Living La Vida Evolutionary

I've talked with a few people, post-Evo Salon, who are not posting here, (some of whom once did,) and I think I understand something of where we are coming from.

• I think a lot of us were surprised and disappointed at the concept that we would not be meeting as a group again. I know for myself at least, I was invested in the idea that: This is a group I will be participating with again. Apparently not. It's hard to get worked up about organizing a conference that you're not going to go to, so that you can share a forum with a bunch of people that you don't know. "Bummer?" I don't think that begins to describe it.
  
• One of the people I talk with, post-salon, just gets real quiet. The salon is not a topic for discussion. Something must have happened, and I'm not privy to it.
  
• One of the people I talk with, post-salon, just takes a deep breath inhale, and then says, "Hmm.. Yeah... The Evolutionary Salon." There's a look of sadness on his face. He sighs in frustration.
  
• Another one gets a bit roudy, and a bit testy. "They just don't get it." Agreed.
• I suspect the vast majority of people just aren't participating online. They're not "net" people. I have no idea what they're thinking right now.
  

Now, I don't know what life is like amongst the organizers of the thing. I'm just out here in the boonies.

I'm talking about this at personal risk of reputation. I'm doing so because I don't hear anyone else speaking these things out loud. Not here, at least.

I don't dream of offending Michael Dowd or the Evolutionary Spirituality project as a whole. It's a wonderful project, it's the right time for the project, it's awesome, it's wonderful, it's right for my daughter.  (That, and "the dreams book," as she calls it.) The ideas I've learned here are fantastic, and have shaped me.

So, I risk offending Michael Dowd by speaking these things. That's my risk. I don't want to offend anybody.

I don't want to subtract energy. I want to add energy.

I think the way I can do that right now, though, is to speak truth as I see it.

I really want this thing to live. But I think it's breaking itself on the rock of reality right now, by trying to be something that it's not.

Dana wanted to do her California thing. I say: Let her do it.

I just want to have a simple Seattle gathering, and I already sense the tension around it.

I first heard on the phone, talking with someone: "Oh, you shouldn't do that. That's something sensitive. It might become a thing, an issue."

I thought, "Hm... But this is just a rumor. Perhaps not so."

I talked with another person. "Well,... there's only supposed to be certain types of salons. There's talk of fear of fragmenting."

Hmm... But still, this is just a rumor, is it not?

For some strange reason, nobody's talking about this openly. 

When people do speak openly here, it's always in flowery language. 

I finally decided to test it. 

"I want to host a gathering in Seattle."

It's too hard to know, given the response, but I think the rumor is right: Evolutionary gatherings are controlled, by a mysterious force that does not state itself clearly, and free and independent association are not goals.

A simple request to gather should draw enthusiasm, excitement, and encouragement, not cautious inquiry. 

I'm almost beginning to wonder: "Is the term Evolutionary Spirituality trademarked yet?" It would make sense.

Nobody wants to fragment anything. I, personally, just wish that there wasn't anything to fragment. 

...

This is just how I see things. I may just be living in a deluded fantasy world.

But, that shouldn't come as a surprise, should it? Because we're not exactly talking openly about these things. 

I hear your frustration. I don't know what is causing it or how to fix it. Not knowing what to do, I take a moment to send you energy. When the tree falls in the forest, the vibration moves through the air and the earth and all of life is touched.