Cause & Effect

A teacher saw me a couple times at the local school and said to my teacher friend that I looked peaceful. My friend told her that I was organizing a peace event. I see him yearly at my son’s event. He said I looked good, that my face was very bright. I was wrapping a grapevine wreath and heard a woman customer say, “There is someone who loves nature. “ Both she and her husband told me how they were drawn to me and wanted to know more about me. A staff person at Antioch University is doing a documentary of the Grange and Heritage Garden and insisted that the photographer take pictures of me because of my bright eyes. What is all this attention about? Is it my chemistry from the inside out? Is it my core fire shining through? Why do some notice and others do not?

I was on a Regional Food Policy Council farm tour with policy makers in the Puget Sound region. I felt my core breathing fire/passion as I heard these people supporting small farms and how they are working together to find sustainable solutions. As I was getting off the tour bus in my valley I found myself giving a pep talk to the entire busload of people about our successful day and being one unified voice. I sheepishly explained my enthusiasm by saying that I was once a cheerleader. They chuckled. I embarrass myself at times…something moves through me that takes over my senses. I try to reign myself in so that I can fit in. And sometimes I have no choice but to let it flow.

Wizards and Trackers of darkness use strings to manipulate matter for their own agenda. They will never win because they are out of balance. Natural law rules through evolution as the strings are cut and new patterns put into place. I am not a puppet and will not be manipulated in darkness. Light shines through and the draculas of the cosmos shrivel up and pass away.

My body shut down a couple of times last week in response to people’s words. I watched how my ears alerted my body through emotional and physical response. I froze up in the flight pattern. There is a pattern beyond fight or flight. And that is to hold steady and watch. I have continued to communicate with these people rather than shut them out of my life. I now know their weaknesses: they all acted domineering/superior because of insecurity. I see the strings behind these scenes and how I have to protect myself and my work with these people. And if need be I can cut them out of my life.

Natural law works through me and I am not attached to outcomes. Cold hearted? No. It’s a heart that is true to peace, harmony and love. It’s a heart aligned with nature’s cause and effect.

Conquering Beasts

These are warrior times. It feels like I'm battling beast after beast. I conquer one and another comes at me. As soon as that one is tamed it rises again. I'm not talking about inner beasts...I'm talking about people around me. It's intense.

Same is true in this community as one candidate battles another and the same is true at the national level.

As this negativity is going on so is something very positive as parts come together in a more cohesive whole. One concrete example locally is the Heritage Garden. All the parts are in play to meet and talk about a Holistic Landscape Design project. It's a quantum leap as interest evolved to the point that we now need to create a new structure as one whole garden space. As manager of the garden I'm happy about this progress. I want others to love and care for this space as I do.

When the chemistry of relationship(s) change there is no going back. When relationships/connections become less passive and impersonal there is no way one can act in the same way. Change happens. It's natural law.

Are humans puppets pulled by strings from another dimension? Is there a light force and a dark force and we their pawns? Am I watching too many sci-fi movies? Sometimes I simply feel that I am being pulled by outside forces and I have the choice to be conscious and choose. So, where do these strings reside? Use one imagination....as they do in movies.

Six Senses in Coordination

Online Patch editors were told to do monthly personality profiles. Local editor, Annie, said that she wanted me to be her first interview. She shares my values and is interested in what I have to say. In response I’ve decided to blog on Woodinville Patch and talk about the Transition movement and my work in the valley.

I like Mr Goodbar chocolate. Lately I’ve wanted one but instead of reaching for it compulsively I’m wrapping logic around it. I now have a hint of a thread that thinks about the past, present and future: consequences! It’s a thread that wraps full circle. I have also noticed that with sweet treats I lose taste after two or three bites. Am I having a new relationship with my taste buds? Can I stop eating after two or three bites?

I now notice that when I think about having a treat I am more likely to automatically check in with my stomach and whole body. This new coordinated “body language” asks how this food choice is going to have an effect on my whole system. Sounds like a new intelligence being born based on coordination of a whole system.

The same is true in relationships with men. I no longer engage in telepathic relationship even though this “sixth sense” etheric/vibrational experience is profound in ways the physical cannot be. For me at this time telepathic relationship is unsustainable in this realm without the other five senses.

