Here’s the PDF dowload of the original Beauty Engine book in its first format.
Feels a little outdated now but its still gots lots of good stuff and the outline and tools of how we craft creative community and experiences still holds up nicely!
It contains much of the science behind how we produced our recent PALENQUE 2012 event.
http://beautyengine.org/the-book/
What i did on my Palenque Vacation
or
PALENQUE 2012, A Super Fun Mythic Adventure of Evolutionary Proportions
Palenque 2012 was the culmination of a kind of social experience i’ve been looking for for over 15 years.
I’ve been attempting to integrate the experiences i had on the trip for almost a month now and am still reeling from the many profound gifts and inspirations i received. What a doozy!
I am SO GRATEFUL to all those that contributed their time, energy, resources, inspiration, gifts, support, creativity, goodwill, vision, prayers and blessings in pulling off so beautifully what was a TRULY ASTOUNDING MYTHIC ADVENTURE!
Here are the top three most successful aspects of the PALENQUE 2012 MYTHIC ADVENTURE which really stand out in my mind:
#1 CELEBRATION AS AN EVOLUTIONARY VEHICLE!
So what do i mean by this?
I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing and participating in some pretty amazing social events over the past 25 years. I’ve seen celebration serve both personal and collective evolution for many years now. I’ve been studying the qualities of these events that have had a profoundly positive effect on my consciousness and very intentionally wove in their techniques, tools and scripts into PALENQUE 2012 with Polly. I guess i really am an ‘pro-human activist’ of sorts in this regard and our Mythic Adventure helped me to realize this.
We celebrated AND we evolved. Well, i did.
I had deeply mythic experiences which transformed me and i have come out the other side changed. From what i’ve gathered so far, most of the other players have as well. I came back more devoted to the power of creative community and mythic experience than ever before.
The Science of Celebration worked well in PALENQUE!
Sometimes we forget to nurture our intentions and allow ‘the party’ to numb us rather than help us to wake up, but this was not one of those occasions.
May we continue to come together in celebration of what it is to be fully human and ALIVE, to celebrate in creative, conscious community and to WAKE UP TOGETHER!
#2 Creative engagement played a major role!
I think if someone were to ask me what my Spirituality was, i would have to say-
‘being creative’.
I find that creativity puts me in touch with Purpose, Beauty, Strength, Wonder, Mystery, Awe …and for lack of a better word ‘The Divine’, more than anything else in my life.
Creativity brings a sense of purpose and meaning to my life that gives me the means by which to connect with my fellow persons in a way that nothing else can.
Exploring my creativity continues to provide me access to the flowing currents of life, light, energy and inspiration that fuels ALL my work and play!
So naturally i was very happy at how creativity played a key role at the event by giving all of us the chance to connect within ourselves to our inner currents & energies…and then join that energy outwards with each other.
It was really inspiring to watch our group connect with the locals through the process of creating art together…it created the most wonderful vibe!
The event was crafted in a way that enabled everyone to participate in ways that were suited to their comfort levels as well as gently encouraging them to explore new avenues and modes of expression.
#3 The spirit of THE GIFT!
This was probably the biggest source of SHIFT that occurred in my consciousness.
Being immersed in a heartfelt container in which people were sometimes falling over themselves to share…was healing, inspiring, nurturing and affirming on many levels.
Polly and I hosted PALENQUE 2012 as a gift to our community & the world as an intentional act of AFFIRMATION towards GIFTING and GIFT CULTURE.
Now don’t get me wrong, i had misgivings about creating an event for free for my friends and was hesitant to come onboard at first. Polly set out with laying down the groundwork of the event before i was even convinced it was a good idea!
I’ve noticed in creative communities that there is a lot of heated dialogue right now around ‘being valued’ for your gifts and ‘getting paid’.
Now the thing is, creating experiences is MY ART and it GIVES ME JOY…so if i always wait around to get paid to do what i do…i’m not going to be doing what i love as much as i would like to!
