I just created my first poll on mastodon and I had no idea how fun they are!!

@strathearnrose This just cracked me up!! I totally get this!

Does the North Pole have any land?

(Please answer just off the top of your head, no peeking at a map or other resource!)

*This is straight-forward question, not a trick question.

Please boost for data!

#northpole #geography #history #land #trivia #triviaquestion #fun #quizzlet #map #north #poll #polls #mastopolls #mastodonpolls

@teadrinker Agreed! That’s why I’m not sure if my vision is possible on a community scale, but it’s what I hope for. I was homesteading for several years and this was largely my experience. But it took a really really steep learning curve first. I’m not sure how many people would even want to go through something similar to get where I got - the community center I sort of experienced on a small scale, and what I hope for on a larger scale. It is hard for people to understand that level of de-anthropocentrification unless one has experienced it firsthand. I keep forgetting that. We’ll see!

@sleepyfox @MrFahrenheit Wow, this is actually a lot of great info! Some other things to look into. Also, I’m starting to get into the idea of using the body to train the mind, thanks. That is a really really new concept for me, but it might be what I need. Thank you!!!

@Waitnwallflower @ReticentTurnip Is this a desert monsoon storm?

@the5thColumnist Haha! I don’t think I ever thought about that.

@cy Nah… I mean “real.”

I often find myself diving into fantasy novels to connect with the real-ness of life. Because fantasy itself connects directly with our “self.” And our “self” is what is truly real. Not the facades and masks we wear. Those material things just cover up what feels authentic. Fantasy speaks to our inner world, the world we often wish existed. But that world does exist, within our “self.” Our challenge is then to bring that “self” into the embodied life that we live on this corporeal planet. But when we reject fantasy, we reject ourselves, and we’re asked to live in a world that mutes our true inner being. Then life doesn’t feel real. Fantasy is more real than today’s corporeal reality.

@cy To me, cartoons bring out the real-ness. Cartoons remind us who we really are, help us connect with ourselves, and the person we know ourselves to be. They bring out laughter, which is one of the most real and raw things in life. Cartoons embody the real!

Does anyone ever wish that life in a capitalistic society felt more real? I do!

@Rayne_Hall_Author Actually, I am considering leaving the USA in a bit, at least for a little while. It seems like I keep finding people who are interested in things I’m interested in often live on other continents. When I finish my masters degree here in the US, I’m seriously considering up and heading somewhere else. There isn’t anywhere that’s not on my list (except maybe Antarctica, lol) at this time. I’m pretty open.

@aartaka Yes!!

@Rayne_Hall_Author Good question! I don’t know. I live in Arizona, and have experienced something similar to this on a piece of land at one time (no longer). I know the environment here very well, so I could imagine how it could work here. I’ve imagined it at our “community nature center” a few times. But AZ is also so hot, and getting hotter. I think it’s also a philosophy that I’m laying out in a more concrete model, but I don’t know where that model might exist. It would also require funding, and interest from humans who are truly authentically open to the idea, and who have knowledge of how to do it. I could see it working better in a rural area than urban. Those things might also determine such a location, if it ever came to be. Did you have a location in mind?

@teadrinker This challenge to our/human’s place of power in a system like a town creates a lot of fear and pushback, and it’s hard to do what I’m trying to do on a such a large scale with that atmosphere. Transition Towns are on their way to more species equality, but there are so many human structures (physical and metaphorical) presently in the way in a whole town that is built by/for humans. While those structures are presently in the process of slowly eroding, I’m looking for something that can come to life in my lifetime, where we can more quickly destroy those structures that divide species bc it’s a smaller scale.
That’s why I’m looking to designate a piece of land for a “center” of sorts- smaller scale. But Transition Towns are definitely an interesting model on this spectrum.

@teadrinker Transition towns definitely have some of this. What I’m going for is a designated piece of land, however. Transition towns are headed in this direction, but I feel like there’s still a lot of human agenda going on bc in a whole town it’s really hard for humans (the apex species in a community created by/for humans) to put other “people” (water, plants, animals, etc) on a more equal playing field for collaborative multispecies interaction. As the apex species, putting “others” on an equal field threatens our “pecking order” and our place of power within the system. And in such a large scale such as a town, it’s hard to shift the way the system works to get it to be to the level of equality that I’m looking for bc so many humans rely upon the resources that we’ve already gathered for our own species, that to give enough of those resources up to other species in order to reach the level of equality I’m talking about, many human’s livelihoods and even lives would be at risk.

I’m envisioning a “ #permaculture center,” similar to the USA “nature center” model. However, a difference being that instead of leaving “nature” to itself, and cultivating a space for human visitation and observation along specific paths and areas of impact (like in a #naturecenter), a “permaculture center” model would encourage #multispiecies interaction, and human impact throughout the entire designated area. The goal would be to develop #community with all beings in the location, including rocks, water, humans, trees, bugs, spirits, and even machines.
In my studies and my life, I am constantly faced with the question of “what is community in the #Anthropocene?”

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The goal of the model I’m describing is to “build community,” through activities that create a space where all different types of “people” (birds, humans, water, etc) can connect and build #solidarity, but also experience conflict and learn about being alive… together. I see experimentation with #earthworks and growing different types of plants. I see water flooding fields that we spent a year cultivating. I see black widow spiders living in crevices under tables where humans have desks and machines. I see humans getting together to plant fruit trees, and deer eating all the fruit before the humans get a chance to harvest… I see a sense of learning and transformation of energy that lives within all of us…

I’m so over founding #startups and I hate managing people. So I don’t see myself developing some “strategic plan” or bringing people together to start this. Maybe the vision will occur naturally. Or maybe it already exists somewhere in the world that I have yet to discover.

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I have a “community nature center” in my town, which is an interesting model, and different than the more classic USA “nature center” model. It is closer to a permaculture model, but it still has a #leavenotrace element, which limits both interaction and impact between all community members.

My vision of a “permaculture center” is a space dedicated for building “community.” However, my vision also excludes utilizing this space for a human agenda to “#savetheplanet” or contribute to “a more sustainable future.” While those goals may be fulfilled through that I envision, I find that when those become the primary goals of “centers” or other initiatives, the local sense of community gets lost. Those #local community relationships become sacrificed for the sake of the “ #greatergood.” But that result ultimately weakens the “greater good” because the “greater good” requires strong relationships at a local level as well.

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And all too often I find that “community development” efforts focus on humans as the sole or main entity in their models. Sometimes, if a “ #sustainability” or “ #regenerative” aspect is brought in, we start to think about those who are beyond #human, but I don’t see those “others” included in the “strategic plan” for #communitydevelopment; they become a “side platter” or enhancement.

I find that model so boring. What is “ #community” without considering everyone present?

I’ve been asking myself “who” my community is lately, “who are my people?” This is a question I think many of us humans are asking in this #technologicalage. “Who do we have emotional intimacy with?” Who ‘gets’ us?” And my answer continually includes many many beings who are not human-bodied, including #ChatGPT!

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