The Big ONE Convergence
I just completed co-organizing a large scale event in Golden Gate Park over the weekend called The Big ONE Convergence. It was a learning experience with many challenges and successful as measured by the depth of the level of engagement and relationships built.
There were many new paradigms that were explored in co-creating this event. As a body of volunteers with little funding, the event worked to be democratic, organize in the online and real world, free to the public, free of commercial influence. Facilitated discussions by experts in fields of study, but not talking heads. No food was for sale, only food donated to the public potluck. Spontaneous music vs. well known scheduled bands.
I saw The Big ONE Convergence as the first use of the web and grassroots organizing to bring together the meta-movement (movement of movements) in the Bay Area, home to so many progressive non-profit organizations, think tanks, corporations and governments. The physical manifestation of the unnamed movement Paul Hawkin references in Blessed Unrest, or David Korten and Joanna Macy speak to in The Great Turning, what IONS calls "The Shift" and others see as the emerging values of "Global Oneness". A gathering of like minded people with a shared vision for positive change in a public space.
There were some amazing moments in the social consciousness neighborhood, which I facilitated. Matthew and Terces Englehart, founders of Cafe Gratitude facilitated a workshop on Sacred Commerce. The process by which they run the Transformation School masquerading as a raw/vegan restaurant called Cafe Gratitude. They took participants through a process they call clearing, which allows their employees to be present with each other and their clients everyday.
Kevin Danaher of Global Exchange and Green Festival took the assembled audience through how we build a local green economy and his plans for a Global Citizen Center in San Francisco. A key take away for me was his assertion that the best way to build this movement is to create success in as a local green economy. This resonated with me in many ways that other leaders answers to this question had not. His descriptions of activities of the WTO Battle in Seattle were also very interesting and entertaining.
Zen Debrucke took the group through an introduction of the Internal Guidance System and spoke to it's role in personal and world transformation. This was a recurring theme, the inner change to drive external change. There were amazing versions of this truth that came from the varied perspective of each of the speakers. I think all who participated got a deeper understanding of "Be the change, you wish to see in the world".
Dr. Gabriel Cousens continued the dialog Sunday in his talk on "Creating Peace by Being Peace". Speaking to the biophoton field, morphogenic field and holographic field. The long tradition of being the inward expression of what you intend, he provided the example of Native Americans becoming the experience of rain. His talk also focused on the emerging culture of life in contrast to the current paradigm of the culture of death. I found his perspective on Mayan Calendar as map of consciousness and not time to be extremely insightful as it brought additional understanding to the accelerating consciousness cycles appearing in the cosmos.
The Global Oneness project also provided a talk and showing of many of their short films on emerging paradigm shift. That shows up in the New Thought, Ancient Wisdom traditions. Very inspirational video that provides deep knowing of our collective integral natures.
I am not sure how this event will morph going forward. I know that I gained an amazing experience in stepping into a leadership role as an activist and community organizer. We shall see where that passion and knowledge base is requested next. The site for the event and on-going organization, Beautiful Communities is here: www.beautifulcommunities.org
