All Discussions Tagged 'change' - Occupy Cafe2024-03-28T16:51:56Zhttp://www.occupycafe.org/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=change&feed=yes&xn_auth=noOccupy Heart 7/13: Occupy Core Changetag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-07-13:6451976:Topic:284772012-07-13T00:54:04.897ZJitendra Darlinghttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/JitendraDarling
<div class="tb"><span class="font-size-2"><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1275128269?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-right" height="195" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1275128269?profile=original" width="262"></img></a> During the Occupy National Gathering in Philadelphia last week, </b> I explored what might be different now from past movements for change—and what might yet be needed. <b><br></br></b> <br></br> 12-2p PDT | 3-5p EDT | 7-9p GMT</span></div>
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<div class="tb"><span class="font-size-2"><b><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1275128269?profile=original"><img class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1275128269?profile=original" height="195" width="262"/></a>During the Occupy National Gathering in Philadelphia last week, </b> I explored what might be different now from past movements for change—and what might yet be needed. <b><br/></b> <br/> 12-2p PDT | 3-5p EDT | 7-9p GMT</span></div>
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<div class="tb"> <b><span class="font-size-2"><strong><a href="http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/conference/register/PZ5C0PGRXLHHPHS6" target="_blank">Click here to register</a><br/></strong></span></b></div>
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<div class="tb"><strong>Not in terms of content, specific initiatives or "problems" that need solving,</strong> but in terms of attitude, consciousness and quality of relationship within and among individuals, groups, societal structures and, no less than, the entire gestalt of life on Earth.<br/> <br/> <strong>I listened to an array of impassioned talks and speeches from NatGat organizers</strong> and speakers, tuning in each time, to the response of the crowd. I listened for signals and markers that might indicate how well we are progressing toward awakening a new paradigm of human relationship. </div>
<div class="tb"><strong>I listened for tones of victimization vs. empowerment, hostility vs. understanding, rebelliousness vs. constructive inquiry.</strong> All of these characteristics have their value, though some indicate more constructive possibility while others demonstrate old, failing strategies.</div>
<div class="tb"><strong><br/></strong> Explore to what degree are we individually and collectively occupying core change...and why it matters in order for #Occupy to be different from movements of the past...if, indeed, it is.</div>
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<div class="tb"><div class="description xj_comment_editor xg_user_generated" id="desc_6451976Comment28365"><ol>
<li><strong><span class="font-size-4">Going inside yourself, connect with why #Occupy might be different from movements of the past? </span></strong></li>
<li><strong><span class="font-size-4">What distinctions might allow this movement to be as different as we might believe or envision it to be?</span></strong></li>
<li><strong><span class="font-size-4">What might truly allow this movement to create a world that works for all? </span></strong></li>
<li><strong><span class="font-size-4">What is present now? </span></strong></li>
<li><strong><span class="font-size-4">What might yet be needed?</span></strong></li>
</ol>
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</div> Occupy Heart 6/8: Occupy Changetag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-06-08:6451976:Topic:258292012-06-08T07:24:57.366ZJitendra Darlinghttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/JitendraDarling
<p><strong><span style="color: #800000;"><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1275125690?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1275125690?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="375"></img></a></span></strong> <span style="color: #800000;"><span style="color: #888888;"><span style="color: #333333;"><strong>Occupy and embody are interchangeable words that can both mean "to inhabit." </strong> I've been teaching and counseling embodied personal change for nearly 20 years. Since diving into progressive politics and #Occupy, I've…</span></span></span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #800000;"><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1275125690?profile=original"><img width="375" class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1275125690?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="375"/></a></span></strong><span style="color: #800000;"><span style="color: #888888;"><span style="color: #333333;"><strong>Occupy and embody are interchangeable words that can both mean "to inhabit." </strong> I've been teaching and counseling embodied personal change for nearly 20 years. Since diving into progressive politics and #Occupy, I've been noticing all of the ways that changing the larger patterns in one's life are precisely like making systemic changes in our world at large.</span></span></span></p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #800000;">On this Occupy Heart<strong>...</strong></span></strong><span class="font-size-4"><span class="font-size-4"><strong><span style="color: #800000;"><br/> Occupy Change<br/></span></strong></span></span></p>
