Gaia Community: asecondlifediary's Blog

Finding A Home and Being Accepted

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:27:51 GMT

THIS TIME, we meet our wise little bat, Vek. From the moment he arrived in our community, he has held a special place in my heart. Not only because he's our youngest member, but because he's the sweetest!

Here is Vek's experience:

"I never expected to stay long on the island. I never expected it to be my SL home, but sometimes things surprise us, just like our community did. It has surprised me a lot.

When I first came to the island, I had just bought a little do-dad to hop me around random sims. Which unfortunately led to a bad day. I had several times that day been kicked out, yelled at, and generaly harrased for not having a human avatar. When I hit the button again, with that fateful jump to the island I was in a foul mood.

First thing I noticed when I got there was that I had landed in a stone circle, on it where candles with people's prayers on them, which was a good sign. I had thought it was going to be another one of those sims cut into little squares.

I explored for a bit, spotting several people gathered together and chatting. I tried my best to hide near enough to hear what they were talking about. I can't remember what they were talking about, but I was spotted. They were friendly, so I showed myself.

I sat and talked to them for a long time, forgetting that I had to sleep for work. I made a friend that day, and kept coming back to the island.

I spent my time hopping around random sims for a week or so, but every time I would have enough of that, I would come back to the island and talk about things ranging from sustainablilty to philosophy, even music. I hadn't noticed, then but I was spending more and more time there.

Soon I was there everyday, most of my time taken up by the island. I soon made friends with other people on the island. Little did I know, but I was one of the community now!

The biggest surprise of this paradise was that they accepted me."

Vek has since taken on responsibility for the security of the island. He welcome visitors and shows them around if they would like a tour. He also keeps an eye on visitors and lets them know what our philosophy is and how we like everyone to be treated with respect and consideration.

Tags: Second Life, community, acceptance, philosophy, sustainability, sense of belonging.

Our 'Nomad' Speaks ...

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 23:55:05 GMT

I've asked one of our most active community members to write an entry for our blog. I'll call him Gerry, so in future entries you can recognise him.

And here he is:

I came to the Island to meet a friend, and was intrigued by the welcome note. I had no idea what intentional communities are, but sustainability is certainly close to my heart. The idea of 'simulating' a sustainable community really appealed to me. And as if that was not enough, I saw the beautiful waves at the rocky beach, and it was love at first sight!

Till then I was a nomadic wanderer on SL… but after coming here, I started spending hours on this sim. Lying on the rocks, getting drenched by the waves, and talking to whoever came along and stopped to chat. I became a member of the Island community and also got onto the Ning forum, but I was not really inclined to contribute. I had come to SL in an 'RL wounded' state and was still hurting. I was not going to get 'involved' into anything!

This was a time of transition – for both myself in SL and also for our community. I had met a remarkable girl in SL who was making me sit up and take interest in my (second) life, and at the same time, the Island community was suddenly coming alive around me. The reins of the
community seemed to be in the hands of this energetic natural 'teacher', and she was galvanising people into action. Urging people to learn this or that, to take up this or that project, to attend meetings, to contribute… It was interesting to watch the community being stirred awake from the vantage point of the rocks on the beach.

And then one day my new friend and I discovered the cave. The animation called 'devotion' became our favourite. It conveyed something deeper to us than just the motions that our avatars went through. It helped us 'connect' at psychological and mental levels in ways that I had never imagined possible. But one day, I came to know that there was a suggestion to take the cave out to resolve the prim issue – that was the biggest problem facing the community then – we were fast running out of spare prims.

I couldn't bear the thought of the cave going away. It was almost a matter of life and death for me! And that is how, against my best intentions, I landed up in one of the meetings – all ready to fight for the cave!

The community didn't fight back. On the other hand, it embraced me. My earnestness was laughed at a bit, but mostly appreciated. And the cave was spared. The 'teacher' said she will go around the island trimming
everything to free up prims and the cave need not go.

I sort of got pulled into the community after that. People knew me now. So they stopped by to chat. Despite myself, I started giving opinions, suggestions… And yet, I resisted all attempts to make me take up a 'project'! Another new member, who had also come to the Island around the same time as me, got involved into learning to build and all, but I fielded all 'attacks' on me with good humour but refused to be drawn in. I was happy sitting on my rock, and was happy to observe, and I had great fun pulling the 'teacher's' leg about always wanting to get people to work at something or other!

One of the most interesting activities during this 'happening' period, was the hut decoration competition. I thought it was an ideal 'simulation' for people wanting to get a handle of the concept of sustainable life style. To design a comfortable and pleasant dwelling using the very limited SL resource – just 10 prims. Although I was
interested in the concept, I was not going to learn building in order to participate in the competition! But I encouraged my girlfriend to enter. She was a bit hesitant due to her time constraints, but once she decided to jump in, she went at it with all enthusiasm.

Of course all was not nice and smooth. 'The teacher' was brimming with ideas and I felt that she was pushing things along at a pace that not everyone was comfortable with. She was a naturally 'bossy' person and although tried honestly to curb that tendency, she wasn't successful
most of the time. And there were differences of opinion in the community about what exactly the goals were and what deemed as 'contribution' and what didn't. Although I was getting involved into attending meetings, greeting new visitors, etc., I was still a distant observer rather than a 'stakeholder' and I could see that while on one hand the island was bustling with a lot of positive energy, there was
also a growing unrest and uneasiness on another hand.

I could sense that trouble was round the corner and it struck rather unexpectedly. Little skirmishes blew out of proportions, some of the long standing members started distancing themselves from the community, uncomfortable issues about who is leading and who should lead, etc., started cropping up. And then one day suddenly the island went peaceful – a depressing and uneasy quiet descended on things. 'The Teacher' just distanced herself from everything, and things
collapsed down like a balloon that had sprung a leak. Things just stopped happening. 'The teacher' felt that she had proved a point by that – the point that she was driving the momentum and that her leadership was crucial to its success.

To my mind, if this was a test of 'leadership', it was actually a failure. A true leader is the one who enables others and gives the direction, and not the one who has to be in the driving seat all the time! At the same time it was unfair to not acknowledge all the hard work that 'the teacher' had put into galvanising the community into
action. That initial impetus was very crucial and very valuable. I also felt that the resentment of some of the members was unjustified to some extent and the various little skirmishes had happened because different people had different visions and different understanding of
expectations as well as obligations. The goals were not clearly defined. That to my mind was the crux of the problem.

I had a lot of mental struggle before I decided to take the second crucial step in becoming more involved in the community. Getting 'involved' into 'tilting at windmills' in RL had resulted mostly into disappointments and also pain in recent years… I certainly did not want to go down the same route in SL… and yet you cannot really stop
being yourself – whether you are a flesh and blood real person or a virtual avatar…

I finally surrendered to myself and shared with all community members my thoughts about what was happening to the community. I earnestly expressed the need to come together and define a statement of purpose,
and the roles, responsibilities and rights of members. Some half hearted attempts had happened earlier, but a final document clearly defining the vision was lacking, and I pushed for creating this document.

Once again I found that people received me with open arms and open minds. Some of the differences were resolved. The key people in the community worked together to evolve a statement of purpose that was
acceptable to all. Some systemisation of the membership was also initiated. What emerged was not perfect, but it was the result of a collective effort and reflected a collective vision.

In the meanwhile Mia had finally managed to get internet connectivity and started coming to the Island again, and she added another dimension to the community dynamics.

I suppose nothing in this world is ideal… It would indeed have been ideal for Mia and the teacher to work together. Things were again 'happening' in the community, and this time it was not a process being pushed by a couple of persons, but a number of people were starting to
initiate activities of their interest. Different people were leading different projects. The teacher looked at issues from a coldly logical point of view. Mia had a more humane and instinctive approach. The need was for both to work in tandem. Unfortunately it was not to be.
And now for reasons not really known or understood by me, the teacher has just vanished…

But then a robust community doesn't just fall apart. It trundles along. If one individual leaves, another takes his/her place… So the journey is continuing and I am no longer a distant observer, but in the thick of it all! Even though I do try sincerely to maintain objectivity and try to stay detached… Try to keep reminding myself that building this community is an experiment and whichever way it goes, it will be 'successful' as it will end up teaching us all a lot about the dynamics in an intentional community.

The community has indeed evolved in remarkable ways over the past few months. But more about this in the next entry…

I agree with Gerry, as far as conflict resolution is concerned, we suck! I would have liked to have resolved the issue much better than we did - which actually was no resolution at all - just one of the parties disappeared, that's all.

As I think I said in a previous posting, I'm relieved because I just didn't want to face any more conflict.

Photo above: Mia and Cal in the 'famous' cave.

Tags: second life, community, social experiment, getting involved, conflict resolution

Dealing With Egos In An Intentional Community

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:50:34 GMT

I'M HAPPY TO SAY that at long last the energy in our community seems to be moving ahead, with more members stepping forward to be involved in things and participating in group discussions.

We are now ALMOST ready to adopt a Statement of Principles that has been a work in progress for the past six months. It has already been accepted by one meeting group and will go before our other international time zone meeting group this coming Wednesday. Here is what our draft, which Cal has put together, says:

OUR PURPOSE:

To learn about creating sustainable intentional communities -- what works and what doesn't -- and to model such a community in Second Life.

We will do this by:

* Practising those aspects of sustainable living in intentional community in Second Life, to the extent this can be a useful learning experience e.g. consensus-building, collaboration, dispute resolution, collective decision-making etc.

* Doing real-life research on sustainable practices and intentional communities, on subjects that we each care about, and sharing the results of that research with other members and visitors. This could be done by creating a representation of this practice or aspect of community on our island, and attaching a notecard with the research and links to further information; or by holding educational events on our island. The areas we are doing research on, the location of our representations, and the schedule of events, would be posted in the barn.

Each member of our community will be asked to:

* Pursue the above purpose and to participate actively in its realization.

* Keep up to date on what others are doing in the community, through the website, forum etc.

* Attend meetings whenever possible, and when not possible, read up on the meeting notes.

* Assist in the management of the island and to discharge the duties and responsibilities that come with co-ownership of a Second Life community.

* Volunteer to do some research or to lead some area of practice, in an area of their choosing.

Definitions:

Sustainable: Able to continue indefinitely -- not requiring non-renewable resources, and not taking more from the land than it returns

Intentional Community: A group of people living, or making a living, together, who share a common purpose and/or set of values

Another issue we have been working on is a level of membership that more accurately reflects people's participation in the group. Probably our most active member, Rose, has worked her administrative magic on the mix of roles and responsibilities we created on the run, and has now brought them into some meaningful order.

We will have Visiting Members, Active Members and Land Group Members. Visiting Members can come and go as they wish, visiting, playing, bringing others, rezzing objects temporarily (which will be auto-returned after a certain amount of time). Active Members are those who provide 'energy' - organise events, participate in discussions, assist in projects etc. They will have a certain level of 'authority' on the island. Land Group Members are members of our community who consistently show their commitment to the community and are deemed to be involved enough to make decisions on behalf of the group (with consensus).

So ... it would seem that our 'house' is in order.

Ironically, the next issue which has come up and will probably take up a bit of our time and attention for the next little while is the subject of egos and conflict resolution. For better or worse, I am responsible for this coming to a head.

Initially, I was the main person on the island to provide the energy for more or less 'moving the community forward' - i.e. the one sending out notices, suggesting activities, welcoming people, organising get togethers, suggesting themes for our art exhibitions etc. More or less being a hostess I suppose.

After several months I got tired of feeling I was the only one 'putting in' and it coincided with me starting off on my journey around Australia anyway, so I was extremely pleased when a relatively new member stepped forward to take up the slack and be that person - the motivator, I guess.

Now, it's important to point out at this stage that I saw myself as perhaps the facilitator - the person who encouraged and helped things along. I didn't see it as my role to come up with the ideas or be responsible for the 'success' of the community. If the community didn't have the incentive or initiative to come up with ideas, groups, events etc., then it would never succeed as a community.

It had to be a joint effort, or there was no point calling us a community.

After a couple of months, she too got frustrated with being the only one who seemed to do all the work. She had done a tremendous amount of work in making sure people didn't exceed their prim limit and encouraged people in projects and sorted out things on our Ning website (which is perhaps our best communication tool that another community member set up for us).