Its a sort of ‘Catch 22′ many creative people get stuck into.
I notice that when i get stuck in the ‘am i getting paid?’ mentality my access to my ART, MY CRAFT and MY ENTHUSIASM drops drastically. So finally i decided “F*** IT, lets do it!’
I also thought- ‘hey, its 2012 for goodness sake and we’ve been invited to host an invite near the Maya Pyramids with a group of creative, fun friends for Spring Equinox, WHATS MY FRICKIN PROBLEM!!!??’
That voice of scarcity and fear is strong though, isn’t it? It persisted up to and even into the event itself. In Palenque, when i was tired and overwhelmed with the tasks at hand…i found myself saying-
‘OH FOR GODS SAKE I’M NOT EVEN GETTING PAID FOR THIS ____!’
Being immersed in a temporary community dedicated to the sharing of gifts and creating art/ was not only incredibly healing (and reminded me of another dusty event back in the 1990’s) but ACCELERATED MY DESIRE TO SHARE EVEN MORE.
….
The following also played a huge role in making the event a success, in my mind:
Palenque 2012 was:
Personally speaking, Palenque 2012 was the ‘Burning Man’ experience i’ve always wanted!
It’s true that, in part, PALENQUE 2012 was a constructive response as a community builder and experience designer to early formative experiences i had out in the desert.
My first time on the playa back in 1997 my camp burned down and was replaced WITHIN HOURS by the POWER OF THE GIFT. A very humbling and profound awakening for me then!
Radical Self-Expression, a core tenant central to The BMAN Festival serves its purpose to an extent…but what about RADICAL COLLABORATION and RADICAL PRESENCE?
The EGO can only shout over each other for so long, like the proverbial art cars, blasting louder and louder and louder…
Caroline Casey herself said recently in regards to the ENVISON FESTIVAL down in Costa Rica-
‘how can a festival that blast thousands of watts of sound on multiple speakers in the rain forest be called REVERENT?’
….
My experience in Palenque gave me a powerful dose of the value of both COLLABORATION and HEARTFELT PRESENCE.
It reminded me that as Stewards & Pioneers of community science & ‘party-as-achemical-vehicle’…its is VITAL that we tend to the feminine aspects of our pursuits.
Nurturing the reflective, watery, ‘YIN’, heartfelt, emotional, process-oriented, communicative, ‘being fully present’ aspect of outward community action yields a quality of experience otherwise not possible!
We are in times that say- CHANGE OR DIE, so forgive me if i’m hurting anyone’s feelings.
Its not me that’s throwing down the gauntlet, i feel it is EVOLUTION ITSELF inviting us to STEP UP OUR GAME. (literally in our case!!!)
PALENQUE 2012 showed me that these two paths, CELEBRATION and EVOLUTION when woven together, enliven the other in ways that ARE UNIMAGINABLY AWESOME!
www.palenque2012.org
The Inner Journey
-preparing for The Inner Journey
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
‘The journey is the destination’
-PeepShowMiniGolf
Life is a journey, or so they say.
With this in mind, i would like to share a few thoughts on ‘the inner journey’ aspect of The Palenque 2012 Mythic Adventure.
Even if you doubt all the woo-woo hype around 2012 as a year of apocalyptic portent, its pretty clear that theres a LOT of change going on right now in the world!
Theres a saying a good friend has taped to his front door-
‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’
-Ghandi
I like this because it implies a radical sense of accountability in how we approach our lives as conscious beings, immersed in times of change.
This sentiment puts you in the drivers seat of your own experience and suggests that instead of whining about the way things are, change yourself and then see what happens!
Quit projecting your shadow onto others and face it within yourself, right?
Is this not essentially the gist of our Hero’s journey in life?
To face our inner shadows and become positively transformed in the process?
So, onto preparing for ‘the inner journey’.
…but first, a bit of colorful exposition.