<div class="tb"><span class="font-size-2">12-2p PDT | 3-5p EDT | 7-9p GMT</span><br/> <b><span class="font-size-2"><strong><a href="http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/conference/register/PZ5C0PGRXLHHPHS6" target="_blank">Click here to register</a> <br/> <br/></strong></span></b></div>
<div class="tb"><p><strong>They both require those desiring the change, to think, act and "be" different. </strong> Thinking and acting differently will get you in the door, but if you want, for example, a relationship that will actually give you a different experience <em>for the long term,</em>you're going to have to make some significant changes on the inside. If you don't respect yourself, there's little chance you'll go from a man or woman that constantly wishes you were someone else, to the perfect person who adores you for who you are. At least not for long.</p>
<p><strong>Same with the things we don't like about our government</strong>, the economy, industrialized food and medicine, etc. All the ways people experience being on the short end of the stick (if you even have a stick), feeling less than, or devalued, won't change without discovering your value outside all the things that money, prestige, gainful employment or even a loved one, can provide. We need a certain amount of these things of course. In fact, I'm not going to say you need more or less of anything.</p>
<p><strong>You'll notice from the diagram above, </strong> deep changes outside begin with some deep shifts inside. Because your body influences ALL perception, the journey to radical social change starts right where you're standing (or sitting) right now.</p>
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<p><strong>Join Friday's Occupy Hear</strong>t call as we explore practical ways to <b>Occupy Change.</b></p> Occupy Heart 5/11: Open Heart Spacetag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-05-11:6451976:Topic:244862012-05-11T15:14:44.428ZJitendra Darlinghttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/JitendraDarling
<div class="tb"><span class="font-size-2"><strong><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1275126569?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1275126569?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300"></img></a> Our call this week will bring to light what's on your heart. </strong> <strong> Share how you feel about the changes</strong> you see, and want to see, in the world around you. What is your personal relationship to the larger movement toward peace, justice and freedom? …</span></div>
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<div class="tb"><span class="font-size-2"><strong><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1275126569?profile=original"><img width="300" class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1275126569?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300"/></a>Our call this week will bring to light what's on your heart. </strong> <strong> Share how you feel about the changes</strong> you see, and want to see, in the world around you. What is your personal relationship to the larger movement toward peace, justice and freedom? </span></div>
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<div class="tb"><span class="font-size-2">12-2p PDT | 3-5p EDT | 7-9p GMT</span><br/> <b><span class="font-size-2"><strong><a href="http://myaccount.maestroconference.com/conference/register/PZ5C0PGRXLHHPHS6" target="_blank">Click here to register<br/></a> <br/></strong></span></b></div>
<p> <span class="font-size-3"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rsrMjlr_QW-0PTxHTUCJAvjHwAz57kPVDhXPhF_lo-8/edit" target="_blank">Click Here For ALOHA Practice & Collaborative Tablecloth</a></span><span class="font-size-3" style="color: #800000;"> <strong><span style="color: #800000;"><br class="font-size-3" style="color: #800000;"/></span></strong></span> <strong><br/> What are you doing</strong> in relationship to transforming our world that you feel particularly good about?</p>
<p><strong>If you could make 2 changes</strong> within yourself, that might have the most positive impact in the world around you, what would they be? </p>
<p><strong>Parting note:</strong> As I chew my way through David Graeber's <em>Debt: The First 5000 Years</em>, it is remarkable to consider the historical context of the very plight we face now. Though the characters, settings and technology have changed, the underlying dynamic has not—that of inequity and debt bondage. <br/> <br/> <strong>More than a change</strong> of players, structures or policy—history depicts an unending stream of such upheavals—we are transforming our world through a collective change of heart. That's r-evolutionary!</p>