One of the biggest issues we had was the belief by this woman that the community had to have a leader. She felt that this was Cal's responsibility - to be our group leader - while he didn't believe it was necessary. He wanted the group to be responsible for its direction, not him.

There was quite a bit of heat in the discussion, with both getting emotional about (1) being forced into a position they didn't want. Cal was angry because someone was 'demanding' that he do what he didn't want to do (because he felt it wasn't necessary); and the other woman because she was adamant the group needed a leader.

Consequently, she withdrew, "Taking a back seat," she said, to MAKE Cal see that without a leader, our group would fall apart.

It was gratifying to see (because both Cal and I feel that it's important the community has the power, not one individual), that others did come forward and offer ideas, thoughts, discussion points and the whole thing didn't come crashing down on our heads.

I believe that if you leave enough space, people will expand and grow into it.

Her 'taking a back seat', coincided with me at long last getting wireless internet while I'm on the road (courtesy of Cal), and so I was able to once more take a more active role in the community.

Basically, it comes down to two people who like to 'organise' now contributing in different ways to the community and coming in to conflict. Over the last several days there have been some exchanges between us that have left both of us feeling criticised, dominated, hurt, angry, betrayed, isolated and rejected. All pretty strong stuff.

Our ways of interacting with the world are just so different. She has a really great mind - quick and sharp. While I'm perhaps more of a dreamer - slow to process things and happy to let things flow.

I've come to the conclusion that we are two poles to the structure - both necessary, but poles apart!

She is feeling betrayed because, with her agreement, I took the issue to a small circle of our community members - Soj (who has a wonderful ability to see a situation in all its complexity and come up with a simple solution or an accurate observation); and Kalea (our wonderful Hawaiian member, who has a beautiful soul and all the wisdom of someone who has always lived in harmony with the natural world).

Basically, I think it comes down to both of us feeling that we have to 'protect' the community from the other. I feel she is too dominating and intimidating and people are afraid to come up with ideas and suggestions because she tends to jump on them and make suggestions to improve their input or demand they justify their position (at least that's how it seems to me). Others may feel she is giving good guidance and helping people.

She feels that I'm too airy-fairy and confuse the issue with my comments, interfering with group progress. She also pointed out to me that the community have come up with certain rules or ways of doing things while I have been travelling, and that I am acting too autonomously on the island without regard to the guidelines which the community have decided on in my absence.

Another issue that I think is at play here, IS a power struggle of some kind. I refuse to be dominated and am adamant that I am NOT answerable to this woman, I am answerable to our community.

She believes that Cal should LEAD the group and is very critical of him, for not taking up this responsibility. I can't help feeling that she believes if Cal isn't going to do it, she is the next best person to take it on. (Even though she denies this).

I think this woman has an exaggerated sense of responsibility. She has spoken about the group's 'reputation' and is concerned that the behaviour of some members is detrimental to that. She has objected to another community member always going around the island bare-bosomed (and sometimes showing her clitoris) - even removing the member's profile picture from our website because she was topless.

It's a delicate balance between allowing free expression to people and also taking into consideration other people's morale stances. Who should compromise? One person's morality shouldn't interfere with anothers. Should one cover up? Or should the other learn to accept?

My main concern in all of this is that the island and the community is always a place where people feel safe and can express themselves.

I worry that this woman's strong personality will deter people from feeling comfortable to put forward half-formed ideas or suggestions because they are afraid she will jump on them for not thinking things through before they present them to the group.

I would say, she is worried that my fuzzy thinking will hold back the group's progress.

For me, the journey is what is important, not the final destination. If we don't do things 'right', does it matter? It's what we've learned along the way that is important I feel.

If we do things one particular person's 'way' all the time, all that happens is that we learn to do things their way - to be trained in one person's way of thinking. This is being 'trained', not learning.

The good thing about all this, is that I really do like this woman and certainly value and honour what she has done for the community. I hope that our attachment to one another is strong enough to get us through this. As I said to her in an email, sooner or later, we as a community were going to have to deal with an issue which required us to develop conflict resolutions skills.

Perhaps it's a good thing that it's the two of us who are helping our community to learn this lesson. We started off liking one another - I hope we end up that way!

Tags: Egos, Statement of Principles, Second Life, criticism, domination, hurt, anger

We're Half-Way There - so let's have a party!

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 02:49:30 GMT

IN A FEW DAYS, our community will be six months old, so we have decided to have a "Half Way There" birthday celebration on our beautiful island.

One of our members, MeLa has created a lovely floating platform which sits on the north-western corner of our island, facing the wonderful beach created by another member, Rose.

Our community now has over 40 members - some more involved than others - but all loving the atmosphere of the island itself.

Either I, or Cal, will write again soon filling you in more thoroughly about developments on the island. I am presently still travelling, although I'm nestled into a very comfortable place in Esperance (Western Australia) where I am hoping to stay for the summer and enjoy the gorgeous ocean beaches here.

Several issues have arisen in our community, with the major one being, "Should we have a leader?" General consensus seems to be that since Cal is the one who paid for the island and continues to make the monthly tier payments, that he should be 'the boss', but this is a position he adamantly refuses to take on.

I have more of a bossy nature, and while I don't particularly want to be the leader of the group, there are times when I think it would all just be a lot simpler if I said, "Okay, I'll be a boss" just so we can get on with other things. The thing that strikes me most is the attitude that the person who pays for something should naturally just assume the authority of calling the shots.

Both Cal and I were hoping that the community would coalesce into a new kind of society which wouldn't require one person in charge. Our intention would be that we would all occupy the island together and make decisions with group consensus.

We're still optimistic that this will happen. It just might take some time for people to come to the same conclusion that we have - that we have the perfect opportunity to create a whole new society here - one of our own design, rather than just perpetuating old models.

We are very democratic on the island and because I am an impatient sort of person, sometimes I do find the endless meetings and discussion of issues rather tedious, but in the long run it's the only way we are going to show people a new way of living together. It still surprises me that people are quite content to let someone else make all the decisions for them.

Cal is much better at consensus than I. I tend to be of the "Lead, Follow or Get Out Of The Way" philosophy. lol But then, he's a much nicer person.

Anyone who reads this blog, and who would like to come to our "Half Way There" party, please leave us a message here and we'll be in touch to give you all the details.

Tags: New society, leader, consensus, democracy, celebration

Beautiful New Beach

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:53:04 GMT

SORRY FOR NEGLECTING YOU SO LONG, but so much has happened in the past month or so ... It's just life really, but life has a way of jumping up and smacking you in the face sometimes.

The good news is that we have a beautiful new beach section - "The Rocky Foreshore" I've labelled it. One of our new members hails from a tiny little Hawaiian village and she took me to see a beach which reminded her of home and I was so awed by how realistic it was that I raved to another member, who then went out and bought the waves, rocks and sea effects necessary to reproduce it on our island.

The soft photo above of Cal on the rocks is just so beautiful! I've told him that I think we should use it as a promotional shot for our community.

Rose, who is an engineer, then set to work creating the magnificent seascape you see above. It still needs some refining and this will happen over time, but I've found that I just can't leave the beach! The rocks have a variety of poses over them, which mean you can sprawl out with lots of friends in realistic poses and the effect is so 'real', that it's proving a powerful drawcard.

That's one of the appeals of Second Life - while it is a suspense of disbelief in some ways (i.e. all you need is the 'suggestion' of a mountain to 'believe' it's a mountain), when you get it right and the 'feel' of a place 'grabs you', then you are truly connected in some way. Maybe I'm not explaining myself properly - the only way to understand what I'm trying to convey here, is to experience it yourself. To go into Second Life and experience as many different places and 'moods' as you can.

Our Community has now swelled to around 30 people, with about 8 people joining last week after I contacted everyone who had visited the island in the previous month. We hosted a visit from a like-minded community last week and from the comments being made by those on the tour, they were impressed with what we'd done on our island.

It will be interesting to see how these new members are 'absorbed' into the community - indeed, if they even become a part of it. It's one thing to join a group, it's quite another to 'belong' to it, or be a part of it.

As from next week, I'll be on the road and my visits to Second Life will be very infrequent, so it's going to be interesting to see what happens with our community. Because I have been so active in creating the island and 'hosting' it, I think there is very much an identification of me with the island. When I'm not there so much, I hope someone else or indeed, a number of other people, step forward to 'personalise' the island, so that visitors and other members feel there is some 'presence' there - a personality to the island perhaps.

Cal continues to be very busy with his work and home obligations, but is getting more involved with 'administrative' type activities on the island - sending out group notices, organising get togethers etc.

I'm so excited about this adventure I'm embarking on, but I'm also really curious how my absence on the isand will affect the community. I'm so intrigued to see who will take up the slack and who will grow from the experience of 'hosting' visitors and being responsible for giving our community its 'voice'.

Tags: Second Life, realistic beach, powerful connection

I'm Heading Off For Awhile

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:09:46 GMT

YOU'VE HEARD JOHN LENNON'S SAYING? "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making others plans" ... well, that's what has happened to me. Life has come up with a plan for me, which I didn't particularly have in mind for this time.

Since Cal and I met in real life a couple of months ago, our relationship has changed and I'm still adjusting to that change. We still love one another dearly, but the 'intimacy' that we used to have has evolved into a more comfortable friendship - at least I think it has. We're still looking at the options of perhaps living in the same intentional community, but for the moment neither of us know if that will happen, or if it does, where it will happen.

We had spoken about him coming here to Australia and I've looked at one place (too cold) and made contact with another (too expensive) and it was on my mind that when I had the time and money, I would go and check out a few communities further north from here. Then, out of the blue, my new next door neighbour contacted me expressing a wish to buy my house in the country (where I haven't lived for a couple of years). The house has been left empty during that time, and after agonising over it for a day or two, I decided that yes, the time was right for me to let the house have a new life for itself, with new owners.

So .... come settlement day, I will be all cashed up and it seemed opportune to head off on a road trip - to have a look at different intentional communities, but also to finish a journey I started 20 years or so ago, but got waylaid during.

This time I will be heading west, along the Great Australian Bight and over to Perth, up to Darwin and then back down the east coast of Australia. I've set myself a time frame of one year.

This is a long-winded way of saying that my involvement in our Second Life intentional community will be very much reduced in the coming 12 months. I will be taking my laptop with me and doing some writing, but won't have constant internet access, which will be a good thing for me as SL has become quite an addiction for me. I'm looking forward to occasionally coming across an internet cafe and being able to interact with the lovely community which is growing up there.

My time on the road will be spent thinking, reading and writing and taking walks and photos. Nothing more demanding than that. (Apart from the challenge of living on $200 a week, which will be a story in itself).

But the big news is that FINALLY I think our community is starting to take shape. There are around 15 or so members now and a core group of eight who are quite committed to the ethos we are developing.

The island has remained natural (apart from a welcome sign, a couple of rugs and some tiki torches) and we have a gallery which members seem to be enjoying using. Our next exhibition will start off with one photo which might be of say, a boy on an elephant in a jungle and the next person has to put up a photograph of something which has a connection to that - it might be of a boy, an elephant, jungle or perhaps someone riding something different. I'm really curious to see what our final photo will be of. It's a kind of six-degrees-of-separation kind of thing.

Another step forward has been our marooning for the month of July. Dayana, our exotic voluptuous dancer member, has been the most conscientious - I think she's only ventured off the island once - while I got bored by around the 18th and was seduced by an invitation or two off island. But the idea of being shipwrecked on the island, did help us to really focus on spending time together.

This has been helped by a recent innovation where we have decided to establish a skybox over the top of the island where people can go for privacy. I've set it up in rather neutral colours, but we thought we would try a roster system where (for example), I would decorate the skybox in my taste or theme for the week (which might end up being a month) so I get a chance to bring out all my furniture and precious possessions which don't really 'fit' or suit the theme of the island.

The next week (or month), it will be someone else's turn to decorate the skybox in their taste. This means we will have the opportunity for creativity, both in the gallery, the skybox and on the island. All areas on the island (and above) remain communal, so while someone might occupy a particular spot for that particular time, no one has 'ownership' over it.

