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Seagull in the sky.
RETHINK
‘We failed to take action when action would have been a piece of cake compared to how much we need to redo and rethink now. We can’t afford divides, we can’t afford interests, we can’t afford screwing each other. But we can 🧵👇
#OurFuture #photography #photohighlightsFeb26 #coast #etbs
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Wide shot of Baltic Sea with a few remaining, melting ice sheets.
RETHINK
‘At its core the Easy Town experiment is about being curious, about trying out visions, about exploring and playing around with ideas, testing the limits of the possible, 🧵/2
#OurFuture #photography #photohighlightsFeb26 #nature #etbs #urbanism #visions #winter #icesheets #melting #climate
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Older, bare tree, partly flooded field.
RETHINK
‘The watcher is a reminder that humans will only progress if and when they strive to understand what it is they are doing, and when they ask themselves why they are doing it.’
book 2, travelling, part 2 // www.easy-town-books.com
#OurFuture #photography #photohighlightsFeb26 #nature #etbs
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Lichen in the forest, looking a bit like a face.
RETHINK
‘We don’t have any time to lose. Our world needs some major rethinks. Stories can help.
Imagine authors, storytellers, creators from around the world bent their minds on shaping a world that thrives. 🧵/3
#OurFuture #photography #photohighlightsFeb26 #etbs #visions #writing #lichen
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Yellow jelly fungus on forest floor.
RETHINK
‘The brain is like a universe within you. You can explore it and unearth new worlds.’
Find more here:
views-from-around-the-universe.net/brain-the/
#OurFuture #photography #photohighlightsFeb26 #nature #etbs
#universe #brain #neurology #thinking #fungifriends #mycology #forestfriends
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Green fungi on log.
RETHINK
‘What happened at the boot camp?’ the London reporter repeated.
‘So simple, so invigorating: imagination, never knew the power of it.’
‘So, what was it like?’
‘Defying everything I ever knew! What a challenge!’
#OurFuture #photography #photohighlightsFeb26 #nature #etbs #fungifriends
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Small mushrooms squeezed between cracks in an old tree stump.
RETHINK
‘Press pause. We leave so many decisions to a few players because we don’t have time to think and engage. So, I thought that governments should give people the opportunity to 🧵
#OurFuture #photography #society #photohighlightsFeb26 #nature #etbs #fungifriends #mycology
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Ice & snow on the beach form pattern.
RETHINK
‘Andy and I have this slightly obsessive way, so focused on our work that we forget everything around us. Working with Jack is much more random, playful, a dance, whirling in and out of ideas. I think, both approaches are needed.’
#OurFuture #photography #photohighlightsFeb26 #nature #etbs
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A halo around more than half of the sun.
RETHINK
‘Ideally, I want us to convince people that we are all in the same boat, and we can only get to that sunrise if we do a thorough rethink of practically everything instead of fighting and outsmarting each other.’
#OurFuture #photography #photohighlightsFeb26 #nature #etbs #halo #sun
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Ducks and seagulls on ice.
RETHINK
‘Most people know how to criticise others, but they are blind to the narratives that make them as bullheaded as everyone else.’
#OurFuture #photography #photohighlightsFeb26 #nature #etbs #thinking #narratives #philsky #birdsky
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Frozen coastline, Baltic Sea.
RETHINK
‘I keep thinking that there must be more people like Betsy — people who’d rather choose the uncertainty of change than to continue with people who’ve already proven disastrous for humanity and the planet.’
#OurFuture #photography #photohighlightsFeb26 #nature #etbs #winter #coast #frozen
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Pine tree canopy, shot taken from below.
RETHINK
‘I want a millionaires boot camp where they can sweat out their unimaginative narratives.’
book 4, building // www.easy-town-books.com
//
#OurFuture #photography #photohighlightsFeb26 #nature #etbs #trees #forest #forestfriends
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Dune grass coated in clear ice at the bottom of a dune.
RETHINK
‘We will get in trouble for this.’
