I know that we're using Facebook now for posts and networking, and clearly, FB is a fantastic forum for this. However, Scott and I really want the concept of Revolution to continue--in fact we believe it's critical. There is an importance for us, for me, about linking daily acts to the wider socio-political field. Rhetoric like "think global-act local" are in place in our culture, but I am often amazed at how little this has been realized; I think we're only at the beginning of being able to grasp what this might mean actually. Revoltion is about that in a form-bikes, community, joy, teaching and learning for example. From where we stand it is impossible not to link our seemingly mundane everyday choices to they way of the world--no pressure, but everything matters.
We're endlessly hopeful.
We know that everyone has their own political beliefs rooted in important and personal rationales and experiences, but somehow, when you can just talk about choices we make, and the reasons behind them--we leap out of ideology and into life. We believe in a life firmly connected to relationship--to the people we love, to the community and to the planet. The concept of Revolution is for us, about taking a stand. This little song is about sitting, walking, running, and ultimately about flying. :) It seems to me that our passion, or stand, around biking is about "spinning." Adding that to the below little piece would ruin the song, but I think you might be able to get my humorous attempt to say what's on my mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-0NvkuPHZI (in case the link does not open)
Yes, we can fly. Everyone of us has experienced this flight on a bike and recreating that freedom is what Revolution Bike Co-op is about. Have you every wondered why two brothers who owned/worked in a bike shop where able to invent the airplane? I like to think the bicycle opened their mind to the possibilities of flight.
ReplyDeleteThe song captures the actions people choose to make the world a better place. This is something I have been coming to grips with, how we change our community/town. It takes revolution on the one hand and knowing and working within the established system on the other. While our hopes and dreams give us a starting place only action will see our dreams realized. There will need to be a Revolution Bike Co-op and a Three Forks Bike Club to insight this change.
Glad to hear from you Fran! I would hope your convictions are stronger than some punk's criticism (who's a punk?). I love a good discussion, and I hope you are OK with me questioning some of these things, as I see they need questioning. No revolution is gonna take place without resistance.
ReplyDeleteIt occurs to me that you are after a retreat for learning, healing, and sustainability issues (including, but not exclusive to bikes). Is that so? If it is, then why not just come out and say it in plain language? And if you don't require this place to be IN Pullman, then this thing of yours really has little in common with what I had envisioned.
I will help you guys out if I can, but I, personally, would like to stay focused on bikes, and riding bikes in Pullman.
Thanks to both of your for your responses. First off, let me say that I welcome a discussion as long as a goal is real listening. This is something I challenge myself with, as well as invite others into. It's very easy to go into reaction mode versus genuine response, and sometimes a response can be saying nothing at all-saying nothing in a certain kind of way can be the practice of listening. This back and forth has racked me a bit, because I am not sure real listening can happen. However...
ReplyDeleteI'd like to also say that this is the first time I have contributed to a blog in a personal way, and find the forum uncomfortable but also intriguing and perhaps even important. Essentially, I am giving it a try.
Throat clearing and prefacing aside, I feel the need to be more clear about our play with the name, revolution. It came somewhat organically as Reese and Scott continued the conversation about getting folks on their bikes, and at the time, they were (and maybe still are) talking about a "space" for community in Pullman. I came into the picture when it seemed that the idea of a "bike space" might overlap with the community work I am interested in doing, and done a little of. In a very fun and genuine back and forth of emails, here was the line from our fearless leader, who shall not be named, that got my attention: "The bicycle can be an instrument of revolution yet there is so much more... ." For me, the pun was just delightful. It was meaningful, genuine, and seemed appropriate in a reclaiming sort of way--reclaiming the power people have to make change, and having it be linked to something simple and joyous: riding a bike.
If the name sticks, fine-to me the conceptual conversation is more important. Three Forks Bike Club is awesome--no dispute. It seems to me that this is especially appropriate if attaining a space is not on the books for some folks right now. The club can go without a physical location and that rocks.
My goal in asking for Revolution to keep going (here, i.e. the blog) is, as I said, conceptual. The "thing" is to create a way the community can tie the act of riding a bike, for instance, to a larger matrix of decisions that we make on a day to day basis, contributing to healthier and happier lives-on all levels. So, the idea of a bike co-op might connect other dots for people, meaning yes, it's about riding your bike, but it might also be necessary to have a way for people to see how that choice can be connected to more about local. The Food With Thought dinners were a piece of that, as was planting trees with Groundworks, for example. My interest, to be frank, is be to put Pullman on the map as a small city that is committed to a sustainable future. I think we have the power to do this--and to boot, to have two major land-grant universities 8 mile from each other, I actually believe we have a responsibility to do this--but that's another topic.