Into the breach, dear friends
Too many times have i arrived at The Burning Man Festival and made note of how much time people have put time into the vast complexities of their external preparations necessary for survival out in that harsh environment and so little time preparing thier ‘inner self’- intentions, gifts, psyche, agreements with partners, etc.
The vastness of all the external prep is consuming: camp planning, travel preparations, camp supplies, camp structures, food, water as well as endless planning meetings, email lists, email conversations, dealing with clashing personalities…it goes on.
Add an artcar, add another thousand hours of prep.
But wait there’s more: buying blinky toys, packing endless bins of costumes & fancy shoes that will soon be destroyed, searching for hard to find substances, printed lists of dj’s and parties and of course creating and preparing ART.
You might say that preparing ART for the playa can be a very reflective, inwardly focused experience…but most don’t create art to share.
Most people attend this ‘party / spiritual pilgrimage/ appointment with derangement’ having done little if no inner preparation.
Its a very special kind of psychically buggering apocalyptic experience that one suffers out there, one that really does benefit from some tending to ones inner needs.
But what on earth could you prepare you for this kind of journey?
How can you prepare for a jump off a cliff into the scary unknown?
A friend once called this festival ‘Kali’s Playground’, an apt description if you ask me.
If you are lucky, perhaps you’ll stumble across Jim Morrison’s ghost wandering the open playa muttering something about ‘prolonged derangement of the senses’.
If your really lucky, maybe you’ll even stumble out of a dust storm into a hallowed dome to join fellow dehydrated burners looking like Saddhu -HolyMen ghosts covered in fine white playa dust huddled at the feet of some iconic subculture literary figure in an attempt to glean pearls of wisdom that might guide them on their journey.
Journeys which have now begun to remind them of that vow they made last year ‘to really take the time next year to set some intentions before their burn’
Intentions and vows which always get forgotten in the frenzy and hub-bub of pre festival preparations.
In the first few days of the event, after everyone has arrived and the camps have been built, after those first elated bike rides out onto the open playa to check out the ‘big art’…there sets in that universal question on the lips of every participant-
‘now what?’
Friends and community sitting around in various states of derangement, passing snacks and cocktails, murmuring the same old lines-
‘hey, do you know whos DJ’ing tonight?
‘hey, did you see that big metal art thingy, i hear its gonna blow up…
Embrace your fire consciously or get burned
And yes, though the ‘road of excess does lead to the palace of wisdom’ and i do love me some big crazy spectacle as much as the next fun-loving trickster…i’ve also seen the destruction that comes from unconsciously courting Dionysian frenzy.
When we come across that ‘what now?’ moment in our journeys, do we simply pile on more substances, louder music, more crazy making spectacles and crazier costumes???
OR, do we do the ‘counter intuitive thing’ and remove ourselves from the fray and take a moment to still ourselves, be quiet, find a still point and reflect?
I can remember years ago, towards the end of my first Burning Man trip, literally RUNNING out into the empty desert driven to escape all the intense experiences i had piled one on top of the another.
My psyche was bent over backwards from the pressure of too much stimulation, too much emotional complexity, too much NOISE.
In a desperate need to retain some sense of stillness and sanity, i sought refuge ….and found myself sitting far out in the empty desert….and able to hear myself breathe again.
I remember that moment like it was yesterday, sitting in the cool evening air with the sun setting behind purple mountains, the festival glimmering miles in the distance like some weird mirage.
So amazingly, blissfully, quiet.
It was then, after letting all the noise and crazy chaos drain out of me, that i could see my inner journey that was unfolding, as if for the first time.
As i sat there, i watched scenes of my insane week prior replaying, unfolding scene by scene, I saw how the consequence of my actions played a part in my play.
‘Quality of play is a direct reflection of HOW we play’
-James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games
I saw myself sometimes as a conscious player in my experience, but mostly stumbling about as a pawn being moved solely by the desire for more and more intense sensation, stimulus and novelty.