‘What’s the alternative? To whitewash the mess humanity finds itself in?’
book 4, building // www.easy-town-books.com
#OurFuture #photography #winter #beach #dunes #photohighlightsFeb26 #nature #etbs #climate
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A thick layer of ice on a leaf which looks like a melting heart.
RETHINK
‘How deep should we dig?‘
‘As deep as it takes to get to the roots of what made us shape a world which is blindly stumbling into self-destruction.’
book 4, building // www.easy-town-books.com
#OurFuture #photography #winter #frost #photohighlightsFeb26 #nature #etbs #climate
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More applause. Suddenly, a thought seemed to strike Alice. She raised her hand, the applause stopped, and she added with a lopsided smile: ‘This is a spontaneous idea, and while it seems like the right thing to do, I might have to qualify it after thinking about it properly. But, please, join me in considering this idea, join me in finding a way so that we can and will continue with our work, so that we can do our bit for humanity and the planet. Don’t let the lack of a town hold us back. Let’s re-prioritise!’ ‘What’s the plan, boss?’ Noel shouted from the bar, and many laughed, the sparks of hope and defiance sizzling everywhere. Alice smiled. ‘First stop: we’ll take stock of our business activities. We have been talking about enough ideas for businesses which can use the dot.model or a hybrid model. Let’s take a closer look at what we have and at what we can add. Once we have an overview of what we want, we will use simulations to find out how to expand. Once we know, we will create a network of safe havens for creatives, craftspeople and scientists, and everyone who wants to join our explorations — everyone, in fact, who is sick of the world as we know it.’ Huge applause. Alice raised her hand again and silence fell. ‘We offered to do our work in an unobtrusive way. A single town to test our ideas, to allow everyone to see the results for themselves. Now we will be everywhere. Our businesses will allow people to find security, pride and dignity. Our businesses will allow people to unearth their potentials. Let them fight us. We are stronger because, at the end of the day, the few dysfunctional people who mess up the world, are just a few, and they have nowhere to go once people have other and better means, not just to make a living but to live! We will make our work count.’ This time the applause that thundered through the atrium was unstoppable, people were stamping, laughing, dancing, weeping, hugging, high-fiving, bumping fists, howling with joy, drumming on…
Forest track bathed in sunshine.
‘Let them fight us. We are stronger because, at the end of the day, the few dysfunctional people who mess up the world, are just a few, and they have nowhere to go once people have other and better means, not just to make a living but to live!’
:
#etbs #photography #forest #photohighlightsJan26
4/4
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Alice’s frown eased and the hint of a smile appeared, mixed with something like a challenge. There was a twinkle— Yes! There was a twinkle in her eyes. Slowly Alice straightened, inhaled, and her voice rang out: ‘We — will not give up—’ Thundering applause erupted. Daria clapped along madly, coughing, tears bubbling up. A few words, a dam broken — and suddenly everything seemed possible again. And I KNEW IT. Sneeze, sneeze, snot release. Alice. With a half-smile on her face and sparks of defiance in her eyes, Alice called into the applause: ‘WE WILL NOT GIVE UP! We are explorers, we dare, we rethink, we shape. We will not step down. WE will step UP! Who says we need a town to do our work? We are not empty handed. We have our businesses. And with our businesses— Yes, we will expand our business networks, build more Hub stations, dot.stations, hidden doors stations, breathe stations, highFly stations and other stations. And we will set up additional businesses. WE WILL continue to bring people and ideas together from around the world: not to plunder the planet, not to screw people, not to dominate, not to exploit — but to rethink, to value, to create. Our businesses will be our new focus, our new home, our new playground, and with them we will keep working so that destructive cycles, ideas and narratives will get a rethink through our work, our ideas, our courage, our imagination, our care, our experiences — through everything we have.’ Another huge applause erupted. ‘A poet from Lebanon said: “True power — if you think about God — true power is in creation, not in destruction, exploitation or dominance.” We create, and we will become stronger by empowering the people in our networks, by unearthing their potentials, by healing our planet. We will create ripple effects that will be felt everywhere. And we will open our project to more international teams from around the world.’ 3
Stormy sea and beach.
