Post 2012 - A New Beginning

Turning of the Seasons...Happy Spring Equinox

Amazing how time moves forward so swiftly - our last blog post was Summer Solstice and Interdependence Day...so much has happened for our team since then and our absence was necessary so that we could recalibrate ourselves to a new reality.  

Today is Spring Equinox 2012 and we are just now able to begin to give attention once again to the online projects that we have dedicated ourselves to.  

Interdependence...when we began this project we intended to create an online multi-media web portal that showcased sustainable solutions.  But more than that we intended to facilitate and co-create new 'interdependent' relations, systems, structures, and models.  

This of course is an ambitious life-long endeavor for even the most tenacious of spirits so we do not judge seeming 'failures' on any kind of short term time line.  We do however insist that we take the necessary time to contemplate and evaluate our experiences through a lens of 'teaching' so that we can identify paths and efforts that we have embarked upon that did not yield the results we were aiming for.  We have been able to discern a great deal from our journey thus far but is our insights of any value to our interdependent family?  We have decided that despite the temptation to 'share' we are going to with hold until 'asked' because in reality there is slim chance that our observations and opinions are going to make any difference if we cast them forth as some kind of 'righteous' viewpoint.  

We can say that in the realm of true 'interdependence' all life systems and entities coalesce and find symbiosis through simple compatibility.  Boundaries between what is compatible and what is not in the natural world are not compromised for any kind of 'ethical' or 'moral' obligation - that realm is the one place where we humans hold sway and is also the primary reason why we fail as a species to understand and live within healthy boundaries and limitations.  

On our journey thus far we have succeeded in identifying incompatible beings, groups, and initiatives that are not inherently 'wrong' or 'bad' - just simply incompatible within the realm that we are operating in.  We have successfully been able to communicate boundaries and sever associations that were incompatible with our aims.  This of course brought about a deep healing within each of us as we rooted out 'denials' that would have prevented us from taking actions that would lead us toward beings and realities that are more compatible with us.  This process has been just as painful as it has been liberating because we are 'feeling' humans prone to attachment like everyone within our species.  

So this learning journey and the processes/energy it has required is the main reason why the 'Interdependent Project' website, blog, and community network has had no real attention put into its online evolution.  We expect this year to reveal much for all humans in terms of priorities and we will continue to stay true to our 'Declaration of Interdependence' in ways that serve our personal evolution and value fulfillment.  We pray the same be true for you!  

Happy Spring Equinox!

   

Summer Solstice & Interdependence Day!

Happy Summer Solstice (this post a few days late) and Interdependence Day! 

Our team is working overtime to catch up with all of our online communities, websites, and blogs after devoting the winter/spring months to helping Earth Charter US get their website/network launched as well as establishing solid Interdependent Partnerships (and terminating the not so solid ones)...so we look forward to being able to give a thorough report to all of you and give the website a much needed update! 

For now though we wanted to simply give everyone our Solstice blessings and a little hint at what we have been up - a great deal of event participation/sponsorship and establishing the 'Low Impact Sustainable Development' agency and facilitating the formation of the "Inter-Tribal EcoVillage Council" here in our local area!  More later!

Happy Spring Equinox! - Solar Springtime

2011 - Year of Building Sustainable Structures & Systems

Some times the term 'Happy New Year" just seems so redundant so we are going to see if 'Have a Sustainable New Year' might work?  Or maybe "Have an Interdependent New Year?  Both imply the same thing in terms of orientation yet interdependence is truly the underlying foundation that all sustainable systems and structures are built upon.  

This year we are going to advance forward a little further into the basic building blocks of interdependent/sustainable systems in relation to the 'matrix network' that allows these digital fonts to embed themselves into this blog post which is linked with the blog, linked to the main website, linked to other websites, linked to website networks, linked to community networks, linked to organizations, linked to causes, linked to movements, linked to at long last - human beings.  

