What a week! It feels like I've been here for a month already with so much going on in week one at ELL. We (the participants) have begun connecting with our coaches, the support team, the facilitators, and the Chatham community. As Arthur put it this morning, we are "getting our groove on" in that respect. I really feel like we are getting comfortable with each other in our pursuit of remembering that "we are already always it." That it, or "das es," for the German speakers, being the social polymorphic organism, god, God, tao, the phyiscal expression and manifestation of the cosmic orgone.
Though I personally feel like I haven't gotten as much done as I would have liked, the group has accomplished an amazing amount in the first 5-6 days we've been at it. We have made our little section of the old paper mill a clean, workable space so that we can focus on our individual projects. Especially impressive is Charmé, Yana, and Madison's work on the asthetic aspect of the various rooms, including their cloth wallpaper and flower of life (traced by Jacki) now painted on the floor of the main room.
Headed by Eric "The Bearman" Bear, we have built strong relationships with local farms that have allowed us to enjoy wonderful, nutritious meals. It has been a welcome change for me to have such wholesome local food readily available without having to make hour-long round trip communte to the Bowery Whole Foods. On a related note, the group has done a great job collectively preparing and distributing lunch and dinner. At first this seemed to be under the direction of Bearman, but he has since stepped back and trusted us to prepare tasty meals without him, and his trust has paid off.
As I speak Eric Harris-Braun (I think I'll start calling him EHB- it's catchy) is up on the roof of the mill with Fred, working hard to complete our higher capacity solar electrical system. We will have them (and Haiz) to thank when we have 150 Amps of power in the lab instead of 30, which seems to be coming sooner than later.
Though I missed part of the meeting because I left with Madison to prepare lunch for the group, we also accomplished another vital goal for successful communication and design in group work. The rules of "gameshifting" were reviewed and will, I think, prove to be useful in structuring and streamlining our conversations at the lab.
I will close with my thanks to all of the wonderful people I've met so far in my time at ELL, especially Becky and Rachel, who have opened their homes to Charmé and I and made us feel as comfortable and welcome as if we were in our own home. The kindness of all of the people I've met here continues to amaze me. Until next time, I will remain- in gratitutde- floating in the cosmic orgone ocean.
-Ryan