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In this issue...
Guest Editor Gayatri Erlandson has assembled an exciting issue for your summer reading which includes articles by three authors new to Itineraries:
 ■ Debbie Ramsdell, who lives
at Champlain Valley Cohousing in VT, writes of her experience.
 ■ Aileen Fitzke of EcoVillage at Ithaca describes the joys and challenges of intentional community.
 ■ Maureen McCarthy fills us in on the genesis and use of the State of Grace Document.
After an overview of the issue
(see right) that provides an illuminating context for
all the articles, Gayatri herself contributes the quintet of
articles below:
■ Embracing Elders/Living Well
■ Fellowship Community
■ Communities of Hope
■ Full-Service Elder Villages
■ New Structures of Belonging
Finally, you won't want to miss a second quartet of features and reviews from Itineraries regulars, John Sullivan, Bolton Anthony, and Barbara Kammerlohr along with the reprint of a Winter 2006 article by Ron Pevny.
Enjoy!
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From the editor...
 This Summer 2010 issue of Itineraries continues our year-long focus on living in community. In the Winter 2010 issue we explored the natural first step in catalyzing community: the process of “Envisioning it.” In the Spring issue we turned our attention to what’s important in “Building it” and looked at the structures needed or options available — both architectural and organizational for building community.
Why live in community?
In addition to allowing us to save money and live more lightly on the earth, the most compelling answer seems to be for human connection. We have an inherent need for meaningful, caring, long-term relationships. Remember Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?
The five levels build from the most primitive, Survival. Next, our needs for Safety and Security must be met before the third level — Love  and Belonging — can be engaged. The fourth level is Self-Esteem and Achievement. Beyond that is Maslow’s last or highest stage of development: Self-Actualization. This developmental theory says that we can achieve the higher levels only to the extent that we have met the lower needs first.
Using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, one could say that a community is successful when its members have all three of the lower levels satisfied and are well into the fourth. For this “Living it!” issue, I specifically looked for communities that are successful — ones that readers might be interested in joining or modeling. . . [continued]
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 Itineraries editor, Gayatri Erlandson, is a consultant and catalyst for collaborative community who lives in Asheville, NC. She can be reached through her
Web site LivingNewStories.com, by phone at (828) 667-4343, or by e-mail at
cocreating [at] charter [dot] net.
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Brief Notices...
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WHAT NOW?
Quest
for Redefining Vision
You had a vision once. An insight about something the world (your community, your bioregion, your clients) needed that you and only you could provide. There was a creative project you longed to undertake. Maybe you felt called to embody a way of being you that was at once very familiar and very daring, but you couldn’t figure out how to do it.
What happened to that vision? You’ve changed, no doubt. Certainly the times have changed. Maybe your vision needs to change as well.
Join guides Trebbe Johnson and Eugene Hughes on this 8-day quest where you will explore:
- what has heart and meaning from your original vision,
- what’s happened since, and
- what — and how — you can boldly and authentically make a difference in
your world.
Dates: September 10-17, 2010
Place: Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest
in western North Carolina.
Download brochure |
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Sage-ing Guild plans Oct. 14-17
conference
The second International Sage-ing® Conference,
Roots and Wings: The Importance of Sage-ing in
Today's World, will
be held in Loveland, CO, October 14-17. Sponsored
by the Sage-ing Guild, the conference will feature
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, author of
From Age-ing to Sage-ing: A Profound New Vision of
Growing Older, as the keynote speaker
and will include invited talks by authors H. R.
Moody and Robert Atchley. Two pre-conference
workshops will be offered, along with 16 workshops
during the conference on a variety of sage-ing
topics. Additionally, a panel of representatives
from related organizations will discuss new ways to
reach the general public with the message of
conscious aging.
Persons and organizations with interest in
conscious aging are encouraged to participate. Space is limited and early
registration encouraged.
