I decided to create a way that people could talk to each other, almost blindfolded…not literally of course.
We didn’t want people to necessarily know what initiatives we were going to visit next, we didn’t even want to know who they defined as the “we” in the “I wish we could…”
Too often, we force people into a box from which they cannot express what motivates them or what they want to work towards.
We ask them to define themselves according to definitions which we create.
When we asked people at the @futureshift_cc festival to write a message to other initiatives, I was impressed by the humanity and optimism that echoed across all the different towns & communities.
Below are a set of principles that hopefully to try to capture the essence of these messages. The quotes are verbatim from the people we met:
1. Discover the unseen.
Be open and don’t focus on what’s in front of you. Amazing things happen all around you…Take a moment and appreciate the goodness surrounding us.
2. Expose your vulnerability
Ask the right questions without being afraid of the answers! Fail better. We learn from our mistakes.
3. Welcome people in your own backyard
Care for each other in our communities rather than sending people elsewhere…Be even more inclusive, both on an individual or organisational level…Have more cake!
4. Start with people want to offer
Learn that every little helps, i.e. what is enough…Help everyone see that they have superpowers…
5. Show people what they have in common
Make the various civic initiatives more connected…Support each other’s creative ventures…Learn about what comes from the casual connections made at events like this…Have more support from the wider local community.
6. Demand the impossible
Bring true social justice across nations…Have an education…All have free and accessible sustainable energy…Bring more of society that would benefit from social, vegetable, animal and natural interactions to our community farm project…Have more private investors who care about young people.
7. Make the future real by rehearsing it
Stop the boring stuff and create…Help more young people create civic change…Create more spaces where we can rehearse for the future…Have space to create a makerspace, to share equipment and teach each other…Do this more often! Get more done, more quickly.
What would you wish you could do?
