one year of corvallis open forum

this coming weekend will mark the one year anniversary of the corvallis open forum. we will be in LA and won't be able to be here, though will definitely be in spirit.

corvallis open forum hasn't become a city wide phenomenon, but i feel like we're starting to have a level of legitimacy, as Dan insists we do. the forum is chugging along. attracting new visitors and participants every week, not many people have become regular attendees, but some have.

i think what we're doing is still worthwhile and valuable to the community. i think if more people participated and brought in different perspectives it would make it more interesting.

in a democracy called America, when so much is riding on our votes and our everyday behaviors, as we awaken to the fact that we are all interconnected parts of the larger whole, we must communicate across traditional boundaries and unite in order to have confidence in the future as something to look forward to. that's my opinion.

We provide the space for that communication to occur. we provide a 'new' kind of activity for anyone interested. it doesn't cost anything in terms of money, only time and concern and patience and respect.

The corvallis open forum is changing the world before our very eyes. If we didn't go there every week with our signs, chairs, soapbox, sign up sheet and timer and of course, our intention, there'd just be the tree and the grass and perhaps a few people milling about, but they more likely than not would not be listening to other people speak about something they care about, or speaking themselves about something they find important. I think this is the kind of social change we need in this day and age. Granted we need real leaders and real policies that improve everyone's lives, not just a handful of rich pigs, but we also need to re-connect with each other, and experience the de facto unity of all life.