A (VIDEO) EVENING WITH CHARLES EISENSTEIN May 14, 2014
2013/2014 Season Finale
A (VIDEO) EVENING WITH CHARLES EISENSTEIN
Author of “Sacred Economics – Money, Gift and Society in the Age of Transition” and “The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible”.
Some quotes from Charles:
“We sense that ‘normal’ isn’t coming back, that we are being born in to a new normal: a new kind of society, a new relationship to the Earth, a new experience of being human.”
“Another way of being is possible and it is right in front of us, closer than close….yet it slips away so easily that we hardly believe it could be the foundation of life; so we relegate it to an afterlife and call it Heaven or we relegate it to the future and call it Utopia. Either way we set it apart from this world and this life and thereby deny its practicality and its reality in the here-and-now. Yet the knowledge that life is more than Just This cannot be suppressed. Not forever.”
“What has rendered us helpless to resist the ugliness, pollution, injustice and downright horror that has risen to engulf the planet in the last few centuries? What calamity has so resigned us to it that we call this the human condition? Those moments of love, freedom, serenity, play – what power has made us believe these are but respites from real life? …….Underlying the vast swath of ruin our civilization has carved is not human nature, but the opposite: human nature denied.”
No speakers this month…..just our usual discussion to follow. A time to ponder and share our thoughts and feelings before we adjourn for the summer months.Postscript:
Hello all………….Some thoughts on the topic of money and sacred economics from one of last night’s moviegoers: we could increase “gift economy” in Sooke by increasing participation in www.streetbank.com. Streetbank is a sharing and exchange program that connects people within 10km. of their home with their neighbors through an online network. It is a way to share and exchange items, services and information (such as “bear alert”) as well as getting to know your neighbors. She noted: “It is a lovely marriage of using the internet to create community”.Also, Sooke’s Transition Town group is always working with creating a more sustainable and resilient community. Ideas and new members are most welcome. www.transitionsooke.org,To find the 22 minute talk by Charles that wouldn’t play last night, or if you missed the film night, here it is:
It is a lovely summary of what he is talking about and a lovely summary of what I was hoping to bring to the season finale…..a sense of finding our way in this often frustrating and chaotic transition time between the old paradigm that we have all been brought up in, one defined by competition, hierarchy, force and division and a new way of being on the planet, guided by our hearts rather than our brains, one which we cannot yet clearly see.
Heartfelt thanks to those who have helped out over the season: Sarah Staskiel our fantastic tech who has been great to work with, Lyra Hindrichs who downloaded films for us and also was a sub for Sarah on the night when all the new theatre equipment was not getting along with each other, Stephen Hindrichs who has created the eye-catching posters every month, Mary Brooks at MapleLine Business Centre who printed them for only the charge of the ink, Jeff Bateman, our man on the AFN Facebook page, Bryan and Susie at Video To Go who mind the AFN library for no charge because they feel it is an important thing for the community, Deb Harper, creator of and helper for the website and Twitter account, George McFetridge AFN table and donation can manager, Reta Vasey at the EMCS Program office who has often gone above and beyond the call of duty to make sure the evening goes smoothly, the District of Sooke for their generous grant for a new projector and towards the new soundboard in the theatre and to all of you who have made this the best season yet.
If you find that you need an Awareness Film Night fix over the summer, remember that there is a whole slew of documentary films to rent for a mere $3 in the AFN library at Video To Go in Sooke. A list of the films can be found at www.awarenessfilmnight.ca
Have a great summer. Hopefully you will have many chances to get out into the beauty and serenity of the natural world we are so fortunate to have around us here on Vancouver Island.
