I love building new worlds; it is the most provocative challenge for a mixed media artist in today’s horizon.

Community building in virtual space has risen to the level of an art form with the advent of multiplayer worlds with real world challenges embedded within our games. We have learned to move beyond the screen and into new lives through avatars and words typed on a page and this extraordinary new type of remotely connected community has grown to maturity in less than 50 years; less than 30 years in a mode like our current incarnation of internet with basic chat and filesharing.

Our communities are not monolithic; we are as diverse as our imaginations will let us be. Through the USC Network Culture Project we were honored to give out awards this week for the Second Life and the Public Good Community Challenge. We awarded a million lindens to five great groups building out real world solutions that benefit many, having an opportunity to touch millions more with their unique work. Ability Commons, one of the award winners, takes the ideas created in the Nonprofit Commons and extends them to create a gathering point for all living with challenges and disabilities that are looking for support.

Native Lands is a project that I am personally very happy to see win an award in this challenge. We will keep land for them at the Annenberg Archipelago and they will have an opportunity to crosspollinate with communities at Justice Commons, Aloft Nonprofit Commons, Virtual Gitmo and the Wallsickness team, Interactive Accessible Home, Texas Obesity Research Center and Ability Commons. We are thrilled that these groups are coming together to reside and grow their work around the world.

This week I had the pleasure of visiting Great Strides equine therapy organization in Maryland, one of the first nonprofits that I got actively engaged with through Second Life. They have raised quite a bit by expanding their profile beyond their local region and building a beautiful horse farm on Aloft Nonprofit Commons. Brad from GS described how Second Life allowed his regional nonprofit to go international and meet new supporters around the world who would have never otherwise encountered their work. There is a history of dynamic engagement in these spaces tracking back as far as our chat.

I’m looking forward to new adventures in community building with some of my favorite projects, environmental causes coming together for a new Nonprofit Commons and the opportunity to share a new vision of collaborative building at major virtual world conferences this fall, including State of Play in Chicago this October where we will change the way we view working together.

A good summary of the carbon footprint of flexible virtual worlds containing advanced design control and persistent identity can be found in The Content Economy’s look at Carbon-free living and energy use through virtual meetings and business engagement. In this case, I think it’s easy to be green….but I do love Kermit’s thoughts on the topic:

<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/37996610752@N01/2631845552"><img style="float: right; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px;" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3086/2631845552_29132d10fa.jpg" /></a>It's not easy, being green<br />Having to spend each day the color of the leaves<br />When I think it could be nicer being red, or yellow or gold<br />Or something much more colorful like that<br /><br />It's not easy being green<br />It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things<br />And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're<br />Not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water<br />Or stars in the sky<br /><br />But green's the color of Spring<br />And green can be cool and friendly-like<br />And green can be big like an ocean, or important<br />Like a mountain, or tall like a tree<br /><br />When green is all there is to be<br />It could make you wonder why, but why wonder why<br />Wonder, I am green and it'll do fine, it's beautiful<br />And I think it's what I want to be<br /><br />

Pixie does a great job capturing artistic genius on camera.
Check out her Lightning in a Bottle shots: makes me proud to be a part of the largest festival for sustainability and music in this area.
We had over 6000 people in the forest near Santa Barbara and the two girls below can tell you everything you need to know about what fun and intensity was found in that space. The Amoration team was in full effect building out the village and caring for the people and animals that found themselves in that woodland adventure.
Our AMO housemates Ryan and Elizabeth @sugarshack gave a tremendous workshop in the dome on Growing Architecture and started a whole new way of thinking among many in our extended tribe. I am still so proud of Brent @toyshoppe for successfully lighting and powering the entire event….what a hard working man!

I’ve always been attracted to the Lazarus Longs of the world, the wise old men who have already lived a few lifetimes and are ready for a few more. My work a few years back with the Acceleration Studies Foundation and Metaverse Roadmap architects led me to research rejuvenation of the self and clearing away the junk that destroys us.

