How to Thrive in Chaos – San Francisco Meeting Notes

Last week 20 people gathered to brainstorm about how to thrive in chaos. While there’s much in this world that is out of our control, we learned as a group that there’s also a lot we can do right now to thrive no matter what.

The ideas we generated about how to save money, have fun, and make a difference are below.  We used the brainstorm to model how other social organisms often deal with challenge – they swarm to find food, avoid predators, and build shelter. It seemed to work. Not only did we learn a lot about our own power, but the format to energized us.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS. The next meeting is July 16th. We’ll be discussing alternative currencies.

How to Save Money
The discussion at the “Saving Money” table centered around a few main ideas. Generally, we found that there was a lot of overlap with both having fun and making a difference. The main topics of discussion were:

-Budgeting. We had a lot of useful ideas for figuring out ways to save cash, but a general consensus was that monitoring the cash was equally as important. Ideas included withdrawing all spending cash at the beginning of the week, using mint.com and also the “secret to the millionaire mind” strategy of allocating percentages to where you want your income to go. Monitoring and saving energy was another big part of the budgeting discussion.

-Sharing. There are lots of online resources for this: Freecycle, Craigslist, Book Couch Surfing. You can also create your own sharing community by sharing meals with friends or organizing a book swap. We also talked about a skills swap or a trade of services to help others.

-Free events and things to do. This was covered more extensively by the “Having Fun” table, but there are a ton of different ways to replace expensive outings with cheap and inexpensive enjoyment: Partying at home instead of going to a bar, going to a park instead of a movie, etc. Meetup.com was cited as a great resource for finding free activities to do with other expense-conscious people.

-Transportation. Replace driving and the associated expenses with alternatives like public transit, biking, or even walking. Also, consider telecommuting to work if you can.

Nothing earth shattering here, just common sense ideas. Like the other tables, sometimes we just need to stand back and take stock of how much control we really do have over our situation.

How to Have Fun
The general sentiment at this table was that there’s an embarrassment of riches in the Bay Area as far as free or inexpensive fun to be had.  Also, that there’s practically unlimited good times to be had by creating your own fun with friends and family off the mass culture grid.   Here’s a few of the ideas:

-Discussion. Check out the free or inexpensive talks at Stanford, the Long Now Foundation, Abundance League, Commonwealth Club, UC Berkeley, UCSF, and the many forums in the Bay Area. Oh yeah, don’t forget Meetup.com. You can find all kinds of cool discussions and groups there.

-Free concerts. There’s the Stern Grove series and the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in the summer. Plus many more festivals and concerts.
-Outdoors. Some of the best hiking, sailing, biking, beaches, surfing, camping, and picnicing can be hard right here.  It’s an incredibly beautiful area with good weather nearly year round.  Get out there.  The Marin Headlands, Chrissy Field, Tilden Park, Baker Beach, Berkeley Rose Garden, Golden Gate Park, The Presidio, Dolores Park – the list goes on and on.

-Food and Culture. Go to the many ethnic enclaves and seek out inexpensive, novel dishes.  The Bay Area is known for great food, and at all price levels. Also, check out Yerba Buena Gardens, the new de Young Museum, the California Academy of Sciences (which has this amazing new green design / energy efficient building).

-DIY. Kiss. Talk like a pirate for a day. Parkour. Sex. Costume parties. Dinner parties. BBQ. Read. Network. Meet new people. Learn a new skill. Paint. Do art. Play music. Yoga. Picnic. Dance. Play a game. Invent a game. Talk to each other. Garden. Cook.

-Event lists: Check out Craigslists for events. And also http://planttrees.org.

This list is hardly comprehensive, but putting it together reminded us how lucky we are to have such riches all around, riches that can be enjoyed during up or down economies. Please add to this list in the comments section.

How to Make a Difference
-Why does “making a difference” matter? Individually and collectively, we have lots of needs. Therefore, we have lots of opportunities to help. “Daily Acts” can ripple through society.

-Practice equanimity: Be peaceful to not panic others.

-Communicate possible mini-solutions to others. Example: Teach how to grow food.

-Respond to the needs of a homeless person.

-Smile at your neighbors.

-Phone a friend—one per day.

-Meditate to become a distributor of merit and good for others.

-Create beauty and whimsy.

-Promote optimism and service.

-“Simplify” and reduce expenses.

-Replacing a car with a bicycle can be enjoyable and healthier.

-Use free WiFi in the Mission (SF).

-Help as an usher at an event.

-Become more conscientious about consumption of water, energy, etc.

-Give away what you don’t need.

-“Personal Beliefs.” Know that you can be resourceful in the face of change.

-Reevaluate what is important to ones life.

-Be positive.

-“Change Attitude and Behavior”

-Follow a dream. Example: Return to school.

-Start working for a purpose instead of taking a job for a paycheck.

-See your surroundings with new eyes as if you were on a vacation to a new town.

-Spend more time raising awareness in others on important issues.

-“Prepare Now” as society deteriorates further.

-Buying gold/silver can be protective when hyperinflation arises.

-Friday mornings, go to the Golden Gate Park (SF) nursery.

-Berkeley Ecology Center is a resource directory.

-Appoint yourself Emperor/-ess of your city.

-“Build More Vibrant Communities”

-Barter, swap skills and trade more often.

-Socialize with neighbors and explore your neighborhoods.

-Participate in a community garden that are available in many neighborhoods.

-Buy locally to keep money circulating.

-Build mentoring relationships.

-Create a meet up for unfunded entrepreneurs with newly unemployed persons.

-Host a free (or low cost) event to enrich your community.

-Help unemployed workers who are in more distress than yourself to provide meaning, perspective and learning.

-Host a “Laid Off Camp” that can reduce isolation and help others with our many contacts.

-Run for office.

-Organize your community by identifying strengths and building upon them.

-Celebrate and appreciate others.

-“Become the Media” as a citizen journalist. Newsdesk.org provides news that you might have missed. Spot.us allows you to pitch a story about a need, garner support and fact-check. Check out San Francisco Public Press, Theuptake.org, and Idealist.org

-“Volunteer” in a formal way to learn about resources and receive inspiration. Check out Volunteer Match, Hands On Network Bay Area, Craigslist.

-Teach reading to illiterate adults.