Abundant
Earth Community.
It
has almost nothing to do with me, and absolutely everything to do
with you...!
(Moto)
Objectives,
goal, method statement.
To
re-invest in nature and people. To create a sustainable 'MicroNation' (Intentional
Community) based upon a common ethos' of co-operation, love,
peace and the enhancement of well-being. To promote spiritual
awareness in the collective actions, and produce food and provide
shelter in a safe and sustainable environment. To create spaces for
groups, learning workshops and small business's to be working in
harmony with the environment rather than against it. To provide
initiative development in the local community with low impact, carbon
friendly procedures and training ideas. To create a model of
sustainability living in an almost completely 'off grid' sense. To
provide spaces for skill sharing ideas of other local groups and
organizations, such as Revival,
Hack-space Lincoln and
the Social Science
Centre amongst others. To grow food and make other products
specifically to be bartered for other requirements and needs of the
community project. And finally to show unequivocally that a life of
less personal material wealth can be the most fundamental way to
experience human happiness.
Namaste.
Love,
light, peace and harmony.
Abundant
Earth Community. 2013
So
how is this working? Sounds like a great idea doesn't it? But how
does this idea become a reality, in today's world? The truth is we
don't have all the answers. Who could? BUT, the challenge here
supposes that YOU do have all the answers. Collectively, you, the
readers and the people crying out for a better fairer world, do in
fact have all the answers and all of the solutions. So surely what we
the collective, as a cooperative movement can do, is bring these
things together and focus our intentions into a trial community and
investigate the potential for human kindness in sharing. How we see
this working in principle is, that firstly people kindly offer their
suggestions. Then we together have a short series of discussions
about the feasibility of a joint venture. And subsequently we pool
our ideas and connections to bring a demonstration of collective
positivity to bear, in action. We make the dream come true by acting
on our collective ideas and sharing what we have available to us in
common.
Observably
the world is undergoing huge changes. We'd
have to be
fools not to have noticed. Great shifts in outlook and awareness
driven by a global economic crisis are making peoples general faith
in the current system be questioned. But we don't have to give in to
despair. We can act and create a new reality, if we are not satisfied
with the one we have. There have to be alternatives, new ways to work
and trade. Politicians, banks and commerce keep telling us the
recession is over and all is on the road to recovery. I would like to
believe this, because it might give us more time to prepare for the
aftermath of a possible collapse of our current system. These above
mentioned groups are constantly filling their coffers whilst the
poorer of society get austerity. Energy companies are demanding even
higher prices for the energy we are unable to live without, and the
gap between rich and poor is becoming more vast. What many people are
failing to realize is that you cannot prop up a system controlled by
money, with yet more money indefinitely. Fiat
money is created out of thin air. It is as invisible as that air,
and actually less beneficial than air. (We can breath air, but not
money) The system we live under is not only controlling us, but
beginning to take away all of our liberties as well. In the dead of
the night they alter our laws of freedom and replace them with others
that take away our right to choose, or even to disagree or protest.
If
you would like to have another option, to be part of the alternative,
then please get involved with the Abundant
Earth Community and help one another and yourselves too, to bring
alternatives into the world. No-one can have a fool proof plan, but
this is one way to work for your own benefit whilst sharing your
efforts and being involved in community.
A
founder member of the Abundant Earth Community, Angela
Porter, wrote/compiled the piece shared with you all here. It is
from something written about Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple.
Although we're not big fans of huge corporations, it describes the
mentality of the 'winners' as Steve undoubtedly would be considered
by a lot of people. Have a read and see what you think.
Inspiration
from the life of Steve Jobs.
Taken
from - ‘How to think like Steve Jobs’ - Daniel Smith.
Love
him, hate him - either way, we can learn from him.....
Be an outsider:
For a man who attained enormous wealth he did a remarkable good job to avoid just becoming another white, middle aged man in a suit - he persuaded us that by buying Apple, we were taking a step towards asserting our own individuality and creativity... He believed that an outsider was truthfully what he was..
Follow your own road:
‘Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition’.
Meet the right people:
‘Innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10.30 at night with a new idea, or because they realised something that shoots holes in how we’ve been thinking about a problem’.
Find
friends on the same wavelength/ask questions/network.
‘Technology
is nothing. What’s important is that you have faith in people, that
they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools,
they’ll do wonderful things with them’.
‘Mine’ your life experiences:
‘Expose yourself to the best that things that humans have done so you can bring that experience into whatever it is you do’.
Be a survivor:
Always have a plan/stick to your guns/share what you need to/ (but keep your secrets safe) Seize opportunity/never stand still/Dream Big/look around for inspiration:
‘Small thinkers never do big things’
Build beautiful:
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do’.