The same is true in relationships with women friends. I’m having difficulty spending time and listening to a woman friend as all she talks about are the men she’s dating. It’s so very boring. I don’t see that as judgmental. I see it as a chemical response based on natural laws that run through my brain body giving me intelligent and clear information so that I can make choices to sustain equilibrium. Do I listen? Yes. Do I take new action through new choices? Yes. Sounds like, looks like, smells like, tastes likes, feels like, vibrates like a new system of intelligence.

Am I addicted to inflammation/disharmony or am I addicted to foods/relationships that cause this experience? I do not focus on the addiction. I continue to learn ways to balance and then how to stay in balance.

I am not in my body much of the time these days and forget linear information. Is this due to information overload or doing too many activities? I often feel like my feet are off the ground and my head is not on my body straight. I get lost in the “in between” negative spaces. If I went to a western doc would he/she say it was the onset of alzheimers disease? I’m thinking that it's a thinning between dimensions. Without the grounded left brain could I not simply walk out of this realm? Is this due to my age of almost 63 or the Aquarian Age? Or is this experience ageless transcending time and space.

I watched the movie Thor with friends last night. It gives a picture of life between realms.

Last weekend someone was talking about the city of Everett giving a Transition group 10 acres of land for a community garden. My immediate response was that this good news needed to be broadcasted so that other city councils can become aware of this support as well as to other transition groups so that they can be nourished by this success although I have noticed a pattern of envy even in Transition which blocks people from being happy for others. Envy is based on insecurity…insecurity is based on ego identity…ego identity separates through negativity….and so this chemical chain/patterning goes.

As a result of my feelings/thoughts of enthusiasm I now want to plant seeds for a 2012 Transition Summit in Puget Sound. If I can engage a local environmental club at a community college we could have a free venue. Personally I want to meet people from neighboring Transition groups and hear about their successes and challenges. Maybe another group is thinking about this as well. I will have to network and find out. I wanted to rest and not be so busy…but I love this work of community building so that positive energy can flow through the parts and the whole. Community events have the potential to do just that.

I thought about breakfast and what to eat. I considered what I ate yesterday and last night and in that consideration the future is included. Oatmeal? No. Eggs? No. Pancakes? No. Steamed chard and onions? Yes. Cottage cheese and avocado? Yes. My whole body lit up and was happy with the outcome. This process is happening more often. Hooray!

The word “dominion” comes up. Dominion is peace in action – a state of contentment maybe equilibrium.

New Out Reach

Working my new job that includes supporting a local valley related non-profit has caused an energetic pace to pick up. It's as if a final peg was pounded into the ground and now a foundation is in place with new coordinated motion.

Parts that were in conflict are healed and working together again. New parts from the larger community are coming into the field. It's another quantum leap.

Outer resilience reflects inner resilience. I'm more successful at saying "no" to those voices pulling me into food binges. I stay conscious rather than go unconscious.

At a chamber of commerce meeting listening to candidates give their re-election speeches. Much talk about the city but no talk about the ag valley or community. Why is agriculture left out of city politics? I want to change that. One candidate said he wants to do surveys so that residents can have a voice. Okay. I approached him and mentioned the Happiness Survey. He said to send him something via email. Maybe this is a good time to get attention for happiness.

Does Transition Build Happines by Rob Hopkins

Does Transition build happiness? An article from the latest Resurgence magazine.

Here is an article I wrote for the latest edition of Resurgence. You can see the pdf. of it here, probably the best way to read it, as it is so beautifully laid out and designed.

In 2006, when we started what has since become the Transition movement, we imagined it as an environmental movement. It was conceived as a solutions-focused, bottom-up response to peak oil and climate change. Now, with five years of experimentation and experience under our belts, we see it more as a cultural movement, exploring what the culture of a place needs to look like in order for it to be best prepared for increasingly uncertain times (contracting energy supplies, price volatility, economic uncertainty, and so on).
Transition is founded on three key concepts:

Localisation

Transition argues that once peak oil is passed, globalisation goes into reverse and the local economy becomes increasingly important. It speaks of ‘localisation as economic development’, arguing that meeting more needs locally and plugging the leaks in our local economies will be one of the key strategies for economic development over the next two decades.

