OccupySolutions

We’ve had an amazing couple days of meetings at the Arlene Francis Center, and THE VISION IS ALIVE!!!  The new cafe construction will begin very soon, and the AFC crew is tossing out some ideas for community building:  there is planned to be a large calendar on one wall, letting cafe frequenters in on the Center’s happenings.  People can decide whether to simply enjoy their coffee, or move into the classroom for some alternative education or intentional discussion.  A true place of connection!  How exciting.

Bruce Rhodes, who holds a managerial position at the Center, is working away at his “Drums for Solar” project, which empowers average people to build their own solar panels from scratch.  They are currently involved in communities in Senegal and Mali, while Bruce stays back in Santa Rosa to work on the educational aspects of solar design.

There is talk of re-zoning the warehouse in the back of the building to make space for offices, artist spaces, and coworking/collaborative environments.  This is probably a ways off though, as it requires fire exits, bathrooms, etc… More to come soon.

OccupySolutions continues to plug away at the creation of our free Community Learning Center and event space here at the AFC.  Event proposals are coming in at such an accelerating pace that we are having to turn some down for our own sanity as we get our booking systems in place.  Whether we see it as a blessing or a curse, we’re learning as we go, and that’s what’s important!

Keep an eye on the calendar for upcoming events… -Occsol

The day started off with an old Seattle acquaintance stopping by the center and  offering his assistance in existential conversation and running internet cables through the rafters.  A vibrant personality to wake up to, the conversation quickly turned to a class that he’d like to hold: “Consensus Through Music”.  The idea is to use vocal and instrumental improvisational jamming to bring people into experiences of harmony, the field of which to make larger decisions from.  Pretty interesting~!

Two more folks who OccSol had been in communication with stopped by randomly as well, and we were glad to see them.  Abraham Entin of the “Move to Amend” coalition and members of OSR want to hold a “Groove To Amend” gathering at the AFC, kickstarting the season’s campaign to end corporate personhood and get money out of politics.  More on the Groove to come soon… Kendra stopped by on behalf of the Season for NonViolence, a collective of educators that teach everything from NVC to Emotional Aikido between the 2 month anniversary of MLK Jr and Gandhi’s deaths.  During this time, the group is looking to hold about 5 classes here, all of which we will keep you up to date about.

Much to our chagrin, a group of midwives looking to start an accredited university taught through the feminine arts, were already renting the AFC’s classroom!  A member of OccSol sat in and connected with them for a bit before our previously-named “HopeTank” began.

The HopeTank, to avoid confusion with the MettaCenter’s HopeTank has been renamed to “NonViolence for Daily Living.”  We believe this better describes where this group is going, and look forward to holding a weekly 20 minute meditation followed by an hour and a half of discussion on how are lives can be framed through a NonViolence lens.  (Sponsored by The Metta Center, every Friday from 2-4pm.)  Our NVDL session today was beautiful, spending time on some past interpersonal issues, embarking on what anger and se per ation mean to us, and ending with potent discussion on a recent article making it’s way around the web.  Thanks to all of us for being so vulnerable… It’s truly nourishing.

This evening, we scheduled a music and discussion event for a friend’s “Thriving Together Project” on the afternoon of Sunday the 29th, and are very much looking forward to seeing it’s fruition. That’s about it for today.  Tomorrow we’ve got a meeting with the AFC staff to go over building and calendar logistics.  Goodnight!

Wow.  Another crazy and catalyzing couple of days…  The monthly Sonoma County Occupy Town Hall happened last night, with over 130 people in attendance again.  People broke out into groups, ages ranging from 20 – 92 yo, in what was described by one member as “the most comprehensive look at the regional Occupy Movement yet.”  Fruitful discussions all around, many felt that the night was a success, some calling for a 3 hour Town Hall next time around (Feb 9th).

