Solidarity, Creativity, and Gabriel's Shenanigans

I went to a meeting tonight hosted by the Illinois Task Force, a coalition initiative geared towards investigating avenues to support community wealth building and to strengthen social enterprise business. This sounds all well and good, but what, precisely, is "social enterprise business"?

The social enterprise business is an organization with specific goals of promoting social or environmental advancement. While there exist many businesses out in the marketplace which seek solely to improve their bottom dollar, a social enterprise exists to raise money so that it may achieve some beneficent goal. Many for profit businesses are building their business models around social needs, effectively saving the world while also making a living.

So now this Task Force is seeking to figure out how to, among other things, map out all of the social enterprises in the city. The next step in mapping out these endeavors is to promote more activity between them and to foster the growth of new social enterprises.

I ran into a woman named Aarti Sharma a couple weeks ago, she's working on an article detailing local sustainable business innovations. Check her out HERE. She's precious.

The momentum is fascinatingly beautiful in light of the dawning crowdfunding regulations. It's not legal, but before long (maybe a few months, maybe a year) we, as general people, will be able to invest small amounts of money for actual stake in a new company. This will make fundraising for entrepreneurs, inventors, and community builders very easy, because AN ENTIRE COMMUNITY OF USUALLY "POOR" PEOPLE CAN INVEST, in aggregate, to RAISE AN AWESOME IDEA and, quite importantly, own stock in the idea so that they PROFIT when the idea profits. Awesome, right? Since we are becoming the investors, it makes sense that we should invest in businesses that are conscious of the local community.

There is a term I picked up tonight called #ImpactInvesting . Impact investing is the act of investing resources in a calculated place to generate a measurable change in the local community, as well as generate a return in assets. It makes sense, right? It's the only kind of investment I'd ever make, though it seems as though some of the world has gotten carried away with what corners can be cut to simply make an extra dollar. In the end, I believe the human heart is our most valuable asset. As such, the heart and creativity are how I hedge my bets.

The cool thing about the desire of our Illinois Task Force in mapping out the social enterprise business activity is that, from a comprehensive web of the enterprises, we can identify key nodes that are prime hubs for the investment of resources to then disseminate effectively. In other words, with a good map we will know what roads work best.

Ted Howard, founder of the Democracy Collaborative, spoke tonight about his work in improving the cultivation of social enterprises in Cleveland, Ohio. He has based much of his research of the example of the Mondragon Corporation, one of the largest organizations in Spain, originally founded by student collaboration, and built on a democratic model of employee ownership.

This student collaboration resonates with me, as I feel concentration on the student entrepreneurial and civic collaborative camp will pay off immensely in establishing the future of our global society. A couple of the events I've been to lately have taken place at Roosevelt University, which, incidentally, has just instituted a Social Entrepreneurship degree program. Thank you Ms. Karlson, their first graduate and my connection. This is interesting, and highlights my area of interest. I want to see a hub organization that links students across university boundaries in these endeavors. I see essential to the success of this hub some things:
Creatively inclined students
A place of cultivation
A means of telling their story
Resources to give life to creativity.

There is a documentary called "Shift Change" about employee owned companies. I don't know much about it, but I believe there is some association here with Mondragon and I also believe the model may be in line with the likes of what I want to see raised.

Also related, this group called Sevenly, which sells awesome clothes and donates 7 dollars from every purchase to a weekly charity, is implementing a story telling show to document their weekly shenanigans of glory. This "reality tv" concept could easily be applied by, say, local media students to publish the endeavors of local social enterprises. It's all about leveraging the resources and the story just right, an the community will take off and do the rest: sustainable enterprise.

Courtesy of Roosevelt University

I've got plenty more on the subject, but I need to gingerize this beast and digest what I've run into today. I pray we can look forward to some kind of student lead, problem-solving, enterprise incubating initiative in the near future.

Ciao with love,
Gabriel




Some random links:

"Lift Communites" a cool looking initiative

Some enterprising non-profits around the Vancouver BC area.

When Your Compass Gets Lost

Irony is the bittersweet seasoning of life.

There dawned a point in time of life when I realized that I was missing something. This revelation of a lack of revelation was both enlightening and near frightening. I was enlightened because I was aware that there was an essence in life that I was missing. I was disturbed in this knowing because I didn't know what I didn't know.

