Four Bridges Project

Without Further Adieu....

2011-12-28T12:03:00.001-05:00

It’s been a year of changes. Hardly time to mark the passage when living it is so full. Four Bridges has been quiet this year. Red continues, undaunted, with poetry that fills the pixilated air. Shannon has been incredible providing tunes to soothe the soul but mostly we have been quiet since the summer. There have been changes all around and a bustle of activity behind the scenes – some of which was announced at the last community meeting.

For those of you who were not able to attend, here are the basics:

· The Four Bridges Student Volunteer Program is running three different groups beginning the first part of January that will continue through April. The information for the projects that the groups will be working on will be posted on the SVP page of the Four Bridges website by December 30. There will be plenty of opportunities to get involved personally or with your student groups.

· I will be co-teaching a class on Universal Design beginning January 9^th and my portion will be in-world working on a collaborative project highlighting a community principle of Universal Design. This class is open for credits through the University of Maine. You may check out the course description here if you are interested in taking the course for college credits. (INT 302) I will be posting all of the information in Second Life so it is there for everyone, whether you are enrolled or not.

· We will be doing a push for leadership for Amnesty International and BORDC as well as membership drives and many more relevant exhibits based on the current issues. I would encourage everyone to choose a group working towards issues that are meaningful for you and get involved. If you are not comfortable with organizations on Four Bridges, Non Profit Commons and other communities might provide a better match and all would certainly appreciate your participation.

· Events, exhibits and presentations are to be a big part of our plans for the New Year. We welcome your ideas and participation.

There is much more going on but I want to wait and announce as they are confirmed and made definite.

My goal is to continue to let Four Bridges evolve organically without any constraints through incorporation and status. I believe today, as I have from the beginning that the real community emerges naturally based on the members and the participation. We’ve been going for 3 years; moving together through phases of a community and, though it has been quiet recently, we’ve never been better situated for these dynamic changes to have a real impact. Now that much work has been done with the foundation of Four Bridges and, while her sustainability is assured through August, I intend to be much more active and present in-world and in blogs and web posts. Of course I hope that you will participate in these pursuits as well.

I am working diligently on a post about Consumer Social Responsibility as it pertains to Corporate Social Responsibility and the way that we, as consumers of the Second Life platform can help this Second Life community grow and move through changes that are moving through Linden Lab.

Thank you for being patient while all of this has been going on. I appreciate those of you that have had faith in the efforts even when they weren’t apparent. The work was tough and time consuming but the rewards…oh the rewards will be grand for all of us!!

Yep...Tis the Season :)

2010-12-21T13:19:00.001-05:00

I’m afraid that you’re all in for a lot of millay notes. I have a lot that I need to share and I really need to encourage more conversations in our community. Not about things like leadership or tier or who does what. Lets save those things for the board room people when we need them. For right now, what can we do to make our voices stronger in the collaboration of our ideas for peace, justice, human rights and the respect for the planet upon which those things reside? Let's talk about that.

I don’t want to worry about tier for two years. I need to do other stuff. I want to work with Amnesty and BORDC and all of our groups to make this voice a voice that welcomes hope and possibility. We need that as a species right now. Whole systems are falling down around us and we’re talking about bringing hope into our modern decay. We need the freedom to be able to explore this together with our very own voices.

Two years. Give us that. Let’s all come up with that $30USD per member to make that worry about tier and who is leading whom and who makes decisions and all of that go away and let’s just go see what we can do as a community to save the world.

No running totals. Many give in other ways but between those of us that can…I think that we must.

This is call even to those of you who don’t partake in the virtual environment but believe in those of us that are using it to bring that awareness …the awareness of us individually aside from our government memos and media mouth pieces together. Let’s talk to one another.

:)
Peace.

millay

BUILDING ON A DREAM

2010-12-20T22:35:00.000-05:00

A few recent events have reminded me that it is time to check in. A lot of changes have happened quickly and I suspect that more are coming. It’s important that we keep these lines of communication open. Maybe I haven’t made that as clear as I had hoped. So, if you’ll stick with me for just a few minutes there are some topics that I would like to open for discussion.

Leadership has always been an issue at Four Bridges. That it’s a problem is what interests and excites me. We’re looking from several perspectives trying to fit this into molds that are not applicable in this dimension and I would reckon that they’re falling apart in the other realm as well. So we’re thinking and talking and learning about leadership. Yes. Ultimately I do make the decision. At some point someone must stand up and decide and because my name is the one Linden calls if there are troubles, I’m going to do that. Not because I am the benevolent dictator but because we’re emerging and that mission is important to the success and I am a steward.

Our thinking has to change. As long as we continue to practice the same methods and constrain our thought to the limits that we've imposed, new creations, new ideas and a more flexible system will be stymied. If we allow this community to emerge in its own time as a living system (which it is) we may find a new way of doing things. Not I may find, but WE may find. It’s important that we all remember whatever our role here, we HAVE a role here! We have a voice. Even your presence in the group is a voice if it doesn't go any further than that group listing. They are precious.

The increase in tier has made evident that, though we might have been sustainable under those prices, we are not under the new ones. Because we have protected our flexibility, we had many options to consider. That’s a healthy position to be in and I am grateful for that. The one that we’re going to go for is to lock in as much tier for as long as we can before the end of the year. Linden Lab has offered to renew current nonprofits and education sims for up to two years at the old rate. For both sims it amounts to $7.080 USD. It’s a lofty goal but I feel up to that challenge. We begin fundraising in earnest this week and will apply as much as we can to tier split between the two sims. I think we can raise it all. I do.