We now have a range of 'experiences' - the natural island; a gallery where we can display art and personal photos; the flying submarine which is a real Jules Verne experience and which everyone loves; a Paradise Blanket which rezzes a holodeck which enables users to choose a location such as Paris, or Venice or the Garden of Eden, or a camping spot etc. And now, with the privacy skybox, we also have someplace for couples to interact with one another in privacy.

I was really gratified when one member, who has a house elsewhere in SL expressed the thought that maybe they would give up their house and focus on the community instead. This, I believe, is a step in the right direction.

Soooooo .... from here on in, posts from me will probably be a bit scarce. Hopefully Cal will have the time to keep everyone up to date, or we may find someone else in the group who might like to take it on. Either way - we'll still let you all know what's happening in our lovely little world.

Mia

(Picture above: Our very lovely flying-submarine which is proving to be a popular gathering spot for the community).

Tags: Second Life, community growing, variety of experiences, going away

Getting To Know One Another

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:18:02 GMT

YESTERDAY was the first time that I thought, "Our group is now getting to the size where I am starting to not know our new members." In the last week or so, we have had six people join our community - the last two of whom I haven't even met, much less get to know.

This is slightly unsettling for me as I've always felt that I've got it 'under control' (inasmuchas knowing everyone and everything that is going on). Visitor numbers are increasing, with over 100 having been recorded in the past couple of weeks. Even group members have observed that there always seems to be someone on the island these days.

Our experiment with being marooned on the island has also been relatively successful, with Daya being the most enthusiastic and conscientious about being around. She is such an avid supporter of the island and has provided us with the most beautiful 'flying submarine' vessel, designed very much in the Jules Verne style with Dunesque paintings inside. It has proven to be a popular gathering spot and has given our community a kind of 'clubhouse' for gathering in.

There was quite a bit of discussion about whether we should have it on the island as it is most certainly not 'natural' but I fell in love with it (as did everyone else) and even Cal couldn't deny its charms. Consequently, we compromised and allowed it on to the sim, but located it up underneath our Gaia Galleria skybox, so it's not immediately visible to the casual visitor.

We are still going through the process of deciding what we are about and what we want to achieve with our community. Porena, on our NING site, mentions how we are endeavouring to create a community which will be able to deal with the end of the oil age, but at this stage we haven't done a thing about being political or activist about anything to do with the oil industry. I'm not even sure that the majority of the community are even that political.

Cal, Porena and Sojourner are probably the most concerned about environmental issues - as in doing anything specific on the issue. Everyone else is 'aware' but not dedicated (at least as far as I can tell). No raging activists in our group! Although both Porena and Harps have written books on the subject of the environment and sustainability - which I will highlight in an upcoming blog.

For the moment, we are still going slowly, slowly, slowly in building our community - "Two Truth and a Lie" at last week's weekly gathering and 'Hide & Seek' this week. All fun and games. Which is a good balance from the rather weighty matters of previous meetings - "What do we stand for?" and "What is our goal?"

It's always a balancing act between encouraging people to participate in community building and allowing them to enjoy their experience of Second Life, which is either an escapist forum or a very useful social experiment opportunity.

We've also put on an exhibition of our community members' photographs, which is another way for us to get to know one another a bit more, ALTHOUGH most members have chosen to present Second Life pics, rather than real life photos. Again, Daya has jumped in and put on a slide show of her hang gliding activities.

Actually Daya deserves special mention for her enthusiastic endorsement of our island - she is constantly inviting friends and acquaintances over and was the very first person to put up her hand when we suggested actually being 'marooned' on the island for the whole month of July. She has gotten into the spirit of making the island her home and has put fish into the lake, and shares her beautiful craft as a home base for us, and seems to be always there to greet visitors as well.

In coming weeks, I will feature our members, week by week, so you get to meet them all.

As a teaser, above is a photo collage that our lovely Soj put together for the exhibition.

Tags: Second Life, community size, knowing one another, photo exhibition, enthusiastic support

Our First Experiment - "Being Marooned!"

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:48:19 GMT

AFTER SOME DISCUSSION regarding whether this whole Intentional Community idea is for real or just pretend, some of our group decided last weekend that we would commit to only being on our island whenever we were in Second Life. I especially wanted to experience what it would be like to be 'marooned' and having to survive on just what we had with us.

For as long as I've been in SL (which is just over a year now), I've come across people who say, "It's only a game!" but for me, it's real. This is the life I would love to live. A life of endless possibilities and just imagining something and then having it come true (albeit virtually).

Here are some of the (edited) points made by members of our community at our meeting after Cal had distributed a draft "Principles Document" he had prepared. Bear in mind that there is sometimes a bit of 'chat lag' so that someone can make a comment, and it might take awhile for people's response to appear on the screen for others to read.

This, I think, was a pivotal conversation for us to have:

Mik: Well I for one still find it hard to figure out HOW translating some of these principles will actually work in a world like Second Life. The entertainment bit I get, but it only takes one idiot to mess up a consensus.

Soj: My impression is certainly positive--I like the general tenor and the points made. I will take issue with some of the details.

Mik: the bit where it says "communities do not need artificial environments" ....bit of a misnomer perhaps given we are IN an artificial environment right here and now huh?

Cal: no you're right mik -- bad wording but you know what i mean. I meant the global term for 'tar and cement'.

Cal: what i'm trying to get at here is something we can show to visitors that says 'What We're About', what we stand for and also helps guide what we talk about each week and how we behave here in between

Gem: overall- great- I came here for company( Intelligent)- and to learn- it works for me.

Arch: my main point boils down to the discussion harps and I are having on Ning

Mia: Yes, that's where I have some 'issues/points' too Arch ... that distinction between real life representation and second life.

Mia: I was wanting to recreate society and just leave out all the irrelevant parts in here.

Arch: my point is about 'sustainability'... as long as we put outside money into SL... without it giving that back... it's a bit like buying food in the store

Mik: I'm wondering if its not all back to front you know

Mia: I think that's where we started to go off the rails a bit earlier Cal - that eagerness to make ourselves a showcase ....

Mia: We should create the society / model and then showcase it ..... and that might take a year for us to be 'ready'.

Gem: and surely a cohesive society works better for all

Soj: Yes, I like the idea of a statement of purpose. Something we can show to each other and others--but we must all have some sort of common understanding of it, interpretation.

Cal: we would show visitors the island of course, but then i think we need to tell them This is What We Stand For

Mia: Yes ... and that's the hard part! lol

Mik: and dear Cal .... not all of us agree on what we stand for here yet... :)

Mia: Let's go around the circle again and once more reiterate what we would like to see happen here.

Cal: I tried to word the Draft Principles generally, but if we disagree that's what we need to discuss and reach consensus on.

Soj: Yes, we need discussion. I don't think we should worry about when we are ready to showcase.

Mik: what you see for the real world is really really hard for me to grasp as a viable concept for in here.

Soj: and I can grasp half of it

Mia: Basically, it comes down to "How we would like to live our lives" - regardless of whether it's real world or second life. Doesn't it?

Mik: which is basically the spiritual philosophy of a tribe I guess Mia

Mik: the founding principles of a tribe are mostly about what the tribe BELIEVE in

Cal: If we were in the Elf lands or Gor lands there would be certain principles that would affect our behaviour...that's what we need to find for this 'tribe'

Arch: yes, I agree to that Cal

Cal: I agree mik..but it's what we believe reflected in how we 'live'

Mik: yes both work simultaneously

Mia: Okay, what's our over riding principle? The banner we live under?

Soj: I think it starts from "How we would like to live our lives" , but has to be something we know how to interpret in terms of SL.

Cal: I think in a previous meeting, we called it "Living Naturally"

Gem : tolerance????

Mik: The ethical development of Life?

Mia: Yes, that's part of it Gem.

Soj: i like those

Mia: Ethics, certainly.

Cal: now we're getting somewhere

Arch: 'naturally' is a bit of a weird word for SL

Mia: Not over-burdening ourselves with stuff.

Arch: I would prefer self reliant

Mia: Living Simply? Does that sound better?

Arch: yes

Soj: Living well means living well in the world (nature) and with others (harmoniously, ethically, with respect and compassion, ...).

Mia: Self reliant is another good principle to have.

Mik: hear hear soj

Arch: self sustaining would be my goal

Cal : I like that soj

Mia: Living A Simple Life, Well

Cal: and self-sustaining and self-reliant i like too, arch

Soj: Self-sustaining might be part of living well in nature and in society.

Mia: How can we be self-sustaining here?

Cal: let's capture all this and not try to reduce it to a slogan

Mik: so in HERE in Second Life ...forgetting or putting aside for a moment the notion of transference to the first world..... what does that actually mean?

Mia: What does self-sustainability mean here?

Cal: we're self-sustaining by not using resources that have to come from outside the island

Mia: eventually, everything here will be built by us and gradually replaced as we become more skilled.

There was some discussion about the actual ownership of the island and whether people felt it was necessary for everyone to feel a sense of 'financial ownership', but the general consensus was that if went with the precept that this is an island we have been shipwrecked on, the issue of ownership doesn't come into it.

Mik: I agree with Arch that if we philosophically want to demonstrate self-sustainability...we need to self generate lindens independent of our own real world finances

Soj: Self-sustainability is an interesting goal, but how can you do it here or in RL? Very difficult, either way. Should we be religious about it, or shift slowly in that direction?

Mia: Basically, my primary objective is to create a new kind of society. Where we start off having our basic needs met.

Gem: But that will evolve

Mik: it will. like any tribe that comes together, whether by choice or not

Mik: are we actually all good friends here? do we all really know and care about one another? do we want the best for each other?

Arch: if we were to stick to the castaway idea

Cal: mik has a point

Arch: maybe it would help for us all to be actually 'trapped' here like mik (Mik has been having some technical difficulties which mean she has to log off and on each time she wants to teleport anywhere).

Cal: it's pretty easy to survive in a paradise, but we still have the challenge of not really knowing and trusting each other...yet

Arch: no chances to go shopping ^^

Mia: That's an interesting suggestion .... perhaps we should all REALLY be trapped here to reinforce the experience of having to be self-reliant.

Soj: I'm having trouble thinking about all this because I am constantly alternating between two modes: (1) let's do it for real--such as learning how to work together; and (2) "let's pretend", such as creating an agricultural economy, building shelters, etc.

Mik: actually soj...I'm inclined to suggest forget trying to make this REAL for now, as in transferring the concept from SL to real life and just learn how to like and get along with strangers first.

Mia: Okay ... so there's the crux of the issue ... are we doing this for REAL or PRETEND?

Mia : I personally like the idea of being marooned here ...

Cal: a bit of both i think...we've got to try not to take this TOO seriously. i wouldn't want to say to everyone here you can't go anywhere else in SL

Mia: No ... but we can voluntarily commit to the 'experiment'

Cal: but while we're here we should pretend that this is all we have

Mia: I think it's a really interesting exercise

Gem: It could get lonely if there is no one here

Mik: oh hey....just try not being able to TP anywhere for a week...you will be frustrated I guarantee you

Arch: well... my personal strategy of bootstrapping my SL existence... is taking it quite for 'real'

Mia : But that's also an interesting point Gem ... being here on your own ...

Cal: maybe what we need to PRACTICE most is learning much more about each other

Mia: What about if we committed to it for say, one month. Just so we can experience that feeling of being marooned with what we have and being thrown back on to our own resources to survive.

Mik: what it will "force" are the bonds of relationships with group members I think

Soj: Well, if we're going to pretend we are marooned, what are the rules of the game? Can I use classes in SL? Can I use the web? Can I visit other lands? Can I spend dollars to upload images? Can I invite visitors? Can I shop in SL? Freebies?

Arch : wait a sec people... no one can be actually be marooned in SL... either I simply don't log on or I use an alt to go elsewhere

Cal: soj, the marooned stuff would only apply while we are HERE in PP

Mia : I don't ever see SL as a 'game' Soj .... only as a means of expressing myself.

Mia : That's the whole point of being MAROONED ... you don't go anywhere else. This becomes your whole world. Whenever we come online, this is where we are.

Cal: if we're going to learn to know each other better we need to commit to more than one hour a week together though. (Which is when most people come together for our weekly meetings).

Cal: mia, i don't think many of us will go for that

Mik: that's a personal commitment for each person to make and one that must not be forced upon them I think

Soj: But it is a game if you want others to share a "let's pretend" attitude, such as let's pretend we are gathering food to eat.