<p><strong>Remember to smile</strong>, lest we take our journey too personally and lose the spirit from which lasting freedom actually emerges. Love is power.</p> 4/23 Vital Conversations: Occupy Community Actiontag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-04-21:6451976:Topic:245062012-04-21T04:31:47.809ZOccupy Cafe Stewardshttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/21u3twzbb9qcp
<p class="p1"><a href="http://world5.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/big_image/OCmarch.world5sign..crop_.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="http://world5.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/big_image/OCmarch.world5sign..crop_.jpg?width=250" width="250"></img></a> Our conversation Monday will feature Jim Prues, Founder of World 5.0. He will discuss <strong><a href="http://www.corechangecincy.com/" target="_blank">Cincinnati's CoreChange Initiative</a></strong> and how it differs from past efforts to revitalize communities. We'll explore how the Occupy Movement can find focus and learn from groups like…</p>
<p class="p1"><a href="http://world5.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/big_image/OCmarch.world5sign..crop_.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://world5.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/big_image/OCmarch.world5sign..crop_.jpg?width=250" width="250" class="align-right"/></a>Our conversation Monday will feature Jim Prues, Founder of World 5.0. He will discuss <strong><a href="http://www.corechangecincy.com/" target="_blank">Cincinnati's CoreChange Initiative</a></strong> and how it differs from past efforts to revitalize communities. We'll explore how the Occupy Movement can find focus and learn from groups like CoreChange.</p>
<p class="p2"><span>8-10a PDT | 11a-1p EDT | 3-5p GMT</span><strong><br/><a href="http://bit.ly/occupycafe1121" target="_blank">Click here to register</a></strong></p>
<p class="p1"><strong>CLICK HERE FOR COLLABORATIVE TABLECLOTH</strong> (this link will be active before call time)</p>
<p class="p1">It must be 2012. There are innumerable connections, alignments and synchronicities emerging. CoreChange is one of them.</p>
<p class="p1">Here in Cincinnati, 'rust belt' factors and urban core issues have plagued most of our 52 neighborhoods, many for a generation or more. CoreChange was initiated by Dr. Victor Garcia, who saw far too many young people in the emergency room due to gun violence.</p>
<p class="p1"><strong><a href="http://www.corechangecincy.com/" target="_blank">CoreChange</a></strong> was inaugurated at a summit in February with over 500 people for the three-day event. We learned Appreciative Inquiry, the value of Unlikely Pairs, the need for critical and creative thinking, and the value of active engagement. The goal is to create Peace, Prosperity and Health in our neighborhoods, and is being implemented by some 15 sub-groups focused on transportation, urban farming, returning citizens, young people and more. </p>
<p class="p1">Please join us!</p> 3/5 Vital Conversation: The Challenge of Divergent Worldviewstag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-03-03:6451976:Topic:233342012-03-03T21:18:38.999ZOccupy Cafe Stewardshttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/21u3twzbb9qcp
<p><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #ff6600;"><strong><b><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1azGOv24PjpebxJrqUB6AC7tXt5NP7pMgy9UbKpeKLX4/edit" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ff6600;">CLICK HERE FOR THE COLLABORATIVE TABLECLOTH FOR THIS CALL</span></a></b></strong></span></p>
<p><span><strong>Welcome Conversation Starter Marco Morelli,</strong> a poet, activist, and spiritual practitioner. A philosophy student in college, he left the academic path in his early 20s to do…</span></p>
<p><span class="font-size-4" style="color: #ff6600;"><strong><b><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1azGOv24PjpebxJrqUB6AC7tXt5NP7pMgy9UbKpeKLX4/edit" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ff6600;">CLICK HERE FOR THE COLLABORATIVE TABLECLOTH FOR THIS CALL</span></a></b></strong></span></p>
<p><span><strong>Welcome Conversation Starter Marco Morelli,</strong> a poet, activist, and spiritual practitioner. A philosophy student in college, he left the academic path in his early 20s to do volunteer work and writing in Central America. Marco's first book of poetry was a series of translations of Nicaraguan poetry called *Ruben's Orphans: Anthology of Contemporary Nicaraguan Poetry*. It featured the work of the generation of young poets writing after the end of the Sandinista Revolution in the 1990s.<br/> <br/> <strong>Returning to the states, he discovered Ken Wilber's integral philosophy</strong> and became a close student, working with Wilber's Integral Institute from 2003-2007 where he co-authored, with Ken Wilber, Terry Patten, and Adam Leonard, the book *Integral Life Practice: A 21st Century Blueprint for Physical Health, Emotional Balance, Mental Clarity, and Spiritual Awakening*<br/> <br/> <strong>Marco is currently working with Terry Patten on a book</strong> entitled *The Integral Revolution: The Future of Consciousness, Culture, and Society in the Planetary Age*. The Integral Revolution aims to bring together the worlds of integral philosophy, evolutionary spirituality, and progressive activism to further the movement for global justice, sustainability, and peace.