A dear friend encouraged me to look at this tier amount, which seems incredibly large, in smaller slices. Were we to divide that between the orgs that are staying, approximately 10, it’s 708. USD a piece, but let’s take it even smaller. For the 254 members of 4B, it’s 30 USD a piece. Granted, many are alts or not around any longer but still, those of us that are here, that do have a sense of home, well, it seems a small price to pay.

With that tier paid, that would give us 2 full years to concentrate our efforts on these new directions.

We aren’t planning your average sim renovation. We are tearing down all of the walls of impossibility and creating an experience. Ours will be a hopeful place full of opportunities to connect with the larger community. We will show people how they can take easy actions that make global changes. The goal is to empower people – to erase the fear and hopelessness and turn it into hope – as a verb. We have incredible people collaborating, building, creating and dreaming and everyone’s input is welcome. We’re hoping that these sims become a contributory effort. Everyone that visits has an opportunity to leave a piece of themselves behind and to take pieces of others with them. We want to open discussions. Not only the ones that will come through the speak easy, also the ones that will be left like markers throughout hidden spaces in a sim that you could never completely discover because it would be ever changing. We imagine a truly collaborative environment.

Each of the organizations will have their missions represented through the entire exhibit. And each space will include many opportunities for people to take action in an immersive way for each of the organizations. We expect that the sim will continue to morph as the back story develops…a story we hope that you will help us to write.

We are collaborating with several educators to create a Student Volunteer Program. Students from across universities, across the globe would collaborate with the organizations to create dynamic exhibits, events and media productions. We’re even talking about model businesses. Everything is possible.

We have a new venue opening up that is being run by an experienced and excited hostess, Solana Python. Solana’s Place on Four Bridges will host many events and will bring all sorts of new community members to our sims. Without a doubt many will explore and find favorite places here.

Our new Speak EASY will host many readings, discussions and some casual music events. The vein running through both sims will be one of hope in collaboration and understanding. I think that you will all be quite pleased with the ideas that are already being implemented. I also hope that you’ll take an active part in adding pieces of yourselves into the exhibit. This is OUR community. I am so excited to see what grows.

If you would like to make a donation, we have a donation vendor in SL at the temporary resource center. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Four%20Bridges%20Project/67/173/24 We also set up a temporary PayPal on the Four Bridges website. http://fourbridgesproject.org

SIM REDESIGN!!! woooo hoooooo!!!!!!

2010-12-14T13:38:00.000-05:00

** Text from a notice sent inworld

As promised, here are some details about some pretty major changes that we’re making with the Four Bridges Project sims. We debated about how we could manage to raise enough tier to keep up with the changes at Linden Lab. We debated about charging our organizations tier and adding residential and business components to help offset expenses. That idea never really appealed to me. Our research shows that this isn’t really a sustainable way to do what we set out to do in our original mission and, as all of you who know me will understand, I don’t believe in limits or in money in general.

We’ve also been in the process of adding an educational angle to our work here. We’d like to work with the education community of Second Life to bring dynamic and interactive exhibits and programs to students. As things will, collaborations and ideas started flowing and I think we’ve come up with a solution that is both pioneering and sustainable.

We are going to turn the sims into an interactive exhibit that highlights the work of the organizations housed here and raises awareness of their missions through an immersive experience. I don’t want to ruin the surprise with a lot of details but for those organizations that have a presence here on Four Bridges, please contact one of us and we can discuss all of the possibilities for your organization and whether or not you think it’s a fit for your own missions. I think that once you get the details, you will be as excited as we are about the possibilities.

What this means to you right now:

Renovations are going to begin immediately. You’ll begin to notice changes with the space. By December 20, 2010 we expect that the sim will be cleared of all remaining prims not relevant to the new design. We will be clearing out the sky area as well. We will be returning any prims that are left unless we’ve made special circumstance arrangements for any org that has an already scheduled event but we will not be scheduling any events until the sim redesign is complete.

We believe that the changes with Linden Lab pricing have created an opportunity for us to explore further our mission here and to create something powerful and dynamic that goes beyond the housing of organizations. We have created a community here in Second Life that is second to none in potential for workld change. This is a positive direction and a solution that provides incredible opportunity.

I hope that you will see that as well and decide to remain a part of the vibrant space that is Four Bridges.

Please contact millay Freschi, Mike Burleigh or Coyote Longfall for additional information.

BIG changes at Four Bridges!!

2010-11-21T12:58:00.002-05:00

Four Bridges is excited to announce some MAJOR changes! I know that many were worried about what we would do with the announcement of the increasing tier. Well, we’ve decided that rather than pull out completely (the world can ill afford that!) or to scale things back, we’ve decided to GROW! We are expanding our presence into other virtual worlds while maintaining a strong presence in SL as that is where our community resides.

Mike Burleigh has taken on the role of Community Development Director for The Four Bridges Project. Additionally, Remembering Our Friends Memorial will become part of the Four Bridges family of organizations.

Remembering Our Friends Memorial will not change its function or appearance. Its staff and management will remain to continue the important work of ROF. The ROF Coalition will merge with Four Bridges Project and provide the 4B community with Peer support and Business Development divisions.

As part of our agreement, Mike is donating the ROF Coalition Island and ROF Coalition 2 SIMS, for the use of Four Bridges. The first, and immediate change is the renaming of the SIMs. ROF Coalition Island will become 'Four Bridges Northeast' and ROF Coalition 2 will become 'Four Bridges Partner Area'. Also, Mike has generously donated his SIM in SpotOn3d to the project and has renamed it ‘The Four Bridges Project'.

