local community - global networking

The Ultimate Purpose of GlobalVillages is Health

I like that mantra, reiterated many times after Tony Gwilliam gave it to me in a garden in Ojai somewhen in the early 90ies. Tony is now enjoying a quite healthy circumstance in his Bloo Lagoon Village in Bali. Still for many health issues we have to refuge to cities
So it made me particularly happy that the linkages of the health community to Global Village issues is becoming stronger. I reccomend reading the recently published Interview of Claude Lewenz in Oxadox, a health support site. Global Villages as totally nurturing environments, mentally and physically, are no utopian dream any more. They are laid out in finer details every day. Thanks Claude, for being so visionary about it. And thanks to Robert Moskowitz for relaying this information.

Comment by Franz Nahrada on January 25, 2009 at 9:10pm: another nice piece of Claude in WorldChanging

Comment by Sandi Brockway on April 4, 2009 at 8:49am: Interesting piece, full of interesting future projections. I fear that smaller communities could be in danger of overspecialization though, that is if people are given too much power or luxury to choose their villages. Also, having been a member of ART STRIKE 1990 (hence giving birth to Macrocosm), I disagree that "artists" are some sort of revered stock as this $64 book seems to suggest. Artistic expression is important, more so than the position of artist. I recall once, when meeting with your friend Tony, telling him the place I most wanted to move was Bali. Traditionally, Bali has no word for ARTIST, yet, all are expected to create art. Creativity, though, can and should express itself broadly and not be so rigidly defined by medium. Margaret Mead found their culture boring, inasmuch they so skillfully sublimate hostility and sexuality with many practices of the arts. The important aspect of creativity, recall, is to visualize and then actualize, and to possess those human attributes and integrity that can realize an outcome. I think the important message about the Balinese is it emphasizes the act of creating or doing artistic or creative things without stigmatizing the individual with a label or title, therefore reducing any crippling narcissism or idoltry, which is so common within our hierarchical and overspecialized communities. Somewhere in all this is the answer to why so many people fear change, but I am not prepared to go there yet. Regressive backlash is always around that corner, just as my brother and sister recently proved to me.

Comment by Franz Nahrada on April 4, 2009 at 9:47am: Tony is right in here by the way: http://globalvillages.ning.com/profile/TonyGwilliam. Overspecialisation is indeed a danger that I have seen many times in "villages" during my travelling around the US, but this results from a culture still heavily based on the car. I dont think we can just account this on peoples freedom of choice. In fact local cultures are the chance to find a more universal way of expression - I hope there will be many ways to health.

Comment by Franz Nahrada on April 4, 2009 at 10:06am: Sandi, see here a positive example of how much one artist can add to a community. Brunos Garden in the township of Marysville, North East Melbourne, Vicoria, Australia. http://www.brunosart.com/ and here a very very nice Video on youtube: http://eddiecampbell.blogspot.com/2009/03/brunos-art-and-sculpture-...l

Comment by Sandi Brockway on April 5, 2009 at 10:57am: Quite beautiful and enchanting.

There are levels of art some very much a LUXURY or highly commercial. In Bali, everyone, technically, is an artist, it reflects in all aspects of life, from architecture to fabrics - where beauty and functionality merge.

Greater pragmatism will also need to follow the time lost with reduced transportation. An ARTIST, in our traditional sense, was someone who was given the luxury of free time. That privilege would usually be bestowed by a benefactor, an aristocrat, or even high royalty. One might argue that a new breed of craftsmen/women will emerge, that will reflect a new pragmatism. How will our local art glass artisans change as priorities and commercialism transform?

I was not suggesting the freedom of choice was wholey responsible for overspecialization, but if you give people with narrow indiscriminating taste a lot of money and unlimited gasoline, they might move into one of those golf communities. Recently I saw a special on the business station regarding a community in Northern California whose economy is entirely based on marijuana. What a nightmare.

As horrible as this economic crash is, I hold out one hope that it could or might allow many more people to make those changes in their lives, open them to change, make them rethink, transcend. But, there will also be some great pain. Humans are creatures of habit and co-depedendence. So many are still mindlessly having children - when most are not even qualified to have pets. Boggles my mind. I fear that when we are talking about interdependence, they are misinterpreting it as co-dependence, and when we are talking self reliance, we are really talking about individual self actualization too.

Comment by Franz Nahrada on April 5, 2009 at 11:07am: Sandi, it is my deepest conviction that we must strive to create places that are attractive by design. The community based on marijuana might attract some, but for me thats the beauty of global villages that we must start to offer a lot of well designed cultures. I dont know what you mean exactly by self-actualisation, but in fact self - actualisation is only deeply possible in fields of resonance. I like the quote of Sabine Liechtenfels from Tamera who once said: "Unless we come up with something more sexy than force and power, we are doomed".

Comment by Sandi Brockway on April 6, 2009 at 9:43am: Well, I certainly hope we can develop higher standards of beauty and practicality! Bali as well as Kerala seem to be areas that have harnessed the magic, and on a low budget.

The eroticization and worship of power, though, cannot be easily dismissed! People generally give up their power easily.

I am now reminded of a Michael Moore's followup to ROGER AND ME. For life of me I cannot remember the name. He returns to Flint area a couple years later. Certainly humans need to have aesthetics, beauty and balance as a part of their education, or kitsch well prevail. We need to set forth a new standard for opulence, wealth and status.

Though, sadly, I do not believe humans are spiritually ready or willing to make the necessary changes, I do recognize this is the only battle worth fighting.