‘WE WILL NOT GIVE UP! We are explorers, we dare, we rethink, we shape. We will not step down. WE will step UP!’
:
#Ourfuture #etbs #photography #photohighlightsJan26
#sea #storm
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Whispers. Daria opened her eyes. Fingers were pointing towards the stairs. Daria saw Tom and Alice walk down. Andy and Jack followed, Jazz brought up the rear. The teams seemed to hold their breath. Tom. Tom looked smug. Alice worried. That could only mean one thing. But that couldn’t be. It could not be! Daria fumbled for the binoculars, she had stuffed into her jacket, and looked again. She swallowed and coughed. There was an air of superiority around Tom. Satisfaction. Alice frowned deeply. And there was Andy. Andy looked crestfallen. Alice and Tom slowed down. Andy and Jack passed them. Tom stopped. Alice took a few more steps and accepted a microphone from Rohana. Andy and Jack disappeared in the crowd. Jazz. Jazz had stopped near Tom. Alice looked at the teams. Brief smiles flickered across her face as she acknowledged members of the team with a nod. Suddenly there was another change in the atmosphere. It started in Alice’s eyes. It looked like a question, or as if a thought had occurred to her, and she gave it a moment to fully materialise, to see it. Everyone was holding their breath now.
Snowy, narrow forest track and low sun in the background.
‘Everyone was holding their breath now.’
:
#Ourfuture #etbs #photography #photohighlightsJan26 #forest
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Daria crossed the atrium at some kind of half-run. When she reached the back of the gathering crowd, she coughed into her thick shawl. All faces were turned towards the staircase near the Oceans Bar. The atmosphere was tense, expectant — and strangely hopeful. Daria’s face half disappeared in her woolly shawl which smelled of tiger balm. Her jacket pockets were full of briefly unused tissues and soon to be sucked cough drops. Everyone was here: the town project teams, the project business teams, the international teams via the Hub, the Front House people, the Helping hands and nursery staff, even the actors from the theatre. Everyone. Daria searched for members of her team and caught Kamal’s gentle, worried gaze. He stood at a bar table with Farid and Raha. Daria blushed. That was another thing, she just couldn’t get used to: blushing. It was so, so something that was embarrassing. Daria nodded in return and her eyes found a group of programmers: Zaida, Noel and Raiden among them, leaning against the bar. Daria stepped backwards. She wanted to be close to someone she knew well, be with her team, be in the middle of it all, but she felt weak and really shouldn’t spread her germs. Keeping her eyes on the staircase where Leo and Rohana were setting up two microphones and four loudspeakers, Daria took more steps backwards until her hands touched one of the swivel chairs. Another step brought her to the edge of the workstation’s table. She slid on top of it and leaned her back against a monitor. Better. Daria blew her nose quietly and popped another cough drop. She should have brought tea. But there had been no time. She closed her eyes. Hell, she felt like a wreck. Suddenly the atmosphere changed.
Stormy sea, Baltic Sea
:::
DEFIANCE
part 7: Defiance
::
‘Suddenly the atmosphere changed.’
