The Other End of the Rabbit Hole

I started this five days ago and it was overdue then. I apologize to the regular readers. I hope this entry helps you realize just how chaotic life gets.

The Other End of the Rabbit Hole
Sometime around Dec. 15 I began to think that it was if I had fallen through the rabbit hole, and had come out the other side. (see Alice in Wonderland.) The thought gave me some comfort in that the image describes my impression that explaining life as it is now to people from my pre-Oct. 24 life is futile. The rules, context, landscape, relationships, expectations are qualitatively different and the Red Queen just has no time or inclination to orient me or anyone else to this very different world.

Being on the other side does not confer any great sense that I can bridge two worlds and act as some ambassador or interpreter, Quite the contrary I can barely remember how I used to understand the world I came from. Memory fades for what having a home was, or what having a relatively ordered, predictably scheduled life was like. Although I can distinctly remember that I used to have certain concerns such as “how to create a professionally adequate Power Point presentation”, such things seem somewhat fabulous now as genuine pursuits.

Gabor completed the Landmark Forum last Tuesday, in Atlanta. As part of the process I travelled to Atlanta, a journey almost as mythic for me as travelling from Nazareth to Jerusalem in order to be registered by the Romans for tax collection purposes – the journey that brought the Christ child to his manger. Atlanta is a modern, crime infested, inhuman, racist city, yet through the set of people Gabor shared with and the requests I put out for an inexpensive place to stay and some money to pay expenses, David, Gabor and I lived for 5 days in a communal land based, child centred, car free community. As days progressed I found myself surrounded by happy, helpful, diverse and spiritual people who live to give each other a hand when needed, share their resources and carefully, intentionally interface with the bleak modern world within which they are imbedded.

It is practically obvious that women – even women of my age – gain a certain power, centredness and grace in such an environment. But I was most struck by how the men all seemed to have gained the space to be peaceful, creative and vulnerable in a very simple manner. I saw three men at work building a house with tools no more sophisticated than a battery powered hand drill. I watched as they constructed solid scaffolding out of simple pieces, figured ways to paint and assemble complex geometries, and communicate and move around each other’s different thinking/building processes apparently without the need for bosses, regulations or power struggles. The resulting house is immeasurably more beautiful than the ubiquitous urban architecture.

I was stranded one afternoon with work to do on my computer, a failed puff/sip interface, and no familiar personal assistant with me. I requested the assistance of one of the young residents of the house and quickly realized that his eyes were weak enough that he had to hold his face within two inches of the laptop screen. Yet he calmly followed my words and expressed no frustration, doubt or ego as we went through the minutely detailed process of accessing where the failure lay in the interface and then rebuilt the required code set. Within 15 minutes we had the interface working and he went about his business as if he had done nothing more complex than make a cup of tea. I met another man who simply did not hide that nearly continuous consumption of alcohol is a part of his life. On the one hand he can not sit or stand with others in a typical conversation more than a few seconds; on the other he keeps the history of the community alive, keeps the art and meeting spaces vibrant and functional, and has a knack of being present when a particular word or task is required.

Gabor and I were welcomed to present in this space and although we had only 3 days to set up and advertise about 14 people came and the level of listening and discussion was quite deep. It was exactly the sort of encounter where from beginning of the thought through production and inviting, to presenting the vision of world peace through inclusion and receiving the feedback and moving into dialogue and thoughts of future actions, the entire process was marked in respectful responsive engagement.

I practically moved to Atlanta on the spot. Cooler thought of course revealed that we are not in an either/or situation. There is room in the World Peace through Inclusion Tour for activity in Tybee, Savannah and Atlanta. Life gains complexity!

Back in Avalanche, the near Christmas season brought Gabor and I the opportunity to present to three members of the First Presbyterian Church and five college students who are at US universities, but originate from China or Japan. These young women are living over winter break at the retreat house attached to the church building and run by the congregation.

We finally got a good video of a presentation, marred only by the fact that I have a sore throat and went through two coughing fits. The girls were unprepared for our conversation but seemed to warm to the stories and dreams. Once again I felt that we “on the ground” and that everyone present would take some meaningful appreciation for inclusion and diversity away with them after the afternoon.

In the meantime there have been other dramatic moments in the personal assistance, financing and team work of the Tour. More in a soon to come posting.

Judith