For more information, or to register, visit
sage-ingguild.org/conference/
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When the great Italian artist,
Michelangelo, was asked how he created his
masterpiece, David, he replied: “I simply removed
everything that was not David”... The sculpture was
already contained within the block of marble; his
task was to allow it to emerge. . .
Bolton Anthony is the
founder of Second Journey.
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Becoming a sage is not taking
on a new role... Becoming a sage is more like
letting God be God through a disappearing “me.” I
become a mirror or, better, a window. I become a
place where my being and acting are more and more...
for the sake of all my kin. Empty of self, the
dazzling suchness
of life appears. . .
Philosopher John G.
Sullivan, a regular contributor to
Itineraries, is the author of Living
Large and The Spiral of the Seasons.
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Billy Blake knew about it.
He saw these angels in those trees.
So did Tommy Merton, though
he thought no words could tell others
how they were lighting up the place.
Willie Yeats knew we had to sing,
more so when we knew the grief
of loving one not kindred of our soul.
And Em in Amherst could always smile
inside —
even amidst her brother's steamy
triangles and
too many early burials out beyond the
fence.
She'd chuckle too with comrade Walt
in the early morning slant of Brooklyn
dust.
We all know it, before we rise into the
air,
and then from within as babies
entertaining
all those folks with goofy smiles.
Later, as kids grown-up too soon, we
know
we're glimpsing heaven when, as respite
from
arguments and unspoken tensions, our
parents
sing old-time songs in some basement
with aunts, uncles, cousins, friends.
We go on catching glints all our lives,
despite accidents, wars, diseases, too
early deaths,
fallings out of families, friends, foes,
and lovers.
Yes, joy, the no-account, comes
to one
and all —
unlike that elusive butterfly happiness
which, though now a handy-sized consumer
item,
has wearied of being pursued
ceaselessly.
Yes, the lowly worm of joy reborn,
that hungry, hungry caterpillar will
hunt you
down even in the misery of your solitary
cell.
Joy's with you there, like some earthy
angel,
whispering it's OK, I'm here now.
I was always with you
even when you couldn't know.
I'll never leave you,
so relax,
accept and let that empty pain go.
Breathe in, breathe out,
again, good, good, again.
Is that a smile?
Feel how we heal
as we laugh together.
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. . . no longer interested
in or inspired by the lonely, solitary pursuit
of making it to the top of the ladder of
individual achievement, status, and success.. .
. they wanted to find a way to use their
privilege, skills, networks, and access for the
benefit of the broader community.
Second Journey Book Page
Editor, Barbara Kammerlohr reviews The
Third Chapter by Sarah Lightfoot-Lawrence.
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Pevny starts Center
for Conscious Eldering
Ron Pevny has announced the creation of the Center for Conscious Eldering, based in Durango, CO. This Center will serve as the vehicle for Ron and colleagues to expand the availability of the nature-based Choosing Conscious Elderhood retreats, Meeting Ancient Wisdom pilgrimages to experience indigenous wisdom and elders in Copper Canyon and Hawaii, Ron’s Coaching for Conscious Eldering, and other programs. Ron is a long-time rite-of-passage guide and coach specializing in life transition, and a Certified Leader in the Sage-ing Guild. For more information, see
centerforconsciouseldering.com
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Reprinted from Winter 2006 issue of Itineraries
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The rapidly
increasing number of baby-boomers
questioning the mainstream
contemporary models for aging have a
sense — sometimes a vague yearning
tinged with frustration and fear,
sometimes a persistent deep feeling
of inner calling — that there are
more possibilities for their senior
years than are generally recognized
and supported. . .
Ron Pevny
is a life coach and psychologist
who, for many years, has offered
rites of passage and other support
services for people and
organizations in transition.
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Reprinted from Winter 2006 issue of Itineraries
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See the new archives
Collected Reviews
by Barbara Kammerlohr /
Articles by John Sullivan
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Click here to continue
Leaving
Florence
The
Doorway to Joy
Passion,
Risk, and Adventure 
Claiming
our Elderhood
