The POTLUCK SOULution to (almost) EVERYTHING!

I have a theory that IF you apply the UNIVERSAL LAW of POTLUCKS to pretty much ANY SITUATION, you will not only SATISFY the SITUATION, but there will be yummy LEFT-OVERS, too -- and you can have a DAMN GOOD TIME while doing it!

Ever notice that when you attend (or host) a POTLUCK event (*where everyONE is asked nicely to bring FOOD and/or BEVERAGE -- of their choice -- to SHARE, it turns into an instant FEAST?!) and that (a) there is ALWAYS something to eat for everyONE (*even the Vegans!); (b) ALWAYS more than ENOUGH FOOD for everyONE (left-overs!); (c) there is ALWAYS something you like (ie, sushi, hummus, cheese and olives, etc.!); and this ABUNDANCE occurs despite the fact that there is ALWAYS someONE who comes with NOTHING! I refer to this phenomenon as the UNIVERSAL LAW of POTLUCKS because, in my experience, it is consistent.

To quote Douglas Adams, "Thanks for all the Fish!"

  

NOTE to SKEPTICS:  I highly ENCOURAGE you to TEST the UNIVERSAL POTLUCK THEORY…everywhere, in ANY SITUATION, with any group, and SEE for yourself if it is TRUE!  **Pretty Please TEST this theory, as often as possible, and make sure to report back!

However, I am going to share a few EXAMPLES of how YOU CAN APPLY the UNIVERSAL LAW of POTLUCKS to (almost) ANY SITUATION, both small and large scale:

EXHIBIT A:

Want a NEW WARDROBE for FREE?!!!   Why not host a CLOTHING SWAP?!!! 

Goddess Clothes Swap Gathering (Concow, CA)

EXHIBIT B:

When Kathleen B realized that her marriage was no longer serving her (and her family) and got the courage to start a brand new life for herself, from scratch (*with very limited resources!), her friends and family applied the UNIVERSAL LAW of POTLUCKS to completely FURNISH, DECORATE and FENG SHUI her new home in Paradise, CA! 

These are just a few of the family and friends that gathered to help make Kathleen a HOME!

EXHIBIT C:

Once a month, in Chapmantown (Chico, CA), a house-hold voluntarily hosts a COMMUNITY ABUNDANCE SHARE event, where everyONE brings STUFF they no longer want, need or use (*instead of paying for storage or ending up in the ocean!) to SHARE with the NEIGHBORHOOD…

FABruary 2015 Community Abundance Share hosted at CREATION STATION, Chapmantown, CHICO, CA

*This also happens to be a GREAT WAY to MEET, CONNECT, COMMUNICATE, NETWORK, MOBILIZE and EMPOWER your NEIGHBORHOOD (read: SECURITY); RECYCLE and REDUCE WASTE (Yeah for the ENVIRONMENT!); and (almost) everyONE leaves with something they want or need! Happy Birthday to US!

EXHIBIT D:

Historically, in Zulu culture, when someONE DIES, the family of the deceased provides all the food and drink for the funeral.  This can be VERY EXPENSIVE, no? Therefore, back in 2000-ish, during the peak (42.6% HIV-prevalence rate!) of the AIDS pandemic (*with a side of Malaria, TB and Cholera! Oh my!), there was literally a FUNERAL every day and FAMILIES were going into POVERTY to PROVIDE FOOD and DRINK for all the funeral attendees! WTF?!  Therefore, I INTRODUCED the concept of the POTLUCK to the ZULUS… starting with OUR MEDICAL STAFF.

Hlabisa Hospital Staff Meeting, Hlabisa, Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa (2000)

EXHIBIT E:

The UNIVERSAL LAW of POTLUCKS is the FUNdamental principle behind ALL CROWD-SOURCING (aka, CROWD-FUNDING) CAMPAIGNS like Go Fund Me, KickStarter, etc. and nowadays, there are even customized crowd-funding sites like PledgeMusic for Musicians and such.  

NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED a CROWD-FUNDING PLATFORM, when you could easily appeal to yOUR COMMUNITY BANK (*for more about yOUR COMMUNITY BANK:  please read: https://www.facebook.com/notes/kelly-n-patterson/need-money-i-think-i-have-an-answer-welcome-to-our-community-bank/10150764108123378 )

 Really, I could go on and on, giving you dozens of examples (with photos!) but you will only KNOW if the POTLUCK SOULution works, IF you APPLY IT! So, PLEASE TEST it out for yourself and/or others (*and make sure to report back!  Thank you!)   