Coyote Longfall, our new Research and Development Director is busy exploring Four Bridges options other grids and would like to start taking people through tours. He will also be taking on some of the project responsibilities and working with Mike. Carlo will be doing some web work so be watching that site for some exciting updates!

We are all very excited about the future of the Four Bridges Project. I am still going to be massively involved with the project but working mainly on the education and nonprofit components.
The important thing is that the mission and the Four Bridges values are going to be maintained whatever changes the community goes through. We will be adding residences, business and an education community to the project…all very exciting stuff!

Please feel free to come to me with your questions and your concerns. We’re moving forward and as always, welcome your ideas and input! Best send me a note though as I’ve lost many messages lately. And feel free to call on Mike Burleigh or Coyote Longfall as well!

I’ll be mostly unavailable through the holidays but I will be in and out as time affords. You know you can always email me at millayfreschi@gmail.com.

Thank you for being the community that has made all of this possible. I see an amazing future ahead for the community of Four Bridges and for the community that we’re all creating together in the physical world. I’m proud to be a member of both.
Peace.

millay

Pioneering Possibilities

2010-10-06T22:18:00.000-04:00

By now I’m certain that all of you have heard about the new land pricing schedule announced by Linden Lab earlier this week. Watching the fallout in the form of blog posts and speculation left me feeling a little uncertain about the future of the Four Bridges Project and the organizations that are housed here and share in the resources. It wasn’t until I read Pathfinder’s blog that I began to look for new possibilities and began to understand how we might actually turn this into yet another direction for our community.

We have always prided ourselves on the fact that we are pioneers and that this community is nothing if not flexible and organic. We should never imagine that things will not change. In fact, that’s our certainty – the uncertainty. We have designed ourselves and our community to be flexible and organic – evolving as situations require. That’s part of our sustainability. And while our initial reaction might be to see this as an obstacle to our mission, I see this as an opportunity – a way to prove our adaptability and strength in purpose and principle.

We are a model community. Model insinuates that the community and her mission might be replicated in any world – virtual or physical. Sometimes it takes a crisis to pull us from our comfort zones and remind us of our original goals. I feel that this is one of those crises.

You all know me well enough to know that I absolutely refuse to give in to the stress of the financial. I have always and will always believe that the will provides the way. I also believe that though we may not be able to control the things that happen to us, we can control our reactions and let the principles that have brought us this far sustain us through any uncertainty. I don’t think that this will be any different than the other trials that we have withstood over these two years. We are strong and we have built this community on UNITY – we stand together.

A couple of things that everyone should know: we’re not going to just poof and be gone one day. Even if Linden Lab decides to just shut the whole thing down, we are connected through more than just these pixilated walls. We will always remain connected through the other social media sites and through our commitments to the organizations and the principles that we represent. We can replicate ourselves anywhere if we follow the model that we’ve created. That’s number one. Also, we won’t have to make a decision until February when the next round of tier is due. Anything can happen – and something likely will. So rest assured that (aside from any LL decision) we are here until February. That gives us a lot of opportunity to discuss what direction we’ll take when and if the need arises. And I promise to remain transparent.

I am not going to look at this decision by Linden Lab as anything other than an opportunity. It has definitely forced me out of the comfort zone of community as usual and reminded me that we are organic and flexible and ever evolving. Those seem like catch words until they’re put into practice. Now we see the importance of having defined ourselves as such.

Perhaps we’ll find new and exciting ways to collaborate with other organizations in Second Life. Perhaps we’ll begin to reach across grids and find better, more sustainable means and maybe this is just the catalyst the community needed to begin to think about crossing other lines – the virtual becoming the physical and blending into a community that crosses all barriers. Anything is possible – and so much more becomes probable when we are open to and aware of all of the possibilities.

Final note – things are still hectic in my life. I think this is a permanent condition now and one that I don’t overly dislike. I am forming new connections of the cellular kind and watching this slow unification of my realties. New frontiers from all sides – incredible and beautiful the opportunities these lives create.

I am hoping to be around a little more over the next weeks. I can’t promise so I won’t but you can always reach me through email (millayfreschi@gmail.com) and leave a note in SL if you’d like. No guarantee that I’ll get an IM but I always answer the ones that I do.

Thanks for hearing me out and, as always, my faith in who we are and what we’ve come to mean to one another is unshakable. I mean that. They aren’t pretty words that I throw around but the feelings at the core of me. Whatever comes…we will always be.

Thanks for that.

peace.

amy/millay

Green Frog Skins and Autumn Faires

2010-09-13T11:30:00.000-04:00

It’s that time again! Tier is due on October 6^th though I think we’ll have a little bit of time beyond that. The total amount is $885 USD of which we have collected $150 in donations J Thank you to those who have already contributed.

I know that these are difficult economic times for many of us and, while we’ve always met tier, it may be especially trying for this period. Many of you gave for the tier on Four Bridges North last month. Please know that I don’t expect for any of us to give more than is comfortable. We always work it out and I think that this time will be no exception.

I’d like to plan a fundraising event for late September to make up whatever we don’t have together. Anyone that would like to contribute their time and creative energy (which absolutely is unparalleled in this universe) please let me know and we can start planning. I thought that we could have a planning meeting perhaps on Friday the 17th maybe 2pm SLT? Alternate choice might be Sunday the 19^th at 1pm SLT? We could even do both. I’ll be around both time slots for anyone that is interested in putting some ideas together.

