Governance and more

It is difficult to answer this question, since most items in the Outer Collective are interlinked and are all important. So it is hard to say “the most”. However I must agree that a governance system that is solid yet flexible is key to the success of the community. A sustainable community must have a system that is secure and trustworthy, yet flexible enough to adapt to changing conditions. The community participants should be able to share responsibility and decision-making that affects the whole. The institutions such as schools and community centres are an essential part because through these, the community values can be instilled and preserved throughout all members of the society. These institutions should support young and old people alike and capitalise on what each individual has to offer throughout his life. For instance, there can be programs with activities that make old people useful and happier by sharing time with babies and children. Younger generations should learn that they have to “give back” to the planet and to the community in some way.

Be aware of you

 

Respondents perspectives on how the interobjective realm may thwart community development:

• The lack of awareness, not using the own capacity to think but follow things without using your brain. The lack of sense of individual responsibility.

• Lack of courage leading to conformity against one’s better judgment -lack of autonomous intention and commitment to the greater goal

• Lack of hability to promote and enhance evolutionary processes towards more integral, inclusive and harmonious behaviours.

• Perhaps the most challenging aspect here is to maintain member motivation and keep a continuous level of active participation throughout the years. We should continuously ask “what motives people in our community?” There must always be a community gain as well as an individual gain, and this is something that it is hard to achieve

• Individuals who lack self esteem and have a sense of powerlessness tend not to make a minimal contribution to the community. When the real or perceived rank within in the community is low; the individual places the leadership role on other people in the community and does not thrive at the same extent as someone who may have a perceived higher rank. If there are not sufficient members in the community who participate (lead) in driving the intentions of the community, this could negatively influence the success of the community

• If one is not stable emotionally, physically and mentally there would be a lack of mutual compassion and understanding. Our personal EGO has to be recognized by us and the correct identification of how it works must also be a daily work. We can´t be foolish to think that all this is to be saved or a way to get personal redemption, we have to be able to recognize the Context we are talking about and live it with our most passionate self development in service to the whole.

• A lack of self-acceptance. Too much uninspected neurosis. Not enough self-understanding, insight, and shadow work. Not seriously enough committed to practicing and to giving 51%+. (“I’m afraid. I don’t trust. I don’t love. I hallucinate the possibility of safety and immunity. Being alive hurts. I want to overpower you so I can feel better.

• We have a way of seeing the individual gifts of everyone, so not much thwarts the collective. There is the possibility of one person’s main issue being pressed onto the body, coopting the attention and energy of the rest.

• Same as before, the struggle between my own benefit and the good the community, among competition and cooperation. The prisoner’s dilema illustrates what makes us bet for a lower world. Fear, lack of trust, bad experiences, frustration, al those emotions prevent us from trully supporting the community. Any bad move can start a vortex of degradation, starting a ‘tit for tat’ strategy that ends up in destruction. It is hard to resist that path.

• Too much ego. Isn’t this the one that can get all of us, and all of its cousins (pitty, shame, etc). However, to have companions who can notice the beauty of intention in the ego to make that learning visible for the community, now this is a gift.

• Consumption only, no ownership self-presentation and promotion

• In my estimation, the biggest thwarting inner force seems to be insecurity that creates fear. That insecurity generated fear leads to lack of communication, lack of listening, etc, all as protective devices. This then leads to factionalism, confusion, work not getting done as feelings are massaged, etc. All of us are broken and unhealthy in some regard. But the average overall internal health has to be high for the community to succeed.

Ego and inner development

Here I would say that the level of ego and emotional development are the thwart elements. Ego has many faces and its present in all levels of evolution. Spiritual ego for instance is one of the most difficult to acknowledge and deal with. We have to be aware of this and constantly check and coach ourselves regarding our level of Ego. Needless to mention that low Ego is also very dangerous. Our community should have a culture and practices that bring people to a balanced ego state. Even though the community may have several purposes. The inner development field should be present in order to have strong basis to build on top of them. Sense of safety and trust is another factor here. Invisible architectures in the community should foster a sense of safety and trust for its residents. If we fail in doing this, we could be endangering the whole project itself. Along with this, aesthetics play a very important role in setting the atmosphere for a healthy community. Scientific studies have proved the effect of aesthetics in human behaviour.

Resilience in community

I find myself in an aukward position trying to answer this questions, as this is what I am trying to learn, and i am currently doing research on this topic. It looks like a successful community must be a happy community, and a community with enough resilience to overcome disturbances that will happen over time. Therefore, it is important to maintain a healthy condition in the ecosystem elements and functions that provide the community with goods and services. This may not be obviuos in the short run, but can be crucial in the long term. But I think it is also important to reckon that however we apply our best science, we cannot control the environment in a perfectly engineered way, so we must recognise that some things have value in themselves, and are “sacred”. That respect for the outside world fulfills the spirit and at the same time is a safety buffer or net that protects us from our own power. Participation seems to be one of the most important elements for the success of comunities. I am still a bit scheptical about the decisions that a community can make, when they are not neccessaritly experts (a tiny bit of lack of confidence in democracy) but it looks like the only way to learn to participate I participating, and that freedom and ownership of the process provide much more good than evil, at the end of the day. Of course basic needs come first. First even to participation. Adequate housing, food and health conditions must be reasonably satisfied first. At the moment I am quite happy with Maslow’s hierarchical needs as a model to approach happiness and satisfaction. It is important to respect each other and each other’s freedom. Nobody can be forced to participate or to be social.

