Issue #9: Beyond the Gate: A Journey of Community, Boundaries, and Belonging; Prophet's Loss Release Party
Today’s issue has two stories. The first one is a humorous piece inspired by real life events, but with a fair bit of imagination, enjoy it on your couch so as not to fall down and avoid hot beverages. Second story is a about our very own Robin Shaw who officially released her album Prophet’s Loss and had a wonderful event to celebrate it.
From LEV's Warm Embrace to the Path of the Exiles
This is a story of boundaries, psychological boundaries, but also communal boundaries, about how we create them, how we navigate them and what happens when we put them up. As far as stories go, this one should be taken with a grain of salt, unless you are one of the “no salt!” persuasion, in which case I invite you to find another grain to take this story with. Some stories need to be told as is, others are embellished for their entertainment value, I trust you my dear reader to decide which kind of story this is.
Prologue
2.5 years ago, me and my family moved into LEV, we rented a beautiful home named Casa La Paz(House of Peace) and settled in. It’s a boring and pedestrian story of which there are many in the valley. Classical American family with 2 kids and a dog, senses that there is more to life than corporate workplace and Costco, starts their search for meaning journey like many others, by sitting down, quietly, in their own living room and trying hard to listen to that deep inner voice, when no answer comes, turning to the wisdom of Netflix and quickly finding the answer in a show Down to Earth with Zac Efron, episode 3. The rest is history.
We were fairly decent citizens of the community while we were there, helping neighbors, not complaining and not causing too many complaints, taking our own dishes back home from the potlucks while leaving others(I know, the bar is low). We did adopt a cat that was left behind by another neighbor and that cat refused to read communal bylaws no matter how many times we told it to not venture beyond the 10 meter perimeter of the house, but because we pretended the cat was not ours, few people knew to blame us for its mischief(it helped that we called it “Simba”).
We were of course added to the famous “LEV Buen Ride” group chat which had at the time close to 200 people, either owners or current residents or people that lived in LEV years ago, or friends of people who still live in LEV, or people who never lived in LEV but somehow ended up in the group. It was a fun group chat mostly, with some dramas here and there, but overall a pleasant digital experience, one that you could cuddle with your partner over at night and say things like “Can you believe she posted this… OMG, she is so…”. 1.5 months ago we moved out of LEV for personal reasons I won’t bore you with, but suffice to say we were happy in LEV and everyone mostly liked us, or at least pretended to. We of course stayed on the LEV Buen Ride group and felt(still do!) very much part of the broader LEV community. An extended brotherhood/sisterhood of sorts of people who went through “The LEV Experience” and are still here, contributing to the communal life even if our actual home is not within the LEV gates.
The Trigger
On Thursday, February 1st, 2024, at 8:32am, just as Pluto was crossing the Aquarius, I sensed a shift. I couldn’t quite tell what it was, it was not one of those mini-earthquakes we get every few months that causes “OMG did you feel that!” message storms, it was much more subtle, like a part of my reality was now in a slightly different dimension, a semi-mystical experience one may say when you know your future self and your past self have separated and the gap between the two much like that crack in your new concrete floor will never close. I looked down at my hands and it became immediately evident what has happened. My left hand looked as usual, but my right hand which always has a rectangular display attached to it had this:
I stood there in stupor, trying to make sense of it all, those words staring at me: “you’re no longer a member”, like the time when the USSR dissolved and I was no longer a member of the Communist Party - what does it mean I asked myself? But like most spiritual experiences the mind can only comprehend so much in the moment.
The Aftermath
I quickly realized that I was not unique, this was not some sort of a mistake or a random act, there were many others like me, all having this same mystical experience at the same time, its moments like this that you start to believe that we are part of a greater plan the universe has in store for us, that there is an invisible hand guiding us towards our destiny. At 6:37pm, we all learned whose invisible hand it was:
It appears that there was indeed a riot inside the ranks of the highest LEV governing officials, something that is normally unheard of due to the cohesive and transparent nature of the LEV governing process, which like a well oiled machine has operated flawlessly for years. A sense of understanding and clarity emerged inside my body and whenever something emerges inside my body, I tend to let it out and share it with the world:
That night as I cried myself to sleep in the hands of my beloved wife, she tried to counsel me by reminding me that there is life outside of group chats and that perhaps I should look at my right hand without any rectangular overlays. I followed her advice, which led me down a palm reading rabbit hole, did you know you can tell how many kids you’ll have by clenching your fist in a certain way and looking at a side of your hand counting the wrinkles!?