Just seeking SOULutions…Kelly N Patterson, reporting from Palm Springs, CA

How do we COMMUNICATE to the YOUTH with INTEGRITY?

As you may recall, I have a long history working (and PLAYING) with CHILDREN (*on several continents, from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds, I might add.) I have been a preschool teacher, a primary and secondary school teacher, university professor, manager of an orphan village, ESL Instructor, private tutor, managed several different youth groups, and then some! My policy (in and out of the classroom) has always been to SPEAK to CHILDREN as EQUALS. 

Yes, this Class photo is ridiculous! (South Africa)

This means I speak to CHILDREN the same way I speak to ADULTS.  This means I call CHILDREN out on their BULLSHIT…especially if they are 3 years old! I don’t care if you are my Grandmother, Nelson Mandela, a 5 year old, the Dalia Lama, or a dog…I speak to everyONE as an EQUAL, in my AUTHENTIC VOICE.  I feel that anything less than speaking MY TRUTH (*which may very well be different from yours and lucky for me, I am OK with that!) in my AUTHENTIC VOICE lacks INTEGRITY and smells of EGO. Therefore, I find it very disconcerting that I noticed during my stay in Ojai, when I speak my truth to CHILDREN, it sometimes upsets their so-called Guardians!  (We punish our CHILDREN when they do not speak the truth …but are WE, as ADULTS, speaking AUTHENTICALLY to our kids?!)

Until we had a facility for all our ORPHANS, in rural South Africa, we housed them at the local hospital.

For example, I had NO IDEA that the youths I was sharing a Rosh Hashanah meal with were enrolled in some kind of “confidential” drug addiction treatment program (*how would I KNOW? Especially, if it is “confidential”?!)  Therefore, when they started asking me a million questions about Burning Man and drugs over my kosher meal, well, I answered honestly that I believed SACRED PLANT MEDICINES (like Ayahuasca, Iboga, Mushrooms, and such) can be very therapeutic and transformational tools for healing addictions (*and there happens to be A LOT of scientific evidence to support this –but don’t listen to me, do your OWN HOMEWORK!)

I told these very curious youths they are currently using hallucinogenic plants (SACRED PLANT MEDICINES) to treat prisoners in Brazil with astonishingly positive results and in addition to the studies that are confirming this all over the world, I am regularly meeting people who have independently overcome heroine addictions and such with cannabis oil treatment and other holistic healing methods.  Shortly later, I was called aside from a “Guardian” and asked very politely NOT TO DISCUSS DRUGS with these CHILDREN who are currently “in treatment”.  Things that make me go hmmmm…how do you expect to address drug addictions without discussing drugs and all the OPTIONS?!!!

While working for Costa Rica Outward Bound, I got my MAUI (SCUBA) certification with the GIRL SCOUTS of AMERICA 

I share this little story to OPEN UP the DISCUSSION on HOW we can better COMMUNICATE with OUR CHILDREN/the YOUTH -- as EQUALS -- with INTEGRITY. I welcome ALL SOULutions!   Thank you! 

This is Kelly N Patterson, aka "The Goofy Guru" reporting from Ojai, California 

One of my besties from my work with Bien du Mujer, en La Carpio (the slums of) Costa Rica

Topic du WEEK a la OCEANUS: WHAT DOES EMPOWERING GROUP LEADERSHIP LOOK LIKE?

I think we can ALL AGREE NOW that the TYRANT/DICTATOR/FEAR and EGO BASED - STYLE of LEADERSHIP is the OPPOSITE of INSPIRING, EMPOWERING, LIBERATING LEADERSHIP, no?  I mean, WE do HAVE a LOT of historic EVIDENCE to SUGGEST this particular GOVERNING SYSTEM, which does benefit US in some ways (“What have the ROMANS ever done for us?! ); however, it is clearly NOT the most ENLIGHTENED nor EFFICIENT form of LEADERSHIP, no?  Besides, I KNOW WE CAN DO BETTER!  

*And please KNOW this PHOTO was NOT STAGED…Laura took it of me while I was talking about something….hahahaha!  

Well, WE, at OCEANUS are seeking to ANSWER this very important QUESTION, “WHAT DOES EMPOWERING GROUP LEADERSHIP LOOK LIKE?“, through this epic SEA STEADING EXPERIENCE, known as Ephermerisle.  And WE are ALL STILL LEARNING!  *And that goes for the ELDERS, too!