Resilience

This refers to the ability of a settlement, an individual or a country to withstand shocks. Former Crystal Palace football manager Iain Dowie once described resilience as ‘bouncebackability’. It is about preparing local economies for uncertain times so that they have enough flexibility and adaptability designed into them to enable them to continue to function and, ideally, to thrive. Transition sees this process as a huge opportunity rather than as a disaster.

‘Inner’ Transition

There is an acknowledgement that this is as much an inner process as an outer one. The solar panels, the food growing, the local currencies are the easy part. The harder bit is supporting each other through times of great change, and ensuring both community and personal resilience.



Wherever Transition takes root (now in over 700 communities in 35 countries worldwide) it usually leads to the flowering of a diversity of practical projects. These usually include food, energy, building, economics, education and much more. They are bottom-up and community-owned. Here are three examples of projects being undertaken by Transition initiatives that demonstrate how these ideas translate into practice:

Transition Streets: In December 2009, Transition Town Totnes, the UK’s first Transition initiative, was one of 20 community groups in England and Wales to win the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s Low Carbon Communities Challenge. Its project, Transition Streets, was awarded £625,000. Nearly 500 households have participated, each cutting its carbon emissions by on average 1.5 tonnes. About a third have gone on to install subsidised solar photovoltaic systems. However, the main benefit that people who have participated talk about is the social connections they have made and how they now feel so much more a part of their community. The scheme has also acted as a platform for all kinds of other spin-off initiatives as neighbours start to get a taste for working together. Transition Streets won the 2011 Ashden Award for Behaviour Change.

The Lewes Community Power Station: Ouse Valley Energy Services Company Ltd (OVESCo) is an offshoot of Transition Town Lewes that focuses on the installation of renewables and promoting energy conservation. In 2011 it took on its most exciting and ambitious project to date, installing a 98kW solar photovoltaic array on the roof of local brewery Harveys to create the UK’s first community-owned solar power station. The 544 photovoltaic (PV) panels will generate 93,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year. The community share launch in April 2011 was attended by 300 people. Within five weeks the target of £307,000 had been reached and Harveys brewed a commemorative beer called Sunshine Ale to celebrate the launch of the scheme.

Trashcatchers Carnival: In July 2010, Tooting, London was the setting for the first Transition project to get Arts Council funding. Together with Project Phakama and Emergency Exit Arts, Transition Town Tooting (TTT) created a street carnival celebrating taking care of the Earth and using entirely recycled materials. Over 800 people took part, including local schools, mosques and temples, and over a million plastic bottles and bags, half a million crisp packets, half a tonne of renewable willow and half a tonne of materials were collected over a six-month period to create this extravaganza, which included several structures over 6 metres high. On the day, thousands turned out, the sun shone, local restaurants fed over 1,000 people for free at the end of the event, and the community was left with the feeling “if we can do that we can do anything”.

This is just a very small taste of some of the hundreds of initiatives emerging out of Transition. There are new community farms, community-owned energy companies, new shops, bakeries, markets, school gardens, arts projects, community investment opportunities, local currencies and much more. But can it be argued that engaging with this process of intentional localisation, in ways such as those I have set out above, can actually increase your wellbeing?

Initial indications look positive. For example, research conducted at the end of the Transition Streets programme found a significant increase in the percentage of participants who reported feeling positive about the future, who feel connected to and part of their community and who are aware of what can be done and feel they know what to do about it. I asked the psychologist Tim Kasser for his thoughts:

“All the research I’ve seen, all the thinking I’ve done, and all the people I’ve talked to suggests to me that localisation will do a better job of meeting people’s needs – people will be happier and will live in a more socially cohesive way and more sustainably. Or at least it will encourage all those things… If my intuition about what a resilient community is is correct, then what you would hopefully find is that as time goes on, people will be experiencing more and more satisfaction of their needs. They’ll find that their community is providing them with more opportunities to enact those needs and those intrinsic values. They’ll find that they’re experiencing less barriers to enacting the intrinsic values and satisfying their needs.”

