IONS Community Groups Network Newsletter                                                    January 2014
Cathy Coleman
Dear IONS Global Community Network,

Community Group activity is buzzing. A number of people seem to have received a memo that I never sent about starting or re-invigorating community groups. In recent days there have been around 10 new groups wanting to start. This growth is calling us to organize new structures and ways to serve groups that want to start or re-start: 
  • The community group governance and communication has been re-organized and re-invigorated. 
  • Monthly calls with IONS' president, community group liaison, and others are now open to all community group leaders.  
  • There are nine roles of responsibility led by Community Group Leaders with a passion for that aspect of community group well being:  resources; new groups; gatherings, media; membership; governance; youth; newsletter; and international group support.
  • The Passion Project group leaders had their first of what will be regular monthly meetings to check in and talk about things calling for structure and decision making, as well as ways to enhance the well-being of community groups.

In other news, IONS hubquarters is proud to have just launched the Conscious Aging program. The Conscious Aging Facilitator Program publications are now printed and on site here at IONS. Kathleen Erickson-Freeman, the program developer and author of the books, introduced the program to the community group leaders on the call this past week.  Already there have been several orders for the facilitator's program, offered at a special price for community group IONS members at $150 (CG non-IONS members $195). 


Lee Robinson, Community Group
 Coordinator for Pittsburgh's Bleep/IONS Group recently asked for information on paradigms for a presentation. I referred his question to IONS' Chief Scientist, Dean Radin, who responded with the following:

 

"Complex, but interesting. Use Google to search for 'paradigm shift examples.' You'll find lots of images that spark ideas.You also need to decide what aspect of paradigms or paradigm shifts that you're interested in. Every domain of human activity rests upon fundamental assumptions. When those assumptions are in the process of changing, that's where paradigm clashes and shifts can be found. In today's world, there are all sorts of challenges to long-held assumptions, so there are many paradigm wars going on in science, politics, religion, etc." 

 

I thought this might be of interest to you. It also occurred to me that you could share resources among groups. Perhaps some of you have expertise or have developed a presentation on a noetic area of interest? Maybe you live in a metropolitan area and could offer the presentation to another group, or will be traveling and might want to connect with another group to make a presentation There's endless cross-pollination possible between and among community group participants.  


I am inspired by the enthusiasm, action, and invigoration of the IONS community group network. More and more community group participants are becoming IONS members (which we encourage). Leaders are stepping up with suggestions and actions for greater support of CGs. Ideas and resources are multiplying! Thanks for being a part of the IONS Community Group Network!

 

Cathy Coleman

IONS Global Community Liaison

[email protected]

707-779-8271

Featured Media
Bearing Witness To Modern Day Slavery
Watch and listen to an inspiring, mind-expanding 15-minute TED talk by Lisa Kristine, a renowned photographer of culture and humanity. For two years Lisa traveled the world, documenting the unbearably harsh realities of modern-day slavery. She shares hauntingly beautiful images-miners in the Congo, brick layers in Nepal-illuminating the plight of the 27 million souls enslaved worldwide.
Her photography is about bringing out the beauty and dignity of each person, expanding worldviews, and fostering connection; she also has a particular mission to educate the world about modern day slavery.  Read her full bio here.
 
Passion Group Update

The Resources and Support Passion Group is moving forward to provide assistance to Community Group efforts. Led by Mary Gordon (Santa Rosa), the group includes Jerry Kurtyka (El Paso), Marty Cole (Orange Co, CA), and Bobbie Middendorf (Chicago). So far, ideas in the works from this team to enhance meetings, create community, and make things easier for CG leaders are:

  • Create enthusiasm at meetings. For example, use music and poetry. Have attendees participate.
  • Become involved in community outreach.
  • Provide help in how to facilitate conversational group meetings.
  • Provide pre-packaged meeting modules.
  • Create a meeting announcement template for all CGs to use.
  • Allow CG leaders to directly post their announcements on the IONS website.
  • How can we attract new attendees to our meetings?

They will be fleshing out these ideas and provide more information to CG leaders. This is just a brainstorming beginning. They welcome CG input and/or your sharing an issue. To contact this team, email Mary Gordon at [email protected]. Don't keep your ideas to yourself. There's a world of knowledge within all of you, and this team can get your ideas out to the entire CG network.

