The Solem Community

Invitation to participate in the founding of Solem Community

Saturday 15^th June

 

Programme

10am: Arrival - meeting friends

12pm:  Lunch will be provided.

1pm:  Meeting commences

5pm.  Meeting ends and departure.

 

Background

The project was started in autumn 2012, with the aim of reorganizing Solem into a collective of people with equal status, living and working together in a spiritual community: and we are now a working group of four men.

·       The present owner and host at Solem: Per–Arne

·       Tenant and helper/assistent : Mike

·       Volunteer helpers: Bjørn and Storm

·       We have also had  good friends helping us in this work, and especially Bi-Ma and Deva

In November 2012, we sent out various documents including a questionnaire in order to gain response to a number of issues concerning the project.

We are now inviting you to a gathering at Solem, on Saturday 15th June.

Initially we wish this to be a social event, where people can meet and exchange ideas and experiences, but we will also be presenting some suggestions as to how we see the way ahead.

The aims for our community at Solem are presented on the English language page, as there has been some interest from abroad.

Solem community – Aim/vision

Our aim is to create a sustainable community living in abundance, tolerance and

spiritual harmony for the benefit of all, recognizing that we are connected to one another, nature and the  environment.

We will consciously employ the best tools and technologies, old or new, for organization, accommodation, infrastructure, energy, food, water, waste management, health-

care, information and education.

 

We aim to employ a flexible, effective process to achieve this - a transparent  process in which all members of the community can participate; one that encourages feedback and relies upon "collective consciousness”. Each individual member’s skills and needs will be highly respected and appreciated to create diversity and freedom for all.

Organization

In the coming weeks we will also be working on simple drafts for structure and process, which can be a basis for discussion at the meeting. We would like to have a discourse which is as comprehensive and open as possible. Feel free to come with input or suggestions, also prior to the meeting.

We will be inviting Bi-Ma to lead a circle during the day; she has a great deal of experience in this field from her own practice, and we can learn a lot from her on how to conduct meetings in the ring a later on.The community will be established as a permanent organization, a cooperative and a foundation.Within this structure, all members will be heard, and have a democratic right to partake in the decision making process. However - they also have the right to work with their own projects.

We will gain inspiration from Lao Tse:

"Be still like a mountain and flow like a great river."

We can rewrite it to become:

 “Let the intent be like a mountain, let the process flow like a great river,

Let the structure be the boat we use on the river”

 

We hope and believe that people will come to Solem, to build themselves a home, according to permanent cultural principles, and perhaps also create a variety of activities here.

The competence, creativity and needs of each and every individual will be central in this community. Freedom for everyone

We welcome your suggestions concerning our aims, structure and process.

Even if you are not personally ready for this, at this time, we would still welcome your participation in the discussions, and your support in the events ahead of us.

With kind regards

 The working group,

Bjørn, Mike, Per Arne og Storm