Is this what attracts people to Transition? Through my website transitionculture.org I asked people why they got involved in Transition. Answers included:

◦“It provides a positive, creative and challenging place to apply my energies to those challenges…and it’s fun.”
◦“If it wasn’t for Transition I would probably still be trying to work out how me and my family could become self-sufficient in some remote ‘safe’ hideout. Transition has given my life a more positive purpose because I now know we are not alone.”
◦“Transition is a principles-based approach that…seeks to imitate natural systems and allows participants to act joyfully, spontaneously and freely in creating a more life-giving way of being.”
A study by Tim Kasser and Malte Klar found that those engaged in activism are more likely to ‘flourish’ than non-activists, and suggested that “engaging in political activism is associated with higher levels of wellbeing”, and the quotes above appear to reinforce this. Transition focuses on the concept of ‘engaged optimism’, suggesting that that would be a more useful energy to harness than despondency and fear. It argues that without an enticing vision of the world we want to create we will struggle to manifest it.

When I visited Lancaster for the local Transition initiative’s Unleashing, one of the founder members told me that even if the whole thing stopped tomorrow, he now knew 200 people he hadn’t known before he got involved. One Transition activist in Tooting told me: “I’ve lived in Tooting for 22 years, but I think I’ve lived more in Tooting in the past two years, since I’ve been involved in Transition, than I have in the last 20 years.”

Of course there is the question, as raised by Janet Richardson, Professor of Health Service Research, at the University of Plymouth, in a Health Impact Assessment of Transition Streets, of whether people are drawn to Transition because they are happier, or whether they are happier because of their involvement in Transition. The anecdotal evidence suggests that what stands out for people about their engagement with Transition is the rebuilding and reweaving of community, rather than necessarily the more tangible outputs in terms of energy savings.

One Transition Streets participant, Jenny Gellatly, commented: “You can go for years without knowing your neighbours; now we go to the pub together. I feel I can go round and knock on a neighbour’s door to borrow tools; our kitchen scraps are eaten by one of our neighbour’s chickens, and our slugs by another’s ducks.” These connections can contribute greatly to a community’s resilience, and to its ability to adapt to rapid change.

Although it is still an experiment, the learning thus far from five years of Transition in a wide range of settings is that a process of bringing low-carbon living, resilience and localisation about in a way that is founded on playfulness, creativity and – yes – happiness has only just begun to demonstrate what it is truly capable of.

The late David Fleming, a great inspiration on the evolution of Transition, wrote: “The change in direction represented by the Transition movement is as profound as any intentional change experienced by a civilisation.” Thus far, the evidence would appear to suggest that this change in direction, if done properly, could be the making of us.

The beautiful illustrations are by Stewart Pawley to whom I am very grateful: www.stewartpawley.co.uk.

Commotion Happens

I heard a Wall Street Occupier say that he was there to be part of the commotion. Commotion happens when the old is passing away and the new is being born. Commotion is a natural part of the creative, evolutionary process.

I’m seeing my Naturopath next week and will ask for “brain food.” I’m looking for support to help build pathways out of the old and into the new. By rising above and watching I see that I can go two days without comfort foods and then I start reaching for them. What is this rhythm? Habitual patterns are hard to break because they are locked in electrically, chemically, emotionally. How do I unlock imbalance?

Power over vs power with is a pattern that is shifting. Power over involves ego; power with involves heart. One creates separation the other connection. There are many patterns of separation from addictions and bullying to a top down economic system. Circulation happens in circle of heart communion, communication and community. There is commotion in the process of getting to these new circular patterns of expression. There is commotion as energy and matter are rearranged.

Evolution includes dark/negative and positive/light experiences. We ride the waves of these two opposite forces into new awareness and action. Relationships change when there are too many negative (blocked Light) experiences. And relationships change when there are experiences of flowing Light leading to new levels of spiritual intimacy. From here there is no turning back to old ways of behaving and relating. In this evolving process one is not attached to external outcomes. One is attached to Natural Law that keeps one’s electrical, chemical and emotional state in equilibrium.

Humans choose to change and see both dark and light energies and behavior patterns through the intelligent cooperation of heart and mind. This enlightened consciousness is connected to the parts electrically, chemically, emotionally…spark to spark. The spark is the driver, the force behind change. This synergetic force creates change in the parts and moves the whole. It also creates change in the whole and moves the parts. Thus the words omnipotent, omni.....

We learn sustainability within personal space and we learn it in community space. We are that powerful force of Love, Truth and Life that penetrates matter and expresses as matter.

Circle power of communion, communication and community in action on sacred Earth.

These words are written in a flow...from a specific part of my brain that is not linear. It feels a foggy, etheric and cannot be retraced because this flow doesn't look back or go backward. The flow is NOW. Seems like a rearrangment of memory.


