August 26, 2012: Online Work Bee

== Agenda == * Check In * Weekly Events Logistics * Review WWWs * Review Agenda * OnePagePlan * Evaluation === Items for future meetings === * Children International * Space Elevator Conference * SeedVillage * John's Kickstarter * Equinox * Brandon's evangelism * Topical Communities * http://blog.SolSeed.org * Book * Village * Drip Emails ([[SolSeedProtocol]]) == Check In == * Eric ... it's hot (I dunked my head in the river during meditation) * Shelley ... I'm great - worried that Seqoia's big brother shirt is already too small and stained * Brandon ... Visited Seqoia's new school, in close walking distance yay! * Sequoia ... sick * Ren ... good, but doesn't want to sleep unless you hold him (want's to be held) == Weekly Events Logistics == : Abbreviated Work-Bee and Service Monday Sept 3, 1:30pm PDT ... service when Sequoia gets up (Shelley) :Rotation: Brandon, Eric, Jerry?, Shelley, Ben :In-person service with Vliets: Saturday 10am :Ottawa Seeing Nature Excursion: Monday Sept 3 1400 EDT (11 am PDT) == WWWs from last time == * Eric ... follow your topical community protocol for this week ... ongoing * Eric ... meditate and keep track of which days ... ongoing * Ben ... follow your topical community protocol for this week ... ongoing * Ben ... meditate and keep track of which days ... ongoing * Ben ... send the lyrics to John and Will ... by tonight * Ben ... finish PowerPoint for the Space Elevator Conference ... by Wednesday * Brandon ... follow your topical community protocol for this week ... ongoing * Brandon ... meditate and keep track of which days ... ongoing * Brandon ... print Ben new SolSeed business cards that aren't misspeled ... by Friday * Shelley ... follow your topical community protocol for this week ... ongoing * Shelley ... meditate and keep track of which days ... ongoing == WWWs == * Ben ... follow your topical community protocol for this week ... ongoing * Ben ... meditate and keep track of which days ... ongoing * Brandon ... follow your topical community protocol for this week ... ongoing * Brandon ... meditate and keep track of which days ... ongoing * Brandon ... interview Shelley about the paths (see below)... by next call * Brandon ... think Paths of Solseed to long term vision ... by next call * Brandon ... two good hours on the book ... by next call * Shelley ... follow your topical community protocol for this week ... ongoing * Shelley ... meditate and keep track of which days ... ongoing * Eric ... follow your topical community protocol for this week ... ongoing * Eric ... meditate and keep track of which days ... ongoing * Eric ... send Ben an email explaining the event logistics ... by today * Eric ... think Paths of Solseed to long term vision ... by next call * Eric ... two good hours on the book ... by call after next == Space Elevator Conference == Ben has until this Friday to turn in a PowerPoint for his presentation; the actual talk is on the 27th * Ben is close to getting the presentation into presentable form, but would like to give a practice talk before submitting the PowerPoint * Sticking with 6:30 PDT, 9:30 EDT on Wednesday the 15th for the practice talk ** The Sanders will be home but Ben should call them == One Page Plan == Agenda * Where do we want to be in 20 yrs? In 10 yrs? In 5 yrs? * Read through values, beliefs etc of the OnePagePlan * What are the projects that we want to do soon? * What are the first 3-4 projects? * Consider order and overlap of projects first and ask (how long is it going to take?) Where do you want us to be in 20 yrs? Ben ... in 20 yrs I want us to have built an institution that perpetuates our goals, (whether it's an ecovillage or a company, etc), particular the unique aspect of being interested in Life both on Earth and in space Eric ... in 20 yrs I would like to have a climate-controlled greenhouse project in the North growing trees that we've bred that are able to withstand really harsh environments, and making money to support itself by growing food for people in the North. The third thing it would be doing is Biosphere 2 type closed-ecosystem-life-support testing. And we would have a network of groups across the continent (maybe around the world) who are inspired by this work and who are supporting it. * Shelley ... we should be living in communities, and we should have a really solid spiritual or religious practice that makes it inconceivable to the group that it would ever splinter or fall apart (this is the direction of their whole life) ... the communities could be doing various projects like biospheres, organic gardening, etc, but in any case the work is grounded in a larger spiritual