate the nature of group dynamics. But they did cover some important ground, including the reports from their famous annual Elf Fest and a discussion of extra funding for completing the building of the "Thunderdome." I'm very excited by the prospect of watching this construction project come to completion after several years in development. I was also happy to participate in their volunteer work day [Earth Stewardship Weekend] by spending a few hours scrubbing and prepping metal hubs that will be used in the Thunderdome.
Then, there was my trip to Bloomingfoods, the food co-op in Bloomington. All that I can say is cool beans! I guess I'm becoming a "co-op geek," because it's fun and exciting for me to visit other co-ops [or even other grocery stores] and look at how they operate. It gave me a lot of food for thought [ha, ha] for the coming move to a new location that our own Co-op here in Carbondale is about to pursue.
Finally, one of the biggest things of all on this trip was the opportunity to spend time in the woods. My friend Hope and I didn't end up going for any of our planned hikes into "Faerie" -- a place that is the majestic magical majority of the Lothlorien Nature Sanctuary, where the land is left wild in the hands of the Fae without any campsites or structures. But even without a trip into Faerie, it was wonderful to be outdoors. Just spending four or five days at our campsite, sleeping closer to the Earth, walking along the paths in Lothlorien, talking with friends about "real stuff" like our connection to each other and the Earth, staying up late on the last night to stand by the campfire experiencing in the wind and the rain in the trees, and so on, was a wonderful experience. Some day, I intend to live in a community where this sort of experience is an everyday occurence. But in the meantime, it was good to spend a few days catching a tiny peek of what awaits me.
So, there you have it! The only real down side to the entire trip was having to leave behind the workshops, the unstructured time, the forest experiences, and the quality time with my friend Hope in order to return to "The Big City" of Carbondale, Illinois. It's as though I'm back in the Matrix now -- and I worry sometimes that I'll never find my way out. But, I'm growing much more emotionally balanced in my old age, and I don't swing as easily into despair as I used to. After the initial shock of the transition wore off, I returned to my center and found the peace that I'm experiencing more and more of these days. I'm genuinely happy to return to some of the people and projects that surround me in the here and now. And as I think about what wonderful prospects await me in the coming days, my heart is mostly filled with a very positive warm-and-fuzzy feeling rather than the angst and despair that used to overwhelm me whenever something that I desired wasn't possible right away.
Speaking of those prospects, there is a great deal on the horizon!
First of all, I would like to keep on keepin' on with this Revolution of One Tour. I still have my goal of making it to Urbana, St. Louis, and Chicago for more Revolution of One events. Also, I intend to organize further Revolution of One events in Carbondale, including one at the second annual Heartland Bioneers conference. Finally, I would like to continue the development of the Revolution of One's online presence, through continued sales to distributors such as Nature's First Law and renovation of my Lulu Storefront and Revolution of One site and forums. You can look forward to new versions of my Revolution of One packet and new revolutionary information on both of these sites soon!
Beyond the Revolution of One project, I'm also working on other writing projects. The first and foremost of these is my first novel, Gaia's Orphans, due to be released in Fall 2005. This work of speculative fiction follows the journey of one man through the heart of the post-apocalyptic Chicagoland area, making his way through hoardes of undead creatures in search of the answers that will spark the rebirth of humanity -- or lead to its final destruction. Stay tuned to this website and my Lulu Storefront for more news as it develops. Also, I'm considering publishing a series of essays for free or cheap download. I have a few topics in mind, but if there are any subjects that you're just dying to hear from me about, then feel free to contact me and I'll see what I can do. Even if I don't write an essay about it, you'll almost certainly get a response from me, and you may end up inspiring my next blog entry!
Finally, in addition to all of my writing, I do have a life away from this blessed radiation-spewing computer! There will be big news this harvest season as I move to a new house on the other side of town, prepare for the big move at the Neighborhood Co-op, continue my participation in the Big Muddy IMC, and look forward to the next steps in a certain Project X that I've mentioned before on my website and probably in this blog. Yes, there's a lot going on right now... not the least of which is doing some "summer cleaning" to prepare for this move to a new house... :) I've been meaning to go through those old papers anyway...
So now, just a few days after a lovely Solstice, it's time for me to start harvesting what has been growing in my life since the harvests of last year. Wish me luck, and may you find the same in your own journey...
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It was such a good weekend with so much to talk about that I hardly know where to begin!
My friend Hope picked me up on Friday afternoon, and we headed out to Lothlorien Nature Sanctuary. It was really good to spend some quality time with such a good friend! Somewhere between the workshops, the travelling, activities at Lothlorien, and so on, we managed to have some good conversations and catch up on how life's been going for both of us. I enjoyed getting to see the campsite and the tipi that Hope is living at/in for the summer, and I slept in a geodesic dome across from her tipi for the entire stay at Lothlorien. I also enjoyed seeing her three year old son Phoenix again! He was quite a handful sometimes after spending a few days in town without his mother and his usual boundaries. But it was worth every bit of whining and fussing to catch another glimpse of this little boy slowly growing into a big boy. Before you know it, he'll be more mature than most adults!
