Thursday, December 9, 2010

SeThInk Media is proud to present…JAYÁTU


It always amazes me how things synchronize and come together when you hold unwavering intent.  For the past year we have been scouting for the perfect subject to feature in volume II of the Seeds of Sustainability Education Series which is being developed using the10 branches of the Interdependent Tree of Sustainability.

Tree of Sustainability
Volume 1 was based on the first branch, 'Sustain Yourself' and DVD was about the Marche Sprouting Method which made its debut in Nov. 2009.  The next branch is the "Path of Beauty" and the basic premise is that sustainable living is not just formulas, technologies, and systems...it is also living life with heart and walking a path of beauty...otherwise what is it you are sustaining?

Path of Beauty
The 'Path of Beauty' show and page on the Interdependent Project website showcases the arts, music, literary masterpieces, and poetry.  It is within all of these arts, both in the active creation of and passive absorption of, that life becomes a showcase for our hearts and hearts desires.  It would be futile to attempt any kind of serious change in lifestyle and behavior without inspiration and affirmation of the infinitely creative self.

So our dilemma revolved around the question 'how can we produce volume 2 along the Path of Beauty theme?'  The goal of the series is to inspire and support folks in making a transition to sustainable living and the Path of Beauty theme needed to feature at least one of the 'arts' in that context.


Then on a beautiful autumn day this fall we received an invitation from dear friends to attend a private 'storytelling' gathering with a man who was a professional storyteller whose stories revolve around children, nature, and of all personages - John Muir!

We attended this gathering and as we sat spellbound and enchanted I said to myself, 'oral storytelling is the best way to convey and transmit new information to the human mind in ways that it can accept...especially when beauty encapsulates the story."

We spoke with the storyteller during the after-party and our conversation quickly revealed mutual ideologies and the gentleman felt a deep synchronicity in meeting us and learning about our digital publishing company because he had been looking at the idea of launching his art form out on the web to a wider audience.

Well when things line up we don't hesitate to come into alignment and after weeks of exciting production SeThInk Media is proud to present -  JAYÁTU - A Tale Feather of the Golden Eagle....   Jayátu is launching with 3 unique storytelling collections just in time for the holiday season. For Jayátu, what began as an environmental education device has blossomed into a tried and true way to ensure that the first of the next 7 generations have a clear view of the possibilities of the future, and a reminder of the ancient knowledge we all share that for thousands upon thousands of years was passed down through the spoken word.

The oral tradition is a vital component to the evolution of human consciousness, and one of the surest ways to remind people of all creeds and cultures just how similar we all truly are. Stories point to what is universal within us, the possibilities of remembering that underneath all the apparent differences, we are one human family with one home that we are collectively responsible for caring for.

To kick off this exiting event and to celebrate the continuance of the oral tradition through the stories of Jayátu, SeThInk Media is producing a special debut video featuring Jayátu sharing a special holiday story and an audio recording of the unpublished ‘Trees’ story as a free gift to friends of Jayátu.  Here is the invitation!

In Sustainable Solidarity


PrezDar

Friday, November 19, 2010

4 Years Go




Every now and then a campaign comes to our attention that we cannot stop ourselves from becoming involved with.  The 4 Years Go initiative is the most recent campaign that immediately inspired our participation.  SeThInk Media is now an official allied organization and we are excited to be able to participate in this initiative through developing our own '4 year' agenda and sharing this campaign with all of our network communities.  

One of the awesome resources allied organizations have is access to conferencing tools which make it possible to connect with folks from all around the world around specific agendas.  We started a 'Transition California 4YG Action Group' and will be test driving this conferencing tool on Nov. 22.  This group is just now forming and it is our goal to have this group write articles for the 4 Years Go main blog about all of the awesome efforts and progress the Transition California community members are making all across the state in their own personal lives and hometowns.

SeThInk Media is proud to be an allied organization and we invite you to make your own commitment to helping change the world to a more just, peaceful, and sustainable reality for all.  Let's see what we can all do in 4 years...GO!

In Sustainable Solidarity
PrezDar



Saturday, October 9, 2010

10 10 10 - Ten-Hut!

Nothing like a good TEN-HUT to get everyone's attention.  10 10 10 - which reduces to a single digit 3 - will not be a number sequence seen again for a hundred years and it was refreshing to see that the occasion was going to be commemorated with a Global Work Party - A Day to Celebrate Climate Solutions.   
Because our work is online we have witnessed and been invited to participate in quite a few global events that have happened on auspicious days over the years but we think this is the first one that we remember that was a 'work party' for the planet.  We went to 350.orgs website to check out all the registered events and we were amazed at the creative variety and scope of this initiatives efforts.  