Read more in the thread 🧵 1/4
:
#Ourfuture #etbs #photography #photohighlightsJan26 #booksky #resist #climateaction #beach #sea #storm
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Some minutes later, Andy, Jazz, Leo and Jack were with Alice. Alice stood at her desk and looked worried. ‘I still don’t know what to tell the teams — unless it’s something like: Let’s travel to another planet where we can do our job. Afterwards we can send our results to planet Earth — provided they haven’t blown themselves up by then.’ ‘Nice imagery,’ Andy said, trying to smile — and failing. ‘One of my big talents,’ Alice returned, sounding bitter. ‘It just isn’t enough.’ Andy shook his head. ‘Maybe we can focus on helping existing towns. Maybe that gives us the kind of reputation we need.’ ‘I don’t know,’ Alice said and looked at ‘Jazz? What’s your take?’ Jazz shrugged. ‘I’ve always believed that there are enough visionary people to make this town happen. But maybe they’re all at the project by now.’ A tiny smile flashed in Alice’s eyes, and she turned to ‘Jack?’ Jack shrugged. ‘I wish we could think of something. We all tried but—’ ‘—What are you saying?’ Andy snapped. ‘Are you on Tom’s side now?’ Jack glared at Andy. ‘Of course, I’m not! I like the idea of working with existing towns, but the project teams need more. And Tom won’t accept anything short of dismantling the project — unless we have a better idea. And whether we like it or not — we don’t.’ Andy swallowed, clenching his fists. Alice straightened and inhaled. ‘Time to face the music.’ ‘What will you say?’ Leo asked quietly. ‘I don’t know.’
Tilted image of beach track leading towards the sea.
:::
DEFIANCE
part 6: What now?
::
‘Let’s travel to another planet where we can do our job. Afterwards we can send our results to planet Earth — provided they haven’t blown themselves up by then.’
:
#Ourfuture #etbs #photography #photohighlightsJan26 #booksky #resist #climateaction #beach #sea
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‘What little hope I still have, it’s shrinking by the second—’ ‘—You’re wrong!’ ‘Daria, the project is over. How could it not be? And Alice knows it. That’s why she’s afraid to call for the all-teams meeting. What choices does she have? Let’s build cardboard houses or a miniature town?’ ‘We can expand breathe, our pharma company, and then build Drug City.’ ‘What’s the difference? I mean why would a government agree to Drug City but not to Easy Town?’ ‘Drug City would bring down health costs more massively than Easy Town because unlike other pharma companies breathe makes sure that everyone gets what they need. Fewer people will get sick. It would be the end of bloodsucking health insurers, pharma giants and hospital chains. And Drug City will help with all the research. No more profiteering of other people’s miseries. Breathe will work like dot. with millions of developers and millions of workshops around the globe, making medication accessible, useful and individual.’ Skye shrugged. ‘OK. So our project has an endless supply of how to reshape pretty much everything that is rotten on our planet. But for some reason people seem to be afraid of un-rotting the planet?’ Daria shook her head. ‘This can’t be the end!’ Skye sat down on a chair next to the open window. ‘If there was a way, we would have found it by now.’ ‘But there are hundreds of ways,’ Daria retorted, taking a cookie. ‘It’s only that people block the roads because they have no imagination, are afraid, and hold on to stupidity as if it was a cuddly bear. And I don’t get why they prefer to run around hailing idiots and going to war and sucking the planet dry! None of this is even fun or good for anything. Skye, we have to find a way!’ Skye sighed, went to the bed and touched Daria’s forehead. ‘First we need to get this fever down.’
Moss and yellow lichen on wet bark.
:::
DEFIANCE
part 5: Drug City
::
‘So our project has an endless supply of how to reshape pretty much everything that is rotten on our planet. But for some reason people seem to be afraid of un-rotting the planet?’
:
#Ourfuture #etbs #photography #photohighlightsJan26 #booksky #pharmaceuticals
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Alice drummed her pen on the desk. It was nearly noon. Damn! She had to take a decision. Alice got up and walked to the wall opposite her desk. It had some thirty post-its stuck to it, an attempt at collecting and sorting ideas. Abandoned villages in Bulgaria and Italy. Hm. Should they try that? Adjust their ideas for these kinds of locations? Maybe start with a collection of villages? Each village testing a different aspect of the town? Would these governments let them? Hm. Enemy. Do we need an enemy to get a town? Enemies unite. Enemies mobilise. Enemies make change possible. Alice shook her head. Why can’t the crises in our societies, and on our planet unite us? There is enough to do: shaping our societies, rethinking our businesses, rethinking our narratives, restoring biodiversity, rewilding our planet. Why an enemy and not a joint purpose? Because people might not yet be aware that these things can be questioned, rethought, shaped. Many have only been taught what is right and which side a good person is on, not how to rethink, connect and shape. Hm. Even activists are reluctant to engage with the town project. Why? Because the town project refrains from throwing around slogans, from dividing the world into good and evil, from fighting against people and organisations?
