Graham is my boss.
After a few glasses of wine and cocktails, I came home in the small hours and had a nice-feeling urge to email him about the Funny farm.
It was the first time I'd clearly articulated the idea.
The first part only makes sense if you know that we'd been talking about the strange experience whereby when you follow instructions to stand beside a tree, listen carefully to it and then communicate on its behalf, you have a clear impression of receiving communication and a strong feeling of pure, basic goodness.
From: briony.greenhill@gmail.com
Subject: i want to tell you about my dream
Date: August 9, 2009 3:41:00 AM BST
To: Graham
hello
i want to tell you about my dream
not a dream from sleep
a dream from my tummy
a dream of the 'funny farm'
it's a place of goodness
like the inside of a tree
when you listen to it
that's how it feels
and at this stage, for me, it's a dream, not an aim
but if a point comes when life brings together enough people with the same dream
maybe a shared aim will whirl together
the idea is like a cake of several pieces
there's a rural fun fed home
a place of play, and knitting, and singing (and fooling and dancing and and...)
a place that celebrates seasons, and birth and marriage and death and weekends and the passing into different ages of life
with joy and upliftment and laughter
applying our techniques and art to the important moments of life
there's a school
for the children who live there and the children who live nearby
that jo can take care of and lead on
there's a rural hub
that a man you don't know but who you would trust and like, called alastair, could lead on, this is his dream and he has the competence to make it real
it's a space where people who live there and people who visit can work
there's a farm
where everyone can feel the simple nourishment of helping things grow
and teams can share broader conversations than the office usually holds, over planting carrots, or digging raised beds together
maybe you haven't experienced the quality of conversations that seem to happen over working the land
they're good.
it's a place where people can buy and sell and build and make homes
it's a place of rehabilitation for maybe five people a year
people like my late friend charlie, or jo's late brother
people who have been through a trauma and through their most intense period of rehabilitation elsewhere
and who now need not to go back to their old lives, communities and ways
but to go to a place of nourishment where they can begin to imagine and create new, healthier lives with goodness at the core
it has a spa/watsu/hottub/sweatlodge
where people can be naked outdoors if they want
that zoe could lead on; this is her dream, and she has the competence to make it a glistening reality
and it's run by a progressive, sustainable, just and growable business/ownership/finance model
and it is a community
of people who live very close, slightly close, not very close, and not at all close
who share in each others lives
for a long, long time.
it is a place for children and old people and everyone in between
for permanent, semi permanent and visiting people
it is a place to live out gold day by day
this is my dream.
i want to tell you about my dream
not a dream from sleep
a dream from my tummy
a dream of the 'funny farm'
it's a place of goodness
like the inside of a tree
when you listen to it
that's how it feels
and at this stage, for me, it's a dream, not an aim
but if a point comes when life brings together enough people with the same dream
maybe a shared aim will whirl together
the idea is like a cake of several pieces
there's a rural fun fed home
a place of play, and knitting, and singing (and fooling and dancing and and...)
a place that celebrates seasons, and birth and marriage and death and weekends and the passing into different ages of life
with joy and upliftment and laughter
applying our techniques and art to the important moments of life
there's a school
for the children who live there and the children who live nearby
that jo can take care of and lead on
there's a rural hub
that a man you don't know but who you would trust and like, called alastair, could lead on, this is his dream and he has the competence to make it real
it's a space where people who live there and people who visit can work
there's a farm
where everyone can feel the simple nourishment of helping things grow
and teams can share broader conversations than the office usually holds, over planting carrots, or digging raised beds together
maybe you haven't experienced the quality of conversations that seem to happen over working the land
they're good.
it's a place where people can buy and sell and build and make homes
it's a place of rehabilitation for maybe five people a year
people like my late friend charlie, or jo's late brother
people who have been through a trauma and through their most intense period of rehabilitation elsewhere
and who now need not to go back to their old lives, communities and ways
but to go to a place of nourishment where they can begin to imagine and create new, healthier lives with goodness at the core
it has a spa/watsu/hottub/sweatlodge
where people can be naked outdoors if they want
that zoe could lead on; this is her dream, and she has the competence to make it a glistening reality
and it's run by a progressive, sustainable, just and growable business/ownership/finance model
and it is a community
of people who live very close, slightly close, not very close, and not at all close
who share in each others lives
for a long, long time.
it is a place for children and old people and everyone in between
for permanent, semi permanent and visiting people
it is a place to live out gold day by day
this is my dream.
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