Ironic, isn't it? I'd venture to think that most people have found themselves at a similar impasse in life. The choice that one makes at this juncture is truly a character defining decision. There's many options when presented with an apparent dead-end. I chose to step off the pass and wonder around in the wilderness of the land. I figured if I wondered long enough I might just find what I felt I was missing.

I lost my way... on purpose.

Ironic again, no?

Little did I know the ramifications this choice would have on my stature, my cognition, and, most importantly, my relationships. I should stress here, life is a matter of perspective. With that said, there weren't so much ramifications of my relationships, but rather perceived ramifications. I wondered in the wilderness for centuries in soul-years. In that distant meandering, I lost a sound sense of that heartfelt connection that comes when two people join in concert of love. This isn't sexual love, no this is the bond of love that unites us all as a family, this is what keeps you coming back to your brother or sister after you have a falling out. It's a deep rooted understanding of another's heart and soul. It's the same type of compassion that can lead you to rise above despising one person for imposing some nonsensical legality on you, such as a security guard making you move to another table in the library because you are sitting in a "kid's" area, when there are no kids anywhere near using the area. (My situation this moment.) I see this man's heart and I see that he has to follow/impose rules which he didn't write. He's performing his duty and, for being loyal, I respect him.

There is a delightful band of musically inclined hooligans running about the world under the name "Mumford and Sons." These guys have a song titled "Roll Away Your Stone" which runs to the tune of an inspirational folky epic that speaks to the heart of life in such incredible degrees of glory that it sets my feet dancing and my tongue singing. Yes, I love these guys. The chorus speaks to the perception of distance between you and I:

Darkness is a harsh term, don't you think?
Yet it dominates the things I see...
It seems that all my bridges have been burned,
But you say that's exactly how this grace thing works-
It's not the long walk home that will heal this heart,
But the welcome I receive with a restart!

Beautiful, isn't it? This matter of grace has come when I decided to come out of the wilderness and set my feet back on a shared path. How did I begin to come out of the wilderness, though?

I had a revelation.

I was talking with my brother last night about navigation and compasses. We have compasses to guide us about the surface of the earth, which rely on our relation to the magnetic poles of this planet. I saw, in my wanderings about the proverbial countryside of the glorious life, that I was lacking direction;

My compass was lost.

I wouldn't say broken; nay, it was confused. I discovered that, in this life, we have the option to orient ourselves to any number of "poles." Benjamin, last night, said that in order to find his way, in order to navigate life, he needed a grounding-a faith. When we chose to orient ourselves about something, someone, somewhatever, we are configuring our compass to lead us by that direction. You see it when you fall in that enraptured love, which leads all of your decisions to guide you in the general direction of your affection. You see it when you steadfastly pursue education, so that you yearn to learn all throughout life-your compass leads you to new opportunities for cognitive expansion, because that is where you place importance in life. The same goes for adventure, money, God. If you establish the importance of money as paramount in your life, then your compass will direct you by the force of our monetary economy. When the economy drops or rises, you experience those shifting tides in a very personal way, because you have oriented yourself with that essence, that spirit.

So I tried orienting my compass to different poles until I found the one which guided me in love, grace, peace, and simplicity straight out of the wilderness. 

My compass became fixed.

Fixed, as in made new, made whole.

Fixed, as in set on course.

Love is the sweet nectar of life.

When you are presented a choice in how to view a situation, which is literally every moment, it would serve you well to see events in shades of love. Life takes on a simplicity of beauty when this is done. Are there still problems? Nope. Only challenges. Where does love fall short of shining? I'm out to say there exists no such place.

The Topography of Media

We've passed the point of no return.

...Phantom of the Opera, anyone?

I'm reading a book titled "Cognitive Surplus" by Clay Shirkey. So far he has taken me on a journey from the Gutenberg press through America's obsession with television all the way to the present day "peculiar" trends of social interaction through web media-this blog post being one of those, your comments being another. That two-way street underscores the illustration he makes in the opening section. American's spend over a trillion hours every year watching television. The shift in the market of media is that we aren't so much just watching anymore. We, as the general public of awesomeness, are now empowered to become producers, publishers. I'll be reminded of that as soon as I submit this post. This shift naturally threatens the financial foundations of the old-school producers. They need their one-directional, feeding audience to consume what they put out, otherwise... they'll be put out. I see glimpses of this scramble to maintain a purely consumer audience in the advertising around Chicago. "Keep streaming, America!" The words accompanying some fancy black box that streams digital content.

