Tuesday, 1 September 2009

I want to tell you about my dream

I went out dancing with Jo, Anna and Graham a couple of weeks ago.

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.

No comments:

Post a Comment