That day i became intensely aware of the value of tempering ones’ outer journey with that of inner reflection.
That day my personal journey shifted from being outwardly driven to inwardly informed.
It was then that i was able to step back into my unfolding play in a much more conscious way.
This festival and many like it invite us, as Mythic Players, to step deeper into our experiences as Heros’, Shamans & Priestesses all…invite us to dive within our own mysterious depths and face what shadows and wonders await us.
It is a fact of life that we all have shadows to face, challenges to meet, Minotaurs to encounter in the depths of our labyrinthian psyches….
When we gather in the presence of such collective creative fire, it is absurd to think that the light that results will not reveal Gods, Goddesses, Demons, treasures and shadows.
I’ve lost friends to the other side via the destructive forces that attend these celebrations and paths.
I myself have suffered needlessly through lack of proper preparation and respect for ‘the journey to come’.
I’ve hurt others by wandering blindly on my journeys and been hurt by others also smashing into me.
So now what?
After all the immense preparations, time, energy and resources attendees expend to make these sort of epic journeys…to then sit around asking the question of ‘now what’…is one that begs addressing.
I’ve been in this position too many time to count and every time…i’ve always thought to myself-
’what tools could keep the adventure moving forward and inward, could assist us right now in tapping the mysteries & moments we’ve come seeking?
How can we prepare ourselves to have the most deeply meaningful and rewarding journeys possible?
At the BMAN fest and in many other creative communities, we are encouraged not be spectators, but rather-players on a playing field, participants in ‘the play’.
I believe that the BMAN festival and many of these participatory, creative, gift sharing experiences exist as a manifestation from our collective desire to embody our inner heros, shamans, priests, goddesses, magicians, poets and whatever magickal avatars you feel waking up inside you!
These festivals, as celebrations of the creative spirit, challenge us to step into the mythic aspects of our lives.
THROUGH play and the sharing of our gifts, we are coming into a greater mastery of what it is to truly LIVE as embodiments of unlimited possibility.
The Mythic Adventure aspect of Palenque 2012
At Journeys end, when we’ve all returned from our adventure to the jungles of southern Mexico, what stories will we bring back?
Sure, we might have some great trinkets we found at the markets, but what of the true gifts, the soul discoveries, triumphs and epiphanies that want to flow through us?
Are these not the gifts that will inspire and fuel us and others on yet more EPICALLY MYTHIC ADVENTURES?
The Mythic Adventure Totem areas and Mythic Questions are designed to help each of us in diving deeper into our own journeys.
The 7 areas of Mythic Adventure, each with their distinct vibe and focus, provide a landscape for our inner journey.
They create an intentional container for our inner experience to occur.
Mythic questions in these areas will further assist in preparing our stories, intentions, gifts and anything else that might be pushing on us from inside, that might want to be faced..or shared…or celebrated!
“An important part of any sacred activity is marking a boundary between the sacred and non-sacred. It’s important to build a container so the action is conducted inside sacred space,”
-Lewis Hyde, author of The Gift and Trickster Makes The World
So here’s an example of how the Mythic Questions could work:
In The HUMMINGBIRD area, which focuses on VISION and INSPIRATION, the MYTHIC QUESTION CARDS might ask something like-
‘What inspires you? How do you court inspiration? What activities help you to feel inspired? What blocks you in receiving inspiration? Have you found ways to face these blocks?’
It is our hope that these questions will generate more questions of Mythic Inquiry, as well as inspire deep sharing and spirited group exploration.We will be making these questions available o the website and at the event.
Everyone that participates will probably feel drawn to one or more specific Totem areas, this is welcome as it will help to create a diverse playing field!
In the preparation for inner journeys, we are humbly invited to consider wisdom held by mystics, alchemists, shamans, elders and so many traditions informed by those that have gone before us down these roads…
There are some really sound and helpful tools that can assist us on our journey!