We have passed the point of divergence. The public is only becoming more and more engaged with each other. The opportunities afforded to us with the internet are profound. The not-yet-existent platforms that we will be using in the future to collaborate and solve civic problems on local, national, and global (interstellar?) levels will streamline our social evolution like we have never before known. This kind of interactive producing is facilitating more creative dialogue and output than we have precedence for. (in available recorded history, at least)

Having socially passed this point of divergence, the one marking a shift from consumer to producer mindsets, carries implications for those institutions that hold on to that past ways. There are certain powers that be that will not bend to incorporating models of public-production. These stiff entities will calcify and go the way of all fossils.

I like what we're getting into. I see greater forms of democracy rising through our new conception of interaction and media. I see a greater understanding of our fellow family members on this planet, with walls of mistrust, hate, and ignorance crumbling to the ground. When our children are seamlessly integrating with the newest interactive media technology on the market, I know that we are becoming equipped to collaborate and come to resolution on problems the world over.

I see a revolution, and it makes my heart glad.

The Last Day of Winter

Music moves the soul like teleportation through space and time warps molecules to intertwine with the divine nature of our tapestry-woven lives. 

Music is a time machine. 

Today is the last day of winter. There shifts, tonight, an energetic force... like the release of a spring. What has been held held dormant during this Wintery respite of hibernation now rises forth. Like all nature, this shift doesn't occur in a single moment, but history has proven this veritable change. Winter gives rise to Spring, it's the way things go and today marks that special day, whereupon the dusk will draw the final curtain on Winter's slumberous, dull sting. Tomorrow, when you wake, you can find something new in the air. While the temperature wont jump 20 degrees in a single bound, there is a marked shift in the season of the soul, for here is the dawning of a serious awakening. It comes every year, yet each year I'm finding greater and greater revelation in the season of rising, as though my metaphorical expansion of energy is more and more intense with each passing Spring, for my metamorphosis of spirit projects further into glory like an increasingly tenacious spring. Elasticity.

Call me elementally elastic, I'm finding it more elementary every time the seasons turn, to compress over time and rebound with energetic force. It's our design. 

I went by the Chicago Cultural Center today, whereat I stumbled upon Chris Vallillo performing a number of songs from his prairie-bluegrass-sliding guitar of epicness album, "The Last Day of Winter." It was fitting, given today. His sound moved through me like a fall breeze sings through a field of wheat, each stalk bending in harmony with the other, the whole choral movement of the field betraying the wind's form. My spine exposed the strum of Chris' strings. I sat, yes, but I danced.

Music has a peculiarly beautiful knack of transplanting us to a different time, an old or unfamiliar place. The sheer splendor of a song can paint in vivid colors unseen the whole detail of life in another place. This is the profound beauty of art. 

Here, then, at the turn of one season to a renewed hope and vigor for the coming year, I dedicate my post as a toast to the creative endeavor of passion. May the artistic spirit rise in each one of us, that this new year might be marked as the most radiantly creative one we've e'er known. 

Redemption Defined

I read an article about a formerly homeless Chicagoan who earned himself a free ride to Stanford.

I thought...

Redemption is the sweet nectar of life.

That's why I've taken to blending it into my morning smoothie. Berries and redemption, the stuff of delicious.

Life is too short for nothing. Try hard enough, you could even create a new world. Write a book, make a movie, or... if you want the greatest new world experience, rise in the unconditional love of another. Dare a little more, rain that love over everything.

I'm not being entirely metaphorical when I say I drink redemption in the morning. There is a serious, grave, truth found there. Grave, because to miss this truth is to head to that very grey grave end. Redemption is the grace of life. My middle name is Evan, which bears with it the symbolism of youth and God's grace. In part, this has helped me to see what I see. There's more to a name than meets the eye, or the tongue, for that matter. However now, your name is what meets the tongue, and that is epically important. We speak things into existence. Two of my favorite biblical passages read to the effect of "Life and Death are in the power of the tongue," and, "the tongue sets fire to the course of nations." From the simplicity of speaking over your day that it will be radiant to soothing your baby in the womb with songs to walking into that eternal womb of a cathedral and basking in the waves of Gregorian chants or myriadical choral music with bright organ undertones, the nature of sound bears more influence in our world (and mind/body/soul) than many of us give credit. It's quite easy, to chose a song that will lift your spirits in the morning rather than something more dark.