A friend at vim-vigor.net sent me to check out SENS today, Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence. What I found most interesting about Aubrey Grey and the Methuselah Foundation work is the common threads popping up amongst many health researchers. A few elements are proven beneficial to human health:

1) Enzymes: possibly can reinvigorate degraded cells in the body
2) Fungi: able to cleanse and promote rapid healing in humans
3) Probiotics: reverse unhealthy bacterial growth due to poor western diets
4) Sea vegetables and minerals: many times more potent than land greens

These basic foods along with shelter, clean water and air allow us to live quite simple and efficient lives.

Can you grow your own seaweed, mushrooms or healthy flora? In our lifetime we may see the end of individual farming for health and sustenance. There are many industry leaders who want to carefully control all intake and consumption and limit what you can provide for yourself, restricting seeds, soil and water access along with the food supply.

The pharmaceutical industry is not in the business of saving us forever….they are in the business of selling you more chemicals that may improve your life. Some of what they’re selling is direct from plants and trees that are endangered in the wild. While we lose thousands of years of herbal and tribal wisdom from indigenous leaders a new biomech system is emerging that replaces internal sources of iron, magnesium and potassium with external gadgets of silicon and coltan.

Our cell phones may be fueling a genocide as we speak. The war for resources has been on for decades, the gold changes but the end result does not change.

If we end aging, death will always be at the hands of ourselves or something bigger than us. We can end painful diseases and possibly live for many more generations to come, but our consciousness is not yet capable of immortality. We are still bound to death, except for those rare few ascensions….some things we will never know or understand.

Inspired graphing breakout!

www.aplacefordreams.com continues to build toward our pilot project with the Transitions project in the Phoenix, AZ area.

Help us find programmers and curriculum development support as we grow a groundbreaking new set of tools for anyone in transition.

Right now we need support in:
* Finding new and donated computers, software, peripherals
* Programmers willing to work with Google and OpenSocial tools
* CSS and web development specialist volunteer
* Students and faculty at ASU to build interest in this program
* Grantwriting and editing our upcoming applications
* Curriculum development for enterprise, virtual worlds, communications
* Pilot program ideas including innovative uses of XO/OLPC, green wifi at community level, donations of cell phones and digital media tools for those building new businesses out of transition

WHY?

• Anyone can find emergency food, shelter and medical services in their local area with one click.
• Creative and talented entrepreneurs can find support to train and start new businesses.
• Service learning opportunities between college students, social media leaders and those transitioning
• Removing the stigma of homelessness by providing remote work opportunities available from any location

Want to help?
Email me, leave a comment here, join us for Friday morning 10AM PST meetings in Second Life, join the APlaceforDreams group on google for planning/design updates. Thanks!

1
iff i talkd wif teh tungz of manz n angylz, n duzzn haz luff, i are
becom liek teh human, knockin down all teh potz n panz frm teh shelf,
srsly.2
iff i haz powarz of liek tellin the futurez an if i has access to teh
internets, an i gotz all teh missteriez an all teh knowingz an all teh
faithz, enuff 2 taek all teh mowntanz awayz, an i duzzn haz luff, i
gotz nuffink.3 an evn iff i givez all mai stuffz awai, n iff i delivur mai bodiz to b burnded up, and i duzzn haz luff, i gotz nuffink.

4 Luv is pashient n kind, luv haz no jelusniss or showin offz, luv no is stuck-up5 or r00dz. Luv no insistzes on doin it rite, itz not pisst off alla tiem or rezentflufflele.6 Luv izzn all happiez about doin it wrong, but is happiez about teh truthz.7
Luv putz up wiht all teh stuffz, beelivez all teh stuffz, hoepz for all
teh stuffz. Luv putz up wiht all teh stuffz… i sed that areddy?

8 Luv no haz endingz. Tellin the futurez, tungz, an alla stuffz u know wil die.9 We haz knowingz a bit, an we haz profacy a bit. We no haz two much tho.10 O, wait. Win teh perfict coemz, teh not perfict will dyez, lolol.11
Wen i wuz a kitten, i meweded leik a kitten, thinkded liek a kittenz,
an I chazed strings liek a kittenz. Wen i wuz becomez a cat, i NO WANT
kitten waiz ne moar.12
For nao we see in teh foggy mirorr like when teh human gets out of teh
shower, but tehn we see faec tow faec. Nao i haz knowingz just a bit,
tehn i will haz all teh knowingz, as i haz been knownz.