OccupySolutions affinity group held a “Visioning Session” today at the AFC, and talked about everything from our personal visions, to actions, to new group members, to events we want to hold, to the REAL purpose of OccSol, and beyond.  A large part of our meeting was spent talking about our interpersonal dynamics, and how we can better understand each other, in order to do the best work possible in the world.  (Not just “progress”, but “how”… the quality with which we make progress.)  It was very telling, and very trying, but in the end many came to an understanding of this being a micro example of a larger process that the whole world is going through.  Understanding our differences, and working with them, even nurturing them, so that we can all feel part of the tribe and thrive as one is Big Work.

On a lighter note, we gained a new member today!!!  Joan, who lives in a nearby intentional community, will be joining our group from here on out.  She’s a wonderful person, full of laughter, ideas, and tears, and we’re really looking forward to her continued participation, working together towards the actualization of our collective dream!

The event proposals are piling up quickly after the light publicity that we gave at the Town Hall, and we are going through some logistical learning curves in trying to understand how to best deal with and delegate responsibilities.  More on this to come soon.  Our “HopeTank” is today from 3-5pm, and we’ll be hosting an Open House from 7-9pm.  Feel free to come by!  -OccSol

OccupySolutions had a meeting today from 11-1, spanning a plethora of topics in a really short span.  A few quick notes:  We decided to use our own calendar for our site, so as to not clog up the AFC’s calendar.  The OccSol.org website here is now public, but we aren’t fully debuting it until we’ve had our Visioning Session and create a solid press release.  On that note, our Vision Session is the entire afternoon of the 10th!  Should be amazing.  We’ll report back here afterwards.  We are presenting the Free Community Learning Center at the Sonoma County Occupy Town Hall tomorrow night,  7-9pm @ the Sebastopol United Methodist Church.  On another note, we talked about what type of events will be held at the Center, coming to the decision that logistically it may be too strenuous to host other occupations’ working group meetings.  This is to be a Learning / Connecting Center, and any teach-ins, discussion groups, circle processes, or celebrations fostering that learning and connection will be welcome with open arms, free of charge.

After the meeting, a group member imbedded the new calendar on the site!  Check it out.  Pretty snazzy.  ; )  Another member created some more amazing spreadsheets for future contact lists and donation directives.  Thank you!!!

We are doing a trial run of “Open Space Evenings” from 7-9 on Wed, Thur, Fri of this coming week.  A couple of open hours after dinner to swing through and work, play, discuss, or create whatever your heart desires!  (We’ve got some random ideas and materials if you care to join, or bring your own!)  We’ll make it up as we go along…  RSVP by the night before so that we know how many people to expect.

Another member of ours, having recently come back from Europe, is in conflict about his ability to continue with the group.  We do not at all fault him, and understand that a lot of this is about the need to make money, and reconnect with his other passions.  We’ll be really sad to see him go if this is what he decides, but wish him well on his new life in Berkeley!!!  We love you brother.

2 of our affinity group members got up early for an all day hike with the Metta Center in Point Reyes.  We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful Saturday!  Connecting and collaborating with like minded folks from all over the Bay, we hiked a bit over 8 miles to the ocean and back, and are feeling incredibly blessed right now.

Back in Santa Rosa, a member of the group put in some serious time creating documents pertaining to our donation process and donation inventory organization. : ) She also created a brainstorm document for our social agreements during actions, and a formal agreement structure for our relationship with the Arlene Francis Center!  Amazing.

The Occupy NewsPaper group met at the AFC this morning for a very monumental meeting at which the name for this soon to be publication was officially decided on:  ”The NorthBay Occupied Press”  …  How’s that for teamwork?  Great job folks!  They also decided on an Editorial Board, who will oversee the content of future print editions!  Very productive day.  We all look forward to seeing the website soon.

Time for bed.  Good night all.  Enjoy the full moon!

