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Farm Fresh News - November 2022
Dear Friends,
"Attention is energy. What you put your attention into is what you get more of."
This was the mantra spoken by Stephen Gaskin, a man who might be described as a self-styled 60s guru and is regarded as the founder of The Farm Community.
Stephen used to say that when you hear the truth, it rings at the core of your being, resonating with an inner knowing. "What you put your attention into is what you get more of," is a simple truth that plays out in every aspect of our lives.
We can see clearly how relationships and friendships can blossom when they have the attention of our love, or can flounder and fall apart when our attention drifts away, or we place our focus on the differences that drive us apart.
Our survival as a community depended on us understanding energy relationships. This helped us recognize social dynamics such as subtle intimidation, hierarchies, social position, and unequal power dynamics. Our responsibility was to be aware at a deeper level, to speak the truth, and talk to each other to work things out. Starting The Farm was about shifting our attention away from things we did not want, as expressed in the mode of protest, and focusing on positive things, like land to grow food, in a place with clean air and pure water, to build our futures immersed in the prevailing peace offered by nature.
It is why The Farm has always been called an intentional community. We set our intention on what we wanted to manifest into reality.
I truly believe that when any of us sets an intention, and we focus our attention, our creative potential is unlimited.
Peace,
Douglas _____________________________________________
Remembering Mark Madrid  Left: a painting by Farm artist Bernice Davidson for Plenty's Wall of Unsung Heroes, an outdoor exhibit on The Farm photo by Clifford Chappell Mark Madrid was one of a kind, a Muskogee Creek Native American and a founding member of The Farm. Mark became the community's original Gateman.
We figured out early on that there needed to be a gate. This was no free for all crash pad. To get in, you had to get straight with Mark. Mark was tall and lanky, and an imposing figure. His presence was made even more mysterious due to the leg he lost in a motorcycle accident in his days before The Farm. Mark's steely-eyed, serious resolve made you want to put your best self forward, so that you, as a visitor showing up at The Farm's "front door," would be deemed worthy to enter the community. Farm legend has it that not long after arriving in Tennessee, Mark was at our gate when a motorcycle gang showed up ready to raise hell on the hippies. Mark stood bravely before them saying something like, "You'll have to run me down first." His lack of fear earned their respect.
 Mark and I, with Wade from the Awkwesasne Mohawk Nation on The Longest Walk Mark and I got to know each other in an ambulance sent by The Farm to support The Longest Walk, a march in 1978 by thousands of Native Americans that went from the West Coast all the way to Washington DC. I got a 6-week immersion in Native culture with elders from all across the country and the experience had a heavy impact on me.
Mark spent his last years on the Musckogee Creek land in Oklahoma. He has always remained in our hearts, where he still resides, now beyond this plane of existence. Could he be waiting there at the next set of pearly gates? _____________________________________________
Planets as Metaphors to our Humanity - Part 1 The Sun and Moon
 Sufi Sam Lewis in Golden Gate Park back in the day We humans express our energy in a variety of ways. We are familiar with common descriptions like extrovert and introvert, shy or a flirt, down to earth or flighty. By being consciously aware of our own energy and the energy of others, we can learn about ourselves and have greater understanding and tolerance for the differences we encounter in others.
Samuel Lewis, a spiritual teacher back in the days of Haight Ashbury, used a set of teachings called Planetary Movements and Walks to teach his students about the energy dynamics of people. From my own interpretation, the references to the Planetary energies are not so much our vibrations being directly affected by orbs in space (astrology), but in using the planets as metaphors for the various ways certain energies can be embedded into our personalities, or can be called upon to help us achieve and bring forth a vibration in ourselves, whether it be the outward radiance of the sun or the introspective pull of the moon.
Murshid Sam describes Sun energies as positive, outwardly focused, but also with the potential for over-intensity. It is balanced by moon, receptive, turning inward, listening.
I gained a better understanding of sun and moon energies from a friend through the Dances of Universal Peace when she described me as having a lot of Sun, and it gave me a new way of looking at myself.
Since I was a kid, I have been aware that I have a strong, outgoing, personality, and it has been one of my strengths. It's what has given me the drive to be an entrepreneur, to play and perform music, and take on many different projects.
But I have also learned that your strength can also be the source of your greatest weakness. I can see how often my conflicts in life are also the result of my own intensity, or not taking the time to reflect, review, to balance being outwardly driven by paying attention to the details.
