Monthly Archive for August, 2009

September SF League Meeting: Beyond Awkward – Dating & Relationship Strategies that Bring Joy & Confidence

Published on August 29, 2009 in Meetings+Events Calendar and San Francisco Events by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments

For our September meeting we’ll tap our collective intelligence using the World Cafe process to share ways to make dating and relationships more rewarding.

The idea for this event came out of a conversation with my friend Erica. Dating and romantic relationships are central to creating a great life, but for many people navigating the sea of love is daunting. Dating misfires and relationship meltdowns are the norm. There’s no way to make love pain free, but Erica and I thought that suffering could be reduced, and perhaps dramatically. The pitfalls we discussed included differences in expectations about dating and love relationships, a lack of frameworks for how to find a partner or nurture our most important relationships, a lack of awareness about what we actually need in a partner, and varying levels of interpersonal skill. There’s no question it’s complicated!

As Erica and I talked about the pitfalls, we began to see that many of them could be addressed. And what waited on the other side was something we all seek – more joy and confidence in our romantic lives. We also recognized that there’s a lot of wisdom out there, but it’s not evenly distributed.

So this is a call to all those who either seek wisdom or have wisdom to share. Let’s attempt to raise our collective relationship IQ in a focused burst of effort. In case there’s any question, this event is open to folks of all sexual orientations.

I hope to see you there for an experiment we’ll create together.

MEETING
When: Thursday, September 17th, 6:30-9:30pm
Where: Citizen Space , 425 Second St., #100, San Francisco

AGENDA
6:30 – 7:00 Arrive – mingle, nosh
7:00 – 7:30 Member announcements lightening round: share your passions, needs & gifts quickly
7:30 – 8:00 Break – nosh, make connections based on announcements
8:00 – 9:15 World Cafe on dating and relationships
9:15 – 9:30 Clean up, take the discussion to the 21st Amendment

BRING
-Willingness to help others and receive help
-Healthy stuff for the potluck
-Yourself, friends

  • Share/Bookmark

October Abundance League SF, Screening & Discussion of Re:Invention

Published on August 25, 2009 in Meetings+Events Calendar and San Francisco Events by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

The media constantly reports how the economy is hurting people, which can be disempowering. To offer a counterpoint and make space for healing, we need to tell new stories that shift the conversation to new possibilities. What if we saw the crisis as the crucible where deep alchemy happens? How would we evolve as a society if we faced the economic meltdown with courage to see the wisdom that is waiting on the other side?

Our guest facilitator for this month is dedicated to exploring these questions. Catherine Goerz is a filmmaker whose creative mission is to catalyze social change by documenting stories of people who have experienced crisis and transformation in this economy. Catherine’s journey into film making began when she lost her job 2008. Inspired by the idea that her layoff was an opportunity for positive transformation, she decided to document how other people were responding to the loss of homes, investments and work. After traveling cross-country for 4 weeks in a RV, attending the inauguration, and shooting interviews, she created a documentary short called “RE: Invention.”

Continue reading ‘October Abundance League SF, Screening & Discussion of Re:Invention’

  • Share/Bookmark

The Alternative Economy, Abundance League Notes August 2009

Published on August 21, 2009 in San Francisco Events by Neal Gorenflo. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

Wow, pretty good turnout for August. Big thanks to Heather, Amy, and Rick for a virtual tour of the alternative economy in the Bay Area. Some of the highlights of our talk:

-The point of establishing different methods of exchange is so that our economic transactions better support what we value most – health, nature, good relationships, being involved in our communities, self-determination, and broadly shared opportunity, etc.. An economy and culture focused maniacally on profit, growth, and marketplace values marginalizes what we hold most dear.

-There are many options for structuring our economic life and that they can coexist. Buying and selling in a marketplace using a single currency is just one option. There’s barter, time banking, sharing, gifting, free markets, alternative currencies, and more. These can co-exist and complement each other in an ecosystem.

