Happy Equinox

2011 - Year of Building Sustainable Structures & Systems

What a year 2010 has been and I am so happy that it is over in many ways...the beginning of a new decade is a fractal of a beginning of a new century in many ways.  2010 brought some very challenging transitions and SeThInk Media as a company did not quite meet the goals we had set forth for ourselves to achieve.

But a business that has no 'exit strategy' built into the plan (we have no intention of exiting) is destined to have a much longer start up process according to a business manager I had a chance to speak with.  The truth is that SeThInk Media is 'business unusual' and I am determined to see this company evolve into its potential without having to compromise or subscribe to old business model paradigms.

The promise of this coming year lies in the overall strategy to focus on publishing creative works that bring forth high quality contributions to the communities that we serve.  The recent launch of Jayátu has been not only a great success but also a real affirmation to the SeThInk team that it is possible to connect with folks who believe in their own art enough to show up for their success.  Jayátu as a human being has been a pleasure to work with on all levels and we have experienced the 'interdependent' partnership with him that we have been working so hard to create.

We foresee more such partnerships in this coming year manifesting and it is those authentic relationships that make all the thousands of hours that have gone into the SeThInk Media Sphere absolutely worth it.  We also have some exciting launches on the plate and some great projects with organizations that we have recently and over the years been involved with.

We have found ourselves recently in the position to assist these organizations with their web portals and this will help strengthen the sustainability community in the long run.  We are very excited to be able to be of service in that way...there is a rampant rip-off happening to organizations needing web technology support and we will be posting some articles about this phenomena over the coming months.  Unfortunately we cannot 'name name's' but we can certainly provide some profile information that will help educate the less tech savvy elders who are allocating way too much of their budgets on website development.

Overall we are in a nice momentum with as usual a never ending fountain of creative inspiration and ideas about how we can make our little contribution to the next generation and beyond.  The 'Wild West Web' will not be 'tamed' by the same structures and systems that got us into the current melt down.  The web and digital reality is only going to evolve through erecting sustainable structures and systems that are 'spherical' in architecture and absolutely built on authentic relationships that inevitably call forth the true spirit of community.   

Onward and upward is the sphere's natural spiral trajectory...no matter what way you move in a sphere it can always be experienced as forward right?

In Sustainable Solidarity
PrezDar

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

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

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

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

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