What is in me that will support community?

Perspectives on ‘What is in me that will support community?’

• Wholehearted engagement and participation in both individual and collective practices and activities.

• The success of a group is determined by its output to a large extent. This output can be either a physical action or the transformation of individual members. The shift toward success or the intended outcome provides inspiration/nutrition for the longevity of the community. Individual action or environmental interaction within the context of the community is a primary measure of the relevance and therefore success of the community.

• Well-being, including diet and fitness goes hand in hand with a person that has a general awareness; therefore it is important to create an environment that stimulates this.

• Just simply offering these gifts. Offer what you can, as a gift. This includes the commitment to develop these gifts in community. There is nothing quite like learning together. Let these weave into the self-organizing of the whole, even if the path is not clear. Just show up

• Valuing each persons talent.

• Health. Fitness. Exercise, Sleep, & Diet. Servicefulness. Efficacy. Efficiency. Clear-Seeing. Cheerfulness. Focused Action.

• We have a number of very active members who share their gifts and model healthy attitudes and lifestyles. We have many workdays that are geared so that anyone regardless of ability is able to contribute, so we are about as inclusive as possible. We are by and large busy people, with busy lives!

• Moderation skills and virtual working mode Acceptance of chaordic processes

• Acceptance of different backgrounds and skills high energy level

• I’d have to say a sufficient variety of skills, abilities and proclivities. We have members who can do physical brute labor, and who have skills as builders and constructors, and we have members who are overweight and have no building skills, but instead are brilliant at thinking through logistical details and make tons of phone calls to keep the community knit together.

The purpose of community

The purpose of a community in my way of seeing things is to work live and evolve together. The skills and abilities we can learn together will not only make us stronger as individuals but it will show us the new way of being which is as a collective body. We have to guide our actions always thinking of the good of the whole and create an atmosphere that respects the Planet and Kosmos. The programs and activities can be so beautiful and powerful it makes me shiver. We as a collective body are the representation of the new way human beings can relate between each other and its Universe

Incapacidad del sistema de gobierno

La incapacidad del sistema de gobierno para mantener un sistema igualitario y justo en el tiempo para todos los participantes, en el que el desarrollo personal y por tanto la libertad personal, sea salvaguardada siempre -pese a que esto implique la transformación constante del sistema de reglas y operación de la comunidad- Pequeñas comunidades con estructuras de gobierno más planas pueden ser más manejables -tipo democracias directas- sin embargo, cuando una comunidad crece y surgen diferentes niveles de participación -derechos y obligaciones- el sistema de gobierno y las estructuras operativas que se definan son clave para la sobrevivencia de la comunidad. Mi experiencia es que organizaciones comunitarias con una gran afinidad de valores (parte colectiva interna) tienden a formalizar -y mantener en el tiempo- una mayor disciplina hacia sus sistemas de gobierno. Así mismo el sistema operativo -estructuras, procesos de funcionalidad, sistemas de producción y desarrollo económico, etc. pueden convertirse en el peor enemigo de una comunidad si su definición no funciona de manera casi perfecta hacia los valores y relaciones intersubjetivas existentes en la comunidad.

Invisible arquitectures

Human systems: The existing invisible architectures may thwart the community in terms of the current human and society interaction in our world. We as a society are immersed in many behavioural patterns that we fall constantly into. It can go from greed, power, victimization, lack of confidence, protagonism, etc. We must also take into account that as a small community, friction may arise due to a constant daily interaction. We won’t have the same hobbies, attitudes on how to cope with daily life problems, ways to do things and that in the mid or long term may cause frictions. We can also fall in the routine and fall into a boring state endangering a healthy atmosphere for the community. For that I believe we need to be very careful on how we build of influence those invisible architectures. I envision a community culture that foster residents to live in a higher state of being where those threats can be overcome, also I envision a lot of movement around the community, people coming in and out for the different activities bringing new life and energies to the community and also the culture of being evolutionary co-creators. That will help to have a joyful and mindful culture in the community.

The inner individual supports the community

Responses on supporting forces from the inner individual realm

• Individuals who have the confidence to participate and be proactive about it, particularly for the greater good of the community contribute greatest to the success thereof. These individuals tend to find more opportunities for creating communal experiences. Religious beliefs and values are a huge navigator of individual actions and relationship to the community.

• It is important that all the community members have responsibility and caring for others and the environment. This is related to having a certain level of awareness and values, and it is usually connected with self-esteem, since everything comes from within. It is also crucial that members trust other members and feel secure within the community.

• The choice, using the free will. The awareness of starting a process that will change us.

• Have your own stories, information to share, ask the right questions, ability to engage with other people, to take ownership willingness and ability to work on oneself (impact of learnings).

Two dangers for communities

In terms of thwarting the communities success I identify two main aspects that can be very dangerous for the success of the community.

1. The first is Power, people wanting to obtain it or use it in ways that will create imbalance and separation. The old paradigm is about gaining more and more of resources mainly money and power, if the way to make decisions is not strong enough and without loopholes people will seek to gain power and use it for their own interests even if they are noble ones.
   
2. The second issue to me that can really hurt the communities future or success is not being well organized, knowing who does what, when and what for, not having a good organizational structure will create chaos and uncertainty, two aspects that will lead to more of the same until the problems become so big that the community will be in danger.