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Welcome to the Eleven, my monthly e-letter - where I share what I'm thinking and seeing in the world and often include a call to action. If you don't wish to receive this, there is a handy unsubscribe button below.
Happy 11th! I'm freshly returned from the 8th
Beloved Festival
in Tidewater, Oregon. I wrote a
short write-up of the festival
in 2010, and though the festival has grown, it still retains much of its amazingness. Great people; beautiful scenery of the coastal mountains; delicious food; wonderful music and dancing; amazing art; a great vision; fire and fire-tenders; and a wonderful reunion of mystics and seekers - divine! Something that was very different for me this year was that I had decided not to attend. I didn't have a ticket 2 days before the festival and as Thursday rolled around (the first day of the festival) I sat here typing and feeling a sigh of relief that I didn't have to pack all of my stuff up and travel and set up camp, etc. Then, my life changed. Thanks to that hesitation, I have found my next home!
Thursday morning I received an email from a friend wondering if I knew someone who would be a good fit for his 2BR rental. It took me a few hours, but suddenly the light bulb went off that I would be a good fit. A few panicked emails and phone calls later and I met him the following morning, took a quick look at the place and we made arrangements. I'll be moving August 21st.
I have lived in communal housing almost my entire life. I admin a FB group Find Collective Living PDX. I've lived on a kibbutz, in co-housing communities and in more group houses than I can count. I've had one apartment for about a year and now, a house. Hmmmmm. With a lot of garden space. Fruit trees. And, it's located in the Cully neighborhood where urban gardeners have been farming up a storm. I'm so excited. The kind of excited I haven't felt about something in a long time. So, yeah! The house will be an ongoing story, I'm sure. I'm thinking about the name, Sumney West. My family has a cabin in Sumneytown, PA, and I'm hoping to bring some of that energy (and my family, hello!!), to bear on the place. Ping-pong, anyone?
While all of this was going on on Thursday, I was busy sending an email to all of my FB friends. If we're friends on there, you probably got the email. If we're not friends and you'd like to be - hit me up. The response to that email has been enormous with friends writing me back with more response than I've ever seen to anything I've ever done. I still have a 100 or more to read and they keep coming in - super sweet. My friend from Eugene, Rob Tobias wants you to know about his PDX song-circle on 8. 20. Joanie's got an upcoming trip to Egypt. And there were many more announcements and sharings - it has been quite incredible. And made it a little challenging to turn on the out of office notice and find a ticket and ride and get my tush to Beloved! But I did, and it was fantastic, as always!
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| Bernie Sanders rally in Portland with 28,000 people in attendance |
Call to Action: Something interesting is going on in our world right now. A 65-year old jewish US Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, is out running to become the next US President in 2016. His effort is remarkable in many ways. He's been proving himself to be a dedicated progressive (and many think socialist) for many years - he cares. Whether or not he is able to defeat Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, I am so excited about his ideas (which are good, progressive ones) getting out into the public that I am doing what I can to share them. If you haven't been excited now or ever about US politics,
please have a look
- Bernie might just wake your interest up. If we elect him there is no doubt in my mind that things would change for the better. You know that war machine we're paying for, it would be drawn down in a big way. Call to action: take some time to learn about who Bernie Sanders is and the
policies he is putting forth
. Thank you.
Our world is facing some intense challenges right now and going forward. Without a strong effort to shift things around energy policy; population growth; agricultural policy; wealth and inequality; and a bunch of other places, I think we'll be leaving the planet in much worse shape for future generations, and I'm not really sure humans will be able to live and thrive as we do today for much longer. I believe Bernie Sanders could lead us out of the desert we're headed into before we get there. Other leaders cannot do as much change as needs to happen, IMHO.
Business-wise I'm still working to help small businesses thrive using email newsletters. If that sounds interesting to you let me know. With each year I get a little better at what I'm doing and I've been able to help those I work with a lot in recent months.
Well, there you go, another 11! I hope everything in your world is going well. That you are full of health, learning, happiness, friendship, good food, time in nature, and that you feel on track.
Have a great rest of your Summer!
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