There was a simple 10 Step Guide to planning your work party in the resource section and these were some of the top ideas for 10/10/10 activities:

Top Ideas For 10/10/10 Events

  • #1 Organize a Tree Planting
  • #2 Go Solar
  • #3 Work on a Community Garden or an Organic Farm
  • #4 Go For a Bike Ride
  • #5 Harness the Wind
  • #6 Get Efficient
  • #7 Do a trash cleanup
We ourselves will be home here doing land stewardship projects as always and it feels good to know that all over the world on that day there will be hundreds of thousands of folks touching the Earth with us.  

In Sustainable Solidarity
PrezDar

Friday, September 24, 2010

Transition 2010

Transitions are interesting because it places you between past and future - the present.  And because the present point of power is in the now choices are extremely important in shaping both past and future.  Yes, the past is also shaped in the present because the past is interpreted through your present understandings of a past experience.  My point is that the transitions that are happening on a global scale are being felt deeply by all of us and this summer has been (according to my present understanding) a summer of major transition.  
SeThInk Media became official sponsor of the Transition California Network at the beginning of July and taking over management of that network has been an honor and privilege bestowed upon us by the previous owner, founder of Hope Dance Bob Banner, when his path also transitioned.  The theme we have been seeing around us is folks really making solid directional choices which allow them to focus on their own personal paths of heart.  
Our company is also sponsoring several other networks that were threatened by Ning's decision to become a subscription platform.  Believe Africa and Children's Agenda International are two initiatives that we have ties with that we hope to be able to do more for than uphold their networks and site - we hope to be able to channel resources in the form of sustainable solution information, network connection, and of course good ole' fashioned money whenever possible. 

This summer we also have been working on the Interdependent Partner model that is based upon matching missions between business and organizations.  Mutual endorsement is a key component to the new model and we hope to be able to launch it with the 10% for the Planet project this coming winter.  
Another very important endeavor that has received a great deal of our time is launching the Seeds of Sustainability Living Oil business.  This is the first 'brick and mortar' project that we have attempted and it has proved to be highly educational for us.  We of course bring sustainable agendas to anything we touch and the Living Oil business is no exception.  We are learning about carbon footprints of food production and the supply chains that have been created around the 'organic' label.  Hot tip to anyone who has land - GROW ORGANIC SUNFLOWERS!  If you live in California let us know and we will definitely partner up with you to buy your whole crop.  
It has also come to our attention that the time is now to bring Low Impact Sustainable Development protocols that were established by the Lammas EcoVillage in Wales to the United States.  We are in the process of forming a local citizens committee and will keep you all posted as our efforts develop.  Our goal is to create an easy to duplicate process that can be accessed by anyone via digital media/publications around the country.   We of course have to test drive and fund it here in our own local community so we will be documenting the process as we go along.  

So as we continue our participation in the weaving of the sustainable matrix we find ourselves in constant gratitude to be able to witness The Great Transition as it is happening.  

In Sustainable Solidarity
PrezDar

Friday, June 25, 2010

Zero Degrees at Ground Zero


I am not much of an astrologer but I know enough that when an outer planet changes signs it is a pretty big deal.  The big players these past few months have been Saturn (Time & Structure) and Uranus (Timing & Change).  Also just in the past couple weeks Jupiter joined the party (Expansion & Wisdom).  

The gulf oil spill has tipped the scales and it seems we are deep in the collective shift at this point that will inevitably lead toward a more sustainable world.  In the Dandarius Sphere these past few months have seen big changes that are opening new doors of possibilities and it appears some doors are closing that represented outworn and outdated beliefs and structures.  I always welcome change and I believe the recent shifts and changes will further SeThInk's long term mission and strategies in extremely positive ways.  

We are working on a new partner model that will be easily implemented by non-profits and 'Common Good 'B' Corp' businesses.  Getting new models and maps on paper is always the challenging part - easy to talk about but challenging to map out.  The new model is coming together from ideas that I have worked on as well as many others - below is from an article we found on the World Watch Institutes website called the 'Essential Role of Cultural Pioneers':

"Considering that consumerism is such a powerful
force and that the majority of resources
and wealth are still overwhelmingly being
used to stimulate it, how realistic is it to think
that the pattern can shift? James Davison
Hunter’s analysis of how cultures change is
instructive. As Hunter, the Director of the
Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at
the University of Virginia, explains, cultural
change can best be understood not through
the Great Man approach (whereby heroic individuals
redirect the course of history), but
through the Great Network approach. “The
key actor in history is not individual genius
but rather the network.”
Full Article here


The Interdependent Project is up for a new direction through a new partnership we are exploring as well and during the month of July we are partnering with the local sustainability center offering Seeds of Sustainability workshops.  We are also looking into partnering with the Alchemical Nursery Project as fiscal sponsor of the Green Fire Foundation. 

