Hopedance

by Bob Banner

I took a break: traveled, retreated, contemplated, read and moved from SLO to Templeton. I considered selling HopeDance or morphing it into something else but I decided to cut the print publication in half (16 pages).

While continuing the flow of positive information I intend to sustain this adventure financially. I also want to encourage readers to visit the website, www.hopedance.org. HopeDance is moving to be more web-based, more social networking, more online articles, more films , more listservs (if neccessary), more connections, more collaborations, more links to the online calendar and more involved in the Transition Towns movement throughout the central coast and southern California.

Basically, when I moved and had to recycle so many files, back issues and piles of magazines I noticed around me a high level of ambition and frenetic energy. I don’t want that anymore. If people want to step forward and engage in these activities, you are totally welcomed. I want more love, fun and joy in my life.

The films are in the Film Library, accessible to everyone (plus I keep adding more to the library!). If people have a passion to screen films in their city, I will assist you. The articles and special issues that I so dedicatedly pursued are all online. The listserv postings have been reduced somewhat and we are currently looking into various creative and fluid social networking platforms to keep the online community more interactive, social, and organized. The writing is on the wall for the aging, email-only format.

Even though you might miss the plethora of articles in each printed issue, you will be able to see even more content online. The handwriting for printed publications is on the wall as well! We will be slowly transitioning to the online format, starting with this issue.

The idea from HopeDance’s inception has been to bridge the virtual (online) to the physical (social) communities. This is an ongoing process. As we are transitioning from one technology to another we are also continuing our work of transitioning from a death-affirming-globalization-cheap-oil-more-is-better paradigm to a more humane, earth-based, simple, conscious, and life-affirming culture. And that segues beautifully to the new book that we have been touting recently that comes from the UK: The Transition Handbook: From oil dependence to local resilience by Rob Hopkins. We have published a powerful reprint from the book. Jim Cole, on the steering committee to work on the Transition model for SLO County, has written a white paper about the Transition Town Initiatives. Larry Saltzman has written a fine summary of the new listserv that is dedicated to the flow of information surrounding the Transition movement on the central coast, as well as writing about Santa Barbara’s involvement in the Transition Town Initiative.

Speaking of transitions again, we include an entertaining and imaginary piece by Jill Cloutier about the wild transition of a typical local land developer to become a re-developer. Fanciful imaginations can act as strong agents for change.

Also, one of the most heart-warming letters I have ever received about the work I have done with HopeDance in the past 11 years is penned by new writer Katie Liljedahl. Please read her most inspiring words.

For events, films, book readings, more articles, concerts, and festivals that involve HopeDance’s topics and issues, please check out our website at http://www.hopedance.org/cms. We are getting close to 200,000 hits a month; that’s almost 2.5 million hits a year!

Thanks for all the supporting and encouraging letters and emails I received during this hiatus. One element that I have discovered, and am discovering more each day, is to LISTEN. When I respond by listening, it makes life easier, more enjoyable and full of exciting synchronicities. We need to think outside the box, feel with our hearts, move from Knowledge and intuition, and act like warriors in each moment. In times like these we ought to demand nothing less from ourselves as well as those people we truly call our friends.

If you wish to explore the future of HopeDance, the future morphing of HopeDance into a Transition Times LOCAL (tri-county) publication, the exploration of a dynamic social networking online presence, give me a call or email.

Bob Banner: (805) 369-0203
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