Communities all over the globe are doing this work; to have Pullman be a biking community would be the backbone to all that I have said so far. So, in my mind, I thought we had something in common.
In the end, I really don't understand what the problem is. This is a main reason that I checked out of the discussion. I stepped back because I thought maybe I had misunderstood. I am still moving on all that I have described, and if nothing else, I'd like to use the name Revolution in some project down the road. I like that it pushes buttons. I like that it gets attention, and for people secure enough to be curious-to stick around and ask a few questions, it will soon be clear that the intention behind Revolution is humble and honest.
It might be naive of me to think that most of the world's revolutions started that way--a desire to humbly reclaim basic human rights, but usurping power got in the way. My hope is that we're learning as a human race; that somehow we're seeing that transformation only comes through honesty and humility in community. My revolutionary stance is to bring our power back--power to pedal, power to grow food, or what have you. I also hope that we collectively see that this is really what is powerful, not what we might call the machine. I carry hope in one pocket and grief in the other because I know the work is endless, but what else can I do? Just keep pedaling. :)
Ryan, I love that you want to stay focused on bikes; please, please do that. We need you--we need your passion--the world needs it. I just hope that we don't have to see our work as mutually exclusive somehow, or not interrelated. Can we have a different kind of conversation? Can we be supportive of each other's efforts, if for nothing else, because they're actually efforts instead of letting someone else do the work? I like a challenge, and you do it well. I would just like to see something come from it.
Kindest regards,
fran
Yeah Fran!
ReplyDeleteNow we're talking. I'm trying to listen also, and I understand the connection between bicycling and the broader issues. I want you to know that if I didn't care, I certainly wouldn't be trying to hone this thing. I realize you have orders of magnitude more of yourself invested in this, and would never stand in the way. Think of me as a hard, abrasive stone agaist which you can sharpen your ideas.
I see 2 major differences here. The first difference is how we see Pullman. The second is who we would reach out to (and the ensuing how).
Pullman to me is way more conservative than Pullman is to you. Even the word "CO OP" gets a negative reaction where I work, and that is without the revolution in front of it (I brought this up in regards to Paradise Creek Bikes possible sale and the talk of a co op starting in Moscow. More later). This thing of yours could fly in Moscow, but how many of our neighbors would buy into it (like within 2 blocks)?
With your approach, it would seem that you would prefer to reach out to those that are already somewhat like-minded. I see that as a limited resource in Pullman. I would like nothing more than to get the stodgiest, unhealthiest, redneck to ride down from Military Hill, cross the street, and up to work. Maybe it would stick. Maybe it would get him to start eating better. Maybe he would start looking at the ingredients. Maybe he would start caring where his food came from, etc. We have lots of them around! Go straight to the Devil, but don't scare him off with anything that sounds too hippy or new-age (curse words in North Pullman!).
I agree that 2 separate bike entities is probably the way to go. Hopefully both will fly and we could work more closely.
Gotta work now,
Ryan
I think I hear you. This is an important moment for discussion, and I think my approach and philosophy of working with people is in fact, different. From my years of being a high school teacher in public schools--thinking about transformation in education for kids, I ended up learning--and still strongly believe--that you can't convert people. You've gotta do your work from your heart, from your center and go to people who are already doing similar work and build it from there. I wasted so much time focusing on teachers who really didn't want to be there in the first place (I co-designed a lot of our school's prof. development work). What I realized is that when I just worked with people who were curious, interested, it was better. And since I was committed to staying open, teachers who saw project we were doing wanted more. (i.e. the concept of team teaching--we started with only two teams, and ended up with 8). To me, in our cultural context, that's revolutionary change.
ReplyDeleteSo, yes, I am going to "like minded" people in that sense, because I think of the person that rides their bike in the summer and has and herb garden in pots. Well, that's work. I see myself (I guess--thank you stone :) as providing a a space/community network/education to expand those choices into something a little bigger--say, riding to work and growing a vegetable garden. Throw a pebble in that pond and that's the model.
I gotta work now too. I stayed up way too late last night (these blog things!) but yes, I very much appreciate the opportunity to be more clear with what we're about. This will help us build that life-dream stuff. :)