I was thinking of an Autumn Faire sorta thing…something harvest moon-y and gypsy caravan….poetry around a fire and dancing to beat the band! Just some thoughts.

You all know how I feel. Raising awareness is much more important to me than raising silly green frog skins but they won’t take awareness in exchange for tier…..yet! Perhaps this is a case of if we build that sort of society, they will come around to that way of thinking.

Thanks everyone! Looking forward to seeing those of you that can make it!

Oh and office hours are officially being posted : MWF 7am slt - 11am SLT. I'm here more often than that but trying to get into a routine.

And always always always –

peace.

millay

A Note From millay

2010-09-02T23:52:00.000-04:00

Wow. Been so long since I’ve done one of these, I’m not sure I can pull it off! We all know my “millay notes” have a personality all their own! Well, I’m BACK! WOOOT! I have the semester out of school before I begin grad work (which will undoubtedly be all 4B based work and research) and I’m ready to get things moving again!

First, let me say that I appreciate all of you that held things up while I was mostly absent. I can’t tell you how much it means to me to see this community stick together. There have been a lot of changes over the past few months. We’ve all been going through personal issues and fighting to keep ourselves alive through this financial meltdown. Hard to keep our minds focused on the important work that we do when our bellies are growling and as we grapple with our own concerns. My feeling is that it is during these times especially we need to reach our hands out to each other and to those that are struggling along with us. Towards that end, we are beginning to plan some compelling events and add some exciting new adventures to our community!

We have Imagine Fest coming up in October and Peace Fest in November. These are the major festivals though there will be other events as well. I am working on the calendar and will make that available through the resource center on 4B. I am also putting up regular office hours inworld and my own personal calendar so that it will be much easier for us to connect.

We have some education projects coming up as well over the next months. I want to set up a volunteer program for schools and universities that would like to incorporate some social justice issues in to their curriculums. I think that if we come up with a program, we can even market it to other universities and, as many of you already know, we do a lot of work already with grad students. We’re also going to start running some classes. Different venues, some will be weeks long and others will be hours. More on this as things firm up.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this community and how we can make a difference in the world outside of these pixilated walls but also here…in this wider community to which we belong. There have been a lot of changes with Linden Lab and with the virtual worlds in general. I’ve even heard rumors of a mass exodus. Frankly, I don’t buy it. I think we are way too close to figuring it out to give up now. The personalities in here are way too strong to be stopped and the voices too powerful to silence. I want us to be able to reach across these communities and collaborate to bring to the rest of the world the energy and passion that we have here. Towards that end, I want to come up with some really dynamic events and presentations. I want to throw all of the rules and limitations out the window and let the creative energies take over. Bring me your ideas!

We are a community of organizations, yes. But we are also a community of individuals. We are modeling a way for communities to become inclusive, committed to its members and to the communities to which it belongs on a wider scale. I would like for this to be reflected in our practices and in our events. I have ideas about all of this which I will begin sharing and hope that you too will bring your ideas and concerns to the community as well.

Mostly, I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m back and I’m anxious to get things rolling here. You’ll be hearing a lot from me about all of the things that are coming out and ways that you might consider getting involved. The thing that I know beyond all doubt is that when things are their most difficult, it is imperative that we come together. We need an injection of hope, creativity, and energy and to then carry that out into the world!

I’m going to be around on Sunday, September 5th from 12pm slt until 3pm slt just to get together with those that might like to talk about what’s going on and what we’d like to do. Nothing formal. Might be a good chance to meet each other and others and just see what comes out of it.

This has already gotten much longer than I intended. Just know that I’m back, my sleeves are rolled up and I’m excited to get back to work! You’ll be hearing a lot more from me again!!

Thanks for everything that you do! Hope to see you on Sunday!

And of course….

peace.

The Governance Council

2010-06-27T20:22:00.001-04:00

We came together originally as people who wanted to do things differently. We didn’t need limits or suggested donations. Parcel limits were never enforced. The community belonged to all. Perhaps it seemed a little like a Utopian dream but it’s worked. We didn’t have issues and, even with the growth that we’ve experienced, we still don’t have issues. We’ve been an experiment in community since August, 2008. We started coming together before the SIM was even delivered and we’ve grown and evolved and we’ve successfully managed to do some really important work…together. We aren’t an experiment anymore. We are a community.

I haven’t tried to pretend with any of the members that I’ve known exactly what I’m doing besides evolving, trying to remain flexible, and learning to accept gratefully the lessons of my mistakes. I don’t know what the Four Bridges Project is exactly. We are a community – of that I’m certain, but beyond that or defining that is where it gets a little slippery. Another certainty is that we are doing something right. Granted there has been a lull in the activities but never a moment’s uncertainty in the desire that we might continue.

My goal in setting up this governance council was to write a document that would help us to solidify the mission between us and the community. In times of question we would be able to look back and remember where we started and our purpose. I didn’t see us as being in a leadership role or as a managing body. I saw us composing a letter to the future. I saw us protecting the freedoms and the flexibility that we’ve all enjoyed.

Through our few meetings and through several private conversations, I realized that I need to define my role in the leadership of this project. That’s part of my own evolution and, having had the freedom to do just that, I understand that there is a definite need in every community for leadership. But what does that mean to me in this sort of community? How do I view myself in this position?

I watched an interview with Peter Block in which he made a statement about his work with city managers He said that we must “confront the citizens with their own freedom”. This struck a chord with me. That was much of what I hoped to accomplish with a governing body.