context/vision * Brandon ... in 20 yrs I'd like to see a second generation of SolSeed contributors, meaning children of members who joined, who found the practice meaningful and voluntarily continued their involvement as they became adults ... I would like to see the Kindred network being very much aware of itself and having a wide onramp in society, specifically at least 3 strong intentional societies, one of which is SolSeed, and several other fledglings, all of which meet in person once a year for a big celebration, and communicate regularly online and through an exchange program ... these societies would be characterized by people who have shining eyes when they talk about their life's work and who have found the support they need to pursue that life's work Where do you want us to be in 10 yrs? * Eric ... I would like to see us have the network of groups already in place, even if they aren't maybe big enough yet to support the greenhouse project, but they are working toward helping us ... they will be working toward greening their own communities, building ecovillages, building green cities * Shelley ... in 10 years there are two nodes of communities that may or may not be living together, but have a shared spiritual practice and shared goals * Ben ... Critical mass of people who are ready to start building at least one organized institution, as described in my 20-years statement, whether they are in the same place or not; a lot of them would probably have to be, but virtual technology may allow multi-location groups to be more powerful. * Brandon ... what you all said, plus we're strong: we have momentum that we can point to in terms of committed members, religious traditions that give shape and meaning to our lives, and we've collected and are nurturing several other groups as they are building the same for themselves ... we've identified our spiritual ancestors and our past and present teachers, and are deeply plugged into our entire narrative (past, present, and future) Where do you want us to be in 5 yrs? Ben ... in 5 yrs I would like us to 10 members that are actively working on things, and some degree of people in the relevant topical communities knowing about us ... i.e. we've joined the communities that are working in the general directions we're working. Eric ... in 5 years I would like us to have 50 contributing members and many more members that are on and off taking part in thing. Like Ben said, I'd like us to have made alliances with other groups that have similar goals and I would see them being environmental groups a lot of times (in addition to space groups). * Shelley ... One community as described above * Brandon ... I'd like us to be almost entirely about practice (digging in the soil, building things, having celebrations etc) rather than ideation (figuring out who we are and where we're going), whatever size we are ==Core Values/Beliefs== * '''All [[life]] is precious.''' This is the root of our value system. Respecting and cherishing life is the reason for everything we do. ** '''More possibilities are good?''' Life creates an upward spiral of possibility. This is one of the reasons we value life so much. ** '''We ALL are precious [[SolSeed]].''' SolSeed (which contains Gaia) is defined as "the body of all life on Earth," encompassing every human culture and belief system as well as all other species. This is a statement of belief in the Gaia hypothesis, at least as a valid metaphor. This connects particularly to the "Openness/welcoming differences" practice below. *** Body of All Solar Life, SolSeed/Gaia, and "ecosystem/biosphere" have very different visceral content ... having a name gives it a kind of personhood (with a name, it brings it to life ... not just a corpse) *** The finger is the body (as it is expressed in that portion of itself), so saying "I am Life itself" is a valid and true way of looking at the world (though not the only one) ... further, there is power in that perspective ... it is a perspective that is inaccessible to most of the world *** [[SolSeed]] is the most precious thing we know? *** '''We all belong to the Body of All Solar Life?''' *** Consider whether to keep the word "Solar" in the main text or relegate it to a commentary ** '''Living and working in community?''' (We don't do this yet, but it's on our business cards and banner) ... could relate to the more universal ethic through conferences bringing communities together in a network *** Elucidate with Captain Planet language, "By our powers combined"? God is a metaphor for the immense power of society to do things that its individual members could not. **** By living and working together in