At the beginning of 2010 the Interdependent Project's 1 year anniversary celebration 'Heralded in the Next Decade of Sustainable Interdependence'.  The words on the banner seemed in alignment with the larger movement of the global collective and during 2010 the project went through quite an array of experiences with team members, fellowship organizations, network alliances, and organizations that this project has been promoting, advocating, and linking up with since it was launched.  The experiences were valuable showcase examples of the 'independent' paradigm that is based on win/lose, competition, superiority, pecking-orders, and general human dysfunction and have served a purpose of providing a deeper clarity into why in the world there could be so many solutions and no way to implement them on a large scale.  

One simple answer is the human subscription to the notion 'independence'.  Humans en-mass believe 'independence' is the final and most exalted state of existence.  Even humans who learn words like 'cooperation' and "collaborative' and profess those concepts to be woven into their missions still have not 'unsubscribed' from the independent notion and it is probably demonstrated most clearly in their inability to 'link up' and get beyond the 'not invented here' mentality that keeps them reinventing the wheel over and over.  Not to mention wasting valuable resources on websites that keep ending up on the broken wagon wheel trail across the plains of the 'Wild West Web'...or worse still getting ripped off by charlatan-snake-oil-web-developers that convince the elder generation that if they pay more they will somehow be getting more...but that is another article and subject for later.  

2010 was like a school year for those who have been involved with anchoring in a new paradigm of interdependence and sustainability.  The global economic system has reflected a collapse as the new sustainable structures and systems are being erected.  This transition has been both horrifying and glorious for humans who are riding these waves of change.  

The Interdependent Project is both a 'place holder' and a 'stake holder' in this shift with a mission to showcase and highlight the 'solutions' that are emerging and forge alliances with networks and organizations who are committed to the never ending learning spiral as we weave interdependent systems and structures.  

2011 will be the year of laying the four corner foundation that is based upon not a box with four sides but a planet with four directions that circle and encapsulate our spherical world.   How does that translate to cyber-space and the 'Wild West Web"?  A big lasso and 4 Years...GO....

Happy Holidays & Winter Solstice

On December 21, 2010, here in Nevada City, California at 3:38 PM Pacific Standard Time, 23:38 UTC (Universal Time) winter begins.

This first day of winter is called the Winter Solstice; likewise, the first day of summer is the Summer Solstice. The word solstice is derived from Latin and means “sun standing still.”  On this day of the year, the sun’s apparent position in the sky has reached its most southern or northern extreme.

The solstices and the seasons occur because the Earth’s axis is tilted 23.5° relative to its plane of revolution around the sun.

In the Northern Hemisphere winter, the northern half of the globe is tilted away from the sun; therefore, the sun is low in the sky giving us shorter days and longer nights. At this oblique angle, the sun’s energy is spread over a larger area of the Earth’s surface and thus is weaker than if it was hitting the surface more directly. Also, the sun’s rays must travel through more atmosphere before they reach the Earth’s surface, and some of the solar energy is reflected back into space. In addition, there are less daylight hours to warm the Earth.

Contrary to what many believe, the Earth is not farther from the sun during the winter. Actually, the Earth is almost at its closest point to the sun at the time of the northern hemisphere’s Winter Solstice. This variation in the Earth’s distance from the sun is small and does not greatly affect the weather; however it does slightly modify the severity of the Northern Hemisphere winters and summers.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice takes place on June 21, 2011 at 17:16 UTC (Universal Time). Our Winter Solstice is the southern hemisphere’s Summer Solstice..

Solstice Lunar Eclipse

Not only does the winter solstice of 2010 fall on the day of a full moon, which is a once in 30 years event, but that there will be a total lunar eclipse that night at just about midnight, Pacific time. (The eclipse makes it a 1/400 year sort of event.) A total lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, the Earth and the moon align. The moon is always full and it passes through Earth's umbral shadow, or the darkest part of the shadow.

