Midnight silence outside.
The gift of electricity inside
the Guard Shack at Dignity Village.
Ptery shares
Understanding Community Process.
“Everything means something with plan and purpose.
We can start with something we can criticize later.
“People are here because of failure.
Personal failures struggling in globalized labor.
Multiple systems fail the environment, fail humanity.
Poverty of opportunity, nutrition, space, money.
So why the value of community?
And how?
“Look around the corporate controlled natural resource based
economic pro-growth finance-market-driven special interest planet.
Success becomes failure.
“Twitter, email, text, “friend,”
lack intimacy with ourselves.
Being unconscious of ourselves
we become a monster playing loosely with the planet.
Success becomes failure.
“A climate of fear captures self-isolating behavior, often disables,
replaces simplicity, honor, kindness, compassion, unity, love.
Gaining the understanding of what I am and what I can do
helps take away the fear.
“Part of the community process is not controlling individuality.
Stay out of the way of curiosity. Let it run,
Culture and opportunity act and react.
Within that allowance lurks self-isolating danger,
also sustainable things and processes…Balance.
Lots of conflict in community. Prepare for upheavals.
Conflict OK if of the nature that people stay at the table,
then it can be beneficial to the community.
Keeping diversity going is the ‘truth’ of community.
“Brains are all different…how they work with their histories.
How I have ended up working for community in Dignity Village.
I feel left alone in the Village and that is good.
I can step back and gain the foundational vision.
Dignity Village has the lowest eco-footprint in all of Portland
and the Village community has the potential to be the right direction.
The reality is Understand, Participate, Balance.
“Community is a good purpose for people who want
to hide from unsustainable consumerism.
While creating your alternative you can learn how to hide.
Hide when you don’t need confrontation.
Hide when you don’t want conversation.
“Brains are different…how they work with their histories.
When our gate opens and closes ideas come and go.
When you help things happen comes kindness.
Being kind brings happiness.
Happiness brings unity.
Success becomes community.
Pay attention to yourself
keeping on, keeping on.
Thoughts need weeding
like plants in a garden.
Defacto and pro bono winking.
Bending basic rules.
Minutes and months
of contentious crisis leadership
chaos the founding Village vision.
…keeping on…
…keeping on…
Without choice Ptery’s future is choosing.
Choice creating itself:
exit Dignity Village’s current contentiousness
enter urban farming at a live-in co-op garden.
…keeping on…keeping on…