community the [[SolSeed Movement]] can achieve more than its individual members could ever achieve. The goal of fulfilling [[The Destiny]] is only possible throught this mechanism. **** By living together in 'community', the species that make up [[SolSeed]] can achieve much more than each individual species could achieve on their own. In fact without the diversity of the biosphere, most species (trying to survive alone) would die off. **** Living in a community of practice, where there is an established practice of carving out time for living according to our aspirations, makes those activities effortless and joyful rather than a slog. If your friends and family and social activities are all in support of your aspirations ... then just hanging out is moving toward your aspirations (your activities naturally support the aspirations) ... there isn't the need to "add them to your life" ... your life already has them built in ** '''[[The Destiny]] of SolSeed is to take root amongst the stars.''' To protect the future of life, we must help it grow beyond [[Earth]] and even beyond the [[Sol]]ar system, so it can never be wiped out. More importantly, our belief in this audaciously optimistic goal, and in the epic story of a future with life thriving on many worlds, is central to defining the [[SolSeed Movement]]. *** This is the one value that makes us unique among movements whose core value is respect for all life. *** Stuff about being worthy **** Steve: We should tread lightly and not use universalizing rhetoric, e.g. "bring terrestrial life to as many worlds as possible," which could lead to running over other biospheres **** Brandon: Even if there is an increase in wars, hunger, and systemic injustice, life will still be precious **** Shelley: We should be gentle **** Brandon: TheDestiny as a term is not necessarily gentle ... it's not a "shy violet" term *** We're not necessarily the only biosphere expanding out into the galaxy, so worries about us taking over everything may not be required. We won't know until we go and see. But we can't go look without establishing ourselves along the way. * '''Science as the way to know truth.''' We believe in the scientific worldview, the principle that observing the world is a far better route to knowledge than religious texts and magical thinking. We talk about [[Gaia]], a controversial scientific concept, and about a Destiny that sounds like a prophecy, but we admit that these are stories, not knowledge. We believe in the Destiny as a worthy and inspiring goal and Gaia as a useful and inspiring metaphor, but what we believe to be ''true'' (or rather, as close to the truth as we can presently get) is based around mainstream science. ** We don't try to answer scientific questions through our religion; we accept the answers from science and then base our religion on them * Care, Loyalty, Liberty, Authority, Fairness, Sanctity ** Care is easy: we care about all life ** Sanctity is easy: pollution, habitat destruction, etc are forms of violation of sanctity ** Fairness is harder: how do we accept proportionality if it extends to letting people starve if they can't or won't work? are those people not worthy of being cared for? ** Loyalty (to the SolSeed Movement) is okay as long as we don't have to be in harmful competition with other groups ** Authority is hard because we (the [[SolSeed Movement]]) are a kind of rebel. We are being creative in a realm (religion) that is generally conservative. Oddly, many would assume that we're starting a new religion so the founder can aggrandize himself and have authority over cult followers (as many recent "new religions" have done), but this is the opposite of true. And so we reject authority within SolSeed partly because we don't want to be like that and partly because we hold strong democratic/open-source values. *** Eric: Imagine a forest spanning different climates, where trees in cloudy, rainy areas could send water to trees in sunny, dry areas and get sugar in return ... the trees could establish a "tyranny" *** Ben: Environmental regulators, and police and courts enforcing laws that protect people from harm, are authorities that we could respect. May exert authority as long as it's in directions approved by a majority of the citizenry? *** Brandon: I value having an identity that is more about membership in a group than about me as an individual, and I see "religions controlling people" as a good thing if translated as "helping me control myself," even if not always in ways I would choose on my own ** Liberty is pretty easy: freedom to follow our religion and others' freedom to follow theirs? Also, science requires freedom