This Saturday I have been in the ‘Anarchist Book Fair’ in San Francisco. I had great inspiration through conversations, posters, connections and of course books that I bought.
‘…You may already be an anarchist. It’s true. If your idea of healthy human relations is a dinner with friends, where everyone enjoys else’s company, responsibilities are divided up voluntarily and informally, and no one gived orders or sells anything, then you are an anarchist, plain and simple.’
I am in San Francisco since the 23th of March. I have attended to Economics of Happiness conference and got many inspiration which I’ll write about it more soon.
I got a chance to get inspired by many names in which Manish Jain, Vandana Shiva, Carol Black, Gustavo Esteva, Maria Gastelumendi, Charles Eisenstein, Annie Leonard, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Joanna Macy.
It is my first time in USA. It is funny because I feel like in the middle of a movie after seeing so many Hollywood ones. I am enjoying the food and beer from many places. Until now I drank beers from Thailandia,Japan,Ethiopia and Mexica :)
I feel so close to social movements and paradigm shift here. I just meet Chris Carlson, who was in the group started Criticall Mass. It was a great joy to listen his journey through this global movement.
My journeys will continue…
İ am honored to be invited to an international seminar on February 23rd-26th on leadership and education by Aspen Institute España. İ will have the opportunity to share ideas with a group of like minded people from Algeria, Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and the United States.
İt is great to see that that the universe is sending me the tools to reach my intentions as for my 2012 intentions, ‘spirit at work’ , ‘being connected to values’ and ‘how to create human based entities’ were taking important part.
The Aspen Institute is a private, nonprofit foundation born in 1949, devoted to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues.
İ got even more excited reading the message of Walter İsaacson, the CEO of Aspen İnstitute:
‘At certain points in our lives, many of us feel the need to reflect on what it takes to lead a life that is good, useful, worthy, and meaningful. Perhaps we have noticed ourselves trimming our principles and making too many compromises in our careers, and we want to reconnect with our values. Or perhaps we yearn, in a world filled with clashing opinions, to understand the great ideas and ideals that have competed throughout the progress of civilization.’
This winter İ really enjoyed the winter thanks to many coincidences and not delaying the plans and continue to enjoy the white gift of the nature.
Yesterday we walked in ‘rose valley’. We were the first to enter to the area after 3 days of non-stopping snow and today we have made a baloon trip in Capadoccia. The nature was with her bride dress as we say in Turkish! So as always the nature was just beautiful. Up on the baloon the snow was shining like diaments.
İ have lived kind of a short retreat around Çavuşin, old retreat place in its history as well. Feeling ready for the chaos of the city. Ahhh and from today on İ am more mature: a women with 29 :)
İ am on my way to Capadoccia, the country of beautiful hourses, located in the hearth of beautiful Anatolia. Sunday İ will be 29, and my intention is living a kind of retreat in the middle of nature in Cavusin (a little village here). Last years İ came so many time to this land. İt is like calling me! Could be true as İ have passed almost all my childhood in this area: 0-5 in Develi (Kayseri) and 5-13 (Nevsehir). Here again to appreciate its beauty in a different way with different eyes…
(via skillshare)
2011 YouthActionNet Fellow Ayşegül Güzel is the founder of Zumbara (“Time Bank”) in Turkey. Below she speaks to a global paradigm shift in which more and more people are revisiting their values in a quest to live more sustainable, fulfilling lives. Ayşegül is among dozens of fellows whose passion for a more balanced, earth-friendly lifestyle has resulted in creative alternatives to a pervasive consumer culture.
I am grateful to Zumbara for allowing me to live the life that I choose, instead of one imposed upon me by other’s expectations. I am working for something I believe in. I have faith in the future. I meet beautiful people from all around the world, who are working with good intentions to do as much as they can to uphold the values they cherish. I wake up every day with a smile on my face and remind myself that nothing is impossible if I’m committed enough. I am living a new story; a new way of being and relating is emerging. I am excited to witness this paradigm shift and to do all I can to support it.
But what I am doing and how did I get started?
I studied international trade and then got the chance to work in creative and ‘cool’ companies, including marketing agencies, innovation consultancies, and for a big name fashion retailer in Barcelona. From the outside, I had a comfortable, enviable life. Yet the truth was that on most days, waking up was a burden. Because of the long working hours, there were many days when I couldn’t simply enjoy the sun or a few moments of peace. I was unable to realize my potential - to discover, or be valued for, my personal gifts. There wasn’t time. I was living in a world that valued competition over cooperation, where achieving material success was more important than finding real meaning in life. I knew deep inside that something was wrong, but didn’t recognize at the time that I was betraying my personal values.
