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October 22, 2016
Resilience Hubs: Empowerment for All
By Burl Hall
Are Resilience Hubs and other programs leading us towards true freedom and autonomy? What do you wish to foster in the world? Is changing our political parties going to cut it? Or are we the answer we've been seeking?
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Beyond withstanding the damage we are currently doing to our families, communities, economy and ecology, are you interested in creating an abundant thriving future in the face of today's critical challenges? Yes? You have just defined "Resilience" as a personal, communal, and global goal. You are not alone. There are hubs or networks of people committed proactively to co-creating resilience for themselves, their families, their communities, and our planet. These are folks who are living out Gandhi and Bucky Fuller's advice to create what you do want rather than destroy what you don't.
http://resiliencehub.org/ The Resilience Circle Network (also called the Common Security Circle Network) is a pilot project of the Institute for Policy Studies Program on Inequality and the Common Good (http://inequality.org). "On the Commons" has also provided resources to develop the curriculum for Resilience. (http://onthecommons.org)
The network identifies their view and role as primarily helping organizers and facilitators who wish to start and sustain what they refer to as Resilience Hubs. The Network states they are not trying to build a new organization or sell anything. In my personal experience, theirs is an empowerment for self-sufficient communities. info|AT|localcirclesthe
Consider the following questions put forth on the Resilience website:
Are you interested in building resilience at the personal, household and community levels?
Are you ready to roll up your sleeves and work with others to make this happen, knowing that we are all in this together?
Do you believe that we can engage the power of our creativity and resourcefulness to create an abundant thriving future?
Would you agree that re-localizing our economy (without being insular), re-skilling our people (without "going backwards") and utilizing the power of permaculture design in open and accessible ways can help us get there?
Then you've come to the right place! (From Portland, Maine's Resilience Circle).You may well ask, "What are Resilient Circles?"
Consider the question, do we want to be resilient in the face of this dominator culture of politicians, corporations and banks? Or, is it simply that we wish to be self-reliant and not be dependent on an economic and business culture that is psychopathic?
Resilience Circles can be seen as hubs of freedom. They are ways of supporting "bottom-up" decision-making. Are our current day politics and life styles fostering psychiatrist Eric Fromm's thesis that we Escape from Freedom? Can Bottom Up movements like Resilient Circles lead us towards true freedom? Or do we remain under the control of corporations and their underling governments.
Could it be that being Communist, Democrat, Republican, Fascist etc. are all means to escape from our power and freedom?
What are the patterns that connect to our "Big Picture"?
For example, "Who are we bombing next week?" Do we call this shock and awe or terrorism? "Judge not lest ye be judged," Christ stated. It would be great if so-called Christians attended to the man's words.
Are Resilience Circles a potential avenue for true freedom and community?
I recently posted an article regarding Local Currency. Resilience Circles sometimes work hand-in-hand with organizations such as Time Banks. It's a participant leading to resilience for all of us, including alternative currencies and economics.
Is a Time Bank a form of Resilience? "Yes," is my answer! Is it going somewhere? Portland Maine has over a thousand attendees for their Resilience Circles. And Portland is a relatively small city. They are creating new systems, not destroying old ones; using peaceful, proactive methods rather than antagonistic, reactive ones.
On their webpage, Lisa Fernandez states Resilience Circles help us:
Their website also states:
Across the country, people are starting Resilience Circles in their communities. The free, open-source Curriculum provides a guide for facilitators to lead groups through seven initial sessions, and after that groups determine their own activities and projects.
There are three components of a Resilience circle or hub:
Learning -- A Resilience Circle is a place to face the real nature of our economic and ecological challenges. Facing these realities may be overwhelming for isolated individuals, so a Circle is a place to learn with a supportive community. We analyze the economy to expose its structural flaws, and ask if "growth" is really the only way to create financial security.
Mutual Aid -- Resilience Circles take concrete steps toward enhancing personal security by slowly stretching our "mutual aid muscles," which are often badly out of shape. In Session 5 we exchange "gifts and needs," where participants write down things they can offer -- such sewing skills, tools, or child-care -- and things they need. During this activity we gain a new sense of the wealth and abundance present within the group and the community.
Social Action -- Many of our challenges won't be solved through personal or local mutual aid efforts alone. They require us to work together to press for larger state, national and even global changes. While there is no official Resilience Circle social action agenda, many groups choose to take action based on their own values and interests.
Can we see once again that we have organizations "out there" that speak to Kall's notion of "Bottom Up" governance? My wife, Merry (a great authority!) says we can "convert stumbling blocks into steppingstones". We can move beyond coping to thriving, beyond fighting to creating.
To learn more about Resilience Circles, go to the website: http://localcircles.org/what-is-a-resilience-circle/
Research what is in your area. If nothing, can you get some folks together and begin a Resilience Circle?
Your actions do matter.
Research, ask questions, don't take my words. Go see what's happening in your neck of the woods.