from oppressive ideology that tells people certain things can't be true. Also, creativity and making beauty and possibility happen seem to require freedom if you're intelligent (or millions of years of evolutionary time otherwise). On the other hand, we support limiting people's freedom to "desecrate the sanctity of nature" and harm other living beings. == Practices == * '''Be [[starfarer]] now.''' The goal of spreading life across the Galaxy, or even bringing one other world to life, is still a dream for the future, but that shouldn't stop us from embracing its implications in the present. "Starfarer" is a way of life, not a job description. It involves optimism, openness to audacious possibilities, and cultivating [[:Category:SolSeedVirtues|virtues]] that will serve us well when we carry life to the stars. It also involves presence and mindfulness of the now, because only by taking action in the present can we build the future we seek. ** Begin the work. Don't let your current understanding block your power. ... (from ''Seeing Nature'') * '''Nurture body, mind and spirit.''' The virtue of [[Self-Love]] leads to the practices of staying healthy, stimulating our minds, and maintaining a fulfilling spiritual practice (daily meditation, weekly services, quarterly celebrations of the changing seasons). If we don't look after ourselves, we will be in no condition to pursue any of our goals. ** Don't commit to too much for the sake of the future and neglect our present needs ... Eric's metaphor: this is the brake pedal and "Be Starfarer now" is the gas pedal * '''Openness/welcoming differences.''' To build a community of starfarers with strong ties to [[Kindred|other groups that value life]], we need to understand that shared values and/or purpose doesn't mean we will all think alike. Because we are all precious SolSeed, we welcome people regardless of these differences. Also, as our scientific worldview requires, we acknowledge that anything we believe could be wrong. We believe in practicing the welcoming of those with different ideas and beliefs with [[Empathy]] and respectful discussion and debate. ** And yet almost everybody who has participated in any SolSeed activity has been white and affluent ... maybe we should think about eventually starting a SolSeed affirmative-action program? * '''Acting upstream.''' [[Wisdom]] says that a small group like ours should not seek large-scale change by a direct route. Instead, we look for small actions that are well-positioned to set off a cascade of larger changes in the future. The "upstream" metaphor comes from Paul Krafel's film ''[[The Upward Spiral]]'', in which he describes redirecting tiny rivulets of rainwater so they soak into the soil and promote life, rather than forming fast-flowing streams that cut the land into steep, lifeless gullies. * '''Finish what we start?''' We haven't lived up to this, and it could become a negative practice (continuing work that we no longer value), but it would help us avoid taking on too many projects with no clear way to persist with all of them. ** Alternately, '''Choose things to finish''' ... don't just let the first item on the list take over if it's not the most valuable thing to work on * "Functional" practices ** '''Taking notes''' ... recording what we've done and where we've been ** '''Open Space''' ... self-organized un-conferences ** '''Evaluating our pratices''' ... self-criticism leads to improvement * '''Generosity to members and friends.''' We help people who want to attend our events, and don't ask for money in return for attendance. * '''Charity and Advocacy.''' We donate some of our time and money to help people in need and support worthy causes, separate from our work with friends and members. ==Purpose/North Star== To bring life to ourselves, each other, our communities, our planet, and even unto the galaxy. ==Actions== Path 1: Articulate our detailed vision for a SolSeed way of life (book) > Build Movement (Recruit and use practice/good work to attract members) > Build Cottage Space/Forest Industries > Grow Villages around Industries Path 2: Articulate our detailed vision for a SolSeed way of life (book) > Adopt and refine practice (build our lives) ... includes building one anchor part of one Village > Recruit second anchor part of that same Village > Repeat * Build a SolSeed village/society * Become a player in the space industry ** Does this go against the value of "acting upstream"? ... not if we go the open-source [http://spacehack.org/ "space hacking"] route ** In particular, engineering organisms adapted to life beyond Earth? * Incorporate the SolSeed Society nonprofit to do or contribute to