Mik: natural development is exactly that

Mia: No, I'm not trying to force it upon anyone ... I'm only throwing it out there as a "let's see how we go with this kind of challenge"

Gem : yes- Thats my point- I'm here at odd hours- like most people and if there is no one here- it defeats the purpose of a tribe!

Cal: right..what if we found three times a week where we could PRACTICE being a tribe together, as if we had been marooned together

Arch: besides Gem just brought up a real point: we are NOT always here and to get to be a tribe.. we need to be together

Soj: I'm "game". I don't know where it will go, but I expect I'll enjoy it. It will be hard to find common times.

Soj: We're not really ready to agree to a purpose and set of principles for our community. While we generally agree with the gist of it--living a simpler life, in greater harmony with the world and society--it's damned hard to say how that applies to a community in SL. So for now we are content with learning how to be together and getting to know each other better. Pretending we're marooned is a way to start to do that.

Of course there were other things we talked about and we even had a game of "Two Truths and A Lie" just to get to know one another, which everyone enjoyed as a 'getting to know you' exercise.

More news next week.

Tags: Second Life, being marooned, commitment

Thoughts on the Objective for an Intentional Community in SL

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 02:22:42 GMT

This is a first draft of a statement of purpose for our Intentional Community in Second Life, that I'm hoping we will discuss at our regular Sunday evening meeting. -- Cal

Our Purpose:

Our island is our Second Home, our return to the Garden. We resolve to live simply here, naturally, without things we don't need.

We want to show that:

a life based on principles of sufficiency, simplicity, responsibility, sustainability and harmony can be easy, enjoyable, enriching, healthy, liberating, and good for the environment;
entertaining ourselves can be more fun than relying on others to create entertainment for us, and that learning from and with each other can be more fulfilling and capacity-building than having others inform us and tell us what to think and do;
communities do not need artificial environments, private property, leaders, boundaries, laws or restrictions to work and to be wonderful places to live; and
decisions made and conflicts resolved by trusting and placing responsibility on each community member, or by consensus, are better than decisions made by majority vote or conflicts resolved by arguments, threats, third party intervention or violence.

We want to learn, by trial and error and study, how the most successful communities find and assess new members in a fair and equitable manner.

There are some aspects of living in a real-life intentional community that do not really apply in Second Life (e.g. making a living, dealing with children, pets, health and education issues, security against hostile outsiders, inequality of income and assets, discrimination, self-actualization, buying land and building shelter together, the need to collaborate, and acceptance of interdependence). We want to explore, through conversation and through research, how we might deal with these issues if we were in a real-life intentional community together.

We will do these things through:

'living' together in community, in a way consistent with this purpose and these principles, being a model that outsiders can see and study;
regular themed discussions on how we might deal with real-life intentional community issues;
developing a process to identify and invite prospective new members to visit and to assess who should be a member of our community; and
creating our own simple, responsible, sustainable activities that allow us to have fun, share knowledge, and learn together.

Tags: intentional community, second life, gravitational community

Emergent Community: Intentional, Accidental, Gravitational

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 18:11:16 GMT

I've been watching the development of our 'Intentional' Community with great interest. Mia did most of the work creating the physical space for the community (and it has become one of the most beautiful places in Second Life). The rest of the community members fall into three categories:

1. People who want to talk seriously about important issues and ideas
2. People who want to build, design, enhance, 'develop' the physical space
3. People who want to play

Because I'm getting serious about the idea of Intentional Community (both the use of SL as a laboratory for testing IC concepts like finding new members, consensus building and dispute resolution, and applying these 'laboratory' learnings to create an IC in real life), I'm currently part of the first category.

My sense is that curious visitors to our community mostly fall into category 3, and, because the physical space is deliberately natural and simple, so there is not much to play with (unlike some places in SL where games, simulations, contests and role-playing dominate), I don't expect these visitors to stay around long.

Likewise, because our space is limited in the number of things you can put on it (you get the space for 1/4 the price but you can only have 1/4 the number of objects on it), the category 2 people, who are doing most of the 'work' in the community now, will soon run out of things that can be done, and will, I suspect, get bored and disengage from the community.

I'm hopeful that, with a bit of viral marketing by those of us in category 1, we will ultimately attract more people who just want to use this beautiful, natural place as a space for love, conversation and community. I don't know if that will happen or not -- Second Life has a lot of escapists, emotionally troubled people, and people who find intelligent, purposeful conversation too slow, boring, and too much work to keep their interest. And there are already some other places (though none as attractive as ours) whose purpose is principally conversation of one type or another.

What is happening, and will continue to happen, I think, regardless of how we do or don't market our community, is that some sense of common purpose or intent will emerge among the members who gravitate to our community. I am hopeful that that will be a category 1 purpose, but if it is not, that's OK too. Worst case scenario is I'll spend more of my Second Life time elswehere than our island, finding the intelligent conversation there.

We designed our island as a model for Intentional Community. It has begun, largely as an Accidental Community of people Mia and I know and others who have stumbed on the place. It is quickly becoming a Gravitational Community, with some people opting out and others joining by virtue of having shared interests with other members. It has currently 3 centres of gravity, corresponding to the 3 categories of members/visitors above. It remains to be seen which will emerge as the sustainable centre(s) of gravity. To a certain extent I think mass attracts mass, and one or two or perhaps three different communities will end up living here, each an Intentional Community with a shared purpose.

But we cannot rush or impose that shared purpose until we know who will accept our invitiations to join, and who will stay. As they say in Open Space, whoever accept the invitation, come and stay are the 'right' people.

It is fascinating watching that complex process unfold.

/-/ Cal

Tags: intentional community, second life, gravitational community

Here We Are .... Well, Some Of Us

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:00:14 GMT

Just thought I'd put in a clearer photo of more of our community - taken at our weekly meeting last weekend. (Left to right - Archer (on ground), Flocke, Porena, Sojourner, Me, Cal, Boron and Gem).

You might also be interested in the minutes of our meeting - just to give you an idea of the personalities involved and the kinds of things we're interested in.

Prior to our meeting, Porena and I had discussed what kind of 'ritual' might be a good way of opening and closing our meetings. We thought that perhaps giving everyone an opportunity to light a candle for whatever purpose they wanted, might be a good idea PLUS allocating 20 seconds of silence for us all to focus on the reason we belong to the community, or what we want to achieve from the meeting.

As far as 'regulating' in some way, whose turn it is to speak at the meetings, it was generally felt that the Talking Stick was a good symbol of whose turn it was to speak, but the practicality of this was a bit unwieldy - handing the stick on for example - and as it turned out, a simple, "I now hand the stick to ... " generally worked well. It also helps if the 'stick' goes round the circle in a clockwise motion. That way, people can at least be in the process of typing their responses because they know they are next to speak.

There was a little bit of chat lag, but generally we soon established a flow and Porena asked everyone to give a quick summary of why we were there:

[2008/06/15 14:17] Porena Pomilio: I'd just like to say that I have two feelings on how serious this is that we are trying to do, and the other that I am smiling cos it's a laugh as well

[2008/06/15 14:19] Boron Homewood: I would like to say that I look forward to a community where I can be myself and share with others.

[2008/06/15 14:19] Boron Homewood: Friends, true friends are the most important

[2008/06/15 14:21] Gem Karas: I feel that the most important thing for me is the friendship and intelligent stimulating conversation

[2008/06/15 14:21] Gem Karas: It's nice to be at home with so many people

[2008/06/15 14:22] Cern Box: I am just curious (Cern Box is the sculptor who GAVE us the Gandhi statue)

[2008/06/15 14:23] Cern Box: No I dont think so I am just curious about the poeple here and maybe find some new interesting folk

[2008/06/15 14:22] Sojourner Merryman: I'm glad to be making new friendships, and wonder what sort of adventure our times together will be!

[2008/06/15 14:23] Mikele Ihnen: I would like to ask how leadership works in these sorts of communities.... if traditional hierachic structures are essentially disregarded?

[2008/06/15 14:24] Cal Freenote: I am confident that, as long as we have a shared purpose here, self-organization will work and this community will succeed

[2008/06/15 14:25] Flocke Eizenstark: At the moment I feel examined and not really have mind open for perfect paradise or secondlife to be honest but i do feel home here and it is good to be here during small breaks.

[2008/06/15 14:26] Flocke Eizenstark: its good to have friends around here

[2008/06/15 14:26] You: 'I'm just looking forward to seeing what we will all create together.

[2008/06/15 14:27] Archer Mokeev: I'm here today to listen.... to see what community this place was created for.

Then we had the opportunity of hearing Boron, who has lived in a real life intentional community for 30 years, speak.

[2008/06/15 14:30] Boron Homewood: I live in a community in the bush on top of a small mountain

[2008/06/15 14:30] Boron Homewood: It has been going over 30 years and it is a healthy vibrant group of people in a wonderful landscape

[2008/06/15 14:31] Boron Homewood: There is a real sense of place there. People have a strong commitment to each other

[2008/06/15 14:32] Boron Homewood: We strive for a sustainable lifestyle

[2008/06/15 14:32] Boron Homewood: We are not on mains electricity and we run about 100 acres of farmland

[2008/06/15 14:33] Boron Homewood: Most of the 30 houses on the properety have been owner built. Most are odd styles like mud brick or rammed earth.

[2008/06/15 14:34] Boron Homewood: I built my own house and have raised 2 girls there. They are now adults

[2008/06/15 14:34] Boron Homewood: It has been a wonderful place to bring up kids. We are very connected with nature and the out of doors

[2008/06/15 14:35] Boron Homewood: The best part is the friendships that we have developed there

[2008/06/15 14:35] Boron Homewood: It is a bit like an extended family.

[2008/06/15 14:36] Boron Homewood: Each has their own house, but it is on common land

[2008/06/15 14:36] Boron Homewood: It is a good balance between privacy and community interaction

[2008/06/15 14:37] Mikele Ihnen: how have you determined the shared spiritual purpose within the group Boron?

[2008/06/15 14:37] Boron Homewood: We have a manifesto. That lays out our aims and basic rules. It is not a hard core idealist community. It is more flexible

[2008/06/15 14:39] You: I've been to Boron's community

[2008/06/15 14:39] You: and you can see the view from his house at his exhibition

[2008/06/15 14:39] You: spectacular views

[2008/06/15 14:40] You: I was looking at living there myself

[2008/06/15 14:40] You: but they have a no dog policy

[2008/06/15 14:40] You: As far as I know the community is set up in 'sections'

[2008/06/15 14:40] You: so you can choose which 'area or section you want to build in.

[2008/06/15 14:43] You: One of the things I like about an IC is the shared group activities ...

[2008/06/15 14:44] You: like helping one another to build your home.

[2008/06/15 14:44] You: They also have a large vegetable garden

[2008/06/15 14:44] You: where one of the residents was growing grapes for wine

[2008/06/15 14:44] You: excess produce is taken to the local community for purchase.

At this stage Boron had crashed, so while we were waiting for him to come back online, I handed out this week's Members' Folders which are just a collection of landmarks, notecards, links to real life intentional communities etc., which may be useful to people. Information provided there can either be kept or ditched, according to personal wishes. If anyone has something they would like distributed throughout our community, just give it to me and I'll put it in the weekly Folders.

[2008/06/15 14:45] Porena Pomilio: Do they do the farming themselves?

[2008/06/15 14:45] You: There were only a couple of people from the community

[2008/06/15 14:45] You: who had taken on responsibility for growing vegs

[2008/06/15 14:45] You: It's in a large fenced area

[2008/06/15 14:45] You: to keep out kangaroos, wombats etc.

[2008/06/15 14:46] You: Welcome back Boron - I was just telling everyone about what I saw when I visited your community

[2008/06/15 14:47] Mikele Ihnen: Boron? Where does the "buck stops here" begin and end in your community?

[2008/06/15 14:47] Boron Homewood: Do you mean who takes responsibility?

[2008/06/15 14:48] Boron Homewood: We are a properly consituted Co-operative.

[2008/06/15 14:48] Boron Homewood: And we are legally required to have a board of directors

[2008/06/15 14:49] Boron Homewood: We elect 7 directors and they have the legal responsibility

[2008/06/15 14:49] Boron Homewood: But everyone is involved in the decision making process

[2008/06/15 14:49] You: Boron, what were some of the early difficulties you had in the community?