Interdependence Day/Solstice was selfishly spent with my wife and CEO at a sacred lake where she was conceived and we enjoyed the 3 day passage that marked our anniversary of meeting - which was when 'Dandarius' was conceived as well.  We met on Solstice and thus we hold that time to be not only sacred as World Peace Prayer Day and Interdependence Day, but as the day we were reunited.  So we did not do any special online announcements or activities this year - it was time to go in and recharge ourselves within our own interdependent sphere.  

As the planets are stationed at 0' degrees transition it feels good for me to be at ground zero where all potentials can be viewed and I feel the power of choice rise within me that will manifest those potentials.

In Sustainable Solidarity
PrezDar



Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Dynamic Governance



It has been a very busy past couple months and now that we are officially in spring time here in the Northern Hemisphere things are going to get even busier here in the Land of Dandarius.  We have been working diligently setting up the partner program for the Seeds of Sustainability program and today we received an email from one of our partners that contained some information about something called 'Dynamic Governance'.  

The term intrigued us and we followed the links to a website called Governance Alive.  We downloaded the free pdf they offer on the home page called 'Creative Forces of Self-Organization' and what we learned catalyzed a very dynamic conversation amongst our team.  Here is an excerpt:

"Dynamic governance, or sociocracy, is a decision-making and governance method that allows an organization to manage itself as an organic whole. To make this possible, dynamic governance enables every sub-part of the organization to have an authoritative voice in the management of the organization."

This sounded like something we want to create within our business!  As we read on we learned that:

"...a dynamically governed business places control of a company in the hands of both stockholders and management and in both management and workers. It typically uses both autocratic and egalitarian decision-making. It provides both a security assurance and a creative stimulus. It is concerned with both profit and human values.By combining seemingly incompatible concepts, both/and thinking stimulates creative thinking and causes that seemingly chaotic thinking to self-organize into very practical solutions."

SeThInk Media wants to grow up to be a dynamically governed business and as we nurture this company we want to share the resources that we will be using with all of you who also have a strong desire to build or reshape your own business along similar lines.  

Happy Spring Planting to everyone!


Monday, January 25, 2010

2010 - Year of the Empress & The Golden Tiger


2010 Is unfolding at lightning speed as we gear up for the intense wave of transition that is quickly transporting those with surfboards to their goal and smashing the rest on the rocks. It is going to be a year for thinking on ones feet, a year for being prepared for the auspicious opportunities that will be coming from every direction as worlds collide and separate at an accelerated pace. 

The challenge will be deciding which opportunities are worthy of top priority, and keeping our limited energies harmoniously distributed. As a company, SeThInk Media has big plans for this decade, and a lot of balls primed to be set into motion. 

A few things to keep your eyes peeled for....


The online portal for the organization and mapping of the Of Sound Mind Winter Solstice 2012 worldwide music event (now theres a mouthful for you!) 


As well as the first glimpses of SeThInk CultWear, and the first round of publications (more on this soon :-) 

Our goal is to navigate this year like an ever transparent bubble, being flexible enough to avoid being popped by the jagged terrain we are faced with as we make our way into the stratosphere. We have high hopes, and the determination to make the impossible possible, and plenty of open source, experimental new paradigm business models to play around with and see what works. 

As we share our lofty visions with others, we have been told by many that our goals are unreasonable, and at best unattainable. Our knowledge that "reasonable" people have never been catalysts for large scale change keeps us going and allows us to transmutate the doubt and cynicism of others into further fuel for our determination. 

With the Chinese New Year coming just around the corner on February 14th we can prepare ourselves for the Year of the Golden Tiger on Valentines Day - courting courageous action and innovation yeah?



2010 is also the number 3 in numerology which according to Mary Greer's 'Tarot Numerology' is the number of the 'Empress'  Sounds like the making of an epic story:  The Empress & The Golden Tiger... 



As we write 'her'story let's be sure to learn from 'his'tory...

What would you want to remember as you look back on this time period? 

Looking forward to the unfolding year!



PrezDar