charitable work * Promulgate our ideas through various media ** Does this include our events that include friends/kindred? * Spiritual practice ** This includes our events for just ourselves ===Targets (3 Years)=== Year Ending: 12/31/2012 * Place: We can point to a [[SolSeed Village]]. * Resources: Yearly budget is $1 million. * [[Industry]]: We are making money from something core to launching life to another world, eventually another star system. * Vision: Our vision is clearly articulated in all core [[media]] (this website, the [http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=232314258760 Facebook page], books, videos, events, and perhaps a blog and/or other Web presence). === 2012 1 Year Goals === * Media: Finish what we're working on for the [[SolSeed book | big book]] (possibly as two books/parts) and publish it * Outreach: Maintain and develop our topical community protocols all year * Spiritual practice: Maintain and develop the spiritual practice (daily practice, weekly services, and big celebrations for the solstices and equinoxes) * Village: Core membership all lives in same neighborhood === Draft 2012 3rd Quarter Goals, due 9/30/2012 === * Book ** Yellow: *** Brandon ... 6 good hours *** Ben ... 6.5 good hours (breaks down to .5 hrs/week) ** Green: *** Brandon ... 12 good hours *** Shelley ... editing for 2 good hours *** Ben ... 13 good hours (breaks down to 1 hr/week) ** Super Green: Finish a draft of the book and get a hard copy *** Brandon ... spend at least 1 hr every week of the quarter *** Shelley ... editing for 4 good hours *** Ben ... add an image for every chapter * One-Page Plan development ** Yellow ... One page descriptions of the resource needs, outcomes and impact of at least four projects. ** Green ... All 5s from Shelley, Eric, Ben, and Brandon on a plan that includes at least 20 years in its arc ** Super Green ... we have a beautiful graphical presentation of the plan suitable for printing and prominently displaying in our living spaces Maintenance * Spiritual Practice ** Equinox * Workbees * Topical Communities ** Space Elevator ** Religious Method == Drip Emails == Once a week for 12 weeks send a picture and very short email with a few links if people want to go deeper === Brandon's list, with comments === Week 1: The Upward Spiral ... concepts from Paul's movie Week 2: The Divided Mind (Elephant and Rider) ... concepts from Jonathan's book, ''The Happiness Hypothesis'' Week 3: The Body of all Life ... Gaia theory? Week 4: Passion ... Happy in the Sun (Elephant + Rider) Week 5: Life has invested in us ... probably about how the harm we've done to the biosphere is an "investment" that we need to pay back with interest by doing something good that outweighs the harm ... concepts from our book: [[Life ... it's our epic story!#Life has invested in us]] Week 6: Empathy is transcendant ... material from Jonathan's other book, ''The Righteous Mind'' Week 7: TheDestiny ... our ultimate long-term goals as a religion ... does it make sense to put this earlier, so people interested in space don't get impatient and those who are dubious find out earlier that this isn't for them? Week 8: Perspective (skinbag, life itself) ... Buddhist concepts? Week 9: Precious and Worthy ... one email is unlikely to be enough to convince people who think humans aren't worthy Week 10: Wisdom ... Habit and Instinct ... Regular Practice ... maybe also talk about balancing reason and emotion (i.e. more Elephant and Rider)? Week 11: The Critical Role of Religion ... need to define religion more broadly (and more specifically?) than usual Week 12: More or Less Alive ... Bring Life ... good general topic to wrap things up === Other ideas === * Environmentalism is a losing battle ... we can only prevent destruction ... unless we go out to other worlds to create new wilderness * Science as a worldview ... what is a science-based religion anyway? * Intentional communities ... a better life on Earth and practice for living in space * Projects? - Practical steps toward the destiny - dyson tree breeding programs - starships. (or maybe things a bit more near-term :-) === General comments === * Ben ... it's a good first draft but could use some revision * Eric ... it's better than a first draft ... nearly there, but needs some tweaks == Evaluation == * Eric ... doing well by focusing on the one thing at a time, although we didn't get very far in terms of analyzing the one page plan on paper ... we're finding our path toward thinking at a higher strategic level * Brandon ... Committed as ever but seeing the future is muddling along. * Shelley ... beginning to focus, my elephant is attracted to focus :-)