A leader’s role is to create an environment that encourages the community to come together to solve their own issues. It evolves; it takes time and flexibility to allow for the personal to step outside while the community explores what it means to be a part of the whole and it needs a governing document. We need something that expresses the goals of this community – not a defining of the community but rather the creation. The community must remain flexible and thus, the document must be flexible as well.

The nonmonetary value of our exchange here is what keeps us in this sense of community. We do what we do for and with Four Bridges because we care for each other and we care for this place! That can’t be measured by dollars, Euros or by Lame Deer’s green frog skins. It can’t be expressed in prim limits or parcel sizes. A community and her resources belong to all that participate and is reflected in her members.

Our mission, as a governing council is to write her beginning; to create a document that is reflective of our purpose and our shared goals as a community. It is not meant to apply restrictions or suggestions but only to state clearly what we hope for ourselves in a future that we can’t see.

Our credo has always been that we are here until we’re not. We cannot force the success of what we’re trying to do but can only nurture and help to guide her direction by our individual movements and by our commitment to a shared purpose. We can learn from our mistakes and each others’ and apply these lessons to the strengthening of the community.

None of us know whether or not this community will be sustainable. If it is the right thing and if we are all committed to that purpose, I can see only a brilliant future that will evolve as each of us individually evolve. It will be strengthened by our resolve and our collective efforts. These are things that cannot be mandated. They are gifts to the community that each of us give based on our abilities.

This is our governing council.

I am ALWAYS up for a discussion and I am absolutely not afraid of being wrong. I welcome wrong as it usually comes wrapped in lessons. So please feel free to bring any of this up at any time.

And

as always….

peace.

~millay

RE-IGNITION!

2010-06-23T08:32:00.003-04:00

The Four Bridges Project began as a way for us (the few orgs that started it) to have some freedom and flexibility in the Second Life Community. It's grown over these years but I think that the community has stayed pretty close to our original mission. We're working for change by sharing resources and creating a community of support for one another in a virtual world. We can do much more easily together what might be much more difficult alone.

It's time to remind ourselves as a community where we started and with what principles and remind the larger community about that commitment.

It's time to plan events, coordinate some intense collaborations and bring what we're doing across the bridge into the world outside these windows.

Bring me your ideas. Lets get together often and start talking again. We need to reignite the flame and remember what brought us all together.

I am going to start putting together another meet and greet in world. The last one was so successful and produced many collaborations. Keep an eye out here for dates and specifics. And watch this space as we grow. Now that school is over and my attention not so torn, I'm ready to sink my teeth into the possibilities of a collaborative user defined future :)

Community

2009-12-22T00:07:00.004-05:00

Now that the semester has ended and I’ve had moments that I can string together like pearls, I’ve been spending it with my family and my friends reconnecting to my most immediate community. I’ve been thinking about Four Bridges in that same context: the community that is us. I’d like to share some of those thoughts, if I might.

When Four Bridges was conceived, I was a different woman. I had just changed my major from physics to peace studies and was part of a joint effort that brought Amnesty International inworld officially. We began looking for places to house Amnesty. We bounced around SIMs for a while. We were part of the Hallelujah Blue SIM and then moved to Social Justice’s SIM but it’s expensive to set up shop in Second life and many SIMs change hands regularly. During this time, we were approached by the Bill of Rights Defense Committee about bringing their organization inworld. Organizations that we spoke to were discouraged as well with the expenses associated with a presence inworld.

Social Justice SIM AI-E Official Opening 10/04/08

We saw a need.

A month or so later, our SIM was delivered. We set up Amnesty’s Headquarters and BORDC. We spoke with Imagine Network and soon they were housed there as well. When Peace Train approached me about space, I was elated. We didn’t have rules about prims or who gets how much space. We built communal spaces and took off all of the doors. Each member added pieces of themselves to the SIM and we were family. We built a coffee shop, a stage, shared our streams and our dreams. We shared. We started out with the notion that we’re here until we’re not. When it can’t be done anymore, we won’t do it.

The original Four Bridges Project June, 2009

We are now 2 SIMs and 12 organizations strong. And we’re only just beginning.

Our team has grown over the last year. We each move through the community and figure out where we best fit – where can our strengths be best used for the good of the whole? It’s hit or miss for a while but when we find that spot, it’s like coming home.

Four Bridges isn’t about one person. This is and has always been a community project. There is no part more important or vital than another. It is a community. It grows and breathes and becomes a natural part of the environment. It is life affirming and committed to a universal understanding. We grow together and learn together. We learn how to forgive one another and move forward together. We are family and friends and we care about each other. We are community.

The beautiful waterfall of Four Bridges

We want to see what this community might do if it were broadened. We want to test theories of government and economics; religion and culture; language and the arts. We are an experiment in community so our mission is never completed. Community grows and changes and goes through stages. If allowed to emerge naturally, using peace theories, nonviolent conflict resolution, transformative mediation, restorative justice, and critical thinking, what might be possible? Can this virtual community provide a model for the physical world? These are the questions we want to explore and to share. We want to see how what we create here, grows out there. What might this pixilated acorn grow to be if planted in the rich soil of Earth? What if between this world and that lies a promise of peace?

Maybe it looks like a bridge.

The Accumulation of Perspective

2009-12-09T00:48:00.001-05:00

“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves.” - Abraham Lincoln

It was not a stretch to hear Speth’s warning that we are standing at an abyss. Like a black hole, consumerism eats away at the ground below our feet and, as we stand on the event horizon, ready to be pulled in under the weight of our own necessity for economic growth, Speth’s bridge seems a distant light. Our hope lies in a total transformation of self, society, policy, economics and even traditional environmentalism. The power of the corporation and our media are the obstacles to transformation.

