Archive for the 'Denver Events' Category

What a great meeting! I am always impressed with fruitful even a small gathering proves to be. This month’s meeting of the Abundance League took place last Wednesday at Leela European Café and focused on personal connections as we each discussed our passions & projects. Meeting notes follow…

Our next meeting is Tuesday, October 14th. Yes, Tuesday! We’re changing it up for October. Mark your calendars. We haven’t settled on a featured speaker, artist, or activity yet. Got an idea? Just reply and let us know.

I want to point out that abundance doesn’t just happen once a month when we get together. It’s something we practice every day through the connections we make and the extraordinary generosity we practice with each other. A lot of us continue the conversations between meetings and have real impact on each other’s lives. Let’s bring some of those stories back next month!

Taj (+Susan)

MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Taj
Passion: social networking. Working on the tAL website with Neal in San Francisco to create a richer environment that fosters community between meetings.
Gifts: marketing & social networking brainstorming, recent knowledge of messenger bags (if you’re in the market for one)

Leah
Passion: Project Greenleaf … learning + teaching about alternatives to industrial food economy & agriculture. Creating social change through urban agriculture w/ youth … wants to launch in two years. Buying a house soon, where she can pilot the agriculture practices in the back yard. Also starting a 2 yr master’s in sustainable business at Goddard.
Needs: consulting/advice to learn about the existing org landscape in Denver related to project … help creating an advisory board as well as members for the board (youth & adults). Urban homesteading knowledge. Also needs a power drill.
[Susan gave Leah some excellent contacts during the mingling … abundance in action!]
Gifts: knowledge and help making farmer’s cheese and preserves; community organizing help … helping people identify their strengths and use them; also can help stretch a canvas

Susan
Passion: Facilitating group dynamics/community building; the Living Laundromat project—bring people together in a public space … cultural events, meetings, holistic health, performances, café. Also passionate about organizing & facilitating retreats as a private practice … urban retreats that are more accessible in terms of time and travel … vacation retreats outside the country. Also loves gardening & dance.
Needs: to work smaller projects that approximate the Living Laundromat. Needs co-conspirators for retreats … board members for Living Laundromat, and experienced people to help plan logistics … and a space for the Laundromat.
Gifts: facilitating retreats (individual & group). Celery & collard greens from the garden. Introductory instruction in contact improvisation (dance).

Raul
Passion: to create a space for organizers to go to create leaders. Also, wants to create a film out of a trip to north Africa, the Middle East, the Silk Road, documenting the travels as well as “vision workshops” he holds with locals along the way.
Needs: good place/teachers to learn Arabic & Farsi; money for film project … fellowship, sponsors; to know more NGOs in the geographical areas of focus; three cameras for film … one a super 8.
Gifts: can teach Spanish; organization knowledge & experience to share; film editing; vision workshops

Leah & Raul
Have a joint vision for making a zombie movie! (It sounds profound, actually, so ask them about it.) They need to find people for makeup, costuming, set building, and miniature building.

Although we had no speaker scheduled for this month, a lively discussion and meaningful connections made this tAL one to remember. Jerry and Donna Talbert joined us this month on their trip from the Baltimore area in Maryland.

Here’s a recap of Passions/Projects, Needs, and Gifts for the group. Even if you did not attend, this is an opportunity for you to connect with others through their highlights, and even network with one another toward fulfillment of ourselves and others in our community! See a member you’d like to connect with? Send them a note, ask them for help, offer your gifts!

Upcoming tAL meetings are scheduled for August 13 and September 17 (both Wednesdays). Keep up to date here:
http://denver.abundanceleague.org

We have room in the schedule for speakers in the next six months. If you know someone you think should be a speaker at the Abundance League, please reply to this message so we can get started.

Susan + Taj

SUSAN

Passions/Projects: Clarity of intention, dance, Laundromat Project

Needs: Website development, board of directors, financial planning, people interested in laundry, arts, dance, retreat work, organic/local food, and holistic health (and any combination of these, even better!)

Gifts: Retreat facilitation, working with group dynamics, gardening/cooking, life/work coaching

JERRY

Passions/Projects: History, US, Civil War, environmental work, economically viable solutions to environmental challenges

Needs: More business for environmental consultants

Gifts: Storytelling about civil war, dream interpretation

DONNA

Passions/Projects: Making jewelry, cooking creatively for special occasions, nesting and making the house nice, bargain hunting, energy work

Needs: Courses and seed money to do more with jewelry, metalsmith classes, a good small group like her old meditation group, learn energy work

Gifts: Jewelry making, a great place to stay for a visit in historic Relay, Maryland!

TAJ

Passions/Projects: Social networking and creative community building.

Needs: in process of figuring out how various projects fit together under one concept … to find core. Getting management consulting help from tAL member Elizabeth on identifying core.

Gifts: marketing perspective and strategy ideas on your projects

Our first gathering of the Abundance League went very well. With a total of ten people, we had a full house at Susan’s (thank you for hosting, Susan!). I was delighted to see different people that might not otherwise meet interact and hear each other’s stories. With different generations and life experiences represented, we are all the richer for it.

There was no guest speaker this time around, so we spent a little more time with announcements and telling our stories. Below are some of the passions/projects, needs & gifts people wrote down in the book. I will update this posting as more announcements come in.

Taj Moore
Passions/Projects—social networking & community: how we can use online tools to make our real-time lives better.
Needs—Speakers for the Abundance League: please post your ideas in the forum in the category “Speaker Recommendations.”
Gifts—a “marketing mind.” I can help you ideate and figure out how to spread the good word about your project or passion.

Susan Coates
Passions/Projects—dance & contact improvisation, community, cooking and growing food, probing into psychosocial layers, sex
Needs—help with loading a website of mine properly, consultative leads for organizational development and retreat work, a free cabin to stay at by some water
Gifts—group dynamics, facilitation, improvisation, cooking, networking, making connections among disparate ideas, ideation in general

Britt Magadini
Passions/Projects—Healer/soul coach – how do I define myself to the world
Needs—I need wheels! Does anyone have a car to rent for a while? Any ideas for website ideas
Gifts—help people see the soul truth and Heal just about anything

John Dee
Passions/Projects—I’m passionate about passion! I don’t understand why people don’t have passion for what they do.
Needs—time
Gifts—people; talk; imagination

Deb Taylor
Passions/Projects—Hospice social work. Empowered citizens + women.
Needs—Prius
Gifts—love of life, curiosity, learning new things, forgiveness