I was living in Barcelona while struggling with these daily questions. And then something happened. I was introduced to the concept of ‘time banking,’ an alternative economic system where time is used instead of money. I helped an elderly person for one hour and in exchange I ‘earned’ an hour-long Photoshop class offered by a neighbor. Since the first moment, I fell in love with time banking’s values, principles, and its impact on people and communities. I started to dream about a social network that would make time banking easy; that would support self-sustaining communities and a more human-centered system of exchange around the globe.
From this vision, Zumbara was born three and a half years ago. Through its web page, 1,700 people have exchanged more than 150 services in Turkey. How does it work? To illustrate, I received help from Altan, a Zumbara member in arranging the lamps at my home. Afterward, I paid two hours into Altan’s ‘piggy bank’ through the Zumbara web page. Altan then received help learning how to cook healthy foods from Deniz, who later benefited from an hour of social media instruction from Ebru. Other examples abound (e.g., members preparing a music list for a wedding, conducting a juggling act at a birthday party, giving a haircut, helping an entrepreneur with a business plan, and more).
Following the success of our pilot project, our community has evolved into a loose-knit family. Relationships are reinforced through Zumbara events, where members interact using their skills, talent, knowledge, or experience. Our goal is to prompt people to question whether they need to be money dependent. We offer a glimpse into a world where sharing and collaboration has the potential to create self-sufficient communities. Zumbara demonstrates that “we have what we need if we use what we have” through the exchange of skills and knowledge. Through our monthly events, we ask people to bring food that they cook, things (e.g., clothes, books), and services/expertise that they want to share with others. Together, we form an open bazaar, where people organize yoga classes, make music, and talk about their experiences in film, sports etc. The content of every gathering is a total surprise but through each people connect in meaningful ways.
We’re encouraged by the momentum Zumbara has created. For the first time, people are talking about alternative currencies in Turkey. We received support from one of the most successful digital agencies in the country and are now talking with different institutions, including an international bank, to create time banking systems for their employees and to promote a sharing culture. We’re now planning for the launch of a new web site in February, with the goal of reaching 50,000 people in the first year, with an English version in the works for 2012. And we’ve formed an advisory board, or what we call a ‘wisdom circle,’ comprised of visionary people around the globe, to see how we can best support today’s paradigm shift.
With time banking systems underway in some 30-plus countries, we recognize we’re part of a potent global movement. What distinguishes Zumbara is the use of social networking to facilitate exchanges and the building of a vibrant online community, where people share their goals and ideas freely.
Yes, we believe that Zumbara has an important role to play in supporting the shift that the world is experiencing. Zumbara’s power is in fostering a gift culture. For me, this gift culture is two sided. To begin with, each of us has a unique gift, which seeks continuously to be realized and expressed. When given the chance, this gift flows naturally and that which we give somehow comes back to us. Secondly, when we share our gifts with others, we experience a feeling of unity. Thanks to the social technologies that exist in today’s world, the gift economy and sharing culture is being practiced - every day - by huge numbers of people, resulting in major changes in behavior patterns. At Zumbara, we’re doing everything we can to support this positive paradigm shift.
To learn more, visit us at: zumbara.com and through:
twitter.com/zumbaradan
facebook.com/zumbara
(Source: youthactionnet.org)
Money promotes a sense of homogeneity among things in general.
When everything is subject to money, then the scarcity of money makes everything scarce, including the basis of human life and happiness…perhaps the deepest indication of our slavery is the monetization of our time…today its monetization has subjected it, like the rest, to scarcity. Time is life. When we experience time as scarce, we experience life as short and poor.
Two days ago, you guys stepped up once again to show the world just how much we care about protecting the Internet. Together, we generated more than 140,000 calls to Senators, spent more than 4,200 hours on the phone with their staffers, and blacked out 650,000 of our blogs to make our point and inspire others to get involved. And what’s more, this was on top of the 90,000 calls we sent to members of the House of Representatives a month ago. Incredible.
It’s now becoming clear just how much impact our action is having. On January 18th, only 31 members of Congress opposed these bills. Just one day later, 101 members of Congress publicly stood with us in opposition. We are being heard.
And as of today, it looks like both the Senate PIPA and House SOPA bills have been shelved, for the moment. It seems pretty likely that the bills won’t pass as written—a big first win. We now hope that Internet companies, the creative community and the content industry join together to innovate and devise new partnerships to combat online piracy. We’re confident there are effective ways to do this without damaging the Internet or diminishing our freedoms.
You’ve made a big difference in keeping the Internet a safe and open place for creators. Thank you again.