True counsel came the next day when I saw this:
“Ex lev residents”. I was now part of an elite group of people who “once were”, the exiles who survived to start the new world order, one where human kind can finally be free from shackles of the old world, where boundaries do not exist and your identity is not attached to your zip code for there is a full recognition that we are all one. We are the elite few who will write the new story of The New Earth, we just need to enlist a good story writer. Luckily for us, Charles Eisenstein’s rent ends in 2 weeks and so at that point he too shall endure the same fate as us and be removed from Buen Ride and moved into the coveted “Ex lev residents” group, for the LEV Protocols & Procedures are strict and ruthless and have no room for exceptions, no matter your status, no matter your connection to certain owners who shall not be named.
Epilogue
It’s been almost a year since the “event”, I have mostly moved on and have come to terms with the cards that I was dealt. But every week I still wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in cold sweat, from a recurring nightmare. In it, I stand in front of the LEV Gate and I scream repeatedly at the top of my lungs “Can someone open the gate please!?!?”, but no one answers back, for the gate no longer opens for me.
September 2024 Update
Reflecting back on the above 7 months later, I find that I’m closer than ever to the people that kicked us out and we’re wonderful friends, the decision they made turned out to be the right one and the LEV chats are more healthier so are the MV chats.
It is funny how the cycles just repeat themselves and suddenly I found myself together with other admins in a similar position but for a different set of chats, seemingly making the same “mistake” that was done here, causing great injustice! So as not to repeat everything that was already covered in the long(too long?) threads, I hope just like here we’ll end up in a better place and more importantly whatever feelings that were hurt, will be processed, forgiven and made whole again.
Prophet’s Loss - Album Release Party
On February 8th, at The Pad at Buen Camino Bike Park Robin Shaw released her wonderful poetry album Prophet’s Loss, parts of which she performed live at the event.
About the album
Prophet’s Loss combines poetry written and performed by Robin Shaw with music by Grammy Nominated Producer Spec Turner. Available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon, and now streaming on all major music platforms.
From Robin
I created this album after leaving a 17 year modeling career. After so much time being the voiceless face of someone else’s vision, the face of capitalism, I knew I wanted to use my voice to speak out against injustice, greed and systems that cause so much suffering. Creating this album with Spec was a process of alchemizing my pain into art. We forget, sometimes, just how powerful we are to create change. I hope Prophet’s Loss inspires others to use their voice and creativity to speak about the challenges of our shared humanity so that we can truly create a better world for all.
I knew the first place I wanted to perform my work was in the Machuca Valley. I am deeply grateful to this community for the support, I felt so much love at my album release party and it gives me the confidence to continue to perform my art in venues around the world. I hope to reach larger audiences and perform in political spaces, to help be a voice for change. The love in this community gives me a profound sense of support as I continue this journey as a a spoken word artist and performer.
Critical Acclaim
I’m not a regular consumer of poetry, but Robin brought a confidence and joy in her delivery that was palpable and uplifting to all who experienced it. I love how she uses that timeless medium to defy the old, outdated power structures and to empower our community.
— Human
Listening to Robin's 'Prophet's Loss' album on Spotify was powerful and moving, but witnessing her live performance at Buen Camino transcended me into another place altogether. Her courage in addressing racial and economic injustices through her poetry is not only inspiring but a call to action for the rest of us. I long for a day when speaking truth to power is normalized and doesn't require such a brave heart. The event at Buen Camino, set against a backdrop of community love and support, was the perfect environment to experience Robin's messages. It was a profound reminder of how important community is in giving us a safe space to share our truths.
— Lucy
Robin truly felt like she belonged to the stage. The depth of her words, the spark in her voice, the ability to connect with the audience and transform experiences we all have been feeling into a beautiful & incredibly moving performance. I feel so honored to have had the opportunity to witness the shining of a star. I can’t wait to follow the exciting adventure ahead of her!
— Carlotta
Experience the Album for yourself!
YouTube
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n8Dd1DvXkxStGhlmOvNTY0bg3pn4L3zAo&si=dn5E-kTbvx2g8Lrl
iTunes
https://music.apple.com/us/album/prophets-loss-ep/1713104680
Improving Group Chats
The first story was originally meant to cover group chat etiquette and how we can improve our collective communal digital life experience by avoiding some of the cross-postings and finding a better solution to recurring questions. I’ve been thinking about a solution to communal knowledge sharing and how to make it more streamlined for everyone and reduce some of the noise we see today. If you’re interested in running a pilot with me on a new platform(not messaging!) and are passionate about communal knowledge sharing, please join this group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/I9qJyInZ09lJyO6W5bpVGl.