We are taught early and often in our lives that more is better. Our statistics refute that premise but it is etched into our collective conscious every time we flick on the TV or travel beyond our walls. We buy one get one free whether we need two or not. We are supersized, Biggie-fied, and it is reflected not only in the damage that we do to the environment but also in the damage that we do to our own living systems of self. And, as Speth points out, it isn’t a green consumerism that is being asked – nay – REQUIRED of us. It is a non-consumerism and policies that support that new green.

Unparalleled consumer growth, which needs to be exponentially multiplied, is a terrorist to human rights issues. Those that are most affected by this unchecked demon don’t even have a voice. As mega-conglomerated corporations feed our hunger for more and better, they are, out of the other hand, feeding the media their versions of our news; carefully constructed so as not to affect profit margins negatively.

Solutions exist. It is hard work and in some instances, will require that all of us leave the safety of a comfort zone and face our legislators, our leaders, the corporations, and especially our own reflections and demand real change.

“Revolution by consciousness requires two basic conditions. First, a process of change of consciousness must be underway in the population – a process that promises to continue until it reaches a majority of the people. Second, the existing order must depend for its power on an earlier consciousness, and therefore be able to survive a change of consciousness. Both of these conditions now exist in the United States.”

- The Greening of America, Charles Reich. quoted by Speth, The Bridge at the Edge of the World, pg 203

That is part of what is not understood by the masses of us. The existing order surely depends on each of our purchasing dollars in order to maintain what has quickly become unsustainable. The media feeds that – calling it need. It’s not even about want anymore. We are addicted to our consumerism. The Great Work before all of us is to accept this as our truth and then set about to change that legacy. This can’t be what we leave behind.

Speth’s eight major global scale challenges: climate disruption, losing the forests, losing the land, losing freshwater, losing marine fisheries, toxic pollutants, losing biodiversity, and over fertilizing with nitrogen seem far away from anything that I might do to create peace with that environment but it’s important to recognize individually our place in these challenges. We are challenged to become solutionists and to bring our leadership, government, corporate, and media

into this boat with us. We do that with our dollars, our votes, and through critical thinking of the statistics and information that is being fed into our homes.

Thomas Berry helped me to reconnect to the Universal pull of my own nature. Van Der Ryn and Cowan showed me the importance of being, living, and communing in an ecologically designed manner and David Orr changed my focus from the symptoms to the systems that are involved in implementing any sort of valid change. Speth pulls it all together in a call to involve all aspects – no more piecemeal changes but an overhaul of the systems and in the systematic way in which we move through our lives and through the nature that surrounds us. Responding to the challenges is daunting. It isn’t something that we can change by switching to organic foods or buying only green. It’s going to take real effort on each of our parts and all of the readings this semester have offered hope disguised as tools.

Noam Chomsky in Manufacturing Consent says that people fall into two basic categories. There is the 20% of us; educated, articulate, teachers, managers that participate in social life. We vote and play a role in the economic policies. The other 80% of us are part of the “ignorant masses”. We follow orders, don’t think, and don’t pay attention. The media keeps that 80% from things that matter and keep us in Indoctrination Systems, like sports and reality shows to keep us separate from one another. Both groups are targeted for consent by the media and the corporations that feed them. Our government feeds this in order to do things behind our backs that have serious global considerations and are usually attached to a resource. We are the consumers of these resources. We are the ones that make these resources more important than human rights or environmental concerns. Accepting responsibility empowers change if we are courageous enough to accept this as our path.

Now, here comes the cumulative part of understanding these readings and the role they play in my own life and in my own responsibility to creative action.

We are the leaders that are necessary in the field of the future. We, the women, the traditional cultures, those who seek solutions – we are where the future rests. We have to commit ourselves to the work of change. We have to be the steady voice that rises and calls upon the strength of the collaborative. We must be unafraid of the Voice of Judgment and the cries of the corporate interests as their models are forced to change or collapse under our lack of support. It isn’t a possibility anymore to pick and choose our vices. If this is to work, it must be a total reclamation of our environment, our government and the products that we allow to adorn the shelves of our markets. What we buy, they will sell. It also means being unafraid to stand in front of that authority and no longer accept that our government be controlled by the self interested parties of the corporations. It doesn’t matter which party is in the house. Not when it’s the corporations running the show.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is something that we can demand. There are leaders working toward this goal as a matter of doing business now. We need to understand that this is possible widespread. We are international consumers now and we have information available to us at an unprecedented level. If we want to know how our choices affect the water quality in India, we need only Google. The information is there. Critical thinking and reasonable analysis of the data reveals truths that jump right out of our soda cans. What we do with that information is where our challenge lays. It is no longer easier to sit in our lazy boys. The voices of change are rising all around us and grow steadily louder. The students of today are different. They’re ticked off. Really, they are the first generation that came in with complete knowledge of the damage done. “…[A]nd there are signs that student activism is reawakening…[a]nd there is growing strength in the worldwide social movement…the groups in this movement are emerging as a creative and influential global force.” (Speth, 234 – 235)

I am so excited to be alive at this time. My generation may not fully enjoy the benefits of what is growing here today, but future generations will and what could be more hopeful than that? My sleeves are rolled up.

“But there is the other path, and it leads to a bridge across the abyss. We have been examining this bridge at the edge of the world and what is required to cross it. Of course, where the path forks will be the site of another struggle, a struggle that must be won even though we cannot see clearly what lies beyond the bridge. Yet in that struggle and in the crossing that will follow, we are carried forward by hope, a radical hope, that a better world is possible and that we can build it. ‘Another world is not only possible. She is on her way,’ says Arundhati Roy. ‘On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.’”