I have a bloody strong FEELING (a KNOWING, if you will), that everyONE (*including plants, animals, minerals, protons, dark matter, quanta, unicorns, etc.) has a UNIQUE CONTRIBUTION to COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUS LEADERSHIP and MANAGEMENT and the “TRICK” is to LISTEN to everyONE’s INPUT (“They” are THERE for a good reason—even IF it is to SHOW YOU what does NOT WORK—which is just as valuable as what DOES WORK! Ask Thomas Edison!) 

IF you are AWARE/AWAKE and LISTEN to OTHERS, YOU will ALWAYS hear KEY INFORMATION (like PUZZLE PIECES!) and YOU will be able to HEAR (or if you are an EMPATH, FEEL!) the TRUTH in their STORIES (*hint: It FEELS GOOD/RIGHT to you), that will HELP YOU (and your ENTIRE CREW) make BETTER, more INFORMED (and hopefully, LOVE-BASED, NOT EGO-BASED) DECISIONS about OUR COLLECTIVE LIFE EXPERIENCE TOGETHER…on LAND, AIR and SEA (as is above, is below, no?)

Personally, I view ALL OUR PROBLEMS/CHALLENGES and/or “OH FUCK!” MOMENTS (*such as dropping the water heater in the water (!); breaking the engine on the Whaler (twice!); the whole HOUSING/FUEL/SEWAGE/WASTE/TRASH/WATER SITUATION –which applies to the WHOLE WORLD, I might add!; and way too many more to list here!) like a giant MULTI-DIMENSIONAL PUZZLE! 

THE PUZZLE is a PORTRAIT of OUR COLLECTIVE VISION for ONE, or OUR NEW EARTH, right?

ONE

Our

New

Earth

And every PERSON (*as well as plant, animal, mineral, single-celled organism, etc.) HOLDS a PIECE of the PUZZLE!  *For example:  You CANNOT TREAT or CURE MALARIA unless you GET to KNOW the MOSQUITO intimately (inside and out!) and the Malarial VIRUS itself, right?

Therefore, WHEN we really LISTEN/PAY MIND-FULL ATTENTION to the PEOPLE (plants, animals, germs, insects, etc.) immediately AROUND US, they will REVEAL (through their STORIES and EXPERIENCES) KEY INFORMATION (aka, a PUZZLE PIECE!) that CONTRIBUTES to the COLLECTIVE WHOLE SOULution!  *Thus, TRUE LEADERSHIP means BEING able RECOGNIZE when a SOULution has appeared and then COORDINATE that SHIT!

NEXT, it is important to RESEARCH and IDENTIFY your readily accessible NATURAL RESOURCES (aka, TALENTS/SKILLS/STRENGTHS) BOTH in the PEOPLE who SHOW UP for you and your immediate ENVIRONMENT (SURROUNDINGS) because IF you are AWARE/AWAKE, YOU will DISCOVER, much to your de-LIGHT-ful SURPRISE and JOY, that the SOULution is ALWAYS RIGHT in FRONT of YOU (OR next to you, or behind you—Wait! LOOK in THAT corner!) and easily ACCESSIBLE!  NOTE: In PHYSICS, this funk phenomena is known as OCCAM’s RAZOR.   

IF you can Co-CREATIVELY COORDINATE these VALUABLE NATURAL RESOURCES (Human, plant, animal, and things, Oh my!) through INSPIRING, EMPOWERING, LIBERATING, POSITIVE, LOVE-BASED LEADERSHIP-- in theory, WE will not only have HARMONY and BALANCE in ANY COMMUNITY (aka, PEACE!), but also...

INCREASED CONSCIOUS CO-CREATION and MANIFESTATION

INCREASED EFFICIENCY/PRODUCTIVITY

BETTER QUALITY SERVICE for ALL!

HAPPY HEALTHY CONSCIOUS COLLABORATORS

LOWER COSTS (ie, “Opportunity Cost” of FUCK-UPS caused by MISCOMMUNICATION, MISINFORMATION, FEARS and other EGO-BASED BULLSHIT!)

BETTER COMMUNICATION—with a side of JOY, PASSION, LOVE, ENTHUSIASM and hopefully FUN throughout the WHOLE CREATION PROCESS!

And isn’t THAT the WHOLE POINT?!!