13 Nao faithz an hoepz an luvz r hear, theses threes, but teh bestest iz teh luv. srsly.

I love a book on my shelf, “Entering the Castle: An Inner Path to God and Your
Soul” by Caroline Myss. It sits there with a burn in it, gentle little
brown char on the hardback and paper cover from the incense I stuck
there in absent shifting. It reminds me how my path has been through
fire, holding the fire elementals as they walk and dance with the
alchemical journey.

I am not fire, I hold fire. Perhaps metal/ether is the fifth
element, or perhaps it’s pearly gates or Milla Jovovich. I will not sit
here at my desk and tell you what’s beyond this page. That’s for you to
find, and my role is the holding, the offering of space and room to
breathe and find perspective.

In my previous ministerial training we talked often of “calling”,
of the mission we knew that we were set out to do in this lifetime.
From a very young age…4 is when I remember it distinctly, my vision
has been filled with love, clarity and a unique understanding of the
inner workings of things. This is not mechanical knowledge and my
fathers’ deires for a physicist daughter were dashed when I chose a
theology degree. He did not understand my desire to reimagine
COMMUNITY, understanding where our churches and institutions could not
bridge the gaps to our deepest desires.

Any doctrine that ignores or condemns primal instincts will always live in conflict.

This is fundamental to understanding why we have wars today.
Supremacy, control, power plays all emerge from one fundamental belief:
that we will be powerful if we connect and take that power from others.
It’s the subtle message in most major religions, the fuel for
fundamentalism of all types. We have raped ourselves for generations.

It is our path to heal that cycle, to see the flow of all things
with love. We return focus to upward spirals that can hold a foundation
for our world, the circles we touch and support with our efforts.
Together we are doing this now, and this collaboration will grow
exponentially as Disney’s vision of a *small world* gets blown out of
the boat. It is time for revision.

Through this journey I chose the burning path, as alchemy is the
study of the one fire that unites all things. There has always been a
common wisdom tradition and we tap into it every time we step with
intention onto the stage, onto the dance floor of our lives. We choose
to hold this together, this fire of change, understanding that we share
some great duty to the Kali and Oya. We are witnesses and bearers of
transformation, it will be the legacy of our time together.

Step strong, know yourself first. Step through and beyond your
wildest dreams. Let yourself go to the next level today, right this
minute. A new spring has come, a pivotal year in a time of tremendous
change. You are the leaders, the ones we have waited for.

Thanks to Bryant McGill for the art.

NetSquared Mashup Challenge voting ends Monday 3/24. Share your support for key nonprofit mashup projects!
Our TRANSITIONS team is going strong and has a great Tumblr sharing resources for the displaced mashup challenge worldwide.
Together we can help get programmers and resources together to build tools that will help thousands find support for new lives.

We are the bridgebuilders.
Here’s who I voted for at Netsquared!

• Read Play Help
• My Green Map: Sharing your Sustainable Worldview
• Change Broadcasting Channels
• Rosetta Project - Minority Languages in Google Earth
• Mapping, Trending & Linking Global Health & Environmental Data
• Transitions
• CorpWatch - Government Data on Corporations
• SexINFO
• A Mashup of 29+ Social Action Platforms — Social Actions
• Volunteer Now! - by mobile phone

Show your support for these amazing endeavors by voting and helping our teams get vital funding, scripting support and technology assistance!

Thanks a ton, from the many of us who have been ~In Transition~
Evonne @ Amoration

• VOTE
• Dance at Lucent L’Amour (I’ll see you at the door!)
  
• Advocate for the displaced worldwide
• Find a new talent in your arsenal and use it wisely
• Make something and share it with your closest friends
• Give your sweetheart something personal and close to your heart
• Travel somewhere new and take time to listen to an unheard voice
• Follow your passion with the people who can help you reach your goals
• Make Mitt Romney go away soon (oh sorry to let that slip in, he’s just so wrong)

Photo by Cheryl Colan