Where in the Appalachian Bioregion are we going?

Where in the Appalachian Bioregion are we going? The consensus was for the White Mountain National Forest (in the Northeast), or the Appalachian states of Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia. Spring Council selected a site in North Eastern Tennessee.

If you're not familiar with the gauntlet on the road into the gathering, and want to avoid a mandatory court appearance ticket click here.

For the Howdy Folks and directions to the gathering, click here. For the United States Forest Service Incident Command website with groovy maps and updates, click here.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Why Gather?

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a friend of mine, Garrick Beck, (one of the earlies) wrote an amazing piece on why we gather.  If you haven't read it, click here.

Lately, I've been wondering why I don't take a Caribbean Cruise in the summer instead of going to the gathering. I'm tired. I work too hard and a Caribbean Cruise (not that I've ever been on one) sounds relaxing and rejuvenating. Even when I don't really want to, I'm called home. I need to be with my family on the 4th of July holding space. Why you might ask?

Often times people want the gathering to be "political," to take sides, stand for issues.  But that's not what the gathering is to me. It's a big experiment. It's holding space for peaceful assembly. It's learning and sharing with each other ideas and wisdoms that don't have a forum elsewhere. It's about learning who I am and how best to serve this planet which has given me life. It's about understanding the pain and suffering people experience and how we can heal each other and this beautiful planet. We aren't saviors or the pinnacle of human civilization.  As the late Steve Jobs wrote, we are the misfits and the troublemakers,

But this is the year 2012 and the Occupy Movement is going strong. Almost daily I read something that links the Occupy Movement to the learning and growing that has been at the heart of the rainbow gathering since it's inception. The other day I had a conversation with a friend on if the gatherings created Occupy. My answer was not really, but perhaps in a metaphysical way of holding that energy in the universe, refusing to let it die out, we kept it alive and will continue to keep it alive.  My friend pointed out that we were holding the space of peaceful assembly without permits when no one else was and she thought that was critical to what's going on now.  Perhaps she's correct.

I'll leave sorting all this out to the historians.  I'd rather be making history than analyzing it.

5 comments:

  1. I agree with the Occupy to Rainbow Family linkage. Felt a strong sense of "Home" in Zuccitti Park.

    The Rainbow Family National Gathering is the only expression of the anarchistic, self organized direct democracy Occupy stands for, that can actually be experienced as fully as we do.

    I had a dream of an Occupy the Forest meme growing through the movement so that many of the young activists involved can learn about and experience our experiment in Responsible Hedonism.

    Thanks again for helping us all focus on our purpose and motivations behind our actions. Let us all come together and feed our faith in Love and each other, once again

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  2. well said,much peace love and light.

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  3. much light shining one love<3 has been always the message and "feeling" from the spirit.It's an "idea" from both the HEART and SPIRIT of our being here.To co-exist peacably with one another without violence.I immediatedly saw that same LOVE being shown in the early weeks of the Wall Street Occupation,at it's early birth. I remember thinking about a Hopi Indian prophecy about a many colored tribe of all one people coming TOGETHER for one idea....and I said in my soul..Welcome Home! Thank you sister Karen peace.

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  4. at vision council last summer the following visions (along with many others) for the future of Rainbow were shared:

    that Rainbow happen in all 50 states at the same time

    that Rainbow happen right in the middle of cities and towns

    these visions were fulfilled to some extent with the Occupy movement
    so I think there is a metaphysical connection between Occupy and Rainbow

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  5. best leave it an unanswered question so as not to rainbowize occupy or occupize rainbow.....these are different 'activities' the how and when of it all being irrelevant. The things expressed AT these activities ARE important, that's enough. To go any further with analogy or analysis would be to collar, fence in, or otherwise change two beautiful, necessary, but individual movements.
    Mommy-O/Cloud A./Isolde

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