<br/> <br/> <strong>Marco lives in Longmont, Colorado</strong> with his wife and 2 1/2 year-old daughter.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span>=======================================================================<br/> <br/></span></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><span><strong>Monday's Vital Conversation is sparked</strong> by this Occupy Cafe blog post from Stephen M. Demetriou "<a href="http://www.occupycafe.org/profiles/blogs/on-blacklisted-conversations" target="_blank">On Blacklisted Conversations.</a>" While the specific context of Stephen's inquiry is the "Truther" theory that 9-11 was a "false flag operation," it touched on a broader set of concerns that bear exploration.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>Whether it is the events of 9-11</strong>, the "true nature" of our monetary system, climate change or the degree to which we hold or eschew various religious and spiritual beliefs, there are a number of volatile issues that potentially divide us from one another both within the Occupy movement and in the wider world. For the most part, we avoid debating these questions because our experience is that such conversations take up lots of time and energy, rarely resolve anything and often become contentious and divisive. Instead, we either cluster with those that agree with us or try to set the issue aside by "agreeing to disagree."</span></p>
<p><span><strong>However even when we don't</strong> <strong>have these conversations openly,</strong> the divergences often show up in subtle ways that create friction, such as a disparaging tone that we might use when referring to people who hold beliefs we deem irrational or naive, or an air of certainty in the way we express what we hold to be the truth that is experienced by those who disagree with us as arrogance or dismissal. These unspoken assumptions can also inform strategic thinking, since the plans we each advocate have everything to do with the way we believe "the system" works. </span></p>
<p><span><strong>Naomi Klein talks</strong> about how this shows up in the climate debate in <a href="http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/1053" target="_blank">a recent interview with Solutions</a>:</span></p>
<blockquote><p>The Yale cultural cognition project has looked at cultural worldview and climate change, and what’s clear is that ideology is the main factor in whether we believe in climate change. If you have an egalitarian and communitarian worldview, and you tend toward a belief system of pooling resources and helping the less advantaged, then you believe in climate change. And the stronger your belief system tends toward a hierarchical or individual worldview, the greater the chances are that you deny climate change and the stronger your denial will be. The reason is clear: it’s because people protect their worldviews. We all do this. We develop intellectual antibodies. Climate change confirms what people on the left already believe. But the Left must take this confirmation responsibly. It means that if you are on the left of the spectrum, you need to guard against exaggeration and your own tendency to unquestioningly accept the data because it confirms your worldview.</p>
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<p><span><strong>So, given how potent these world views are</strong> and how difficult--perhaps even impossible-- it is to get people to change them, what are the implications for those who would help to build a mass movement to bring about systemic transformation? Here are a number of questions to consider as we begin this conversation here on the Occupy Cafe forum:</span></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>What is your experience</strong> with the ways that our divergent beliefs affect our ability to communicate and work together when we choose to articulate them? Even when we don't?</li>
<li><strong>What core beliefs or worldviews underlie,</strong> consciously or unconsciously, the issues, strategies and tactics about which you are most passionate? What core beliefs and worldviews do you find to be incompatible with yours?</li>
<li><strong>"To what extent can we "agree to disagree?"</strong> On the other hand, what core beliefs about the way the world works do you believe we need to align on in order to strategize and collaborate effectively?</li>
<li><strong>What kinds of strategies and collaboration</strong> might allow us to sidestep, transcend or integrate the differences in our worldviews?</li>
</ul> 2/20 Vital Conversation—Change Agents: Who & what are they actually?tag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-02-20:6451976:Topic:231312012-02-20T15:44:04.796ZOccupy Cafe Stewardshttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/21u3twzbb9qcp
