Land Trust Non-profit evolutions!

Today I went to my second meeting of a group of people considering forming a land trust non-profit. I think there have been a couple of other meetings, but I only found out about this in September via Chris. It was interesting, because today the meeting contained an entirely different group of people than the last, except for the central organizer and myself. But it seems like we're boiling down to a few ideas:

One, that we're probably moving towards forming a non-profit Land Trust. This could be a parent/umbrella organization whose main purpose is helping people get access/education about land.

Two, that there is clearly a group of people interested in developing some kind of community related to this Land Trust. This could end up as one community or multiples. We will do more brainstorming about shared visions we have in this area.

There is discussion too, about whether we should try to get onto some land right away, renting or whatever, as a way to practice/experiment/learn about community and developing related skills, or whether we should focus on ideals and bonds.

I'm really excited to be working with people, figuring out practically how we're going to do this stuff!

And Tom and I have been talking about ideas too! Now if so much of school didn't feel like a distraction!

Taking Action

As I mentioned before, Julie Graham started a Wiki for my Economic Geography class. I've just made a contribution to the section I'll be studying for the rest of the semester. You can see it here: Diverse Economy activities of Intentional Communities in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York.
Doing the research for that felt really productive. I love how absolutely relevant this class is. But it does make me wonder a bit about why I have such a hard time doing this kind of research and writing on my own. I do love it. I think maybe it has something to do with dreaming hard and feeling like there are possibilities but they're so far away all the time. But not learning about them doesn't bring them any closer. So I'm glad that this class is getting me moving.

I fantasize about living in space I have control over all the time. It's something I'll have to drop off and on as school keeps me on it's schedule, but I'm going to start looking at architecture again. I am going to just listen to Goethe more: Whatever you can dream, begin it; for there is magic and power in it. It's alright to have halting starts and half-finished things... they are all part of the building of dreams, of taking action. And action lets me get somewhere, let's me see and others see that these are no mere pipe dreams or infantile wishes. A better world is possible. Some people are already making it better, and I am learning to be one of them.

Standby for Determination Boost.

I am thinking a lot about myself and who I am really, in terms of being an activist, a social theorist, a radical, a scholar/student, a wage-slave, an unwilling but necessary participator in a society with plastic expectations. I find myself failing to meet expectations, not because they aren't something that can't happen, but because I am more scared than I realize. I loose focus and question myself and feel overwhelmed by all the factors.

Now, before you leap up to defend me, please understand I am not trying to be hard on myself. I recognize that I do that a lot, but right now I am just trying to be honest with myself about where I'm at. It's a process I am going through and it probably has a few more phases. But being defensive by enumerating what I'm doing or how difficult it is doesn't get me anywhere. Believe me, I know it. But if this is ever going to happen, I must continue to grow and expand on what I am doing.

Ultimately, this is a declaration: I will be stronger. That strength will be based on meaningful, significant action.

Diverse Economy

I've been wanting to sit down and write a thorough blog post this week, but I've been a bit distracted with my personal struggles. Now I'm back on track and school and heroes like Jenny are feeding me all sorts of sources for things to write about. Most useful, unsurprisingly, is my Economic Geography class. Julie has collected all kinds of great resources for us to better understand the diverse economy. Additionally, she and Leo (our TA) have created a wiki for our class, so we're basically creating a wiki on diverse economy for us all to work on and share with the world. You can see it here: http://geo360.pbworks.com/

Due to the video she had us watch by Hans Rosling, I'm now super-excited about TED.org

Whoops, worktime.

Economic Epiphanies

I had big realizations reading for Economic Geography last night and while listening to Julie talk in class today. Too drowsy to write about that in detail tonight, but plan to address it soon. Going to make my study topic "Intentional Communities and Alternative Currencies in Western Massachusetts/Vermont" and possibly New York.

Edit: FYI, here's a link to what I've been reading: http://www.communityeconomies.org/index.php. I will be making references to this later tonight when I can devote some good time to writing.