Cooperative Communities

I'm starting a new thread so the direction of FirstLight's "Earth Changes" thread doesn't morph beyond the original intent of her OP. :)

Here is what I wrote in that thread, in response to Eilen, which leads into me start THIS thread. :)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=245&topic_id=110774&mesg_id=110897

It seems to me, regardless of how we may envision the future playing out, the bottom line is that more compassionate, cooperative communities are needed NOW. That would at least be a move in the right direction. Moving towards pure communal living may or may not be in the near future, but at least moving into that more cooperative, heart-centered, balanced, compassionate way of being has always felt like a necessity to me, even though I'm not of the apocalyptic mindset. Then again, perhaps the word "apocalypse" is subjective: there are indeed apocalyptic events occurring around the world each and every day. :(

And I'm also not a purist; sure, I'm impatient, but I can take things one step at a time, so long as movement in the right direction is occurring. This is a common theme of the frustration and anger in GD, and I completely understand when others demand a huge shift in how everything works NOW, and the feeling that if that doesn't occur, Mother Nature will do that for us. That absolutely may be so. I don't know anything, so I try to do my small part toward shifting things in a more loving direction, even if it seems in minuscule ways by others when we're facing such dire situations.

I've been very, very focused on cooperatives. We're accustomed to utility and garden co-ops, but why not other types of co-ops? Maybe a new type of organization/venture/enterprise altogether is ready to be birthed. We are still in a world where money is involved, where legal structures are often necessary...maybe a hybrid of things is the way to start to shift things.

I've been posting at the small business forum any links I find regarding cooperatives. For those interested, you may want to check it out:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=264x454

For those who wanted to explore this subject of moving forward now in creating new ways of being on this Earth, I thought I'd invite discussion in this thread.

:hi:

was about working cooperatively and it was very vivid and felt wonderful. And I just wanted to put your post back on top again.

:pals:

:hi:

:loveya:

OGR you rock ...thanks for 'getting it' on so many levels. and thanks for taking the thread and seeing it's evolution into something positive. Let's vision what we can really DO to weather the coming storms & more...

I have connected some of the people I know here at home, the chiropractor and the leader, the therapist and the massage therapist, and we are cultivating community in our spaces together by sharing ideas and offering circles and drumming and workshops together.
Starting in March I will be running 2 drumming circles a month on friday evenings! I haven;t really run my own circle before either.

What will be cool is that by creating a 'hub' around this certain area (the cafe, farmers mkt in the parking lot on sundays and the chiropractor's office as a meeting space..) we are anchoring the energies into the earth as well. I am excited to see who shows up to partake in community as this unfolds.

gotta run the kids to school...more later!

Lots of people are doing awesome things, with new things on the horizon to help heal each day...and counteract destruction.

:loveya:

I think that's what they called it. I always thought that was a step in the right direction. I don't know if they still do.

You can get a lot of info about it here:

http://www.hardwickagriculture.org/

Vermont is a tough place to live, jobs are hard to find. It's this kind of innovation that gives one hope - these folks have turned around a really bleak place.

I ADORE this!!!! *sighs* I'd love to live in New England (at least I think I would...lol).

She also posted about how, in this same area, the citizens pooled resources to save some local businesses and became owners, in the true cooperative sense. Very cool. :)

Thanks for this and the other, bigmonkey. I think all neighborhoods should have a tool/resource-sharing setup.

Thanks! :hug:

to people who hate Facebook games, but I think that some of those games are really helping mass consciousness to get more of a sense of community and to understand what members of a true community do for each other. One of my friends said that she felt that FarmVille had a higher purpose, and as I've thought about it, I can see it. Wouldn't it be a really cool thing to think of the Universe creating things like Facebook games to help mass consciousness to learn how to interact as we should? These games teach us how to share, how to do things for others even when there's no reward in it for us, how to cooperate, and things like this.

I know that you don't play, but do you think that it's possible?

:hi:

Check out what Craig Newmark just posted today at HuffPo. I just replied, too. :)

We're all being psychic!!! :bounce:

:hug: :hug: :hug:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-newmark/using-gaming-to-engage-pe_b_455069.html

I had talked myself out of posting this earlier and just went for it now because it just had to be said. (That's how I felt! It felt as though the Universe was pushing me.)

:rofl:

You're tapped in. ;)

Glad I saw this HuffPo article so I could confirm it for you -- for today, at least! :)

:hug:

;)

Looking at it this way makes me really tempted to try...to see what it's about...but I know I'd easily get addicted. :( That would NOT be good. Same with Second Life; I'm so tempted to check that out, too, and see how it can serve a higher purpose, if utilized that way, but time just really isn't my friend these days....

:loveya:

To be honest with you, I suspect that it would cause you more stress than you'd want, just because you're pulled in so many directions right now. :loveya:

I shall play. In many ways...I shall play. :)

ABSOLUTELY. Barter is your friend!

:hi: