"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us "Universe", a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a- kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us."

~ Albert Einstein

This community believes we ARE our brother's and sister's keepers and that when we serve others by focusing on the common good for all we are actually serving our own self-interest as well. Contributors simply have access to more resources and connections because they are the ones who have stood up and said "I will take accountability for making  the change I wish to see in the world". They aren't afraid to break a sweat, get dirty, and meet new people.

Our gifts to you for being a Contributor:

• A monthly subscription to The Transition's online (and offline) community.
• Tutorials on all sorts of topics from basic things like how to use online communication tools, building alternative housing structures, to more complex concepts like non-violent conflict resolution.
• Get your projects funded with our matching funding program called The Cooking Pot.
• FREE consulting and one-on-one time with The Transition Team members (via phone, video chat, or if you live near any of us live and in person!- to help you through any of the programs on the site or with any general questions you might have.
• Invitation to all of our The Transition Events.
• Access to our locked portion of the site known as Imagi-NATION CO-OPeration.
• Access to our Community Brain which is our Contributor submitted expertise and proven concepts portion of the site. Learn from your peers about everything you ever wanted to know covering topics like: Shelter, Food, Water, Energy, Transportation, Health & Wellness
• Be part of the Freeconomy with other Contributors who share their spaces, skills, and objects for free.
• Discover places where you can get FREE FOOD in your area.
• Access to our Jukebox jam packed with music to keep you inspired and motivated as we make it through the transition.
• Access to our Classifieds section where you can seek Community, Friendship, Romantic relationships, Jobs, Internships, and Business Opportunities related to The Transition.

       Our Contributors get access to valuable resources & tools that many of our supporters use in their everyday lives to stay on track and reach our mutual goals.

We believe people are beginning to realize the possibility of living a life that is more fulfilling. We think that deep within many of us there is an awakening and a desire to be a part of something that celebrates, shares, and multiplies all of our human potential. We are creating this as a place where each day is an expression of the creative human spirit and a living demonstration that lives can be more fulfilled and enriched, have purpose,  and experience meaningful interaction. What we are developing here IS what life is about, and how wonderfully it can be lived in harmony and cooperation, rather than competition. Our work will inspire generations of teacher/demonstration communities, villages, and cities globally collaborating, creating, and advancing the entire human organism.

Obviously, the money that Contributors contribute to The Transition is in the nature of a gift, an investment in a worthy idea that is even now finding concrete expression in the lives of thousands of people all over the world. The point of your gift is to help the Transition Inter-Community Network, to encourage the inter-connectedness of us all, to help the seeds we plant here to sprout and grow as a source of inspiration to people who are trying hard, as well as a source of practical information and general help. Your paid monthly Contributorship is a vote of confidence in the work we are doing here creating a more cohesive movement that works towards a friction-less society where individuals are properly socialized to function with others as a unit. By participating as a paid Contributor, you are pooling funds with other like-minded individuals to maintain this site as well as provide much needed funds to intentional communities and co-ops all over the world. Your Contributorship lets you interact with our other paid Contributors in a much closer fashion where you are able to learn, grow, and inspire each other. Contributors also receive copies of our periodic newsletters, invitations to our meetings and events, and special discounts on our products and services. The political and economic institutions that we seek to change are powerful. We need all the strong clear-eyed allies we can get. That is why we undertake to build this kind of virtual community that helps us gain power ourselves. Together as a global family we will craft the human story by being Social Pioneers who help pave the way for a brighter tomorrow! Won't you join us?

BECOME A CONTRIBUTOR TODAY, BECAUSE WE CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT YOU!

"I will send [The Transition] a regular contribution of $5 a month... I am ready to let go of my scarcity driven mentality...I have held on to my victim story about how I am poor for so long, and finally realized that my investments are what is causing my poverty. Sure it is also the system, there's no denying that we are systematically oppressed. However, I definitely recognize now that in order for me to become financially empowered, I have to be conscious on how I spend every single penny. If I had more money I'd support my friends, therefore I want to start somewhere, and build up to support others more and more...Anyway, no matter what it takes, I will include [The Transition] in my monthly budget, and incrementally increase the amount each time:)"

~ Wendela Meraz

Contribute Monthly

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not."

~ Dr. Seuss

Please DO NOT friend request any of the people mentioned in this report without first introducing yourself and having a genuine reason for doing so (not simply collecting friends). The names and links to profiles are provided for reference only.

• Old notebook used from last year's conference (Reduce, reuse, recycle ;) ) to take notes from workshops, open sessions and one-on-one talks 

• One-on-one talks with:

*Paxus- Details about every day Twin Oaks things as well as crews and manager positions

*Keenen- Pluses and minuses of community and how it could be more child friendly

*Shaul- how new generations evolve the original vision and culture of community

*Valarie- Selecting new members and the membership process

* James- Creating a movement through grassroot efforts and utilizing the power of the "mob"

• Neon index cards (left over from last year) to give fellow attendees The Transition contact info

• White index cards (left over from last year) to get contact info from attendees 

• 7 Paper folders with brads purchased to have 1st 4 Phases of "Our Plan"  printed out and available for Open Session viewing

• Markers and large drawing paper purchased for small group demonstration for Open Session (ended up not using and donated items to Twin Oaks for Heroes program when I left)
• Made Power Point Presentation in Anticipation of Open Session

• Read book The Charge (which can help with understanding our supporters and igniting their passions to help us propel this organization and movement further)

• Picked up 30 cases of unripe avocados and one case of pineapples with Paxus (https://www.facebook.com/paxus?fref=ts) from local food pantry because of a store donation that exceeded need of the local area

• Helped Rayenbo  (https://www.facebook.com/raychel.bone?fref=ts) gather info to assemble FIC brochures at Acorn in new seed office (building was not completed last year)

• Helped with Eggplant and tomato processing as well as make tomato sauce at Acorn for future meals with Amy (https://www.facebook.com/amy.hamburger.73)

• Saw first hand how work shifts were divvied out to members and how work was accomplished as a community ( I was on MOOP detail MOOP= Matters Out of Place)

• Attended Evening Program which included Transparency Tools by Paxus, a discussion lead by Alyson Ewald (https://www.facebook.com/alyson.ewald?fref=ts) of the challenges and triumphs of building community, and storyteller Robert Zachary's telling of his experience with community growing up in the South under Jim Crow to his present exploration of intentional communities and sustainable living

• Learned Icebreakers/games to get groups of strangers to build relationships and create intimacy

• Gave an introduction to all attendees about The Transition: who we are,what we do, and what our end vision is (and got a lot of “Oh you are The Transition girl”throughout the whole conference).

• Talked with various community representatives about our group

• Donated 3 items to FIC Benefit Auction raising a total of $22 for the FIC and bid on items as well. The following items were won:

- 6 back copies of Communities Magazine with topics covering:

*Making a Living

* Decision Making in Community

*Communication & Process

*Breaking Bread

*The Heart of Sustainability

* Can We Afford to Live in Community?

• Purchased from FIC pop up bookstore book title: The Great Neighborhood Book- A Do-It Yourself Guide to Placemaking ( a fantastic book with lots of resources and ideas that will be utilized on the website)

• Was a co-speaker at an Open Session (workshops presented by attendees) on the topic of Urban Intentional Communities and  Creating Better Communication Between Intentional Communities and Co-op Businesses in order to create bigger impacts on a brighter future for the planet. (Lots of attendees stopped me afterwards to talk in more detail  and ask questions, one person even referred me to our own Hybrid Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/224148967647327/ )

• Attended Open Session on ICs Working with Colleges and Universities

• Attended Acorn Community's "Crops You've Probably Never Seen" Tour

• Attended Building Cooperative Power Workshop lead by Michael Johnson

• Attended an impromptou workshop (due to a cancelation of another speaker) on Community Business how to start them, which ones are successful etc. lead by Laird Schaub

• Attended Starting a Cooperative Business: Worker Co-ops and Intentional Communities lead by Jim Johnson

• Attended consultation session with Hawina Falcon (https://www.facebook.com/hawina.falcon?fref=ts) on Sociocracy and Membership Procedures

• Acquired multiple takeaways such as detailed sheets about workshop material, flyers, brochures etc. of various communities, organizations.

* How to Build Community,Syracuse Cultural Workers- Card

* Weareoneworldfoundation.org -Awareness Cards

* Twin Oaks Hammocks Rope Hammock Catalog 2013 & 2014

* Recipes: Spicy Fried Tofu, Tofu Egg Salad, Creamy Tofu Horseradish Dressing, Creamy Garlic Dressing or Dip- Recipe Cards

* Finger Books-

-With Open Hands: A Handbook on Open Relationships

-Transparency Tools & Transparency Groups

- Shared Path Shared Goal: Direct Democracy & Consensus Decision Process

* Catalyst Eco Village-Flier

*Building Co-Operative Power- Postcard

*Granite Springs Farm Community-Brochure

* Oran Mor- Brochure

* Network for New Culture- Fliers

* Allegheny Crest Intentional Village- Flier

*Goddard College- Brochure

* Connection Exercises- Packet

*European Commune Tour- Report/Analysis

*Resources for Worker Co-ops & Start-Ups- Sheet

* What is a Worker Cooperative?- Sheet

*Twin Oaks Community Conference Evaluation-Sheet

* The Oracle Institute-Flier

*Shopper's Value Foods-Flier

* Southern Exposure Seed Exchange- Catalog

* Fifth Estate- Magazine

* Mother Earth Living-Magazine

• Attended  Open Session on Creating a Networking Website Platform to create better streams of communication among ICs and a Youtube "TV" show (person who suggested topic had no idea these are the main projects The Transition is working on and was delighted to hear of our work and progress, we get great feedback during this session.

• Stayed at Twin Oaks Community for additional days and experienced communal living. 

• Helped with Data Entry,E-mail Correspondance and Sales Representatives Box Assembly of samples and company literature for Twin Oaks Hammocks

• Aquired book Living the Dream about Twin Oaks

• Have contacted and will follow-up with other speaker's whose workshops I did not attend so I can get information and handouts on their topics that were presented

• 15 personal contacts made (including notables and key influencers in this field- I will be following up with all of them via e-mail, phone and Skype chats in the coming weeks)

• 1 attendee was a pre-existing Hybrid member!

• Posted on Twin Oaks Community Conference an invite to this page as well as the link to the survey to help build the website.

As always if you have any questions about anything feel free to contact me . :)

Start Your Own Book Club

Posted by The Transition Team ·

Brainstorming

Posted by The Transition Team ·

What The World Needs Now - Jackie DeShannon

Posted by The Transition Team ·

Who do you know that supports our mission? Recommend our site & help us reach our goals even faster!

Begin to Speak Up, Spread The Word & Connect With People
Now that you have been educating yourself about what is going on in the world via our Movie Vault and other information on the site, start speaking up to others about it. While it may seem taboo to bring up certain subjects, you will be surprised to see how many people are feeling a lot of this stuff behind the scenes in their own private lives. Share information you like from the site, as this is how we will get more people educating themselves and thinking about things. You can share our website, and documentaries to get the ball rolling or maybe even host an event or movie screening! Get creative with it. Use photos on Facebook, put posters in your community or go big and pull off a community event like free hugs in a public area. These actions turn heads and get people asking what it’s all about. A great way to spread the word. Connect with others in your community. By starting a Meetup group or connecting with others in your area on a regular basis, people can begin to unite their ideas and see how they can assist each other to begin moving forward. You will be very surprised to find out how we are all a key piece of the puzzle in any given group. Together we can achieve big things. If you are having difficulty thinking of people to talk to about The Transition use our Memory Jogger page to think of names of people you may know.

The issue we face now in our early stages is that we must create a large following of Contributors for ICs and community experts to take us seriously and want to dedicate the time it takes to pass on their sage advice and experience. So, we need all of you to help get as many people as possible involved! We do have some ICs currently working with us, but again until we gain ourselves more clout we are not their top priority at the moment.

Bonus Tip: You can help us raise funding for our various programs and activities without spending anything extra. Visit Amazon by clicking the button below and a portion of your purchases will go to The Transition!

 Examples of Spreading the Word

If none of the below items apply to you just fill out the information in the fields below.

Contributors:

• Have questions about our website, organization or other things related to The Transition? Check out our FAQ section of our website.
• Want to give us a Progress Report on one of the Events you've put on? Give us the details in our Report Portal.
• Would you like to ask us for funding for your project? Please fill out this form with your request!
• Would you like your Intentional Community listed in our directory? Go here to find out how!
• Would you like your Co-op listed in our directory? Go here to find out how!
• Do you have a complaint about one of The Transition's communities, businesses, or co-ops? Please provide thorough information in the box below.
• Are you a Contributor of The Transition and would like your business to be listed in the Contributor Businesses section of our store? Please fill out this form with all of your info.
• Would you like to submit information for ImagiNATION CO-OPeration? Gives us all the juicy details down below!
• Would you like to submit a music video for our Jukebox? Please be sure to provide the link to the video as well as a link to the lyrics for the song when submitting in the box below.
• Would you like to host a movie screening in your local area? Please submit it on our Events page.
• Do you love to research advancements and new technology? Send us the links of your discoveries so we can share them with others.
• Got an internet meme you can't resist sharing? Send us the link and we might add it to our favorite internet memes portal!

All Others:

• Want to learn more about The Transition before you get involved? Browse our Transition FAQ for more info!
• Do you have a business that would appeal to our members, that has 500 employees or more? Go here to find out how you can be a featured business.

For the following categories:

• Did you find some typos, broken links or videos that don't work?
• Do you have a project idea you think we should work on? 
• Did you find an awesome tool that you want to share that would help make collaboration even easier? 
• Do you think our Standards are missing something?

Please submit to our Suggestion Box.

Our events calendar provides a broader outlook, helps all of us taking part in the transition to see our own personal efforts and those of The Transition Inter-Community Network as a whole. This way each one of us can see the larger picture and other efforts being made, not to mention taking part of in some of these amazing events and get-togethers.

Please be sure to inform your Point Person when you add an event. Due to an increase in internet spambot activity we no longer allow our site to automatically update submitted events. In order to verify and guarantee your event is posted and live for everyone to see contact your Point Person to make sure it gets approved.

Please Take Note: 

• DO NOT RSVP for ANY BUD meeting unless you have been formally invited to attend. BUD meetings are listed so others are aware of their existence so as not over book the dates and times they are scheduled with other events.
• We value civil society. Community members who organize events should assume responsibility for public welfare and endeavor to communicate civic responsibilities to participants. They must also assume responsibility for conducting events in accordance with local, state, and federal laws.

1. Do no harm
2. Deprive none of the benefit and joy of their property or labor
3. Use no fraud in contract

We also govern our online and offline community with a set of Standards. We feel that these standards really go without saying, but due to the system we have all been programmed by must be explicitly stated so there is no confusion of the expectations of our Contributors.

Standards

"What we would like to see is people thinking of all the people of the world as being part of one cooperative family."

~ Brian Crothamel

When, in the course of human events, the fundamental qualities that connect us become increasingly necessary to recognize,  then we must reevaluate the truths we hold to be self-evident:

That all humans are created equal and all are connected.

That we share the pursuits of life, liberty, happiness, food, water, shelter, safety, education, justice, and hopes for a better future.

That our collective knowledge, economy, technology, and environment are fundamentally interdependent.

That what will propel us as a species is our curiosity, our ability to forgive, our ability to appreciate, our courage, and our desire to connect...

That these things we share will ultimately help us to evolve to our fullest common potential.

And whereas we should take our problems seriously, we should never take ourselves too seriously.

Because another thing that connects us...is our ability to laugh...and our attempt to learn from our mistakes.

So that we can learn from the past, understand our place in the world, and use our collective knowledge to create a better future.

We can make the future whatever we want it to be.

So perhaps it's time that we, as a species, who love to laugh, ask questions, and connect...do something radical and true.

For centuries, we have declared independence.

Perhaps it's now time that we, as humans, declare our interdependence!

Written by: Those @ Let It Ripple

Endorsed by: Fellow Human Beings all over the world

Feel inspired?

Get Involved Today!