The Dream

Together we can find the solutions.
We are stretched thin, working for survival and providing for our families, we are dispirited by the rancor of civic participation, we are often further drained by a toxic work environment and so coming together and being involved we are dissuaded to do.
We do spontaneously come together, in a profound way, in the presence of tragedy and in the presence of great beauty.
In Virginia I was working on and am now working on building a community minded garden cafe, In Good Company Social club. It is for the general public, for everyone, and we expressly invite local people and orgs doing progressive work in all the spheres of human activity....intersectionality, synergy...to have as this restaurant their social club.
A festive place designed for socializing and with an ambience informed by the spirit of a true team who works there.
A place of such physical and atmospheric beauty that it is conducive for people of all social circles to interact constructively and amiably. The membership card is simply the respect you show for others. “Respect towards all, from all” is the social club’s rule of etiquette. No one can take your membership card away from you, there is no membership fee, there’s nothing to sign...it's just one’s conscious effort of respect towards all. Sing, dance, eat drink, socialize (or just eat quietly by yourself if you like)...all with respect.

Years ago, it was originally called Mother's Place. If it was wholesome enough for a mother and her newborn, it was wholesome enough for everyone.

A wholesome, festive place, woven into the fabric of everyday, normal life.
As a people, we routinely spend money and time eating away from home so this is a way to connect with others in our community that requires no additional investment of time or money. It is also bolstering and restorative, which is personally sustainable, which is necessary to prevent burnout so that we may act in the long term….which is vitally important for creating systemic change.

The social club will host daily World Cafe Method structured conversations (or some other conveyance method) to help harvest and utilize the collective wisdom of the community for the community. The topics chosen by participants.

To create an environment, woven into the fabric of daily life and in alignment with the sensibilities of mainstream culture, of respect and conviviality so that local people from all social circles can naturally, organically make connections, friends, acquaintances, networks, collaborations, big and small, long term and short, formal and informal for the betterment of one's individual and family life and for the betterment of the larger community.

There are people of conscious goodwill in all social circles.

So this is my work. I have written an operations manual template that will be my operations manual for authentic teamwork in... In Good Company Social Club (altered to fit my new environment.)

It is a practical, step by step guide for any progressive restaurant owner to create a vibrant and productive workplace that truly works for all and to create one’s own version of a community minded social club, if one wishes.

My, maybe Quixotic, dream was that in one town or city... this happens and a local renaissance begins to bloom. It is a living, real life example that is rapidly duplicated in various forms across the nation and across the world (where it is safe to gather in such a way). These renaissance or transition towns connect via the internet and the world is connected locally (in person) and globally (electronically). Sharing inspiration, challenges and stories and methods of success.

An exponential wave of progress cresting just before the exponential wave of the dissolution of the unsustainable reaches its zenith.

That we all are points on an exponential wave of progress, rippling outwards, meeting and synergizing with the ripples of all.

That's the dream. This is my ripple.