But it’s not us versus them. It’s either all of us or none of us! Canada. Josh. The Canada Team. Alice talked with Josh, earlier today. Vague interest by the Canadian government. Nothing to work with. Threat. Should we invent a threat that makes it necessary to build the town? But aren’t the threats of a collapsing planet and our dysfunctional societies enough to motivate us? It should be. Do people know that they can make a difference? How to open the doors for them? Hm. Challenges. Challenges are good. But whom to challenge? Which government would open to which sort of challenge? The best town in the world? Alice sighed. No! That’s not what we are about. We research, we don’t thumb our chests. We don’t even want to compete. Because bleeding competition doesn’t serve us, not as planet, not as humanity, not even as single nations. Everything is connected, competition only keeps us from reconnecting, from unfolding our full potentials. DAMN! Alice nearly punched the wall. But last week, she learned how much that hurt, and she wasn’t keen on a repetition. Alice got her jacket and slipped into it. She needed to go on another walk. Walking helped. Usually. Something had to.
Freezing morning sunrise at the beach.
:::
DEFIANCE
part 4: What are the choices?
::
‘Why can’t the crises in our societies, and on our planet unite us? (…) Why an enemy and not a joint purpose?’
:
#resist #Ourfuture #etbs #defiance #photography #photohighlightsJan26 #booksky #climateaction
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Alice sat down at her desk. Would becoming an arsehole, idiot or crook help? Sometimes the world seems full of these kinds of people, and for some reason they get to screw the planet instead of getting a kick in their overlarge bottoms. Alice looked at her flotilla of paper boats which occupied most of the upper third of her desk. Folding paper boats had been Rose’s idea. A world two idea. They did a competition to fold the smallest boat. It was a draw. Neither got beyond an A12 size of paper, and A10 was really the limit for a convincing-looking paper boat. Now there was this flotilla, white and green boats in all sorts of sizes. Alice took a green sheet of A5 paper from the drawer and started to fold another boat, mumbling to herself: ‘Fold side to side.’ The world doesn't want to be saved. Alice snorted, running her thumb along the crease. So what? Since when does the world get what it wants? ‘Unfold, fold bottom to top.’ Besides, we are not about saving. We are about building a town, businesses, communities. We are about rethinking and reshaping — for our town. We are about testing ideas for ecology, farms, design, tech, education, health, arts, architecture, wellbeing, empowerment, freedom — as inspiration. ‘Flip so that the fold opens towards me.’ The world will have to do the damn saving itself.
‘Fold down the top corners towards the centre crease.’ How did we humans get so much wrong? ‘Fold the bottom of the paper up.’ No one challenged them. Or too few. ‘Flip and repeat. And there, you get a hat. Great.’ Too few. Alice sighed. I keep hitting the wall. ‘Open the hat and push it into a diamond shape.’ And I can’t find a door. ‘Sort out the corner bits by pushing one below the other.’ What if there is no door? ‘Fold the bottom flap upwards.’ Maybe we could build one. ‘Flip. Repeat.’ Alice grimaced, remembering a line in the press: If it’s such a good idea, why hasn’t anyone tried it? Clever, eh? ‘Do the hat trick again to get the diamond shape.’ We believe everything is already said and done. We don’t believe that we could be the ones who discover something that might work better than what we already have. And that keeps us from evolving, from trying new roads despite the fact that scientists constantly make discoveries and disprove existing theories. I blame school for this. We have been taught that everything is already written down, and we only have to memorise it. It’s not. In fact, if we take a result-based view, then we have to concede that we got an awful lot wrong — as proven by the present state of our world.
The masts of a sailing boat mirrored in icy port water, giving the image a hint of a Monet painting.
:::
DEFIANCE
part 3: The flotilla
::
‘The world will have to do the damn saving itself.’