In closing
I am deeply grateful to the many elders, guides, mentors and tricksters that have patiently offered their wisdom to me over the years. Wisdom that more often than not fell on the deaf ears of this incredibly egoic and unwilling fool.
Wisdom that can aid and guide us on our inner journeys as we explore the bewildering worlds of Mythic Adventure.
Lets share what works for us, lets share what has been gifted to and through us, with the intention of supporting each other in having the deepest, most meaningful and rich Mythic Adventures possible!
These shared experiences, which ‘support the flow of gifts freely amongst one another’, remind us of the true meaning & value of community and enliven us in ways that feel really, really good.
On these sorts of expeditions…and perhaps in life in general, It seems that when we balance tending to our inner journey equally to the outer adventure, both enliven the other.
Will we be dragged, kicking and screaming, like ignorant petulant children, refusing to embrace the realities of the journey that stretches before us?
or,
Will we take the time to prepare our Mystic Fires, enter the gates of Mythic Adventure consciously and thus be filled with the strength to venture forth – warmed by compassion’s imagination and the light of dawn light on our brows?
Together then, let us celebrate and support the inner journeys of each of our fellow Heros-Heroines, fools, priestesses, poets, shamans and mystic dandies…and see how good OUR COLLECTIVE Story can get.
…..
Notes:
Here’s an interesting breakdown of The Hero’s Journey step by step:
http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/smc/journey/ref/summary.html
The Palenque 2012 Experience Designers Notebook presents tips, techniques and reflections on how to create your own inspiring social experiences from Professor Violet, one of SF’s most illustrious Puppeteering Mustachioed Dandy experience designers and proponents of CREATOR CULTURE.
In this ongoing series of posts i will sharing my love for experience design, relate behind-the-scenes observations on PALENQUE 2012 and explore what makes for awesome, inspiring, life-changing, wildly creative, participatory, surprising and TRANSFORMATIONAL experiences!
Confessions of an experience design addict
Want to know a secret about my origins as an experience designer?
I originally set out on my path as an event producer and creator of social experiments simply because i wanted more people to play with and better events that I, personally, could attend.
It was ultimately a selfish desire, my passion for serving community… a ‘selfish gift’ that served both mine and others needs.
Perhaps this rings a bell? Perhaps you recognize how your participation in serving community has served both yours and others needs?
You know what? THATS OK!
Because by taking an active role in raising the quality of experience for others and not just yourself, you contribute to a win-win real world scenario where-
‘…more for you is not less for me, but more for you is more for me too!’
Charles Eisenstein- Sacred Economics
I’ve often wondered if perhaps this selfish desire to engage our world on a more first hand basis for the sake of increasing OUR OWN quality of personal experience is actually a component of evolution working through us without us even realizing it.
Palenque 2012: a social experiment in radical collaboration
We invite everyone participating in this upcoming Mythic Adventure to put on their experience design hats and join us in crafting the ultimate experience together!
More players on the playing field, more fun!
The root meaning of the word ‘community’, derived from the root ‘com munus’ means literally- ‘to share gifts freely amongst one another’,
People coming to together to share their gifts and in support of the conditions necessary for these gifts to be exchanged.
We’ve seen THOUSANDS of people transform and move into a deeper level of awareness as a result of their participation in community and the willingness to share their gifts.
By ‘gifts’ i mean creativity, enthusiasm, ideas, goodwill, resources, wisdom…things both tangible AND intangible.
So why all the fuss about Spring Equinox?
If you’ve studied anything the Maya Elders are actually saying right now, its all basically the same thing-
‘Prepare for the Dawn.’
Call me a pathological optimist, but i’m all about tuning into DAWN SPRING ENERGY right now.
I want to go into this new year tuned into the sparking energy of RENEWAL, INSPIRATION, RADIANCE, LUMINOSITY and TRUE WARMTH.