Take pride/demand perfection/stay focused. Build a winning team: Don’t lose your cool/don’t lose perspective.
Master
the money (so it doesn’t master you):
‘Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me.... going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful.... that’s what matters to me’
Be fair/share and share alike/watch your bottom line.
Don’t
sideline design:
‘Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected‘ Keep it simple/evolve - iterate - improve/remember, there is no such thing as a bad idea..
Sell the dream:
‘Think different’
‘Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. they’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do’.
by
TBWA/Chiat/Day for Apple.
Turn adversity into advantage:
‘Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick, don’t lose faith’.
Know
when to tear up the blueprints/create the space for creativity (the
system is that there is no system) trust your instincts.... but
respect your customers.
‘Re-imagine the market place, we’re always thinking about new markets we could enter’.
Establish a work-life balance:
‘Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work’.
‘We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know?’
‘I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, ‘if today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “no” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something’.
Thank you Angela, thank you Steve Jobs.
We
particularly like this comment as it stands out in a crowd:
“Here's to the crazy ones. The
misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square
holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of
rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote
them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only
thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They
push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy
ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
Now
we're not even going to begin to compare this venture with Steve
Job's Apple. But what we do note
is this. To some people, this dream, the idea being put forward is
somewhat crazy. It could be considered way too utopian/idealistic and
therefore impossible. But if you read what we all did in the above
comments, it is the crazy that actually do change the world. Visions,
and dreams play a big part in change. The observable changes of the
past show that when a replacement was needed, things did change. The
problem for us was that what replaced it was almost, if not as
corrupt as what preceded it. Few would argue we don't need change
now, be that for the environment or for the financial state of the
world. Can we replace it with LOVE? A
way of sharing that is not all about money. Wouldn't we like this
project to be about all that is best in human beings. About their
kindness, their loyalty, their inspired ideas and their compassionate
giving and sharing. And not just to us, the A.E.C. but to one
another, with love.
Following
is an outline idea of the key points of the proposal. We invite
anyone/everyone with energy to offer thoughts and ideas about what
could make it work and whom it could serve. You already know that we
would like it to serve everyone, but we also recognise that mighty
Oaks come form tiny acorns. The Abundant
Earth
Community is at present based in Lincoln/Lincolnshire, United
Kingdom. There are already similar ideas and projects established and
under way all around the world, and we the people who are coming
together already have been and will continue to draw strength and
ideas from them.
Seeds
for change.
Proposed
set up requirements.
Location
: Potentially
close to the city on farm or open common land. Locate/acquire land,
space or buildings that can accommodate the various aims of the
community. (5 – 100 acres.) A site with access to water (i.e.
river, lake) potentially close to woodland and established wildlife.
A site very close to or within the city of Lincoln itself would be
ideal. If anyone knows of such a piece of land please let us know.
Project
Aims : A
basic agreed upon constitution to explain with transparency the joint
goals, aims, terms and conditions and the collective ethos of the
cooperative. Who does what, and who is responsible for the decision
processes, who are the governing structural body. What type of
structure the cooperation takes to include individuality. An
indication of what each member brings to the collective and how
resources are to be shared. Entertainments for the collective
diversity to be included and addressed. A description of the short
and longer term goals.
Resources
: Land.
Water. Communal buildings, with a community kitchen and living area.
Private living spaces. Sleeping accommodation. Inclusion for families
and single people or couples. Food sources. Food storage (containers)
Fuel sources, heating, cooking, lighting. Building materials.
Equipment. Health responsibilities (H+S), doctor, dentist etc.
Transport issues. Animals for the Permaculture of site and farm
aspects.
Members
People
living at the site.
People who can visit freely.
Associated members
(other
interest groups and collaborators)
Trustees. (If
become a charity)
Collaborators
: Local
groups, L.E.P'S, Organizations. Companies. Support groups. Service
users.
Administration
: Who is the
administration. How will this be done and with what resources.
Financial
Aspects : Trustees
of joint bank accounts. Income sources. How is any money used or
distributed. Taxes. Financial commitments.
Promotions
: How does
the community collaborate and share information with the wider world.
What methods, and who will take the responsibilities of this task.
Social networking. Blog. Advertising. Campaigning.
Time
Frame : Proposed
targets of the venture. Feasibility study, draft outlines and
conception ideals.
SWOT and PESTLE and Risk analysis considered, for
community and individuals, visitors and neighbours.
We sincerely hope that you will get in touch with any
one of our team and share your comments ideas and positive
assistance, get involved directly with setting this up, or share the
links and our ideas with as many people as you can. Please help us to
help others create an 'abundance' for everyone.
Love, light, peace and harmony.