- (Speth, pg 237)

Believe You Me

2009-12-09T00:46:00.001-05:00

According to Browne and Keeley, the primary values of a critical thinker are autonomy, curiosity, humility, and a respect for good reasoning. (Asking the Right Questions, Browne and Keeley, pp 13-14) A society that doesn’t value critical thinking runs the risk of following the herd right over the cliff. Our mental models are constantly in need of reshaping and tuning. We don’t come to an end of knowledge. We barely start. Education isn’t just important for the young. What we teach and learn from each other as adults should be considered even more carefully because we have the ability to effect change. Sometimes we have that responsibility.

There are many obstacles to autonomous thought. We are conditioned by our dependence from birth to rely on the guidance of those around us. The minute we can perceive we are bombarded with images. Not anymore just the walking around sort, but now it’s the boxed and piped in sort that is ever trying to sell us something. Even the news is trying to sell us something or someone. You can bet something is being sold somewhere and it’s my thought process that they’ve put on the table. We aren’t taught to think critically because not many people have a very easy time defining it and, from my experience, many that do understand it don’t always practice it. It can go against some pretty solidly held ideas and challenge notions that we wear like tattoos on our chests - mementos of an institutional memory. Thinking for ourselves takes practice and determination and courage in the fog of all of this information. Sometimes it’s easier to follow the crowd – that whole safety in numbers thing. Mothers ask “well, if everyone was jumping off a bridge, does that mean that you should?” but we forget that thought and I’m not even sure our mothers didn’t forget that as well. It looks like we’re all jumping off the bridge.

We spend our lives climbing inferred ladders to discover our reactions. These are split seconds that we pause on each rung, if we pause at all. Messages (input) spark certain memories or emotions and our reactions are instinctive. Not instinctual but instinctive. We see something and relate it to data already collected then we add our meanings for whatever reason, cultural, personal. Then we make assumptions based on those meanings and draw a conclusion, adopt a belief and then react. Sometimes this whole process happens while we’re hearing someone else verbally climb their own ladder and it hardly takes a couple of seconds to hit that reaction. Stopping that blink of an eye reaction gives the opportunity to slow down those immediate models and really begin to listen and understand. Curiosity is heightened and thoughts begin to regroup. Later it can be looked at more thoroughly from a deeper perspective: This is what I said and this is what I meant. We then understand the reflection and our own intention and see how that compares with what we communicated. More importantly, what did we say to ourselves? What portrait, what judgment, what prejudice did we apply? We might not like the answers that we found there.

“Of all studies, the one he would rather have avoided was that of his own mind. He knew no tragedy so heartrending as introspection.”

- Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams (1918)

It takes a great deal of humility to be a critical thinker. You have to be able to admit easily and proudly that you don’t know or that you don’t understand. This shouldn’t be considered an act of courage but in a media laden world, it’s a daring and risky feat. “Honesty requires that we recognize our own errors in reasoning, as well as those of our opponents.” (Damned Lies and Statistics, Best, pp 7) It is easy to point to an opponent’s flaw in reasoning and not see our own even when they look suspiciously the same. Pride says “Be RIGHT! and, in its stead, be RIGHTEOUS!” Having an idea challenged is not an insult but rather an opportunity. Either the idea will be strengthened or a new idea will emerge. Advocating for our own ideas means that it is either this or I lose. “When inquiry and advocacy are combined, the goal is no longer ‘to win the argument’ but to find the best argument.” (The Fifth Discipline, Senge, pp 199) Developing respect for good reasoning, learning to recognize the propaganda model and understanding how information is filtered gives a solid foundation to uncovering best arguments or, at least, recognizing the bad ones.

We are surrounded by numbers and in a population where most hate math. Our social problems are typically defined in mathematical terms like percentages and fractions and fed through the mouths of authority, expert or personality. These become more convincing than even a gut feeling in our own bellies. They seem “right” and they’re certainly reflected in the entertainment that graces our walls like windows. Our reason gives way to fear and a protective instinct comes over us. The mathematical figures are like ghosts that portend great collapse should we not conform. Even those of us that appreciate the beauty of the language of math can be thrown off by the fear of the things that the numbers represent. In the case of the H1N1 vaccine, those numbers were babies, like my boys. That’s a tough gut to follow until you know what questions to ask. What is being defined and how? Who is doing the defining? How is it being measured and by whose scale? What samples are you using and how were those determined and to what are you comparing? Questions lead to more questions and eventually an opinion based on sound reasoning emerges. Because we are a culture of fear, we especially have to be weary of the mongers in the trade. The quickest and easiest bucks to make are the ones that act as Band-Aids on our fears. Better, too, if our fears can be diverted and manipulated to increase the profit potential or to white wash a more confounding social ill. One fear can easily be calmed by creating another. And we are the ignorant masses. 80% of us (where did that statistic come from?) are the ignorant masses. We choose to follow, to not think, to sit and plug in to the telescreens and shout obscenities at whichever new enemy has been discovered. Sometimes they are in the skins of our friends. We learn to call each other evil and brush great strokes across entire regions to block our own participation. But these are choices. Accepting responsibility empowers change.

“If we believe that someone else has created our present reality, what is the basis for believing that we can create a different reality in the future?”