:
#resist #Ourfuture #water #etbs #defiance #photography #ships #monet #photohighlightsJan26 #booksky
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When Alice turned, she saw Jack, her face thoughtful, and they met halfway. ‘Morning, Jack. Any news?’ ‘No. I just wanted to see how you are.’ ‘I’m good. The fresh air is good. The grey sky not so much. Trees are good. Thinking probably, too.’ Alice sat down on a tree trunk which served as a long bench. Jack sat down, too, glad that they would have a moment together. With unseeing eyes, Alice looked at the firs, and after a while she said: ‘I’m in this strange three worlds situation. World one is all about my body, getting back my strength, and having fun with Calum, who is a perfect therapist both for my physical and my mental health — and in my mind it makes sense to treat both together. This world is strangely quiet. There is no noise, no confusion, not even questions. There is just the care for my body, and digesting the attack. The next world is the one with people close to me. It’s the world where I play cards with Andy and Daria, where I watch a movie with Kim, where you tell me about your times on stage, where Kahu reads me one of her stories, where Leo and I dream about having a pride party. Leo wants to dress me up as a drag queen, and for some reason I love the idea. It’s where Kyle and Eve play piano with me, where Rose and Mudiwa cook in my kitchen and I get to stir the pot with my good arm. Also part of this second world was the weekend with Security for our basic escape training. We had so much fun. Hours went by when I didn’t worry about a thing even though I had to use the wheelchair. It was liberating.
This second world, too, has something isolated and quiet, and it only exists because I am still recovering. In these two worlds it’s like we are all determined not to look beyond the next hour. And I am grateful for these worlds, they strengthen me. They also make me reluctant to step into world three, where the future of the project hangs by a single thread, and Tom is circling it with his scissors. I don’t know what the last weeks of frustration would have done to me without those retreats. I know that we are all racking our brains, and we all reiterate that this can’t be happening. This can’t be the end. What are we missing? What do we get wrong? Why the resistance to testing new ideas when we can all tell that most of the ideas that make our world don’t work. Should we wrap our questions and ideas in candy and lies? Would that get us a place for our town? Are our ideas too challenging? But then, don’t humans like challenges?’ Alice shook her head. ‘This third world is weighing us all down. And we can’t help each other because we’re all struggling to keep our heads above the water. The only times we can escape are those when we shut ourselves off in world one or two. But those worlds can’t exist forever. However real and good they are, they can’t exist forever side by side with the uncertainty of world three. Eventually world three will infect world one and two.’
Green fungi, probably Trametes.
:::
DEFIANCE
part 2: The three worlds situation
::
‘This third world is weighing us all down. And we can’t help each other because we’re all struggling to keep our heads above the water.‘
:
#resist #Ourfuture #fungifriends #etbs #defiance #photography #mycology #photohighlightsJan26 #booksky
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Jack woke up with a scream on his lips, his heart racing, his body drenched in sweat. As he became aware of his flat in the Compound, he sank back into his cushions and focused on breathing deeply. Another nightmare. They were getting worse again: Alice would be at the brink of death, his children kidnapped or the Compound burning, everyone trapped inside, no chance of getting them out. Jack wiped his face, turned on his side and looked at the phone. 2:43 Tue, 31 January Jack grimaced. Today is the day. Today they might decide to dismantle the town project. Jack wrapped his blanket more tightly around himself. He needed more sleep. Close to six, Jack woke up again. Workout — with Jazz, without Alice. After a quick breakfast, he checked in with his children, his parents and his sisters, as he always did when the nightmares were particularly bad. Some in his family joked about it, but he needed to know that they were fine. Then he went to find Alice. He had tried to call her after a bad night. But that didn’t work. He needed to see her, even just from the distance. He hadn’t told her about the nightmares, and she never asked why he came looking for her. He was glad about that. It was past nine when Jack found Alice behind the Back House, walking away.
Black and white pixelated photo of the moon in a stormy night.