The first workshop on this stop of the Tour was hosted by Boxcar Books in Bloomington, IN. It was a wonderful experience! It started out in a funny way though. When I first walked into the store, the person behind the counter didn't know that there was an event that night! We couldn't get in touch with my contact at Boxcar who had booked the event for me, but luckily it was on their events calendar, and a copy of my flyer was on the door. So, one of their workers set up some chairs and we got started with the workshop. There were only half a dozen people, but we had a very positive and creative discussion together, so that was more important to me than a large turnout. [It's all about quality, not quantity, eh?] I sold and authographed a couple of books, and I also spoke one on one with one of the participants for a while before saying goodbye.
Then, the second workshop of the weekend was hosted at Lothlorien. For some reason, the group discussion didn't seem to come together as personally and smoothly as it did at Boxcar, which is almost the opposite of what I was expecting. But we did have some good discussion, and I feel like I made a few excellent connections with people who share in these sorts of visions for revolutionary transformation.
Then, there was Lothlorien's Council meeting. Once a month, the Council [similar to a Board of Directors] meets to talk about all of the details of keeping Lothlorien in operation. Since I'm not involved in any of their projects and have only been there at all on a handful of occassions, this was mostly just a quiet time for me to eat some snack food and contemplate the nature of group dynamics. But they did cover some important ground, including the reports from their famous annual Elf Fest and a discussion of extra funding for completing the building of the "Thunderdome." I'm very excited by the prospect of watching this construction project come to completion after several years in development. I was also happy to participate in their volunteer work day [Earth Stewardship Weekend] by spending a few hours scrubbing and prepping metal hubs that will be used in the Thunderdome.
Then, there was my trip to Bloomingfoods, the food co-op in Bloomington. All that I can say is cool beans! I guess I'm becoming a "co-op geek," because it's fun and exciting for me to visit other co-ops [or even other grocery stores] and look at how they operate. It gave me a lot of food for thought [ha, ha] for the coming move to a new location that our own Co-op here in Carbondale is about to pursue.
Finally, one of the biggest things of all on this trip was the opportunity to spend time in the woods. My friend Hope and I didn't end up going for any of our planned hikes into "Faerie" -- a place that is the majestic magical majority of the Lothlorien Nature Sanctuary, where the land is left wild in the hands of the Fae without any campsites or structures. But even without a trip into Faerie, it was wonderful to be outdoors. Just spending four or five days at our campsite, sleeping closer to the Earth, walking along the paths in Lothlorien, talking with friends about "real stuff" like our connection to each other and the Earth, staying up late on the last night to stand by the campfire experiencing in the wind and the rain in the trees, and so on, was a wonderful experience. Some day, I intend to live in a community where this sort of experience is an everyday occurence. But in the meantime, it was good to spend a few days catching a tiny peek of what awaits me.
So, there you have it! The only real down side to the entire trip was having to leave behind the workshops, the unstructured time, the forest experiences, and the quality time with my friend Hope in order to return to "The Big City" of Carbondale, Illinois. It's as though I'm back in the Matrix now -- and I worry sometimes that I'll never find my way out. But, I'm growing much more emotionally balanced in my old age, and I don't swing as easily into despair as I used to. After the initial shock of the transition wore off, I returned to my center and found the peace that I'm experiencing more and more of these days. I'm genuinely happy to return to some of the people and projects that surround me in the here and now. And as I think about what wonderful prospects await me in the coming days, my heart is mostly filled with a very positive warm-and-fuzzy feeling rather than the angst and despair that used to overwhelm me whenever something that I desired wasn't possible right away.
Speaking of those prospects, there is a great deal on the horizon!
First of all, I would like to keep on keepin' on with this Revolution of One Tour. I still have my goal of making it to Urbana, St. Louis, and Chicago for more Revolution of One events. Also, I intend to organize further Revolution of One events in Carbondale, including one at the second annual Heartland Bioneers conference. Finally, I would like to continue the development of the Revolution of One's online presence, through continued sales to distributors such as Nature's First Law and renovation of my Lulu Storefront and Revolution of One site and forums. You can look forward to new versions of my Revolution of One packet and new revolutionary information on both of these sites soon!
Beyond the Revolution of One project, I'm also working on other writing projects. The first and foremost of these is my first novel, Gaia's Orphans, due to be released in Fall 2005. This work of speculative fiction follows the journey of one man through the heart of the post-apocalyptic Chicagoland area, making his way through hoardes of undead creatures in search of the answers that will spark the rebirth of humanity -- or lead to its final destruction. Stay tuned to this website and my Lulu Storefront for more news as it develops. Also, I'm considering publishing a series of essays for free or cheap download. I have a few topics in mind, but if there are any subjects that you're just dying to hear from me about, then feel free to contact me and I'll see what I can do. Even if I don't write an essay about it, you'll almost certainly get a response from me, and you may end up inspiring my next blog entry!
Finally, in addition to all of my writing, I do have a life away from this blessed radiation-spewing computer! There will be big news this harvest season as I move to a new house on the other side of town, prepare for the big move at the Neighborhood Co-op, continue my participation in the Big Muddy IMC, and look forward to the next steps in a certain Project X that I've mentioned before on my website and probably in this blog. Yes, there's a lot going on right now... not the least of which is doing some "summer cleaning" to prepare for this move to a new house... :) I've been meaning to go through those old papers anyway...
So now, just a few days after a lovely Solstice, it's time for me to start harvesting what has been growing in my life since the harvests of last year. Wish me luck, and may you find the same in your own journey...
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