Monday, March 2, 2009
getting ready for our first dare
phew. so we just finished an interview on the cbc. That was a little scary - putting it out there, before it's fully formed - for all to see.
It's also a little scary to write this blog. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and the thought being less than brilliant has often stopped me from doing any writing at all.
But I've promised to transform my own fear into fun and other Maia has already challenged me -- "is this for real or is it just some clever marketing for a fundraising campaign?"
So now this campaign has become my only spiritual practice... letting go of the things that keep me fearful, that keep me from reaching out, that keep me playing it too safe -- and the biggest -- that keep me from talking about things but never taking action.
I'm determined to bust through it all -- and I've announced it to all of Victoria just to keep me from slacking off.
And already I'm feeling pretty alive. More than I've felt since the last time I stretched myself out of comfort zone. I'm also discovering a few unexpected gifts:
It's easy to talk about community building...but scary to give up control to actually invite real community building to happen. One great thing about starting something while having very little idea how that thing will actually work - is that it's the cracks of unknowing and uncertainty that allow spaces for beautiful things to grow.
Example #1 -- I went to my friend Lisa Helps' house when this whole thing was starting. A few moments into my story, she asked me if I'd consider broadening the GForce vision.
What if instead of raising money for two non-profits, we considered forming something we tentatively called the Victoria Citizens' Trust. Other Maia, Lisa and I were totally excited - in so many ways bigger visions are more our styles. The VCT has a precedent -- in the 1930's, during the Great Depression, a group of average citizens raised $50,000 to help fellow Victorian's in need. They called it an Emergency Relief Fund - and there wasn't anything fun about it. But it does show what is possible when people decide to take action. The moment this larger vision was introduced a wave of excitement has started to build - far greater and faster than I could have anticipated. The only scary thing about this - is learning to simply ride the wave - no contol, just be willing to go where this thing takes us.
It's really the best kind of scary there is.
Example #2 -- our first dare. Maia and I raised enough money at our first G-Force event to make our first dare come true. To sing in public. Downtown. On a street corner. The anty had been raised -- to get other people - strangers - to join us.
Any one who knows me knows I'm not really afraid to get up in public or to speak. But I'm brave when there's separation -- I'm a performer, they're an audience. I don't have to connect or really read a public's reaction. When faced with that possibility, I do start to get clammy.
As an attempt to look like I was performing a dare, while secretly staying in my comfort zone, I was preparing to treat this impromptu choir like a performance. I'd dress up like Elvis, assume another personality and start belting out show tunes. I told the founder of Gettin Higher Choir, and one of our valued champions, Shivon Robinson, about this plan.
I thought she's be jazzed. She wasn't.
She reminded me that most people in this society are musically wounded. That shaming people or embarrassing people with music only adds to the wounding. Is that really what G-Force is about? Publicity stunts?
Suddenly this dare became much more...
Calling me to be vulnerable and open to real healing from a community of people who might be open to the same things. But for this possibility to be realized, the dare has to be structured much differently. Isn't this one of the real opportunties offered by this economic crisis.
It's also a little scary to write this blog. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and the thought being less than brilliant has often stopped me from doing any writing at all.
But I've promised to transform my own fear into fun and other Maia has already challenged me -- "is this for real or is it just some clever marketing for a fundraising campaign?"
So now this campaign has become my only spiritual practice... letting go of the things that keep me fearful, that keep me from reaching out, that keep me playing it too safe -- and the biggest -- that keep me from talking about things but never taking action.
I'm determined to bust through it all -- and I've announced it to all of Victoria just to keep me from slacking off.
And already I'm feeling pretty alive. More than I've felt since the last time I stretched myself out of comfort zone. I'm also discovering a few unexpected gifts:
It's easy to talk about community building...but scary to give up control to actually invite real community building to happen. One great thing about starting something while having very little idea how that thing will actually work - is that it's the cracks of unknowing and uncertainty that allow spaces for beautiful things to grow.
Example #1 -- I went to my friend Lisa Helps' house when this whole thing was starting. A few moments into my story, she asked me if I'd consider broadening the GForce vision.
What if instead of raising money for two non-profits, we considered forming something we tentatively called the Victoria Citizens' Trust. Other Maia, Lisa and I were totally excited - in so many ways bigger visions are more our styles. The VCT has a precedent -- in the 1930's, during the Great Depression, a group of average citizens raised $50,000 to help fellow Victorian's in need. They called it an Emergency Relief Fund - and there wasn't anything fun about it. But it does show what is possible when people decide to take action. The moment this larger vision was introduced a wave of excitement has started to build - far greater and faster than I could have anticipated. The only scary thing about this - is learning to simply ride the wave - no contol, just be willing to go where this thing takes us.
It's really the best kind of scary there is.
Example #2 -- our first dare. Maia and I raised enough money at our first G-Force event to make our first dare come true. To sing in public. Downtown. On a street corner. The anty had been raised -- to get other people - strangers - to join us.
Any one who knows me knows I'm not really afraid to get up in public or to speak. But I'm brave when there's separation -- I'm a performer, they're an audience. I don't have to connect or really read a public's reaction. When faced with that possibility, I do start to get clammy.
As an attempt to look like I was performing a dare, while secretly staying in my comfort zone, I was preparing to treat this impromptu choir like a performance. I'd dress up like Elvis, assume another personality and start belting out show tunes. I told the founder of Gettin Higher Choir, and one of our valued champions, Shivon Robinson, about this plan.
I thought she's be jazzed. She wasn't.
She reminded me that most people in this society are musically wounded. That shaming people or embarrassing people with music only adds to the wounding. Is that really what G-Force is about? Publicity stunts?
Suddenly this dare became much more...
Calling me to be vulnerable and open to real healing from a community of people who might be open to the same things. But for this possibility to be realized, the dare has to be structured much differently. Isn't this one of the real opportunties offered by this economic crisis.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Welcome Friends
Just a little hello and welcome to anyone who is just joining us. Please hit follow on the right, so that you can follow our blog. You don't need to have a blogger membership to follow!
Thanks to all!!
And yay for this http://www.timescolonist.com/
Woot woot!!
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