Here is linear:

She is going to see a hypnotist who is also a counselor. She wants to be a good example of health for herself and her family. We are able to talk openly these days and I am grateful. She will include her daughter in counseling. This will have positive effects on the whole family. I'm so grateful for this positive change.

Personal Space

I feel and observe darkness closing in. Lately at night I've felt it somother me awake and I have to take a deep breath and look for some bearings and orientation. One time faces were associated.

At my new job I have to be less naive, get "street smart" and watch my back as someone is off balance and inappropriate. Time to set boundaries without losing friendship. Time to be less friendly and receptive and more clear about my personal space.

He says she needs a beating. She is 12. I said that is child abuse. I have yet to say that I am calling the police if he lays a hand on her or anyone. Violence is such a disrespect of personal space.

An inappropriate song is the background of my grandson's footbal youtube. I had to say this was not okay. Silence is approval and I do not approve. This is disrespect of personal space.

She played me her favorite song on youtube. It is not sexually suggestive...it is sexually explicit. She is 12. Why are our children not more protected? It's a dark world.

As this darkness raises its ugly head I hear sweet music in this season of autumn. I remember other places I've been. It's the temperature, the elements and elementals all singing back around.

The other night I was experiencing an internal "sweat" and sensed that something was leaving my body. Something was passing away. I am noticing less attraction to sweets and that I am orientating toward the sweetness of vegetables. I am tracking this. Last weekend with pastries, chips, candy all around me I did not indulge. I can learn new patterns of relationship with food. We can all learn new patterns of relationship that are healthy and that support personal space.

Slug Speak

AM Shamanic drumming: brain wave shift; body moving back and forth to drum beat; I am mountain; door at center; I enter mountain; yellow; something floating downward; bird?; no, autumn leaf landing at feet; I step on; we fly upward through galaxies; upholding Nature and Earth substance as sacred and alive.

I was sheet mulching at the circle garden and took a step. My foot reverberated as if it was electrocuted. I knew I had stepped on a slug. How did I know that? The chemical commotion told me. I looked to see who was mad at me for stepping on it and saw a small grey/black slug. I apologized and communed with it momentarily. Is this slug response electric, chemical and emotional? Do slugs have feelings? And how is this similar to the buttercup that scolded me quite loud and clear that it didn’t want to be pulled out of the garden? Is plant response electric, chemical and emotional?

I had another intense cycle with food and ended up with a toxic body. There was much pulling/gravity into old patterns and once again I chose to go through it alone rather than seeing or talking to my naturopath. On the other side of the cycle…out of the disintegration and now into integration I have new ideas about how I want to nourish myself and with that my community. I want to offer Stone Soup Night at my house and shamanic drumming. I’m going to post it as a Heart and Soul event. Perhaps some will attend. These cycles are not easy on my physical body as I feel inflammation in different parts. However I always learn something new. Do I sacrifice my earth to learn something new?

I am afraid of a void. I now want to go into that void and listen in stillness of body. Old habit is that brain fires, nerves respond and muscles act by reaching for the wrong foods. I want to understand this void that feels bottomless and I will probably call my Naturopath for answers. Perhaps she can assist in unraveling this knot. I know the answer is electric, chemical and emotional but need support as to when and how to stay in balance. And what would balance be like without the dark toxic state? Would I still have creative cycles? Would there still be inspiration after disintegration? I do know the clarity and high of being in an alkaline body...and I don't want to be acidic!

Is this a polar shift experience? Is this a re-orientation of energy and matter? As usual I prefer to let my inner Nature guide me rather than man-made/external answers. And yet I trust the intelligence and genius of my community parts. And those parts are external in the world around me. Is this a new trust of my community’s electric, chemical and emotional response?

Tracking Chemistry via Hypothalamus

My previous tracking energy is now tracking chemistry. It’s an expansion of consciousness in this particular body of earth as well as the whole collective body of Earth and Her cosmic community.

I look out the window here at my kids’ house In Tacoma and see nature. I love autumn and this shifting of elements in temperature and mood. My senses come alive with the newness of now as well as the memories of the many places I’ve traveled and visited this time of year. This wholeness of past and present makes me feel content.