That is grace, the ever-present opportunity of choice to step where you might find elevation. I've taken to this grace, this redemption in life, as my daily bread. You see, I eat gluten free. That doesn't mean, however, that I can't have bread. There exists in this world a dough so very delightful I never knew I missed a thing. I found it on the edge of historic downtown Boulder, at the Yellow Deli. The details don't matter so much as the nature of the principle, which is the understanding that the details don't matter. What matters is that there ever dawns a new day, and with that day, with the new sun, whatever happened yesterday is already past, and, while our past decisions do affect the opportunity we are presented with today, they do not dictate the choices we make with what we find.

So here's to a tall glass of redemption. Toss a little mango in there and you've got yourself the envy of nations. To hold eternal truth in your heart brings a peace that alliances have striven to attain for ages. Only by the revolution of hearts can this be brought, ne'er may it be bought by the resolutions of bureaucracy. That brings me to a social commentary on what it takes to revolutionize a heart, and what attempts we've made in vain to strike such a vein. Truth is, this commentary is scored by all of our historical accounts. All we can do is show the door, for, like all true revolutions, peace in redemption is brought about by a conscious decision to shift the nature of personal reality.

I live within a box of unbounded design.
A paradoxical paradigm?
Welcome to redemption defined.

In short: dance, for the music of today is upon us!  g)


Stanford Student:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/14/lane-gunderman-stanford-university_n_2876608.html?ir=Chicago&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

Flavors of Feta, Salads and the Global Economy

Consumption.

I don't always eat feta cheese, but when I do, I have revelations on cultural growth.

There's something to be said of the societal dopamine reward center, a macro-psychological phenomena that functions as an inflated standard of the individual's gratification system.

The Salad
I've always been a sucker for a spinach salad with feta and balsamic vinaigrette. It melts the interior of my heart and sets my tongue a-dancing. I haven't had one of these salads in two years. Today, I broke that trend. My stomach doesn't entirely agree with my mouth when it comes to dairy. This weekend, though, I chose to sacrifice the slight internal discomfort for the sake, the pleasure, of my taste. This is what we call immediate gratification. There are two types of short-term gratification: the universally beneficial and the long-term sacrificial. The former is simply a good idea, it's a choice to take action on or consume something that is beneficial both now and down the road, both for me and other parties involved. The other type, sacrificial, is a short-term gratifying desire that comes at the expense of something or someone in the future.

My choice to eat cheese today is a perfect micro-example. In the here-and-now, it is incredibly delicious and the treat sets my dopamine receptors on fire. The consequence comes with my gaseous slight discomfort, which will also displease those persons behind me in the subway. Furthermore, I will get tired sooner this evening than I otherwise would have, which is precisely why I just had coffee, the act of compromise to balance out the energy loss that's unique to me and eating cheese. There's another consequence, the resource expended to purchase the coffee. This series of compromises brings me to a point of illustrating the art of decision making.

I say there are two types of short term decision making, the truth is that our world isn't so black and white. We exist intertwined with everyone else, both present and future, including our future self. The decisions made today bear an impact which ripples through the tapestry of life throughout the days to come. Hence, we live in the middle-ground, the area of compromise in decision making which is inherent where ever community exists. I feel that community, in its distilled essence, closely parallels compromise. This is where our macro-societal trends of consuming enter back into the picture.

Let me tell you about my problem with cheese. I break abstinence for it, and it satisfies me for a solid moment, however, it also unleashes a beast-one that is awfully hard to keep in check. That check, that act of compromised balance, descends from the wisdom of discipline.

We, as a world society, are quite young. We lack the discipline which instills within our will the ability to check our consumption when we cross the threshold of necessity. The problem, next to which obesity (of stomach and possession) is only a footnote, is that the distribution of resources in the world demands that we consume in balanced moderation. (If we have any consideration for the welfare of others, that is.) The fact is that we don't abide by this moderation. The effect is that, with increasing consumption, it becomes harder and harder to reach satisfaction, thus further shifting the balance of resources disproportionately towards our spectrum of the world population. The individual desire to perpetually consume is further encouraged by cultural immersion in a society of consumers. My consumption is affirmed by the endless consumption of the Jones' next door.