- (Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future, Senge, Scharmer, Jaworski, Flowers, pg 136)

What if 80% is the statistic that is used to keep one complacent? If the odds are that you’re in the majority, isn’t that the better place to be – with everyone else, running right off that cliff?

It takes hope to be a critical thinker. There has to be something that keeps you from complacency. You have to want that sanity that comes as you cling to your humanity more than the ease of letting go. You have to be convinced that there is purpose in our existence and in our place in this vast and beautiful universe and you have to believe that we are capable. David Orr said that hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up. Critical thinking is the act of rolling up your sleeves and setting to the arduous task of change.

Critical Response Essay -

2009-12-09T00:44:00.004-05:00

“The American people would be horrified if they realized the blood that’s dripping from their hands because of the way they’re allowing themselves to be deluded and manipulated by the system.”

- Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent - documentary

One of the reasons that I became so heavily involved with Amnesty International was a story I read on Darfur which led to a story on children as soldiers. The affect on me was immense and the course of the rest of my life has been forever changed. How did I not know about that? How could I have walked around for 40 years and not known that? Wasn’t I paying attention? I can give you very intimate details about Michael Jackson’s sex life or list off the names of at least 5 reality shows and some of their cast though I’ve never watched a single one. I’ll even bet if you named a show I could connect it with some memory. But I didn’t know about children being used as soldiers - Children being forced to do horrible things to their communities; their families. I didn’t know. Probably there was some bit story in a newspaper that I was far too busy to read, or too lazy or too busy thinking about my own struggles. But damn. You’d have thought I’d at least know.

Is it my fault that I didn’t? Should I be wracked with guilt and made to feel hopeless in the bigness of this knowledge? No. It is my fault if I know and don’t accept my responsibility. But with what tools does a mortal woman knock through the façade of an empire to reach the baby on the other side? Chomsky has some places to begin and understanding what you’re up against is a good place to start.

The media determines the selection of concerns that will be distributed, where the emphasis will be, how those issues will be framed, what information I’ll actually get and they bind it all up in a debate. By the time that piece of information gets to me, I’m all about the shoes that share 3/4 of the page.

Understanding the way the model works gives purpose and further, responsibility. Now that I do know, I can’t go back to not knowing. That’s my responsibility and it’s not a very popular course of action. It involves a fight against a Goliath of an adversary. Stepping down from a ladder that has been nothing, if not comfortable, and then trying to talk people off their own, or sometimes knocking them painfully from them can come at great personal sacrifice but for the most part, it isn’t the leaders like Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks that are responsible for the change. It’s the people that are committed to that change in their personal lives: the everyday of us moving in a way that considers the steps of all of us. It’s important to those that follow the dollar that we follow them as well. We are steered away from issues that might really matter because someone is making money off of that indifference. Somewhere in our product choices, we are supporting that practice.

It takes time to research a product. Does this support my ideals and my hopes for my community? If the answer is no, and it very typically is, then my dollars can’t go there. I speak through my individual choices. We all do. Understanding that propaganda model gives us a tool to use when we consider our choices. As we become more aware, having a good tool is extremely important and every piece of Chomsky and Herman’s Propaganda model is still relevant.

What a marvelous world when it is no longer so.

And In the Beginning.....

2009-09-04T10:44:00.001-04:00

The Four Bridges Project started nearly a year ago in Second Life(TM) and was inspired by what we saw as a lack in official representation by "Real Life" nonprofit organizations. Amnesty International was the first organization that we approached. There were already a couple of SL Amnesty groups listed in search but none had an official seal nor did they seem particularly active. After several unsuccessful attempts to contact them,(who could blame them? Have you SEEN what's happening in the world? They're very busy.) I came across a notice on their site that they were looking for a Student Area Coordinator in my area. As a student, I was eligible to apply for the volunteer position and was granted the opportunity. When I went to the Northeast Regional Office (NERO) for training, I took my laptop with me and made a pseudo presentation on the potential of Second Life (TM) as a human rights platform. On October 4th, 2008 Amnesty gave the Amnesty International-E group official local group status. Our membership ranks have grown from a mere 35 in October, 2008 to over 300 less than a year later. We have held several events in Second Life (TM) and continue to grow and plan for the future.

One of the difficulties that we had in our beginning was trying to find a home for AI-E. As word got out that Amnesty had an official presence in SL, other organizations began contacting me to ask how they might take advantage of the platform for their NGO's. The response was overwhelming and, feeling up to the challenge, the Four Bridges Project was conceived. We purchased a SIM in February and held our first event for Amnesty International on February 12th, 2009. The event was in collaboration with the SL group War Child UK. Within a few weeks of our presence on Four Bridges we were joined by BORDC (Bill of Rights Defense Committee), the Imagine Network, Peace Train and, later, Second Pride. What a wonderful group of organizations!

Recently we have decided to expand our mission and reach out across the Virtual World to serve as a clearinghouse of collaborations, resources, ideas, and people. We have expanded into a second SIM (Four Bridges North) and have added some organizations to the space. We will also now house the Coalition of Women for Peace, Stop Violence Against Women information and a resource library is in the works. There are a few other collaborations which we will be announcing in the coming weeks.

These are just some initial thoughts to open the blog. I'm trying to journal our experience at Four Bridges in hopes that other organizations can use what worked for us and avoid what didn't and also as a means of getting information out there that might help serve as inspiration for collaboration. I'm leaving this open for responses so that we can build and grow as a community and model that community of sharing through both worlds!!

For more information on the Four Bridges Project, watch this space for a web address and always feel free to contact me or Siri Vita in world!!

Happy travels and as always and ever....

peace.

~millay