[2008/06/15 14:50] Boron Homewood: With any large group of people there will always be differences. It is important to maintain a caring commitment to one another through any conflict

[2008/06/15 14:51] You: So, the success of the community is the prime objective?

[2008/06/15 14:51] Boron Homewood: Our basic purpose is to live sustainably within our environment and to build a caring community. It's pretty broad. Lots of room for individual ideas

[2008/06/15 14:52] Boron Homewood: It takes alot of tolerance and understanding

[2008/06/15 14:52] You: What kind of processes do you have in place for dealing with conflict then?

[2008/06/15 14:53] Boron Homewood: We have regular meetings. Director's meetings deal with management issues. And make policy decisions

[2008/06/15 14:53] Boron Homewood: Community meetings deal with policy.

[2008/06/15 14:54] Mikele Ihnen: it sounds very time consuming

[2008/06/15 14:54] Boron Homewood: We set up lots of committees to deal with things like land management, power and water, finance, etc.

[2008/06/15 14:54] Mikele Ihnen: how efficient is this policy process

[2008/06/15 14:54] Boron Homewood: The work is spead between all, so its not to much for any individual

[2008/06/15 14:55] Porena Pomilio: How do you spread the work out?

[2008/06/15 14:55] You: Boron, how many people are in your community?

[2008/06/15 14:55] Boron Homewood: We have been going for such a long time, our policies are fairly well worked out. But change is continual (and good)

[2008/06/15 14:55] Boron Homewood: There are 30 families. Of various sizes.

[2008/06/15 14:56] Boron Homewood: A lot of the jobs are voluntary. Some key positions like treasurer have a paid honorarium

[2008/06/15 14:56] You: It's an idyllic place Boron - especially since the kids can have horses there.

[2008/06/15 14:56] Porena Pomilio: People say these things don't work - yet yours obviously does

[2008/06/15 14:57] Boron Homewood: We have monthly workdays. Like yesterday. The community mostly come and work for the day. We have a large commmunity lunch

[2008/06/15 14:58] Boron Homewood: I think that the success of our community has several elements.

[2008/06/15 14:59] Boron Homewood: First, We have a wonderful property. 600 acres on top of a forested mountain.

[2008/06/15 15:00] Boron Homewood: And we have a strong commitment to the environment. We started before it was trendy :-))

[2008/06/15 15:00] Boron Homewood: We have a very committed group that truly cares for each other.

[2008/06/15 15:01] Cal Freenote: Has anyone ever left, Boron?

[2008/06/15 15:01] Boron Homewood: Well, we are more conservative than most of the locals think we are!

[2008/06/15 15:01] You: Your community has been through some fairly traumatic experiences hasn't it Boron - bushfire threats a couple of times?

[2008/06/15 15:02] Boron Homewood: Yes, Over 30 years we have had lots of coming and going. That is good. new energy is important

[2008/06/15 15:02] Boron Homewood: Living in the bush is not easy. But it is rewarding

[2008/06/15 15:03] You: As you say, you were living in harmony with nature long before it was trendy.

[2008/06/15 15:03] Cal Freenote: have the houses been hard for people to sell?

[2008/06/15 15:03] Boron Homewood: I like to live close to the elements. Even the frightening ones!

[2008/06/15 15:03] Porena Pomilio: What material standard do you have... electricity, air con, etc?

[2008/06/15 15:04] You: One of the houses I saw being built there was a hay bale house

[2008/06/15 15:04] You: with doors off hotel beer cabinets as double glazed windows.

[2008/06/15 15:04] You: very clever

[2008/06/15 15:04] Boron Homewood: There is a demand for houses here now. So it's not hard to sell. But there are complicatiuons on a collective title. Like you can't get a normal home loan, because the bank can't reposess it.

[2008/06/15 15:06] Boron Homewood: The power issue is one area where we differ from normal houses. We have solar electricity, but it means we have to be real careful with how we use it

[2008/06/15 15:06] You: You share the solar facilities Boron?

[2008/06/15 15:06] You: or each house has their own set up?

[2008/06/15 15:07] Boron Homewood: The setup with the electricity varies a bit around the place. Some have common systems and other have their own. Mostly it is individual systems

[2008/06/15 15:08] Boron Homewood: Sharing has a raft of complications regarding equity and effort. Big question to resolve

[2008/06/15 15:08] Sojourner Merryman: Do most people work on the property, or somewhere else?

[2008/06/15 15:08] You: Actually, from memory ...'the hay bale place is going to share some kind of heating/electricity equipment with a neighbour?

[2008/06/15 15:08] Boron Homewood: A few derive income off the property, but most have to go off to work

[2008/06/15 15:09] Cal Freenote: Car-pooling used, boron?

[2008/06/15 15:10] Boron Homewood: Car-pooling is something we are taking on board, with the rise in fuel cost, its a good idea. but it will be hard for people to accept the inconvienience

[2008/06/15 15:10] Cal Freenote: i guess telework is hard to arrange

[2008/06/15 15:10] Boron Homewood: We are about 15km from town.

[2008/06/15 15:11] Boron Homewood: Yes, we have a wide range of professions within our community

[2008/06/15 15:11] Porena Pomilio: A reflection.. you say policies have been worked out. That sounds easier that debating every decision. Right?

[2008/06/15 15:12] Boron Homewood: We seem to have enough to talk about to keep everyone interested. If it gets to quiet, some invent issues to debate!

[2008/06/15 15:13] Boron Homewood: Some enjoy conflict more than others. Its important to respect all.

[2008/06/15 15:13] Cal Freenote: Has anyone ever left because of a dispute that couldn't be resolved?

[2008/06/15 15:14] Boron Homewood: Yes. it is inevitable given human nature

[2008/06/15 15:14] You: What seem to be the 'deal breaker' issues Boron?

[2008/06/15 15:15] Boron Homewood: It is hard enough to keep a couple living harmoniously. Think what would be required to keep 30 together!

[2008/06/15 15:16] Boron Homewood: The most important issue, as I see it, is to respect each other's opinion. And to have a big helping of tolerance. But then, that just my opinion.

[2008/06/15 15:16] You: You have a 'no dog' restriction ... presumably that came about from some people having dogs and the threat to wildlife?

[2008/06/15 15:17] Boron Homewood: We have banned dogs and cats from the start. We have a very health native wildlife community here. Predators would be very disruptive.

[2008/06/15 15:18] Boron Homewood: I must say, I like dogs and cats. But not in the bush

[2008/06/15 15:17] You: What kind of interaction do you have with the 'outside' community?

[2008/06/15 15:18] You: You share excess vegetables I know...

[2008/06/15 15:18] Boron Homewood: We have a commmunity horticultural project that produces a fair bit of food

[2008/06/15 15:19] Boron Homewood: We also operate a Learning Centre and have student groups come and stay and do environmental courses

[2008/06/15 15:20] Boron Homewood: We have a large community Centre that can bed 30 guests

[2008/06/15 15:21] Cal Freenote: Wow who pays to maintain the CC?

[2008/06/15 15:21] Boron Homewood: We pay calls and dues. We also make some $ from Learning Centre activities and other events.

[2008/06/15 15:22] Boron Homewood: We also have a bi-annual Festival. The last one made about $8,000 clear after costs.

[2008/06/15 15:22] Porena Pomilio: Advice for us starting out - is there anything WE Should be doing we are not?

[2008/06/15 15:23] Boron Homewood: The one thing I think we need to focus on to start is to have a common purpose for our IC. It can be broad, but it needs to be something we can work together on

[2008/06/15 15:24] Boron Homewood: The environment is obvious. But what does that mean in SL?

[2008/06/15 15:26] Sojourner Merryman: Of course Boron's community is not self-sufficient, they have to go outside for income and many goods and services.

[2008/06/15 15:26] Boron Homewood: Complete self sufficency is an unreal expectation. But there is alot you CAN do.

[2008/06/15 15:26] Cal Freenote: good point...but a lot more self-sufficient than most communities! :-)

[2008/06/15 15:27] Sojourner Merryman: Boron, I don't know how we can give a round of applause in SL, but thanks for typing so much for us!

[2008/06/15 15:27] Boron Homewood: Thanks, I'm happy to chat with anyone on a one-on-one basis as well

[2008/06/15 15:27] You: so next week let's talk about what we can do here ...

[2008/06/15 15:28] You: shall we?

[2008/06/15 15:28] Porena Pomilio: I can't make it, I'm in Palermo....

[2008/06/15 15:28] You: Is there anything else anyone wants to share with group before we go and do a group photo?

[2008/06/15 15:28] Sojourner Merryman: Yes, I would like us to move a bit towards figuring out common purposes.

To this end, Soj has sent out a survey which should give us something to work with at our meeting this coming weekend. Even though Porena won't be able to attend, we can still start the process of "Where are we going?"

After the meeting I briefly discussed having a community project with a couple of people and we thought that it would be good for us all to work on something together as a team-building exercise. What do people think of us building a ship/galleon together? It has to be a sail craft of some kind - large enough to fit a community of 20 people on. OR is there any other project that people have in mind that we could all work on together? I'm no builder, but I think we have enough expertise in the community to take this on - both Archer and Artic/Flocke have building skills I'm sure they wouldn't mind sharing with us all.

P.S. As you can see from the group photo, the poseball setting I picked up is not very inspiring - so if anyone comes across something a bit more animated, let's grab it!

AND one that the un-used balls don't show up in.

I chose Gandhi as our 'symbol' as he lived a very simple life, and a life of peace dedicated to bringing his country together. Cern suggested that we put a sound byte or two into the statue, so that when an avatar comes close, he starts to speak. If anyone comes across some inspiring 'voice' from Gandhi, can they please get in touch with Cern Box? (I'm going to be working on putting together a bit of a bio on Gandhi, which people will get when they click on the statue).

P.S. Not everyone who was at the meeting was able to stay around for the group photo.

Tags: Second Life, Intentional Community, Meeting, Ideals, Real Life Experience

From Chaos To Clarity ... We Hope!

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:32:09 GMT

EACH WEEKEND our fledging community has decided that we will get together for either a meeting or just a catch up and last weekend was only our second time of all being together in any number. And what a schamozzle it was!

Getting an international community together is a bit of a challenge as it is and our 2pm SL time slot means it is 5pm Sunday afternoon for Cal who is in Canada; 11pm for Archer, Artic and Porena who are in Europe and 7am for the Australians. One of our members, Sojourner is in the U.S. somewhere and I'm not sure what time it was for him - maybe 2pm or 5pm so quite convenient.

I slept in, so when Cal phoned me on my landline, I rushed to the computer, completely groggy and half cross-eyed! I had intended to be better-prepared and so I was off to a bad start. On top of that we had a guest, who everyone later agreed must have been drunk as they kept making cracks about us all taking our clothes off and dancing!

Others kept going afk (away from keyboard) - to get a coffee; go to the toilet; let their cat out; bring their cat in; pacify their wife who was wanting attention etc., etc., etc.

A couple of members had been working hard all week on their individual projects and they were keen to tell us their progress, but one of them in particular got stroppy because they felt people weren't paying proper attention and they went off in a huff.

Anyway, to cut a long story short - we all agreed it had been pandemonium and we really did need to get our act together if people weren't going to get frustrated and stop coming. As it was after an hour or so, people started wandering off to bed or other commitments and it was left to just three of us to de-brief and work out where we had gone wrong.

With just the three of us, it was easy to have a rational conversation and we lay down a few guidelines we thought would make it easier for people to follow the flow of conversation in the future. Number One was the democratic sharing around of a TALKING STICK which meant that everybody else had to stay quiet for the several minutes that the appointed person had the talking stick. We decided we would encourage people to type, "OK" to signify that they had heard what had been said, or acknowledge that it was their turn to talk.

In the cyber world, it can sometimes be hard to know if the other person is typing a treatise for you to read, or has gone to sleep so we thought it would certainly help the flow of conversation if people typed quicker, shorter sentences to 'feed' people instead of typing for five minutes and then everyone have a big rush to read that big chunk of text before the next chunk was spat out.

Another conclusion we came to was that the energy of our community up until now has been provided by those of us who are more involved in the Administration side of things - me putting up a Welcome Sign and Daily News bulletin board; Archer working on scripting issues; and Artic focused on promotion and public relations (supported by Gem and Mikele).

