The Gaia Community College » awareness

2011 ~ International Year of Forests

Biophile — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 04:13:39 +0000

Someone Somewhere designated 2011 as the International Year of Forests, and to me it doesn’t matter who. What is interesting is the attempt at expanding general awareness through their campaign of presenting trees and forests with regards towards our complete interdependence with them. The seven and a half minute film produced to introduce the subject and invite a deeper awareness is simply gorgeous.

GoodPlanet.org has also created an elegant website offering a greater depth of information to follow up with, including a series of free posters for schools that are of the same highest quality as the film. There are numerous resources to be found here, and a photography contest to boot.

When all is said and done, so much focus on forests makes me want to go take a walk in one. See ya!

Playing for change – Peace through music

Biophile — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:23:48 +0000

The folks at Playing for Change (.com) have most certainly hit upon a magical formula. This is a profound and beautiful example of heart wedded with technology with the intention of inspiring planetary community. Using music as the universal language, they are traveling the world recording familiar songs with contributing musicians from different cultures, with the result being such a powerful demonstration of unity. I get so thrilled to the core of my being whenever I encounter such a wonder, and I can only hope that activities and energies like this get spread far and wide. Raising awareness about our global community, celebrating the simple things that connect us all, nurturing sustainable joy, these are the energies that we are focused on here as our lives unfold in a planetary context. I believe that these are the very things that have the power to transcend and heal the horrors and malignancies plaguing our planet at present, and everything that can be done to share them is a form of purposeful activism. Peace be with you and yours also!

Gotta love it!! Deep gratitude is surging through me….
Eric

Telling New Stories…

Aether — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:08:28 +0000

Whatever our motive may be, the very act of telling a story about who we are, where we’ve come from, and where we’re heading creates the bonds that create community. The real question becomes, what type of community are we creating within our lives? Are we creating consciously, or have our stories become rote? Are we looking beyond the horizon, or down at our feet? Are our stories that we tell ourselves inclusive, or do they exclude others and perpetuate the “us and them” illusion? Do our stories heal, or separate?

There is a rapidly spreading awareness regarding the importance of the stories that we choose to tell each other, and just how important they are as a functional glue to our communities, locally, and the ever emerging global sustainable one. As further evidence of this conscious cultural trend in awakening, there are a growing number of groups, organizations, and consulting firms intended to help facilitate the cooperative alignment and overall integrity of our evolving communities.

One that leaps out in particular is an outfit called New Stories based in Spokane Washington, USA. Because of it’s forthright alignment with the specific role of stories and how essentially important they are in the creation of conscious community, we applaud their efforts and hope to see them regarded as a role model. Then again, in our book, anyone who aligns with and quotes from Thomas Berry is quite alright and is most definitely on the right path!

The bottom line, the clearer our vision, the more likely it will come to pass. So what are you dreaming of today?