 

Featured Community Group Leader

New Ventura Community Group Leader is Mystic Rapper

 

Randy Dolan, aka the Mystic Rap Pilot (MRP), is an F-15 fighter pilot turned third generation airline pilot. His mystic rap is where the spiritual rubber meets the road.  Appealing to a diverse audience, mystic rap is a new genre that is positive and about awareness and awakening. Writing since 1980, his creative expression incorporates messages from the mystics. His intention is to connect with groups that are already meeting, teaching, or reinforcing the same messages that come through his creative expression. MRP recently started performing and is looking for venues where they can present. His latest projects include a book, "Seeds of Mystic Rap," a CD, "Mystic Rap," and guiding vision quests. Contact: [email protected], 805-746-0536. Visit his website and listen to free downloads here.

 

IONS Membership
IONS Memberships  

The Santa Rosa IONS Community Group has pledged $100 as a group contribution to IONS. This is above and beyond individual members' memberships and donations. The Santa Rosa CG joins the Tucson, AZ, Community Group, which has been making monthly contributions to IONS Hubquarters for several years.

 

Did You Receive Your Free IONS Membership Brochures? 

Some 27 Community Groups have been actively encouraging membership among their constituencies by making IONS membership materials available at meetings. If your group has not yet joined this campaign, please ask for some brochures to be sent to you for your group participants by sending an email to Cathy Coleman at [email protected] or calling 707-779-8271.

Sign Up Now! 
Memberships are only $40 per year, or $10 per month. We invite you to sign up here if you are not already a member.
 

Not ready to become a member, but want to receive IONS' e-newsetters? Sign up free here.

Engage With IONS!

Like us on Facebook  
Follow us on Twitter 
New IONS EarthRise Logo
Oak Grove and Meditation Hut

Community Group Passion Project leaders will gather at the EarthRise campus March 14-16 to continue working on strengthening the CG effort. Other interested CG members are welcome to attend, though lodging at EarthRise that weekend is limited. Register here.


A larger community group member gathering wlll be offered in the near future, possibly in October. Stay tuned!

IONS Community Recommends

 

Read the Huffington Post article by IONS' president, Cassandra Vieten, "What Is Noetic Science?" The article was published on the heels of Dan Brown's book The Lost Symbol.  Read more about the noetic science behind the book here.
IONS Scientist Featured
The Double Slit Experiment: Does Consciousness Create Reality?
A fascinating article in Spirit Science and Metaphysics features IONS Chief Scientist Dean Radin and his work on the double-slit experiment. As the article says, "These findings provide huge implications for how we understand out interconnectedness with the external world, and the kind of relationship we can have with the universe." Read the article here.
New Posting Policy
Due to limited staffing and current technical limitations, IONS will no longer post individual community group events in the CG Directory. We do want to make sure the current contact information for group leaders is correct, and we want to post links to groups' websites, publish the regular meeting times, meet-up links or instructions, and any information that would ensure that someone looking for what's happening in a group will be able to link to it and find it.
Community Group Tip

 

Has Your Group 

Discovered Wejit?  

A free online tool by Democrasoft, Wejit: 

Allows anyone to give birth to an instant, engaged community around any topic.

- Enables anyone to instantly create a one-page website that collects votes, comments, and results.

- Eliminates the "reply-to-all" email mess that wastes so much time.

- No matter how or when you do it, there's no new organization to join, no software to learn, and virtually no learning curve.

Around The World With IONS Community Groups

San Francisco IONS hosted Dr. Ralph Metzner, author and researcher on transformations of consciousness ever since, as a graduate student, he worked with Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (later Ram Dass).

Bettendorf, Iowa (Quad Cities IONS) hosted Steve and Angel Lyle who presented on "Spiritual Practices of the Pacos of Peru."

Ventura County (California) meets January 26 for a heart-felt discussion around excerpts from the book, The Untethered Soul. This group is being re-started by Randy Dolan.

Chattanooga (TN) hosts Jim Tucker, the founder of the American Birding Association, who will discuss the study of birds as it relates not only to the technical and professional aspects of ornithology, but also to popular literature, media, sports, and religion. 

Chicago IONS will host Rabbi Edwin Goldberg on February 9th, presenting on the Mystical Practices of the Kabbalah.

Contact Us
If you have questions about IONS Community Groups or ideas for contributing to this e-newsletter, we welcome your feedback.

 

Cathy Coleman, Ph.D.

IONS Global Community Network Liaison

[email protected] 

1-707-779-8271

 

Lisa Reagan

IONS Global Community Newsletter Editor

[email protected]