The time has now come for the 'big boys' to pony up their expertise and energy and focus our attention on, "Why are we there?" "What do we want to achieve by having an intentional community devoted to living simply in nature?" What kind of organisations do we want to be allied to? What are we trying to teach people? What do we have to offer?

Cal, Porena, Boron and Sojourner are going to be getting together sometime soon, so they can discuss these issues and come back to the larger group with some kind of information and focus for us.

When Cal and I first got together, we joked that I was steering our relationship and Cal was in charge of the accelerator. Now that we are forming a community together, that same analogy holds true - except that it isn't just Cal and I involved - it is a community of ten other people.

The 'Administrative' part of our group have been revving the engine and roaring, ready to go but until the 'Environmental' team get their act together and inspire us to action, we don't really have a place to go to! Cal has been in touch with another like-minded community in SL and they will be coming on a tour soon and I'm looking forward to that. In the meantime, I'm going to be hosting smaller-scale tours on a daily basis just to practise my skills in that area.

There is so much happening on our beautiful island - I am really inspired. With each little step, we get closer to being a polished 'product' and as I was saying to Porena the other night, there's no reason our model, once we have created it, can't be used in the 'real' world.

We will be creating a 'kitty' on the island soon, so everyone can flip some money into it for ongoing projects - the development of our vegetable garden etc. When I go into SL tonight, I'm off to buy some bees and a beehive - both for honey and the production of beeswax for candles, so we can establish a little 'cottage industry'.

I think we are slowly getting to know one another, and that's really exciting to me, but I am also very aware of my own tendency to 'hurry things along' and I have to remind myself not to push too much or else I will alienate people.

Okay - that's enough from me. Maybe I will get one of the other members to place the next entry here. Stay tuned!

(Photo above: Mikele and I on top of our mountain, which I named Mount Gandhi when I was building it).

Tags: Second Life, Intentional Community, Cottage Industry, Environmental Team, Communications, Mount Gandhi

Let Me Introduce Our Community

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 07:40:56 GMT

THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS have been very busy as I focused on the very creative and satisfying work of terraforming and landscaping our new island.

Cal isn't so interested in 'hands on' work and he is happy for me to have express my creativity without restriction - what an opportunity! Everyone should create their own world - it's so therapeutic and rewarding. It truly is SOOOO satisfying.

But by far, the most rewarding experience has been the addition of our members!

Porena, the first person to join us, has established a very good site in NING for us all to communicate through and will be holding our first class - on Consensus Building. He's also planning a Dance Party which will be great. I've already bought a couple of primitive dance animations which I'm hoping can be accommodated inside a dance ball for everyone to use.

Porena is also involved in a real life intentional community as well, so he's kept busy on both fronts.

Another of the first to join us is Archer, who has been fantastic, providing tech know-how. Her first fabulous addition was a very useful teleporter so that visitors can pick a place on the map at the central landing area and whizz straight to it. (It may not be 'natural', but hey, this IS SL after all). Why not take advantage of technology that has no adverse impact? Archer will also be conducting some Personal Development classes and continuing tech support.

Artic was another early arrival and she has taken on responsibility for Promotions and Public Relations for the group and island. Artic was involved in one of the most spiritual places in SL, so her expertise will be invaluable. She's also studying tourism in First Life. Her first priority is to gather a team around her who can contact other like-minded groups in SL and offer them a tour of the island to see if they would like to form a link with us and other conservation groups.

Flocke has put her hand up for building projects and wherever else she may be needed; Sojourner is also keen to lend a hand wherever he feels he could be useful. A very old friend of mine Hope63 is very much the philosopher and I'm looking forward to sitting down around the fire when Hope brings his philsopher friends around.

I met Boron in First Life when I visited an intentional community here in Australia and it's great to have him on board with his partner Gem, who will be assisting Artic with our promotional work.

Aramis is our wild biker man - a keen horseman and exponent of natural living. Mikele is another dear friend, but one who is undergoing a bit of an emotional tsunami at the moment after the ending of a very precious romantic relationship. While she wants to belong to our community, she feels now is not really the right time for her.

It will be our first emotional challenge as a family and community - to ensure that Mik, when she finally does return to us, feels secure and a part of us.

Another imminent event we have on is a photographic exhibition by Boron, who has lived in a real life intentional community for over 30 years! Cal and I are also working on holding a regular Trivia Time or Quiz - Cal will prepare the heavy-duty questions and I'll do the light and frothy - name three characters from "The Beverly Hillbillies" for example.

Because we are such an international lot, the best time we've come up for meetings is 7am Sunday for Australia; 5pm Saturday for Canada; 11pm Saturday Europe and 2pm Saturday SL time. We have the meetings in our central landing circle, and a very wild looking biker avatar appeared out of the ether last week, sat down and participated in our discussion, joined our group and left behind a really funny piggy-back animation for us to share - that was Aramis.

In organising the layout of the island, my first thought was to put a circular landing area in the centre of the island so that the range of 'interest spots' would be an equal distance away.

Next, we had to have a mountain to give the island some 'depth' and interest. But oh my god, what a challenge terraforming a mountain is! Increasing land volume in one area, diminished it in another. Flattening something would bring it up. Smoothing it, would ease it away. It was just this huge amorphous mass, which was like jelly to manipulate!

After putting in the landing area (people arrive anywhere in SL via teleport so they just 'appear' on the landscape), my first priority was planting the orchard. Click, click, click and I had a short avenue of white apple trees, gently dropping blossoms on the path. Very romantic. I've already told you about what was planted, but I think it bears repeating - just to get your senses stimulated - gorgeous strawberry plants, then a rich-looking eggplant (aubergine) and some juicy-looking tomatoes, a little row of lettuces and a cabbage, some parsley of course and basil, an orange tree or two, some pineapples and corn.

I'm still looking for wheat, a beehive and bees, some chickens and a cow to complete the 'look'. When that is done, we will have a great 'visual' example of how it's possible to be self-sufficient by having your own food in your own garden, rather than relying on huge multi-national food monopolies/supermarkets.

One of my friends in SL was given a beautiful galleon as a birthday present and because she didn't have anywhere to rezz it (make it appear 'in world') I offered her one of our bays at the island. To give access to her guests, I modified a bridge and turned it into quite a nifty-looking 'wharf', complete with coloured Chinese lanterns for that festive air. I was looking down at it today from the mountain and it would be such a loss if it weren't there.

The galleon is another example of self-sufficiency in that because it's wind-powered (and man-powered), we don't have to be reliant on petrol companies for fuel. Imagine shipping companies going back to windpower! Conjure about the vision in your mind - now isn't that far more romantic than a cargo ship?

I do hope we manage to attract a botanist to the island. I'd love to have an accurate representation of the planet's vegetation types. So far I've just planted good-looking plants and trees with no thought at all to ecological impact.

As far as I'm concerned, Cal and I are just providing the canvas, with a few details sketched in until our community attracts more of the people it is meant to attract - people who will fill in the rest of the picture.

Over on 'the mainland', which is how I think of our Canadian land mass, Cal's magnificent cave stands as the main focus for attention. It is just a gorgeous creation - dark, moody-looking rocks and vibrant blue waterfalls and exotic flowers - and a sensual carpet of luxuriously green moss on which to lay.

Generously located across the island are lots of little 'snuggle spots' where people can seek privacy. I've now placed out a couple of games tables - mahjong and chess and hope to establish an archery range at some point.

One of the most satisfying projects for me has been the establishment of walking tracks through the mountain. I love spying a certain kink in the land and thinking, "Mmmmm, I think I could make an interesting little path there." Because the views to the west are blocked by our mountain, I've placed a set of meditation cushions up there for those who like to meditate in the late-afternoon (while another set has been placed near our Wisteria Bridge to the east).

Cal has left a couple of his horses out and before long I hope to have another couple available for visitors to ride.

One of the things that I would love to see happen here is that the people who have joined us will just naturally take on responsibility for whatever areas that appeal to them. As they spend more time on the island, trying it on for size and fit, they may also adopt specific areas which appeal to them and make them their 'own'.

All in all, life is pretty damned good still. Cal is working a lot to make up for having a holiday in April, so we haven't spent as much time together as we have in the past. I have plenty to do on the island and community though, so I'm busy as well. We spend an hour or two together each day/night catching up, but I do miss the unfettered freedom of the past when we gazed adoringly into each other's eyes, lost in our beautiful fantasy.

We'd love to see you on our idyllic island - so if your interest is piqued, please leave a message here for us and we'll let you know where we are.

Namaste

Mia

P.S. The photo above is of a few of us on a group tour of the island at the cave - left to right are Flocke, Archer, Gem and Aramis with me in the front. (I have a Mysti Tool attachment which enables me to rezz and 'attach' chairs to me so that I can take people on a guided tour as they sit behind me). Second Life makes just about anything possible!

Tags: Second Life, Intentional Community, conservation, terraforming, photographic exhibition, consensus building class, teleporting

At Last! Our Island!

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Thu, 22 May 2008 05:40:50 GMT

AT LONG LAST we have our own island! After several weeks away from Second Life and then a delay for the land to be delivered, it's here. I've spent the past week terraforming (shaping the undulations on the land) and landscaping ('planting' trees and vegetation) and placing the cave, bridges etc.

One of the pleasures has been creating lovely little places where people can settle into nooks and crannies and sit by the pond, or wander through the orchard, or take a trail up the mountain, look out over the panorama etc. I'm so pleased with how it's turned out, and I'm REALLY looking forward to people 'trying it on' - like you would an item of clothing - to see how it fits, and how they fit it.

We've already had ten people join our group and we'll be meeting soon for everyone to talk about what they see as being important aspects of our life together. For me, I would like to see our new society remain a very simple, natural environment to live in. Because we don't have to protect ourselves from the elements, shelters aren't really needed, although I suspect that women (perhaps myself included) will feel a need to have some kind of 'home'. So, as much as possible, we would like those to be kept simple - like a bush camp or basic shelter.

I haven't mentioned polyamoury in any of the information we've put out in SL, as we discovered, through previous experience, that this only serves to attract a certain type of person looking for 'easy sex'. And of course, it's not about that at all.

What we would like to see here are people with full, open, loving hearts living together co-operatively. This is an opportunity to start again - create a world that brings us happiness and satisfaction. It's a chance to create an 'ideal' world where there is social justice and a clear conscience that we are giving, not just taking, from the planet (or at least the 'planet' as far as our island is concerned).

I particularly like the ethos of the aboriginal people - where we belong to the land, the land does not belong to us. Looked at in that light, I think we will do a better job of looking after the planet that gives us so much.

One of the areas I really like in our Paradise, is the orchard. I've 'planted' apple and orange trees, strawberries, pineapples, tomatoes, eggplant, cabbage, lettuce, parsley, basil and corn. I'm on the lookout for bees and a beehive, chickens, potatoes (or yams) and perhaps a cow. Having food in SL is only symbolic of course, but it also serves to illustrate how simple life need be.

Not being a botanist, I can't say that every vegetation type is represented, but aesthetically, I'm happy with the look and feel of the island. There are a couple of lakes and ponds and I've represented Australia with a desert area and tropical rainforest. Canada is more general in vegetation - but it has the big mountain, so is very much a focal point. I couldn't resist having snow falling on the mountain top, even though I know Cal is sick to death of snow!

One of our new members is working on scripts (computer language which makes things move or do things) that will eventually give us a guided tour of the island. For now, it will power a raft from one side of the island's lake to the other.

I will be organising a monthly market to highlight what we are doing on the island, but also as a means of earning some income perhaps.

So life is pretty damn fine at the moment. If you would like to visit us in Second Life, just leave a message here and I will contact you with a landmark.

Namaste!

Tags: Second Life, Intentional Community, Belong To The Land, Environment, Polyamoury, Island Paradise

First Life and Second Life

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Fri, 09 May 2008 05:45:53 GMT

AS I SIT HERE WRITING THIS, I am listening to the sound of Cal's breathing on my headset. Because we live on different sides of this Planet Earth, we keep in touch via Skype calls and emails, as well as interacting on Second Life.