Sam describes the Sun Walk as a solid pace, energy radiating outward. Facing forward toward a goal. I see this in the stages and changes of my life. I find myself physically walking at a fast, driven pace wherever I go. My natural walk is a Sun Walk.
This energy is my strength. How can my new Sun awareness help me see where I need balance and apply it?
More Moon
And so I have gained a deeper appreciation for the energy of the moon. Receptive. Reflective. Balancing the yang of the sun with the yen of the moon, the Divine feminine qualities of nurturing, observant, and caring compassion.
I try to remind to myself to be more mindful in everything I do. To slow down, to take some time to review my words, my intentions, my actions, whatever they may be. “Be more mindful,”... my mantra as I look toward another year.
 The Farm's first "logo", a mandala by artist Michael Kelly ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Farm Poet Emeritus, Rupert Fike
 Rupert was a member of The Farm back in the day, a rare southern boy who came from to us Atlanta. When he left The Farm after The Changeover in the 80s, he became a journalist, and a widely regarded poet. His stream of consciousness ramblings about life on the early Farm offer a quirky but deep insight into what it was really like to live in the largest hippie commune in the world.
He Arrived in a hollowed out Studebaker Lark
by Rupert Fike published in The Sun Magazine, 2022 "George, who’d sat zazen in a West Coast ashram,
who hadn’t started with weed and acid the way we had,
whose ice-floe eyes and thick russet ponytail
soon sparked jealousies among the single ladies
where before there had been none, the men smirking,
though we, too, were developing sort of a crush on him,
positioning ourselves behind him at Sunday services,
copying his chin tuck, back arch, deep exhalations —
we wanted to at least look like we were meditating.
We also had eyes for his car..."
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Dance Calendar
Chatannoga December 9, 2022
Atlanta December 10, 2022
On The Farm December 11, 2022 2 PM Contact me for more information
Mexico Feb 2-6, 2023
April 14-16, 2023 on The Farm with guest dance leader Allaudin
Dances of Universal Peace in Puerto Morelos, Mexico
February 1-5, 2023
I invite you to join me at one of my upcoming dance events, including five days of Dances in Mexico, with song circles, art projects, and whatever else appears, along with time for walks on the beach, snorkeling, dining with friends, conversations, and laughter. We come together to be with each other to remind ourselves that we are energy beings, and at our strongest when we are together in community. Click here to learn more about Dances in Mexico.
with Dance Leaders Sky Roshay, Jennifer Friedman, and Douglas Stevenson
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Thank you for your time and attention!
A big thanks to everyone who has become a patron of Farm Fresh!
When you become a subscriber, your contribution helps spread the word about community-based alternatives and the spiritual path.
Take this one small step to be part of the solution!
When you become a subscriber, your contribution helps spread the word about community-based alternatives and the spiritual path.
Take this one small step to be part of the solution!
You can help keep Farm Fresh going by pledging $2, $5, or $10 a month, or by making a one-time contribution.
Peace,
Douglas
Watch my TEDx Talk: Out to Change the World - Living the Hippie Dream
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Speaking Engagements
At the same time, I recognize that I can reach a lot more people if I go outside the community. One of my goals is to speak at colleges and universities where I can talk to young people about Right Livelihood, Service, and Finding Sanity in an Insane World. This is a time when people need to hear an uplifting message of hope.
If you are part of an organization, event, or school (or you just want to learn more about my life's work), I invite you to visit my website www.douglasstevenson.com, where you'll find information on my lecture topics and how to bring me to speak in your area.
Thank you for your interest, and your support. I hope to see you down the road.
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My wife Deborah has retired from practicing midwifery on The Farm but continues to teach midwifery workshops and classes at the Farm's College of Traditional Midwifery. If you, a friend, or family member are considering a midwifery-assisted birth, I encourage you to visit The Farm Midwifery Center's website and make an appointment with one of the midwives currently taking on clients.
Deborah's birth resource web sites for families seeking guidance on subjects such as
- Choosing a Care Provider.
- Health and Diet
- Challenges and Complications
- and much more!
- The Awakening Birth podcast is available on iTunes or at www.awakeningbirth.net
Village Media Services
Douglas@villagemedia.com
www.villagemedia.com
www.douglasstevenson.com
Douglas@thefarmcommunity.com
Douglas@villagemedia.com
www.villagemedia.com
www.douglasstevenson.com
Douglas@thefarmcommunity.com