<p><span class="font-size-3"><span class="font-size-3"><span class="font-size-2"><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/occupycafe1121" target="_blank">Click here to register</a> </strong>(your PIN # is good for all future Vital Conversation calls)</span></span></span></p>
<p><strong>What does it mean to be a change agent?</strong> "I support change. I'd love to see it, but I'm not sure I can picture myself leading the charge. I do like the conversations, though." Is this person less of a change…</p>
<p><span class="font-size-3"><span class="font-size-3"><span class="font-size-2"><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/occupycafe1121" target="_blank">Click here to register</a> </strong>(your PIN # is good for all future Vital Conversation calls)</span></span></span></p>
<p><strong>What does it mean to be a change agent?</strong> "I support change. I'd love to see it, but I'm not sure I can picture myself leading the charge. I do like the conversations, though." Is this person less of a change agent than someone who was born with a protest sign in their hands? What about the action of the polar ice cap melting?</p>
<p><strong>What is it that actually creates change?</strong> What actions are vital? Where is the "control panel" of change? To what degree might it be in "our" hands? How might change involve people and/or actions we might not associate with change agents?</p>
<p><strong>You are the conversations starters this morning...</strong></p> 1/30 Vital Conversation: Connect 2012 Change Agendatag:www.occupycafe.org,2012-01-30:6451976:Topic:222492012-01-30T02:31:12.334ZOccupy Cafe Stewardshttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/21u3twzbb9qcp
<p><b><strong><a href="http://bit.ly/occupycafe1121" target="_blank">Click here to register</a> </strong></b><span>(or reuse your call-in info for any Monday call since 11/21)</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong><span class="font-size-4"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c7txFbOTlh0-jQRURaISnrgsnYp6SU6kKKyB7k-FGVQ/edit?authkey=COmK7jA" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ff6600;">CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE COLLABORATIVE…</span></a></span></strong></span></p>
<p><b><strong><a target="_blank" href="http://bit.ly/occupycafe1121">Click here to register</a> </strong></b><span>(or reuse your call-in info for any Monday call since 11/21)</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #ff6600;"><strong><span class="font-size-4"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c7txFbOTlh0-jQRURaISnrgsnYp6SU6kKKyB7k-FGVQ/edit?authkey=COmK7jA" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ff6600;">CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE COLLABORATIVE TABLECLOTH</span></a></span></strong></span></p>
<p><a target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1275127948?profile=original"><img width="200" class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1275127948?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="200"/></a>As the first month of 2012 comes to a close, what changes might we imagine, and intend, will come to pass over the course of this year? The <em><strong>Connect 2012</strong></em> Change Agenda conveys the results we wish to initiate through this project. Join us to explore and share what you believe are the most important changes we, members of Occupy Cafe, can influence within ourselves, each other and the movement in the coming months. </p>
<ul>
<li><strong><span style="color: #ff6600;" class="font-size-3">What might be the single most important shift you see needing to happen in the occupy movement, for it to transform to the next level? </span></strong></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong><span class="font-size-3"><span style="color: #ff6600;">The most important game-changing shift I could imagine personally making, in the next 2 months, to support the movement's transformation might be... </span></span></strong></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><font color="#FF6600" size="3"><strong><span class="font-size-3">You're looking back after having made the shift you imagined for yourself. What kind of support did you receive to make this shift, and from whom did you receive it?</span></strong><br/></font></li>
</ul> Lessons for Occupy from Sri Lankatag:www.occupycafe.org,2011-12-19:6451976:Topic:184252011-12-19T06:23:01.583ZJitendra Darlinghttp://www.occupycafe.org/profile/JitendraDarling