On March 20, we will observe the constellation of Orion rising on Spring Equinox in Palenque, Mexico and celebrate a DAWN of unique significance to the Maya people.
To tell you the truth, i don’t fully know WHY its significant, but luckily we’ll have all sorts of amazing educated experts tuning us into the whole dealio.
(Something about the resurrection of their spiritual leader buried in the Tomb of Inscriptions, a Corn God, lots of stuff about the stars being in alignment and such! )
To be clear, the Maya people hold no END TIMES prophecies nor predict the end of ANYTHING except one of their ‘long count’ calendars..and if they have ANY message about a ‘return’ , its to that of a simpler way of life lived in harmony with Nature and each other.
As much as i love watching epic disaster movies about the end of the world, i have to admit, i’m pretty tired of all this END OF THE WORLD nonsense.
Creator Culture on the RISE!
What happens when you get a movement of experience designers all collaborating?
You catalyze a Creator Culture- a culture which is currently emerging all around us.
As it rises, so too does the invitation for everyone to become experience designing, culture building, tool sharing and creatively engaged players!
Creator Culture does not reject Consumer Culture, no; it has the ability to digest and integrate old FINITE games (defined by winners and losers) into a NEW INFINITE GAME.
Creator Culture welcomes everyone into the play, encourages all of its players to become thouroughly engaged.
CREATOR CULTURE recognizes the latent seeds of renewal and goodness everywhere, in everything and in everyone!
When we are creatively engaged we are filled with a life affirming desire to connect to , purify and share those expressions and perceptions that fill us with delight, fill us with life.
We learn through direct playful experience, that which truly serves us and gratefully release that which no longer does.
I’ve witnessed many people’s lives transform as a result of their direct experiences on the playing field of ‘The Infinite Game’, coming ever deeper into their authentic expression as beings.
And in closing…
Palenque 2012 is an artistic expression of our passion as experience designers for bringing people together in the presence of this ‘sparking fire’ to create, celebrate and evolve.
We invite you to join us, even if you cannot make it down to Palenque, in this dialogue.
We invite you to consider that YOU have more of a impact in the world around you and especially to those immediately close to you, than you realize.
We especially invite you to consider yourself the architect of your OWN incredible experiences and join us we move together as journey mates into the promise of a new year together.
As experience designers, let’s get dirty in the rich soil of direct experience…where practice tempers theory and we can share openly and freely wisdom/ ideas/ visions/ dreams/ creativity and solutions.
Yes, there’s an apathy and fear that grips the world these days.
So let’s be brave and dare to witness the light that burns within us.
By engaging this fire that burns within or even by being willing to seek it out- we begin to glow, alight and inspire others to do the same!
Every little gift, act, gesture, compliment, idea, smile and moment of support we share is an expression of that sparking fire, illuminating, inspiring, catalyzing- untold mythic adventure!
When we court our innate creativity, share our luminous gifts in whatever form they may take…we become conscious experience designers in this new CREATOR CULTURE.
We begin to see community as a lamp of luminous gifts, a vessel designed to hold CREATION FIRE.
We’ve all tasted it, this mighty ‘yes,and’ social phenomenon of sparking fire joining and illuminating .
Lets fan this good fire!
Lets step into this dawn, the one in which we simultaneously witness our selves, our communities and a CREATOR CULTURE… rising as the spring sun.
It is my informed perception that it is through the engagement of creative community dedicated to the sharing of EACH of our unique gifts, that our culture may find ever deeper access to the well springs of renewal necessary to navigate these complex and challenging times.
…..
In this ongoing series of posts i will sharing my love for experience design, relate behind-the-scenes observations on PALENQUE 2012 and share very practical tips, tricks and stories on what makes for awesome, inspiring, life-changing, wildly creative, participatory, surprising and TRANSFORMATIONAL experiences!
Why settle for less, right?