-For the designers out there, that levels of trust and the scale of the social system can be a guide as to which method of exchange is optimal. For friends, family or high trust communities, a gift economy or generalized reciprocity works well. For national and global trade, widely accepted currencies work well. At the city or regional scale, barter, time banks, and alternative currencies can work. Your design choices also depend on your social goals.

-That there’s a lot of activity in developing the alternative economy, but it’s early in the game. Much work is needed to strengthen the movement. It’s up to us to create what serves us best.

-That there are many opportunities for us to jump in. For instance, Heather, Rick, and Amy are hosting a Festival of Grassroots Economics in Oakland on September 26th at Humanist Hall, 390 27th near Broadway. They need volunteers. I hope you volunteer or at least attend. Here’s the link to the festival: http://www.jasecon.org

MARK YOUR CALENDAR
The next meeting is September 17th. The topic is Beyond Awkward: Dating & Relationships Strategies That Bring Joy & Confidence. We’ll be sharing World Cafe style how to do better in dating and relationships.

  • Share/Bookmark

Reminder: Abundance League Tonight on the Bay Area’s Alternative Economy

Published on August 20, 2009 in San Francisco Events by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments

I’m fresh out of enticing event language this morning.   Just come out.  Would love to see old friends or meet new ones.

See here for event info.

  • Share/Bookmark

Quote of the Moment

Published on August 10, 2009 in Abundance by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments

Sent to me by Don Steiny.  This is one of the assumptions which the abundance league is based.   My experience is that this is true.  My advice.  Be generous.  Encourage others’ generosity on a regular basis through some structured way, like an event.  Do this over a period of years.  See what happens.   I did this.  My life was transformed in positive ways that far exceeded my expectations.  In fact, I have a hard time processing how great life can be because how ingrained my assumptions are that it’s an dog-eat-dog, zero sum, every man for himself game.  It doesn’t have to be.

“There is a stream of research — which economists routinely ignore, reject, or are unable to process — that shows self-interest is not hardwired but is in fact a social norm that gets stronger or weaker depending on the assumptions that people hold about their own behavior and those around them.”

- Bob Sutton

  • Share/Bookmark

Jack into the Bay Area’s Alternative Economy with Heather Young – The World’s First Alternative Economic Organizer

Published on July 24, 2009 in Abundance and Meetings+Events Calendar by Neal Gorenflo. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

An alternative economy is emerging that’s run by people like you and I. And it’s built to serve us, unlike that other f@%$! economy. The way to make it real is to begin transacting on its platforms and using its currencies. And we must begin our withdrawal from the platforms and currencies that steal our health and wealth. This month’s Abundance League is designed to help us do just that.

Heather Young is an alternative economic organizer and has been an environmental and social justice activist for over a decade. She will be discussing the many ways we can create this economy together right now in a more loving, abundant, just and sustainable way here in the Bay Area. She’ll give us an overview of the movement in the Bay Area and share it’s various projects including:

-Bay Area Community Exchange – a network of alternative currency projects in the Bay Area, including a time exchange project that is in trial phase.

-The Really Really Free Market – an event that demonstrates a pure gift economy in SF and over 50 other cities in the US and around the world.

-JASecon (Just Alternative Sustainable economy) – an all volunteer organization that aims to tie together and synergize all the different aspects of the alternative economy and to host a grassroots economic festival/conference on Sept. 26 in Oakland.

-Plus Neighborhood Vegetables and others.

MEETING
When: August 20th, 6:30-9:30pm
Where: Citizen Space , 425 Second St., #100, San Francisco

AGENDA
6:30 – 7:00 Arrive – mingle, nosh
7:00 – 7:30 Member announcements lightening round: share your passions, needs & gifts quickly
7:30 – 8:00 Break – exchange support, mingle, nosh
8:00 – 9:15 Presentation & discussion
9:15 – 9:30 Clean up, take the discussion to the 21st Amendment

BRING
-Desire to help others
-Healthy food and drink for the potluck
-Your real self, friends

  • Share/Bookmark

Denver—August Confluence (Tue 8/11, location TBD)

Published on January 26, 2009 in Denver Events and Meetings+Events Calendar by Taj Moore. 0 Comments
  • Share/Bookmark