<p><strong>Just spent 2 hours with dear friend and global shaker Sharif Abdullah</strong> and his special guest Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne, the founder-president of Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka.</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>The Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement started 47 years ago</strong>. Sarvodaya is Sanskrit for “Awakening of All”, and Shramadana means to donate effort. Beginning in just one village and extending the movement to a total of more than 15,000 has been a fascinating…</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Just spent 2 hours with dear friend and global shaker Sharif Abdullah</strong> and his special guest Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne, the founder-president of Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka.</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>The Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement started 47 years ago</strong>. Sarvodaya is Sanskrit for “Awakening of All”, and Shramadana means to donate effort. Beginning in just one village and extending the movement to a total of more than 15,000 has been a fascinating adventure. Initially it involved an education program aimed at enabling students and teachers to live and work with the most remote village communities in Sri Lanka to lend a hand and develop self help initiatives...with the goal of a comprehensive and nonviolent social transformation. <a href="http://www.sarvodaya.org/about" target="_blank">Visit the Sarvodaya website</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne, affectionately called Ari</strong>, described how and why this movement is founded in non-violence. <strong>"To stray into anything violent is to fail"</strong>, implored Ari. If the movement is violent, it can be crushed by superior military force. <strong>If the movement stays non-violent, then the regime is compelled to remain non-violent.</strong></p>
<p><strong>I have given great thought</strong> to this since the police began escalating violence on relatively peaceful protesters. The UC Davis and UC Berkeley incidents were particularly disturbing because of the lack of overt violence from students, many simply sitting peaceably. But even as those events were unfolding, I sense there is another level of nonviolence that is unassailable and, yet, perhaps even more effective in advancing awareness of the sweeping injustices at hand. </p>
<p><strong>I won't leave you hanging,</strong> I don't have an answer to give. I do think the answer is part of our collective awakening and exploration process. Ari passionately and clearly declared that whatever problem you see "out there" with "them" would not go away, even if you managed to get rid of "them", because we, the people, embody within us greed, fear, lack of trust in the sufficiency of our world, our universe.</p>
<p><strong>We must awaken and transform ourselves</strong> in order to create the changed system to which we aspire. Ari has mobilized a movement in Sri Lanka one might compare to many thousands of encampments. In fact there are now over 15,000 villages with millions of people going strong after nearly 50 years, all started by a student project in one village!</p>
<p><strong>We love to repeat Gandhi's words,</strong>"Be the change...", but do we know what that actually means in real-time, feet-on-the-ground terms? I believe the closer we get to that understanding, the closer we will get to realizing the Declarations now pouring forth for the future we assert we desire.</p>
<p><strong>Ari describes 3 Circles of Transformation</strong> that must intersect for real and lasting change to come:</p>
<ul>
<li>Consciousness</li>
<li>Economics</li>
<li>Power / politics / governance</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>We are in fact already doing</strong> what Ari recommends. His recipe in Sri Lanka is to pick a village and start creating what you want to create. First do it with 50 families, then 300. 50 grow to 300, etc.</p>
<p><strong>I wrote this to Sharif</strong> after the call:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>I found Sarvodaya's model of community</strong> action interesting. I know this is in action in various ways here in the US. I'm curious to know what you have to say in regard to differences in execution, style and effectiveness between community initiatives here in the US and in Sri Lanka. Transition Town comes to mind as one such initiative that seems to somewhat mirror what Ari speaks of, but has had limited scope and success. Why is that? What are the differences relative to our cultures that might leave clues for greater success?<br/> <br/> <strong>I have some ideas related to our mass mobilization</strong> Appreciative Inquiry focusing in on individual communities at a time with a mission to:</p>
<ol>
<li>Identify and illuminate common ground first and foremast, rather than looking for idealogical alignment. </li>
<li>Identifying community needs. </li>
<li>Organizing or inspiring preexisting groups or coalitions to mobilize and collaborate on solving/providing the needs with the good of the people rather than any individual or special interest or agenda as the mission/goal.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>I chuckle when I read this.</strong> There must be no less than a million of these wheels rolling down the hill already, so reinventing one doesn't make much sense.</p>
<p>But discovering how to get a lot more by getting all those wheels turning in sych, that would be a brilliant invention. How might we support that?</p>
<p>If this speaks to you, remember to join us for Occupy Heart on Fridays. Be the change...</p>