‘Let the beauty we love be what we do’
- Rumi
2012- The Year of Experience Design or ‘lets create amazing experiences together’
One of my intentions with these upcoming posts is to share my enthusiasm for EXPERIENCE DESIGN and the various and sundry tips & techniques necessary to do so!
Polly and i met recently at the downtown office for CAUSES.COM where one of their lead development guys asked us what we thought the ‘next big thing’ was in the field of social media and social networking, I offered- ‘giving people the means to create and share meaningful experiences with one another’.
PALENQUE 2012 is a unique chance for us all to share what really turns us on, to reveal our magical gifts, to dream and craft mythic experiences together.
As a social innovator, event producer and experience designer for over 20 years now…i’ve witnessed at the heart of most communities and creative social gatherings a sort of SPARKING FIRE; a radiance generated by loving connection, by the sharing of gifts and stories, by the creation of ART, by people coming together to celebrate what they love, who they love and how they love to live.
Its an irresistible kind
of fire that spreads, a kind of luminosity that sparks between us.
Why not tune into this energy as a presiding theme to our mythic adventure?
THIS is the vibe/energy/theme/feeling upon which i’ve dedicated my efforts towards PALENQUE 2012.
We create the world. We build culture. We are creative. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.
We’re all realizing this more and more all the time.
Lets get crafting!
The artful science of experience design builds in quality the MORE PLAYERS YOU HAVE ONBOARD.
Experience design is a field many of you are versed in as well, though you might not realize it!
I see more and more people every day stepping onto the playing field as experience designers.
Its most inspiring!
You don’t even need to understand what the heck i’m talking about here because ALL of you have experienced what i’m talking about before…perhaps at one of our experiences/events/parties, perhaps out on the playa or elsewhere…but you can feel it… the Infinite Game at work.
You can feel it working first hand, feel that sparking fire present when creative people gather and you’ll leave wanting more…
What’s the INFINITE GAME, might you ask?
-’The Infinite Game is one in which every player seeks to increase the quality of play for every other player’
James Carse, INFINITE and FINITE GAMES
CONFESSION: I am an addict of the INFINITE GAME and i’ve been getting others addicted to it for years now.!
This year i believe we are going to see a surge in the spread of regenerative social memes, trends and movements that support creative community participation or in other words- THE RISE OF THE INFINITE GAME.
So why not get EVERYONE addicted to creating these kinds of experiences for others?
You are an experience designer, yes you.
Whether you realize it or not, everyday you make decisions which affect the quality of your daily journey.
Every day your interactions with others and what stories you reflect upon when you lie in bed at night.
Before you even step out your door in the morning you’ve made decisions which will affect the quality of your day.
Every time you join in any form of social experience you are showing up as collaborator in crafting that experience.
In fact, there is no way you cannot influence your social experience.
There is another saying that Polly and i love and live by, one that really sums up why we are so devoted to creative, participation based experiences.
‘Quality of play is a direct reflection on HOW WE PLAY’
James Carse-Finite and Infinite Games
Witnessing people learn and grow from direct participation in community can be inspiring, and getting consciously involved with this process as an experience designer, first hand, can be REALLY inspiring.
There’s nothing like it.
Not only that, but one of the real benefits that i’ve noticed is the incredibly honed reflection
you receive for your own actions, your own style of PLAY.
I ’m not talking about an ego-strokes here, (though there is a certain selfish satisfaction in appreciating an experience you’ve crafted…)
Are you showing up as a consumer or a creator of your experiences?
Are you moving blindly through your day, repeating the same patterns over and over and making decisions based out of fear when you keep telling yourself otherwise?
Are you showing up to the feast of life merely to grab what you can or are you bringing a tasty, exquisite dish to share with everyone?
Simple logic, right? Play consciously, live consciously.
Play unconsciously, good luck with what you can expect!
END OF PART 1
Beauty Engine invites you to participate in a Revolution of Human Excellence- an exuberant explosion of collective intelligence, creativity, altruism, intention and goodness…
If you’re listening, if you’re tuned in..
