Pardon the placement of a strange relic in front of the Cafe doorsteps, then I dingdong ditch leaving you wondering what to do with the unknown bag . . . Is it a load of crap (do I really need to listen to another podcast recommended by Doug?!) or a subtle surprise, waiting to creep up and seep into the conversation? Likely this one is a grab bag, one in which we could pick and choose what would be most useful.
I appreciate your feedback, as always Johnny. Let me explain . . .
The Café does not have to be about the next podcast, the next conversation. I believe we have been slowing down, especially in the last few Cafés. We have had a reading, yes, but more important (to me) is that we carry forward that which we have learned. This isn’t fast food . . . I do not want to have an aura looming about our Café that we are trying to produce a shiny menu with hip food items to make your mouth water. The Café really wants to exude a certain atmosphere, open up to anyone willing to contribute their time/effort in allowing the conversation to come alive, keeping each other on our toes, keeping the peace and giving our best to those at the table. We are an open Café, ready to receive the other with our hospitality. If something seems amiss, a stranger or strange idea seems more of an enemy than a guest, we receive and respond best we can, learn and continue living. If we are going to fast, introducing too much reading/watching/listening . . . we can slow things down. We want to introduce and embrace sanity . . .not surely lose our minds in the fast lane.
We have spoken of needing a framing while remaining open to what arises in the conversation and to what wants to happen. I like the thought experiment from the Future Fossils episode . . . I find little utility in any vision of 10 billion years, though it is useful (fun? cute?) to hear or read what others have to say that give/gave thought to this VERY long time frame. I think it would be useful to try and decipher why I felt this would be relevant subject matter for our conversation and maybe it will redirect our focus to slowing down into a relevant time frame:
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There is an underlying “given” that our ecological crisis needs constant address. This topic is one we have not directly addressed or has not played as the leading subject of a Café but it does come up in nearly every single one of our conversations.
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@Geoffreyjen_Edwards, during one of our recent Bateson calls asked for a collective effort on our part to apply the concepts of Bateson to our work here . . . I couldn’t find his direct reference in the conversation but the linked reference does mention a sort of “training in thinking” that Bateson’s thought permits. Geoffrey reflected in the recording on the Cosmos Coop and our participation here being only but a drop in the large sea, which has led me into territory around . . .
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. . . the trajectory of my/our presence here on the site. Of what use is my reading another book, listenign to another podcast? Of what use are my writings? Our discussions? Our reading groups? This is not solely a pleasure game we play, excited about reading our favorite books . . .yet what is the best use of our time? What is really needing to happen? Or, as has been tossed around by others, what wants to happen? What can the Cosmos Coop become? Another project of Geoffrey’s is the 20-year plan . . . Where will we be in 20 years? Sometimes we may think “I’ll be dead” or “this forum will be dead to me” or “I will have moved on to the next thing and do not wager too much ‘value’ on this Coop Project meeting the demands of the world" . . . How does it expect to embody that which I experience within my own ‘realm’? How can I carry forward virtual thoughts into my local realm? Yet in our best moments we may get the sense or tune into the frequency that what we are doing here is truly shaping reality. I like what @AndrewField81 has said here:
If I was to frame this Café, I would want for us to seriously think about our participation here (in the Cosmos) in tandem with the ecological. What can you imagine for yourself in the world in 20 years? 50 years? 100 years? What would a 20-year, 50-year, 100-year plan for the Cosmos Coop look like? What would a 20-year, 50-year, 100- year plan for the planet look like? Do these two plans match? Make sense? @johnnydavis54 states that we are getting more creative and wise through our experiences here… .we may not realize our vision within our lifetime . . . but simply wanting it and desiring it is very important. @Michael_Stumpf’s discussion he led on vision and routine is relevant to such an exploration. We can take this framing and save it for another time. . . just a few thoughts. I look forward to our conversation tomorrow.