Re chemistry:

I was both positive and negative in a phone conversation with a man I care about. I noticed it in my inner energy via feelings/attitude and my outer behavior/language. Days later it dawned on me what had happened and I called him to apologize for being rude. A seed of fear that had crept up days earlier caused negative behavior. I was able to track it full circle within myself and then in an honest conversation with this friend. Healing happened.

Spending time with this man is an emotional high. At the peace event our dance of coming together in warm affection of communion, communicating clearly and then going out into the community again and again was a weaving of positive energy. This spiritual intimacy felt vibrant and natural. The next day I hit a low in fear that I would not have opportunity to dance this way with him again. It felt like a panic attack so I called him. That void without logic reminded me of my relationship with food. Perhaps this is linked to serotonin running through my body. Once again I was able to talk with him about this and how sustainability is crucial in relationship person to person as well as with food choices. I am in the process of discovering what sustains my metabolic pulse. Old patterns and conditioning will not work…so I let go of the old as it rears its familiar head as I affirm the new.

Yesterday I had yet another experience of chemistry. I was accomplishing some tasks at work and getting “too big for my britches” is the exact language that came up within myself minutes later. It meant that I was too pushy and demanding in my tone and pace. This chemistry ran through me and as soon as I left work I said to myself “Don’t do that again! Be watchful.” Can I catch my “negative” behavior in the moment and change it? What does "negative" mean? For me it means doing a dance through sound and action that is from a place of inner peace and thus creates peace with others and the larger community. This is sacred response-ability!

I see that I have a monitor of chemistry within and think of the "master" pituitary endocrine gland. What regulates this gland? Google shows me via photo and text that the hypothalamus has a part to play.

I want to honor the chemicals and hormones that I am in the same way I honor rocks, trees, water, dragons, faeries, etc. I want to be in harmonic relationship to highlight their sacred role in this dance of creation and creativity. We are on an evolutionary spiral together and I choose to move upward and so I am honest as I face my fears directly and then communicate them openly. No shame, no blame. Response-ability!

Communion/Communication/Community is the path we travel together. Let’s not be “too big for our britches” to go there!

love----------------fear
peace---------------violence
happy---------------sad
gratitude-----------demand
appreciation--------taking for granted

Fear wears many faces as does love. Do we see our own face? Do we know our very own soul? Do we care enough to change fear to love?


Endocrine System from
Google

Although we rarely think about them, the glands of the endocrine system and the hormones they release influence almost every cell, organ, and function of our bodies. The endocrine system is instrumental in regulating mood, growth and development, tissue function, and metabolism, as well as sexual function and reproductive processes.
In general, the endocrine system is in charge of body processes that happen slowly, such as cell growth. Faster processes like breathing and body movement are controlled by the nervous system. But even though the nervous system and endocrine system are separate systems, they often work together to help the body function properly.
About the Endocrine System
The foundations of the endocrine system are the hormones and glands. As the body's chemical messengers, hormones transfer information and instructions from one set of cells to another. Although many different hormones circulate throughout the bloodstream, each one affects only the cells that are genetically programmed to receive and respond to its message. Hormone levels can be influenced by factors such as stress, infection, and changes in the balance of fluid and minerals in blood.
A gland is a group of cells that produces and secretes, or gives off, chemicals. A gland selects and removes materials from the blood, processes them, and secretes the finished chemical product for use somewhere in the body. Some types of glands release their secretions in specific areas. For instance, exocrine glands, such as the sweat and salivary glands, release secretions in the skin or inside of the mouth. Endocrine glands, on the other hand, release more than 20 major hormones directly into the bloodstream where they can be transported to cells in other parts of the body.

The Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus, a collection of specialized cells that is located in the lower central part of the brain, is the primary link between the endocrine and nervous systems. Nerve cells in the hypothalamus control the pituitary gland by producing chemicals that either stimulate or suppress hormone secretions from the pituitary.
Although it is no bigger than a pea, the pituitary gland, located at the base of the brain just beneath the hypothalamus, is considered the most important part of the endocrine system. It's often called the "master gland" because it makes hormones that control several other endocrine glands. The production and secretion of pituitary hormones can be influenced by factors such as emotions and seasonal changes. To accomplish this, the hypothalamus relays information sensed by the brain (such as environmental temperature, light exposure patterns, and feelings) to the pituitary.