The serious problem, aside from the desolation of our souls because we're rarely satisfied, is that our desire to consume is fulfilled by organizations (corporations + governments) that objectify human life. These organizations, that profit greatly over our insatiable appetites, subjugate the powerless and lesser developed people of the world, taking from their resources and suppressing their voice for the sake of our stomachs.

Drugs.

There are many terrifying drugs in the world that illustrate the bottomless appetite. This ever thirsty drug culture gives rise to gangs and warfare that escalates to international levels. This warfare exists only by the combined, individual, drug addictions of people. The reality is that every object in life is a sort of drug, inducing some kind of mental response. The macro effect of our individual spirits of consumption is the fuel for the world-wide wars that are accompanying globalization.

I love globalization. I believe that world-wide inter-connectivity is part of our inherent design as humans and it will foster awareness of the value of all peoples, regardless of race and culture, irrespective of state boundaries. We are all one family on this planet, globalization is increasingly opening our eyes to this light. I take issue, now, with the expansion of globalization by the driving force of ignorant consumption.

So what now, then?

Next time I have a feta-topped salad, I'll be conscientious not to eat the whole tray of cheese.

Spread the love,
Don't eat it.

Welcome to Chicago

Boulder, Colorado

I spent last year, 2012, in Boulder, Colorado. I went there because a door presented itself and I knew in the depths of my heart that I would learn and grow in ways that, at the onset, I could not fathom. I've discovered this to be an ever-present truth in life. To set out on a course in life without full knowledge of just what I will find, though with a heart and mind to find something that will enrich me, will always prove to bring new found wisdom, experience, and opportunity. The door to something new is always in front of me, the only question is whether I will seize the mysterious opportunity or stand appeased with where I'm at. I learned more about myself and the world than I ever figured a year would bring me. Life ever presents us with a choice. Each waking moment, or dreaming moment, for that matter, is rife with such choices. The key to enter into something so glorious that it brings new definition to life is having the faith to take a step where you have not yet been. In doing so, horizons are broadened and the truth remains constant: the sun will always dawn upon a new day. The sun drives this planet of life and adventure, I've found less and less fear in my approach to life with this comforting understanding. It's both humbling and empowering, this fact of life. The little choices we make second to second shape our lives, though there is a higher orchestration at play which will sustain us. History has proven this. Why fear treading in a land of which you know not? Your faith will bring you all the vision you need in time so long as you embrace your journey, your mission, your wanderings will love. When in doubt, look to the sky. This is a metaphor for looking to God, looking to that eternal spring of essence which sustains us. I should say, when in doubt, close your eyes and look to the sky. It is there, where you can strum the chords of your harp-heart, where peace, grace, and love abound.

Prosperity does not come from an account of the wallet, it comes from an account of the heart. With faith and love as my currency, I have all the resource I need to go where my heart leads. This is how I've come to land in Chicago.

Chicago, IL

I traveled to the heart of this city a few times in 2010, a year in my life underscored by soul-searching, wandering in the wilderness, doubt, depression, fatigue, and general depravity of spirit and soul. I took note, as a distant observer from a place amidst the clouds, that the city had a peculiar energy about it-a synergy of momentum that I couldn't quite pin down. It was strange and strangely fascinating. Today, and for the past two weeks, I live in the heart of Chicago. I see now the nature of this energy. It's a machine of progression, though not always in the best manner. Chicago is a corridor of ideological, industrial, and commercial diffusion. History, just as a map, will speak to the importance of this region in facilitating the westward development of the United States. That spirit of growth is tangible throughout these city streets. It is as an unstoppable machine of motion, fed by creativity and commercial desire. My sole objective here is to see the creative engine become the dominant driving force behind the gears of this corridor. What exactly this will look like and what sort of role I will play as time goes on is still a mystery to me, but that is precisely what makes the journey as fun and enriching as it is. This is my dance of creative expression. I feel the hardest part has been shifting from the music of trees and mountain streams to stepping in time with whim of lake born winds, trains, and a massive city full of people on very serious missions. There is little in life quite as shocking to the rhythm of my motion as shifting the musical timing of my atmosphere. Waltzing from Oklahoma to Colorado to Chicago has shown me something: If I want to keep my footing and dance in grace, I have to tune my ears to eternal love. This is my life force, and though the sounds that resonate in my immediate vicinity differ drastically from where I've come, the core of this symphony stands resolute.

I look forward to seeing where my feet lead me. They move by the beat of my heart.

Ciao