We had a great meeting at the AFC this morning, going over the Center’s plans to install a beautiful new Community Cafe by the end of February.  (The plans were finally approved by the City Council today!!!)  We also figured out some calendaring jib-jab, and sat by the woodstove for a bit.  It’s quite nice to get to know everyone better around here as time goes on.  It’s beginning to feel like a big family: kids, dads, aunts, and uncles always running in and out. : )

Several of our affinity group members got together this afternoon for the first “HopeTank” meditation and discussion.  It was quite fruitful!  Some of us hadn’t meditated too often in such a public space, and felt it to be exhilarating and vulnerable.  We started off our conversation with what nonviolence meant to us individually, then moved into a riffing on the word “Forgiveness”.  This quickly led into deep discussions about compassion and integrity, and how to be whole in one’s own self so that forgiveness can come truly come through without reservations.  One of us had some real difficulty grasping the terms and how they were being used.  There was discussion around cultural indoctrination, and the practices in thought, word, and deed to move past what doesn’t serve us.  Next, a paradoxical discussion about how to “love your enemy” got some rousing laughter, and deep thought into what it really means to love all inclusively.  Naturally we rolled back around to our first points of conversation, realizing that it’s all connected and it may not even be necessary to keep talking.  ; )

Holding hands in silence, we joy-fully ended our session and were delighted to get out our calendars to plan the next:  Wednesday, January 11th, from 3-5pm. Feel free to come and bring a friend, but please RSVP first.

So, today was another fruitful day for the group.  An OccSol member put the final (and beautiful) touches onto our Evolving Vision Statement, and we’ve published it to the website!!! We’re all excited to continue living out this vision, and would love to collaborate with any local peoples or groups wanting to contribute to it!

An official office space has been set up in the warehouse of the Arlene Francis Center.  One of our members helped to mop the theatre floors (which is no little job), and will be assisting tomorrow with the painting and replacing of the stage!  With a little buff in the floors and a 200 person occupancy, that place is going to be ready for anything!

On the afternoon of Thursday January 5th, two of our affinity group members and Nick Sismil of the Metta Center for Nonviolence will be getting together for a short meditation, followed by a discussion on Principled Nonviolence.  This should be really substantive, and may become a weekly event, based on Michael Nagler’s “HopeTank” (like a think tank, but from the heart.)  All are free to attend from 3-5pm at the AFC, please RSVP and be on time though.  Thanks!

Today a member of OccSol met with Abraham Entin of “Move to Amend”, Michael Nagler, and 2 of his assistants from the Metta Center for Nonviolence, to discuss how Occupy and Nonviolence can assist the amazing work that Move to Amend is putting forward to the US Government.  Quite powerful, the conversation didn’t seem to want to end and will be picked up again in the near future.

OccupySolutions’ core affinity group also had a very fruitful meeting today.  The first at the Arlene Francis Center!  A lot of emotionality was brought up around how connections are made and ideas are moved forward on.  How can the whole group be in on decision making processes and not slow down too much?  What is a good amount of appreciation-to-criticism during email conversation?  Is progress really that effective when the whole group isn’t brought along for it?  It was a challenging conversation, but came to a constructive ending point for the day, and will definitely be on the table in meetings to come.

During today’s meeting we finally ratified our Vision document!!!  We were all quite pleased with the way it turned out, and feel that it was very collaboratively-created!  It will be on the site here very soon.

The group consensed to the utilization of the Arlene Francis Center for the month of January, and a written contract will be composed by the 1st of February.  A brief gathering with Martin and Bruce before the meeting was very helpful in getting the “house rules” under our belt.  We are free to begin scheduling events out of the Center!  Email us if you have anything in mind.

Other news coming out of the meeting:  Many of us will be carpooling to the Sacramento Training in the PDF below this post…  Potential facilitators of the 14th’s showing/discussion on “The Color of Fear” will be previewing the documentary on the 9th at the AFC, at 12:30pm…  Several of us will be attending the North Bay Organizing Training from 1-4 on Saturday…  And finally, the theatre group met after our meeting in the classroom to practice for a powerful performance at the Wells Fargo Action on Friday in Downtown Santa Rosa…

What a day!  - The #OccSol Team