:::
DEFIANCE
part 1: The nightmare
::
‘Jack woke up with a scream on his lips.’
:
#resist #Ourfuture #etbs #defiance #photography #nightmares #moon #blackandwhite #night #booksky
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I am the ocean As the wind rouses me I rise, I roar, I grow in strength. I reach the shore barricades await me stones, ragged dark against my white crests. I gather, I roar, I push myself towards the sky before I splash into a brilliant fountain defying the barricades conjuring rainbows as millions of droplets crash down on the other side of the barricades. I bring foams to nurture the land salt to strengthen it stones and shells to shape it and I rain rainbows.
Rainbow across the sea.
/9
‘I am the ocean
As the wind rouses me
I rise, I roar, I grow in strength.’
I wrote this in January 2024 while on the peninsula Fischland Darss, and later included it in book 3, shaping.
#ocean #photography #sea #etbs #rainbow
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Brown mushrooms of different sizes, growing in all sorts of directions on a birch tree.
DAY 6, COMMUNITY
prelude, quoting book 1, beginning
‘Easy Town is not about clean, perfect, ordered or about looking away. I’m not sure what it will be about. I’m not sure Easy Town is possible. But I’d like to find out.’
#rethinking #OurFuture #urbanism #photography #etbs #resist #fungifriends
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Bertok shook his head. ‘No, no. Easy Town is not about music. But—’ ‘No!’ Alice cut in, shaking her head. ‘We’re not building more than one town.’ ‘Alice, think about it. There are so many important questions. You said you want to keep the experiment simple. And you’re right about that. But imagine what we could find out if we had several towns. Each with a different focus, each testing a slightly different set of assumptions. We could vary them in size, in composition.’ Alice kept shaking her head. ‘Look, Bertok. It’s intriguing. But our town is an experiment. It’s far too risky to do more than one. And we’re dealing with people here, not with rats.’ ‘No one forces anyone to be part of the project. And if your assumptions work, then a town will make more money than it needs. And that means, eventually one town can finance the building of another town. We don’t have to rush it. Just think about it. Imagine a town that’s all about music. We would gather the best instrument builders from around the world, the best composers, the best singers, dancers — all of them. And we’d invite everyone else who loves music. And together we celebrate music. We preserve the craft of building instruments. We open our doors to people who always wanted to learn an instrument but never got the chance. We’ll have festivals, jam sessions, music universities, dance academies, courses for set design, costumes, show runners, sound technicians, sound related architecture and town planning. And a huge research facility to study how music can be used in healing processes, in learning, in work places. We can have our own music label, concert halls, sound studios, museums. We can do sound editing, music therapy, headphones, have a research clinic for ears and the parts of the brain that deal with sound. And a clinic for injured dancers, a workshop for hearing aids, a school for sign language, music apps and hi-fi systems. /1 ©Charlie Alice Raya, 2021, book 2, travelling, part 2
Anything that has the slightest connection to music and sound. This way we make sure we have a great variety of businesses and jobs, even if these jobs are all about music. And we’ll arrange all of these elements like a symphony so that a visitor to the town can feel every aspect of sound and music just by walking through the town. And one day, everyone who ever wants to be someone somewhere in music and sound will have to have walked through our gates. And all the present big players and advertisers will have to stay out because our town is about music not about money, swaggering, manipulation or fame. And instead of polishing historical places, we create something new, something that’s relevant today. Relevant for every living creature. And we’ll have initiatives like Instruments For All and Save Craftspeopleship. And a research centre to find out why and how fame screws with so many people — on all sides. And we can have exchanges with the mother of all Easy Towns. But we would be all about music, sound and dance—’ ‘The mother of all Easy Towns?’ Alice interrupted with raised eyebrows. ‘Yes,’ Bertok replied solemnly. ‘The first Easy Town will always be the mother of all Easy Towns. And it will be in memory of your friend Easy, and in defiance of the treatment he received as a neurological patient. Easy Town will lead the way to do better for all the Easy’s and their relatives on this planet. The mother of all Easy Towns will provide the basis to revolutionise hospitals, to nourish scientific research, to find a sustainable business mix and optimal business sizes, to build simulations that can help every place on this planet, to bridge demographic and class divides, to become part of the ecosystem and not its destructor, and so much more. And on top of that, Easy Town will be one of the most beautiful and thoughtful places on this planet. A place where a human can be whatever they want to be, and where a broken soul can find healing. /2 ©Charlie Alice Raya, 2021…
A place where we’ll never stop to explore what is good for us, where we’ll unlearn everything that makes us sick, where we’ll untangle what needs untangling, tear down whichever barrier needs tearing down, and where we’ll always be open to take yet another step towards freedom. In the mother of Easy Towns, we’ll learn to be free and healthy and to enjoy life. In the town of music, we’ll feel the rhythm of the universe and learn to dance.’ (…) ‘So you’re in?’ he asked, his voice trembling. Alice smiled. ‘No.’ Bertok’s face fell. ‘Look. I love your idea. I really do. But I’ve been opposing the idea of building more than one town for weeks. Tom is a big advocate of a whole network—’ ‘Yes,’ Bertok interrupted. ‘Alice, you’re not as safe as you think. But if we have a network of towns, on top of a network of Hub Stations— The better we are connected globally the safer you’ll be, the safer the project will be. And the greater the chance that we’ll find out something, something that really helps, and that has actual proof behind it, verifiable results, reproducible results. The project needs to get stronger. The Hub is the first step. The towns could be the second. We’ll be less vulnerable, and together we can withstand the corporate giants and set up millions of dwarf enterprises and protect them through our umbrella companies like the Hub, like dot. Together we can show everyone that we can do better — on a global scale.’ /3
Waves rolling onto the beach.
DAY 6, COMMUNITY
prelude, quoting book 2, travelling
‘In the mother of Easy Towns, we’ll learn to be free and healthy and to enjoy life. In the town of music, we’ll feel the rhythm of the universe and learn to dance.’
#OurFuture #urbanism #photography #booksky #etbs #musicsky #music #cityplanning
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WHY BUILD A TOWN AND NOT A CITY? Alice: ‘We don’t want to put more people through an experiment than strictly necessary.’ Some in the auditorium laughed. ‘And it will be easier to make adjustments in a town. Also, large cities suffer from overpopulation, and small towns suffer from an exodus of people and jobs. If we discover how to run a town attractively, then our results will help cities and towns alike.’
Detail of chicory flower.
DAY 6, COMMUNITY
prelude, quoting book 1, beginning
WHY BUILD A TOWN
AND NOT A CITY?
#rethink #OurFuture #urbanism #photography #booksky #etbs #cityplanning #wildflowers #nature #overpopulation #towns
Find book 1, beginning, here: www.easy-town-books.com/book-1-begin...
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Creating a town that allows for such a supportive environment, that’s something we can attempt to do. And while we are at it, we can question and rethink whatever else might need a rethink. One more thing: early tribes invented gods to combat their fears. I guess, we are still mostly driven by fear and anxiety. Only today, we don’t invent gods. Today, we make order and rules. We sort everything and everyone into nice categories. We find labels, rules and explanations for every eventuality. We bring everything under control. We use disinfectants wherever we can. We become cleaner and more perfect by the day. I think that is as useless a way to combat our fears and anxieties as was inventing gods. Easy Town is not about clean, perfect, ordered or about looking away. I’m not sure what it will be about. I’m not sure Easy Town is possible. But I’d like to find out.’ Silence. ‘It’s got to be worth a try,’ Jack said, only then realising that he had spoken aloud.
Spooky looking tree branches, some blurred.
DAY 6, COMMUNITY
prelude, quoting book 1, beginning
‘I guess, we are still mostly driven by fear and anxiety. Only today, we don’t invent gods. Today, we make order and rules.’
#OurFuture #urbanism #photography #booksky #etbs #rethinking #healthcare #nursing #cityplanning #trees #fear #mono
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