
Charles Eisenstein‘s essay, The Coronation, published March 2020, has been mentioned in blogs here before.[mfn]https://parkecovillagetrust.co.uk/search/Coronation/[/mfn] I read it at the end of last year and later, critiques from both sides of the aisle too. Rising (re?)infection figures post 2021-summer-holidays, challenged me to return to it, and to upload a link below for y’all if you’re interested.
3 Highlights and some thoughts
“When the crisis subsides, we might have occasion to ask whether we want to return to normal, or whether there might be something we’ve seen during the break in the routines that we want to bring into the future.”
What were we doing differently in lockdown that we will want to bring into “lock-open?” More intentional nurturing of all relationships especially those with our loved ones? More creative and responsible allocating of resources in our homes and businesses? More purposeful using of our precious time? More acute understanding of the power of touch (at all levels) in our lives? More intelligent discerning of our food sourcing, eating, and cooking habits? More curious embracing of meditation and physical exercise? More ready appreciating of sunshine and the outdoors? More deep feeling empathy and compassion? What’s vividly clear is a greater awareness of our incredible power to design our daily lives and not being at the mercy of our=anyone’s unintentional, unconscious design.
“… the reflex of control, and the war on death. … If there is one thing our civilization is good at, it is fighting an enemy. We welcome opportunities to do what we are good at, which prove the validity of our technologies, systems, and worldview. And so, we manufacture enemies, cast problems like crime, terrorism, and disease into us-versus-them terms, and mobilize our collective energies toward those endeavors that can be seen that way.”
The pandemic is helping us revisit our notions of death, and our current ultimate short-term target as a society “to stop death at all costs.” Rather than simply judging this pretty adolescent (unrealistic) desire, we’re being reminded to, more maturely, hold space for the longer-term needs and more beautiful alternative of creating the underlying conditions for living better and dying well, in community, in health, in love — a very holistic p.o.v I would say. This is a profound moment in the history of humanity both for what it is shaking up and exposing, and for the opportunities it is gifting us.
“Instead of doubling down on control, we could finally embrace the holistic paradigms and practices that have been waiting on the margins, waiting for the center to dissolve so that, in our humbled state, we can bring them into the center and build a new system around them.”
There are multiple, hundreds, millions of ways to go about replanning our (work/home/quality of) life in a time of crisis. (And not-crisis too!) You can dissolve it, you can expand it, you can shrink it and hunker down, you can sell it, you can recreate it and redesign it. Every decision will change the relationships in the community, our focus, our priorities, our daily engagement and actions. And it will not go without pain and loss. But… what life-giving versions[mfn] what’s YOUR DEFINITION of life-giving? Mine has to do with giving others freedom&love without counting the cost (well, trying to at least…)[/mfn] of it can emerge?
Especially PETs Caring Community diVision was well placed to participate in co-managing community-wide information & cooperation and make holistic proposals around — but not solely re. Covid and — care. This has and does give all associated with the CCC process a reassuring sense of teamwork; caring, willing and courageous compromise; and committed support for each other, community networks and CCC’s/your personal mission. It also decreased the anxiety of the unknown (not necessarily the reality or persistence of uncertainty), allowing us to re-focus intentionally on narrower, maybe problem-driven scenarios, but still within the Holistic Context as the context for our decision making and design.
There is, however, a longer term undertaking that we (wider) community members must embark on. It is the greater adventure we are called upon to chart: the incredible opportunity to challenge and reassess what we thought carried value to (all) our (different, individual) mission(s); the potential in allowing for serious planned disturbances following the monumental unplanned disturbance we are now going through; the raw, brutal, and selfless assessment of what we do, how we do it, and its value to society, and to ourselves. The questions are: are there better ways we can see, together, in context, in light of our learning during (the continuing) pandemic? Are there sacrifices that are worth making for the greater good? Are there opportunities that have emerged as a result of the introspection gifted to us by this imposed lockdown?
It feels almost like an opportunity to think about starting to “build heaven on earth” from scratch! What if we moved our visions way beyond our current meaner boundaries and the false and restricted understanding of our “carrying capacity”, our “life-supporting capacity”, our productivity, our health? What would it look like if abundance ensued and manifested in levels, expressions, and metrics unimaginable to us today? Where might those boundaries be? Or would there be a boundary at all? What outcome can we imagine that is so much better than we ever thought possible?[mfn]a week ago I got a tip about a free youtube movie, which touches on the subject — Metropolis, a brilliant silent epic from 1927 Germany, author Thea von Harbou and director Fritz Lang. A sci-fi(!!!), it is set in a futuristic urban dystopia and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city master, and Maria, a saintly figure to the workers, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classes in their city and bring the workers together with Johannes Fredersen, the city master. The film’s message is encompassed in the final inter-title: “The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart”. [The score is as beautiful as this digitally restored almost (99.something%) complete blu-ray upload. Enjoy!] [/mfn] And then, how would we organise, and plan, and design, and use our resources to manifest this more beautiful world?
“Already we can feel the power of who we might become.”
PET, other Park Ecovillage, Findhornorganisations, individuals and the NFA, are working together:
- on consciously DEVELOPING and CO-CREATING with the community;
- in the community;
- on themselves;
- on their assumptions;
- on stakeholder feedback;
- on the underlying conditions for the highest good to emerge from the lives & work of all involved, at this different, challenging, and opportunity-laden time.
Why? Because we can feel the power of all we might become if we CHOOSE in action (ie. consciously) as one community, to truly live & work holistically.
Whole Community Purpose 2019
If you feel so inclined and have the time to invest, do read Charles Eisenstein’s reflections in his essay, The Coronation. Let it sink in and see what emerges. Then get in touch with us if you want and share your impressions; they’re as valuable as his are.
As an example, I have joined both the One Incredible Family Findhorn, and Findhorn Extended Members Council, a newly set up group of Findhorn supporters who want to get together zoomably for the 10th time now. A member feedback survey highlighted the following: “two themes have come through clearly from all of you: how special our councils are and how good it feels to join together on so many levels to re-envision the future we’ve been holding and nurturing for so many years. Our council is a service to all beings on the planet and Findhorn is and remains a centre of demonstration during these harrowing times!”
More of the right CARE in action, with open and active communication & relations between members of PET and between every person within & out our (wider) community, will inspire and inform ever better strategies for each of us and more innovative and regenerative ways to “do” our lives & work. Only in this way will we advance our common mission, and move closer to truly being the City of Light the Founders envisaged — the “exemplary, thriving, sustainable and caring WHOLE community” (PETs Vision Statement).
As Gandhi said: “I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles, but today it means getting along with people.”