I have not left Avalanche today. It was a “rest day” which means I intentionally stay in bed until mid-to-late afternoon in order to give my body a horizontal break. Beyond that snow fell in the morning and it has been blustery all day. Staying wrapped in blankets and shawls made a lot of sense.
Gabor and I spent lots of time talking. Erin will join us tomorrow. We have been encountering no end of minor to significant difficulties – everything from two of the camping chairs breaking through to Erin’s new landlord selling the house out from under her son and his live-in supporter less than two months after she signed a year’s lease. We can replace the chairs and no doubt Erin will find a way to keep her son’s home in place for the duration of the tour. But to some extent each obstacle causes us to reevaluate why we are doing this and what would make us stop or turn back.
Not the least irritant has been the intermittent availability of the internet. Camphill Nottawasaga has wireless that is set up in the office and networked to various houses on the property. We are next to Raventree, in the parking lot of Novalis Hall, and can easily pick up wireless from either the main office or two of the houses. However connecting to wireless does not necessarily mean that you are connected to the internet, it seems. Who knew? Storms knock out the internet around here, and one has to wait until someone resets things in the morning. Since Friday I have been able to get online only twice, and for limited periods. I don’t know when I will actually get to post this to the blog.
Yesterday I held a conversation with a group of about fifteen people in Novalis Hall. The topic was Social Intimacy. Soon I will write an essay on the topic, so I will not go into detail at this time. Basically I talked about the gift that many people who are considered to be disabled bring which is making present a level of intimacy that increases the whole community’s capacity to accomplish its intentions. In an era where whole societies are trying to move away from hierarchical and institutional structures of organization, social intimacy is essential in having people able to work cooperatively. Certain people are not gifted in the areas of thinking and doing and so do not shine in typical societal structures. However their capacity to raise others‘ effectiveness makes their presence and participation fundamentally important.
This sort of contribution is the heart of the message that World Peace is available through Inclusion. One of the frequently reported outcomes of intentional inclusion is a greater capacity for peace and cooperation.
I will be giving a similar presentation and holding a follow-up discussion on Friday, after lunch at Derek’s Café, 15 Parkside in Barrie. If you can make it, you are welcome!
Tomorrow, Wednesday October 29, is my 59th birthday. We are having a potluck and dance at Novalis Hall, starting at 5 PM. Come if you can.
Love; Judith
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