One of my favourite things to do is for us to go to sleep together, listening to the gentle sounds of our sleep. Since it is now mid-afternoon for me, I am still working at my computer; but it's been a long and arduous day for Cal, so he's abed, sleeping the sleep of the exhausted.

I just love to hear the sound of him breathing.

Since coming back from our big Meet In Person trip, we both feel very calm and relaxed about our relationship, despite the fact that we're not entirely sure where it goes to from here. This is a very comforting feeling - trusting in the inevitability of our connection with one another. In whatever form it might take.

Cal is selling his house and is faced with lots of important decisions about where he will go and what he will do. His main priority is deciding where his future lies. We both know that we want our future to be together, but what form that will take is less clear. Where will we live? If we move, both of us are faced with finding new jobs. How much uncertainty can we absorb before someone starts to get anxious?

I have a dog, so if I go to Canada, 'Marlo' will be faced with quarantine and besides, Cal feels the 19 hour plane trip across will be too traumatising for her. Who knows what the future will bring? But I feel quite happy, knowing that my life is about to take a turn of some sort.

With progress apparently stalled on the purchase of our new island for the Intentional Community, we are more or less mooching around, exploring all the landmarks we've been meaning to visit and for me anyway, doing a lot more socialising.

Since Cal hasn't been coming into SL as frequently (the recent upgrade has led to a huge deterioratiion in the quality of his experience as the graphics card on his computer is not up to the job of processing SL's visuals), I've been spending more time in there on my own.

Porena and I have been talking about the kinds of things we want to have as part of our IC. I will be responsible for terraforming the island (that is playing Creator and making mountains, streams, valleys etc) and I'm really looking forward to the actual design I eventually come up with. Initially, our land mass will be shaped as Canada and Australia - our two countries combined. It may not necessarily stay this shape, but I think it will be fun to start out that way.

The plan is to have a sandy beaches, flowing back to mossy grass and then a mossy-rock mountain which will be snow-capped. Central focus on the island will be a natural ampitheatre where we will meet for discussions, classes, social events, wise council sessions.

It's funny how one thought leads to another. I was looking at a fan and was wondering how I could amend it to be a natural feature (our island will be completely natural no-technology island) and it occurred to me that in the biblical times, they would have slaves waving fans over people to keep them cool. One thought led to another and I was soon speculating how we could get an economy working on the island. Providing accommodation to people who offered their manual labour for instance; teachers; goat herders; growing vegetables; weaving yarns from natural fibres etc.

This is a wonderful experiment - this creating a new world. One of my big challenges will be to address a certain 'territorial' streak I have in me. I do love to have my own little patch that I am 'queen' of, so I am really looking forward to seeing how I go, incorporating others into my own little vision of 'idylllic'.

A long-lost SL friend has come back into my orbit and I have been talking to him about joining our community. He is a philosopher and I hope that he and Cal and Porena will have many lively discussions about the world and what it all means.

But for the moment, I content myself with thinking about just what it is that I want for MY life. How often do any of us go through this process? I know I need to address issues relating to my vitality and vigour; my personal financial situation; where I live; what I want.

What about you? What issues are you dealing with right now?

(Photo above: My little cabin - photo taken Friday, 9th May 2008 - with 'Marlo' my brown Kelpie out the front).

Tags: Second Life, First Life, decisions, island plans, new and simple economy

We're Back!

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Fri, 02 May 2008 03:16:03 GMT

HALLELUJAH! WE'RE BACK!

Well my friends, the last you heard from us we had packed up our little island and sailed off into the sunset for our monumental "Meeting One Another In Real Life" ... We got back home from our lovely holiday in New Zealand about a week ago, and it's taken that long to get back to 'normal'.

Let me tell you what we've been up to:

First of all, there was such an intense feeling of "I know you!" when Cal and I met in real life for the first time. We'd exchanged a number of photos and have almost daily/nightly telephone calls (on Skype), so we felt entirely comfortable with one another when we laid eyes on one another at Melbourne Airport.

I can't speak for Cal, but for me, it was such a strong feeling of "coming home" when we hugged - a feeling of being complete and secure.

Then I discovered in the hurly-burly of meeting and greeting, getting bags, paying for the carpark etc., that I'd lost my wallet which had $500 (AUS) in it! Long story short - went back to airport, searched carpark, reported to authorities, they viewed video and saw my wallet on the ground and then it was surrounded by a crowd of people - crowd disappears - no wallet!

A week later, when Cal and I were at my holiday house in the mountains, what should arrive in the mail but my wallet - complete with $500!!!! I could have kissed the woman who found it. I've contacted her and am looking forward to taking her out for lunch so I can hug my wonderful saviour.

So ... back to our holiday.

We spent several days in my mountain retreat, introducing Cal to my friends; several of whom commented, "He's lovely! We didn't expect him to be so normal!" lol (Apparently the perception is that anyone who spends any time at all in Second Life must be weird). My house is in an alpine area, surrounded by snow mountains but has a beautiful crystal clear river at the back, with a rockpool and waterfall. So it's a fairly idyllic place.

We visited the magnificent Mount Buffalo (in north-east Victoria) and walked around the lake there and took a peek in the windows of the historic Mount Buffalo Chalet which is presently closed down. The old building is heated via a boiler and apparently is a bit too costly to run these days).

Then we spent several days down along the Great Ocean Road at Airey's Inlet and Lorne. We discovered THE most wonderful breakfast tearoom beside the Erskine River with such an extraordinary menu - right beside the bridge if you happen to be in the area.

For my birthday, Cal took us on a trip to New Zealand which was magnificent. Truly one of the most unique landscapes you're ever likely to encounter - incredible rolling hills, steep turrets of green, boiling thermal springs, beautiful beaches. No wonder "Lord of the Rings" production people used it for filming.

We took a tour through some glow worm caves and it was just like being in another world. Cal and I sat in the front of the tour rubber dingy going through the glow worm cave in total blackness (such that you couldn't see your hand directly in front of your face). As we glided through the cave, the dingy being secured on a guide rope, we could hear the sound of a waterfall in the distance. Our guide took us closer, closer, closer and ever closer and I must say that my heart started to pound so hard because I couldn't see a thing and I had no idea how close we were to the waterfall.

She'd told us that the cave dropped away and I imagined that we'd all be swept to our deaths. At last, the dingy came to a stop, and slowly, ever so slowly, we were guided back along the rope guideline. When we got some distance from the thundering waterfall, I asked our guide, "How close did we come to the waterfall?" and she replied, "Your feet were right over the top of it!"

Can you imagine!? Dangling over the top of a waterfall in a rubber dingy!!!!!!

Gradually, our eyes became accustomed to the dark, and she guided us back to the waterfall, which now presented itself as a tiny little six inch drop! LOL

If you ever do get to New Zealand, you REALLY must visit the Waitomo Caves. We did the Spellbound Tour, which takes you to the glow worm caves (in a rubber dingy) and the stalactite and stalagmite caves which are enthralling.

As if a trip to New Zealand wasn't enough of a birthday present, Cal also treated me to something I've always wanted to do - bungy jumping! Actually, it was a bungy swing, which was FABULOUS FUN! I had absolutely no fear as they belted me into my harness and explained what was going to happen. Still laughing and joking as they swung me over the 80 metre precipice, I COMPLETELY FORGOT that my 'swing' would first drop me 60 or 70 metres DOWN into the ravine, before it swung me out over the gorge. LOL

They opened the safety clasp and there was a god-almighty blood-curdling SCREAM as I plummetted down the ravine! FINALLY the rope caught and I swung out of view of the camera for I SWEAR a full minute as I swung to the full length of the bungy rope! It was soooooo much fun. After the initial shock of the drop, I just laughed and laughed and laughed until I had tears rolling down my cheeks.

If you have a yen to try it for yourself, check out Mokai (Gravity Canyon).

Next stop on our holiday of thrills was Rotarua with its thermal pools and boiling mud. We had planned to do the whole pool relaxation thing with a body massage, but ran out of time; opting instead for a place called (I think) Hell's Gate which offered a mud bath and lounging in one of their thermal pools.

We stripped naked and went into one of the private cubicles (located funnily enough right beside a busy highway), so as we happily slopped mud on each other's naked body, we were ever so aware of trucks thundering past about 20 feet away! lol They figure you will need a cold shower after that, suggested also as a way of lowering your body temperature before you hit the thermal pool.

So it was more shrieks and gasps as we "cooled our bodies down" and made our way to the sulphuric pools of water, boiled by nature. I enjoyed the experience, even though I did manage to get some of the water into my eyes (despite their warnings not to) and believe me, sulphur DOES sting!

Another beautiful spot on our tour was the lovely Lake Taupo, where we had a romantic dinner at one of the local Italian restaurants for my birthday. Cal presented me with a gorgeous little Lalique heart pendant, which I've worn hanging in my cleavage ever since.

Oh, I forgot to mention Wellington. Our hotel (City Life) is located a minute or so walk from the Cable Tram and we made several forays up the steep incline to visit a bird sanctuary (about 15 minutes walk from the top) or the gardens or, on one night, the restaurant at the top of the hill.

We also made a visit to the museum in town and learnt that Maoris have only occupied New Zealand for about 600 years (from my memory). Compare this to the 60,000 years that it is thought aborigines have occupied Australia.

All in all, the three weeks together were just wonderful. We have established that we do indeed want to make a life together, so we are now researching where we might live. At the moment it's looking like that will probably be Australia - maybe around the Bryon Bay area which is an ideal temperature and location.

But for now, there's a thunderstorm looming here as I write, so I'll say 'adieu' for now and let you know how things work out with our search for a new island to create our Intentional Community in SL.

Mia

Tags: Second Life, Real Life Meet Up, New Zealand, Australia, Holiday, bungy, thermal pools

What Happened Next

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:15:29 GMT

Mia has recounted the ugly conversation she had with our neighbours last week, in her recent post. Since then two of the neighbours, for reasons neither of us can really fathom (other than the idea that an intentional community, with everyone as equals, and decisions made by consensus, was threatening to them) became really abusive to Mia, to the point the owners of the land we were all living on evicted and banned them. It was like something out of a soap opera.

At any rate, we have packed up our cave and vegetation and stowed it away for a month. I'm going to be visiting her in Real Life as part of a combination business trip/vacation for the next few weeks. So we're unlikely to be posting much on this blog during that time.

When I return home, we're looking to buy what is called in Second Life a 'void sim'. This is a large island that is available at only 1/4 the monthly cost of a 'regular' SL island, but also has only 1/4 the maximum number of 'prims' (a measure of how much building and other development you do on your land). Many void sims are predesigned to certain natural themes, and they seem like they might be perfect for an Intentional Community where the objective is not (as in much of SL) to live out your hyper-consumer fantasies, but rather to find ways to live and make a living together in love, peace and conversation, responsibly and sustainably.

We're still looking for SL denizens, or SL-curious newbies, who might be interested in such an experiment in community living. E-mail us if that might be you.

Cal

Tags: intentional community, second life

One Door Closes and Another Opens

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:59:56 GMT

LAST NIGHT WAS VERY DRAMATIC and signals an end to our plans to buy the island where we now live with our neighbours.

As we all know from John Lennon - "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans" and so, while I thought things were percolating along nicely for our big purchase, 'life' was about to jump up and bite me.

Cal (who has a wonderful blog on How To Save The World, which you can access here) and Max (who has joined our Intentional Community and is a member of a real life Intentional Community in Sweden - check out his blog here) had sent out a DRAFT Proposal Partnership Agreement and Prospectus to the other people who live on the island we currently 'rent'. This was several days ago, and to my knowledge none of our neighbours had contacted either Cal or Max to question anything in the proposals. I had expected that at some point, we would all meet and discuss how we would go about this land purchase; what each of us wanted from it etc.

Wrong!

I had approached one of our adjoining neighbours, Abbie, who hardly ever comes to the island, to see if (a) she was interested in coming on board with us in the land purchase; or (b) if she wasn't, and planned to sell her land at any point, would she consider selling it to us.

Estate Islands are usually divided up into 16 separate parcels. Our island 'ownership' was broken up into:

Cal & Mia - 3 parcels

Cinn & Dick - 4 parcels

Bella & Ringo - 3 parcels

Vincent - 2 parcels

Abbie - 3 parcels

Rachel - 1 parcel

Abbie said yes, she would be happy to sell because she had other land interests elsewhere and wanted to cut down on her holdings.