<p>Much thanks again, to Sharif for powerful sharing.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p> OWS- an alternative perspectivetag:www.occupycafe.org,2011-11-01:6451976:Topic:45752011-11-01T21:15:15.969ZRaffi A.http://www.occupycafe.org/profile/RaffiA
<p>Greetings fellow cafe folks.</p>
<p>I'd like to offer an alternative perspective on OWS. First I'd like to introduce myself-</p>
<p> </p>
<div id="yiv2049229758yui_3_2_0_39_132009880734454">I'm a native San Diegan, facilitator/process artist (co-host of the 14th annual World Open Space on Open Space in Moscow in '06; co-editor of Russian translations of process arts books and articles, including Open Space Technology: A User's Guide and the mini-hosting guide for World Cafe),…</div>
<p>Greetings fellow cafe folks.</p>
<p>I'd like to offer an alternative perspective on OWS. First I'd like to introduce myself-</p>
<p> </p>
<div id="yiv2049229758yui_3_2_0_39_132009880734454">I'm a native San Diegan, facilitator/process artist (co-host of the 14th annual World Open Space on Open Space in Moscow in '06; co-editor of Russian translations of process arts books and articles, including Open Space Technology: A User's Guide and the mini-hosting guide for World Cafe), .</div>
<div>After having been involved for about two weeks- which included one week of staying at Civic Center Plaza overnight- I decided to no longer take part. </div>
<div id="yiv2049229758yui_3_2_0_39_132009880734454"><div>I blogged about my participation from the very beginning.</div>
<div>And the last two posts go into the reasons why I've ended my participation in the Occupy Process. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://reinhabitsandiego.wordpress.com/">http://reinhabitsandiego.wordpress.com</a></div>
<div>I've lived half my life abroad- Iran and Russia (and was eyewitness to the Islamic Revolution (and the Iran-Iraq War and the US hostage crisis) in Iran and collapse of the Soviet Union. </div>
<div id="yui_3_2_0_1_1320181544795114"></div>
<div>My own politics are in many ways aligned with those taking part. I was arrested in front of the CIA at age 17 (civil disobedience), at age 18 went public with my intention not to register for the Selective Service, throughout my twenties was a war tax resister. While in Russia, I protested the wars in Chechnya. </div>
<div>My worry - and that of a few others who share the values but not the strategy of OWS- is that elites are actually <em>interested in seeing OWS continue and grow</em> because little of consequence will come of it. I've seen in my life subtle and not so subtle means of engaging masses- including highly educated people- in movements that actually bear little fruit.</div>
<div>I think this comment by Richard Moore (linked to on my blog) sums up - a lot of my concern (I will add that I don't 100% agree with his perspective but at its core I think his point is a good one) where I'm coming from:</div>
<div><div><em>What I am sure of, is that none of the grass-roots initiatives or movements currently on the scene have any hope of changing anything. In fact, activist energy is increasingly being channeled and managed by the very system we are hoping to change. As with Obama, who managed to fool all of the people some the time, and even now is fooling some of the people all of the time. 'Hope you can believe in', if you're dreaming.</em></div>
<div><em>But someone like Obama can only channel those who see hope in the political system. More and more people are realizing there is no hope in the political system. So we are getting things like The Zeitgeist Movement and Anonymous, that cater to those who have given up on politics, and give them something to 'join' or 'follow' so they can pretend they're 'doing something'. Here is a relevant posting on Zeitgeist:</em></div>
<div><em><b><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cyberjournal/message/466">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cyberjournal/message/466</a></b></em></div>
<div><em>The latest of these vehicles of co-option is the Occupy Wall Street movement. This one's really a humdinger. It has all the right slogans, and an appealing internal process. Its success is not surprising, because it is the latest version of a formula that has been thoroughly tested and refined 'on the ground'. We might call it the 'twitter formula', and we've seen it in the 'colored revolutions' that were used to bring about various desired regime changes, and more recently in the 'Arab Spring' movements, that soaked up lots of energy and prevented unwanted regime changes.</em></div>
<div><em>Four years ago progressives found hope in Obama. This time around they're finding hope in the Occupy Wall Street movement. In both cases, this 'hope' became available all too easily, was accompanied by all the right mainstream publicity, and offered easy ways to join in and become not only a follower, but an active participant. This is what co-option looks like.</em></div>
<div><em>rkm</em></div>
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<p> </p>
<p>I'm curious how this all lands for you!</p>
<p>appreciatively,</p>
<p>raffi</p>
<p>p.s. feel free to share with others, but do not include my last name (if you know it).</p>