That shadow is actually composed of two cone-shaped components, one nested inside the other. The outer or penumbral shadow is a zone where the Earth blocks part but not all of the Sun's rays from reaching the Moon. In contrast, the inner or umbral shadow is a region where the Earth blocks all direct sunlight from reaching the Moon.

This is also a time when the sun begins to make its way toward the dark part of the year. The sun's energy, power and dominance is waning, and winter approaching.

In the days which follow, the sun's strength begins to diminish or, in a spiritual sense, descend into the Mother's womb. This continues until the time when the sun's light is reborn at Yule or Winter Solstice, when we celebrate the birth of the Son of Light during a time of spiritual darkness.

Reflect on this sacred time, and notice the season change around you. Watch the Mother Earth tuck her seeds safely within her womb and cover them over with a comforting blanket of earth and fallen leaves and later snowfall. Watch also your animal cousins as they prepare for the approaching winter. Watch the sky and the sacred waters and seas. Listen to the gentle loving promise of the Universe to Mother Earth and all of her children.

"Never fear, our beloved Daughter Earth, for though the sunlight grows faint upon you, the light of the Son will soon return, that all creation may awaken and live again."

So this December 21, remember that even though winter is beginning, and the days will now grow longer and the nights ever shorter; and as we travel through space—around the sun—our Earthly seasons will repeat again and we will now start the journey towards Spring.

Change and be reborn this solstice.

2 Years of Interdependence and Jayátu A Tale Feather of the Golden Eagle

Seasons of Interdependence

 It is hard for us to believe it  has been 2 years already since we launched the Interdependent Project web portal and when we look back on everything that has happened in just 2 years it feels like it should have been twice or three times those 24 months to accommodate the activity!

When the web portal launched it was in the midst of holiday season and we knew that any future anniversary celebrations would have to be integrated into the holiday spirit of the season...those who have birthdays in December know all too well what we mean.

So this year we were fortunate enough to catch a holiday flight on the wings of a Golden Eagle named Jayátu!  SeThInk Media, the parent company of the Interdependent Project, has launched the Jayátu project just this last week.  Who is Jayátu?

Jayátu is a storyteller who has made the commitment to keeping the oral storytelling tradition alive and is making his art available now on the Wild West Web!

Jayátu and the 'art of storytelling' is also going to be featured in volume 2 of the Seeds of Sustainability Education Series. Volume 1: The Marche Sprouting Method was the first branch of the Tree of Sustainability: - Sustain Yourself.  The next branch is the "Path of Beauty".

If the first step on the journey towards collective sustainability is to sustain oneself, then the second one is surely to find ones personal path of beauty - that which feeds your soul, inspires you to live your dreams, and fills your heart in challenging times.   Without taking this step then our lives can be pretty colorless and appear to be dedicated to mundane survival.  Throughout history it has always been the arts and music that keep the human spirit thriving, not just surviving.  And without beauty being nurtured inside ourselves what is it that we truly wish to sustain?  Even if the world was completely powered by alternative, clean, renewable energy sources and 100% organic if humans were stuck in fear and ugly behaviors the planet would not be a better place to live.

Art, music, literary masterpieces, poetry, and storytelling are the showcases of human creativity and the dispensers of beauty into the seen world.  Many indigenous peoples walked a path of beauty because of the stories that were orally passed down generation after generation.  These stories helped them to understand their place on Earth and their interdependence with all life.  The oral tradition almost became extinct with the advent of the written word and the storytellers of modern day are a rare breed of humans who know and understand the magic of a story that is spoken from the heart of the storyteller.

All of us have a story and Jayátu is also a teacher of storytellers.  Volume 2 of the Seeds of Sustainability series will be an educational DVD intended to inspire and guide folks to birth their own storyteller into the world.  We invite you to celebrate this holiday season with us and sign up to attend the Jayátu Debut Holiday Story Event - 'The Big Jump'.

Giving Thanks!

Happy Feasting with Family, Friends, and Loved Ones!