Cal and I planned to keep four of the parcels and then use the other two for Max OR another couple we knew who MIGHT have been planning to join us as part of the Intentional Community. But essentially, the six parcels would be dedicated to the community.

I was keen for the island residents to get together so we could discuss Cal and Max's proposals and I went to meet with Cinn and Dick about a possible meeting with everyone.

Before I knew it, I was being blasted with quite a tirade about how we were trying to take over the island and MAKING everyone go around naked and live in a cave! lol Which is quite a ludicrous suggestion, but may end up being the comment that we laugh about in the future.

Cal had provided a very comprehensive and detailed partnership agreement, detailing financial responsibilities etc., but there was nothing in there about MAKING anyone do anything and was very clearly marked DRAFT at the top.

One of the other sticking points appeared to be Max's comment in his Prospectus - "Buildings are not needed." (In Second Life, it doesn't rain, so there is no need for protection from the weather and no one can steal your property, so you can leave it out in the open).

The island as it is now, does not allow any business, and it also seems that Max's statement that, "... the only commerce that is appropriate is the selling of info materials to promote the spread of the message" was interpreted that we were going to MAKE everyone swear an oath of allegiance to some weird cult.

It dawned on me that our fellow island residents were getting more and more enraged as I struggled to understand just what it was that they were so agitated about.

"What message?!" demanded Dick. "We don't want to walk around naked and live in a cave!" "You can't have more than four parcels!" shouted Bella. "And you've pushed Abbie out!" "Don't act dumb! You're just trying to build up power so you can outvote us!" And similar comments in that vein.

It took awhile for the penny to drop for me - they were worried that we were positioning ourselves to take over and force them to live the way we thought everyone should live.

Second Life offers us the opportunity to create our ideal world.

For some people that is a life crammed full of stuff! Huge houses (in a place where it never rains and no one can steal from you); luxurious cars (in a place where you can tp wherever you want to go); boats (in a place where sailable water is a rarity); clothes; toys; activities; a Friends List a mile long; endless clubbing; sexual partners coming out the wing-wang; and the indulgence of our every desire.

Other people have a vision of paradise - of tropical rainforests; nature protected; animals gambolling, safe from predators; people in love and caring and true in their relationships with one another; and social justice is not just an idealistic notion.

Some, like the lovely Bella and Ringo, just want to have fun. They want to have all the things they don't have in First Life and use SL as a place of relaxation and merriment. I have no argument with that. We should all be free to use SL to have our dreams come true.

Others, like dear friends of mine Shava Suntzu and Tuna Oddfellow, and Sue Stonebender and Baron Grayson, use SL as a forum for their social justice work. Each to his or her own. And that's exacty what we want the Intentional Community to achieve - for everyone involved to be free to create their ideal world. I see this happening through conversations, political action, benevolence, love, fun, creativity and other ways I may not have even contemplated yet.

I just re-read Cal's DRAFT Proposed Partnership Agreement and the points that stand out to me are:

"I am committed to pioneering a lifestyle that will serve as an example of ecological sustainability ...

I will weigh the implications of my actions, continually striving to minimize my negative impact and increase my positive impact on the land and community.

I will participate in the creation of a physical and social structure and culture that will move us towards long-term sustainability and social equity."

What disappoints me more than anything is the fact that both documents were STARTING POINTS for group discussion and instead of our neighbours doing that - discussing their concerns with us, they appear to have speculated amongst themselves and came to a very unflattering conclusion about us! One that questioned our personal integrity.

As far as I'm concerned, Max made two comments which could have been seen as being dictatorial or unreasonable:

"Buildings are not needed" and "The only commerce that is appropriate is the selling of info materials to promote spread of the message."

I don't agree with these statements myself! Woman have an innate need for a shelter of some sort - we are just wired for safety and security and I do believe we see that in our home. As far as the commerce goes, I would have negotiated for a village style market place which could have a regular monthly event where others could bring goods to sell or exchange.

That's what a community is all about - negotiating what you want and compromising for the common good.

The diatribe served to show me two things - it highlighted a basic lack of trust (Dick accused us of being "underhanded") and a complete lack of conflict resolution skills.

Several times Dick had commented that whomever owned the island was 'god' and then immediately stated, "Well, I will buy the island in my name and you can all just pay me your share." My antennae had gone up from then, but I accepted that SOMEONE had to pony up their credit card to pay for the land but thought this issue (of who would actually have the island in their name), would be discussed when we all got together at a meeting to discuss these things.

(The trust issue relates to the fact that the island would officially 'belong' to whomever paid for it. It would be in their name. We would have to trust that Dick wouldn't, at some point, just tell us to piss off, and there would be nothing we could do about it - he was the owner / god). But trust went both ways ... Dick would have to trust us that we each would pay the monthly tier due on our share of the island).

The accusations that they had levelled at me/us of being underhanded and doing something sneaky, naturally spoke to our own trustworthiness and personal integrity, and obviously, they felt we were the ones who couldn't be trusted!

So ... okay, these people were not who we are meant to create our community with.

We will find those who are.

We are already on our way to doing that ... Maybe it will be you.

(Photo above: Our current parcel is at the top left hand side of the photo).

Tags: Second Life, Intentional Community, Drama, John Lennon, New Plans

Creating A Second Life

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:12:20 GMT

WHILE SECOND LIFE PROVIDES an ideal forum for creating a new life and expressing creativity, there is also a very strong spiritual component to our lives there as well.

I was reminded of this not so long ago when my 'excitement' got the better of me and I wanted to take someone else's artistic vision and use it as just a decoration in the cinema I was building on our island. I wrote to Baron Grayson, one of the many talented designers and artists in SL asking to use one of his textures (which is basically a pattern or a design used in SL to 'decorate' buildings and objects). Baron creates unique environments at his several sims, which include Intempesta and incorporate Relic, his retail outlet.

His textures and items are eagerly sought after, and I'm embarrassed now to be among the many people who failed to comprehend the very delicate and personal nature of creation. Because some things are so easy to get in SL, it's easy to be led into the "I want it, get it now!" kind of mentality.

I am indebted to Baron for bringing me back to a more loftier ideal ... I had written to him asking for permission to use a very small section of one of his magnificient drapes as a colour swatch on my cinema balcony seats. I feel quite venal now, saying that I would keep our little 'arrangement' secret if he granted me the use of the texture. But this is about Baron, not me and his reply serves as a beacon I think for high-minded ideals. Here it is:

I appreciate your asking me directly. Selling textures is historically something I do not do. I'm immensely flattered that you would ask about one of my textures but I'm very uncomfortable giving permission to release them, in any way through someone else's builds, because it was not how I had designed the texture to be used.

For me textures are more complex than just the silly graphic they are in RL. The textures are part of a story and an original artistic vision completely created by me to express myself. The items in my shop are rather like children and are a direct extension of the sim itself. When someone takes a texture from that vision, it removes it from the purpose I had intended for it and that lessens my overall design dream.

I would much rather you use another texture for your personal builds simply because if you do, it removes the possibility that this texture can be easily shared by mistake. I believe your sincerity that you would never dream of doing so, or breathing a word...but I actually am asked dozens of times a day for my textures and if I quietly and secretly said yes to each of them....my textures would spread across SL faster than wildfire. It's dangerous for me to begin making allowances to any request however much I like a person and am flattered by the person's intended use.

A few weeks ago there was someone that took a snapshot of my sim land textures and used them for personal use. She admitted it through guilt and asked for my permission in the end. I carefully composed my reasons why I asked them to remove use of the textures. I share it with you now, only to help explain my passion behind my designs and hand painted textures....not to cause you discomfort. It simply gets across the love that goes behind the sims and the designs here.

It's such an easy thing to do, take those screencaps (screen photos). The danger with doing this is with time it becomes common place and the ethics of the act becomes lessor in one's mind. What I ask of visitors is to give the experience of the four sims a value..and a protection..to preserve it. To encourage its growth and development. To realise that the magic they experience there belongs there and that it's right. To hold it safe. For each person that visits..to understand and value the meaning of it being there at all.

It's a place away from everything else. People have used it as a get away when they were in their last days, sick with RL medical problems. They've married there. They've made it a personal destination when their lives get a little chaotic. The place itself, though virtual, soaks in the experiences and the memories. It has such stories. You must feel it, if you love it so.

I ask that people slow down and remember how to keep something a personal treasure. To forget greed....to forget want and a need to have. Just enjoy it for the thing that it is...and take your stand when something is worth guarding.

The thought behind the sims is to provide a unique vision of dreams and emotion that I want to give to the public. In that way it's a living evolving artform to me. I bequeath the experience to visitors but the art itself is mine because it's a direct extension of myself and works with all of the other elements of the sim. I'm often asked if I can sell my textures but that act would cheapen the art and make it less spectacular. Less special. Common and found in other places besides the original sims it was specially created for. The meaning of the sims would be diluted if I sold parts of it away. Little chips that would eventually leave nothing left. The textures..the builds...all of the pieces to the puzzle would mean nothing without the other and my main focus is not to make money.

I hope I have not made your build design unnessessarily complex by refusing permission for this texture. That was certainly never my intent.

Sincerely,

Baron Grayson

RELIC

What I want for our Intentional Community is that this same sense of purity exists there. What Cal and I hope to create IS an artistic and philosophical expression of the journey we are taking together, and the journey we hope to share with others.

Mia

Tags: Second Life, Intentional Community, Baron Grayson, Intempesta, Relic, Morality, Integrity, Artistic Vision

Enough Talk ... Let's Get On With It!

http://asecondlifediary.gaia.com — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:03:05 GMT

IN THE PAST WEEK I've been thinking, "Enough of all this TALK about establishing an intentional community - let's just get on with it!

Those of you who read Dave Pollard's blog, "How To Save The World" will know that he has been talking about Intentional Community vs Accidental Community, and the speculation that it is the accidental communities that have the greater probability of succeeding, based solely on the fact that they HAVE to. People thrown together by circumstances beyond their control, often have a vested interest in making sure their community succeeds because really, when all is said and done, they don't have any other option. Intentional communities on the other hand, usually come about because people have made some sort of decision to come together and form a community. If it doesn't work out, they probably have other options to fall back on.

In the several months that Cal and I have been together, we have both been open to the idea of meeting other like-minded souls and forming our Intentional Community, but as the weeks and months have passed without any potential community mates sticking their heads above the crowd, we were both beginning to feel that perhaps it wasn't going to happen after all.

But, as luck would have it, we have gotten to know our neighbours on the island where we live and just recently, the talk turned to, "Why don't we all get together and buy an island of our own?" "This would reduce our monthly tier payments (a fee paid to the person who had the island 'created').

Several of us got together today to throw a few ideas around and it was fascinating to see the process of us all putting our ideas forward - our preferences, deal breakers, concerns, priorities. The one good thing is that we already know we get along well, and we all know how important it is to get along well with your neighbours. So that is a good start.

I know Cal has concerns about people's need to 'own' land or to have control, so that will be a major challenge - for us all to take responsibility for things without the need to have that sense of ownership most of us seem to need.

Speaking for myself, I have a very strong territorial streak and have already voiced my desire to have some space that I can call my own. One of the other women in the group voiced a similar desire (must be a female thing to want to have their own nest).

I suggested that we use this month (before the tiers are due again at the beginning of April) to 'practise' how our community would work, before we actually commit to buying an island together. We can join all our land up physically (it's possible for us to 'terraform' the land so that waterways etc., can be eliminated and land masses butt up against one another) and see how we all go sharing a common space together.

I'm really excited about this idea of us all buying an island together. The next step will be to see how the practicalities work out. Several of us are interested in terraforming and gardening, so it will be interesting to see whether we can all work together and if we share a common creative vision.

We all get along well together NOW ... but is it likely to remain the case when we don't have our own separate little 'kingdoms' to retreat to (and tell the others to bugger off from?) Do we all need that safeguard of being able to control our immediate environment?

SOOOO..... it looks like we are FINALLY moving forward with this. About time! It's going to be an interesting experiment.

The photo up the top is an aerial view of most of the current island ... the area Cal and I currently own is at the front of the pic.

Tags: Second Life, Intentional Community, Accidental Community, Island Buying, Territorial, Nesting