Then you’re part of it already…yes, you-
inspiring in your own unique and radiant way.
An agent of the Evolutionary Fire now washing over the entire Planet…
HEY! DID YOU HEAR THAT?
…It’s the big giant switch being flipped on-
the Light of Lights being turned on…
the Sun, rising in the Heart of a Humanity growing up,
blossoming from our cocoon …so here we go, here we rise…
buoyant, winged, ready, ripe and juicy.
Our sleeves are rolled up, a wild motley of Johnny Appleseeds,
ready to tend Earth as the Garden it was meant to be…
Say with me…’I feel worthy of this, yes I do.
In my heart of hearts, I feel worthy for this,
I Am Ready To Rock, this is why I am here, this is what I have trained for.
The BEAUTY ENGINE VISION-
Imagine a collaborative art project embracing the whole of Humanity…calling upon the collective creativity, goodwill, wisdom, intention and positivity of communities everywhere…A tapestry of Cocreation being woven across the entire planet.
Beauty Engine sees potential and mastery in everyone,
Beauty Engine sees all beings as social artists,
Beauty Engine sees freedom and accountability going hand in hand,
Beauty Engine sees creativity as a primary element in tempering all social technologies,
Beauty Engine serves to assist in the circulation of Humanities wisdom, goodwill, abundance and creativity.
The good news is that all of us already play some part within the Beauty Engine.
With each of our unique pieces, we bring illumination which reflects in each other, amplifies one another, harmonizes with each other as an infinitely diverse, exquisitely unified family….a Cocreation glowing with an ever growing luminosity.
Beauty Engine reveals through direct experience the wonder of Cocreation.
Cocreation being, we feel, The Most Abundant Force on Earth.
It is beyond all mental concepts, the power and value of Cocreation.
Personally, I suspect it may be the Will of Love itself, a fail safe program, a open secret of mind blowing proportions pulsing and spinning at the heart of all things.
I’ve seen Cocreation at work a thousand times…and you have too, that something that accelerates when you bring good things and people together, when openness accelerates off of enthusiastic creativity…. when childlike positivity wins out over hesitation, doubt and apathy.
Some say its scientific; this mutually amplifying, accelerating, quantum phenomenon of harmonious process and fluidic balance.
LOOK TO YOURSELF, FIRST
You are a modern individual, discerning and truly experienced.
You are a mastercrafter of persona, nuanced, versatile, expressive.
You move through life fluidly, authentic, passionate.
You are who you wish to be. You create Beauty, coexist with its source.
Life is your canvas, you exist To Be-artfully.
As a Social Artist, IDENTITY is your medium..the canvas you present to society.
You want to be part of something good , something positive, something worthwhile.
This is where it starts.
POWER FLOWS THROUGH US
No-one ever took your True Power from you-
And you never gave it away.
Relax and be what you truly are,
Relax and just let it flow through you.
Share it forward. Give it away
The more you share your mojo, your lightning, your medicine, your Sacred Fire, your ‘Juice’…. the more it will flow through you.
Don’t be stingy….let it flow, bring it on.
This Feels Good.
LET IT CIRCULATE
Feel ‘The Tree’ that we are together,
filling and flowing with lightning sap,
When we open up to receive each other’s power
allowing the medicine flow between us,
feel as vulnerability reveals ever greater strength,
as our openness reveals untold Abundance.
Here Beauty Engine becomes Medicine Bottle, available to all
to be passed around by caring hands, that we may partake freely.
ASSEMBLE, PEOPLE
Face to face, folks…thats where the magic happens,
where we really get to savor the worth of our efforts.
Humans are a totally amazing technology best experienced live.
Come meet your colleagues, The Collective Avatars,
the communities bringing the New World into existence.
Here is where we demonstrate our willingness to play…
here is where we state our readiness for collective action,
ready to witness each others Mastery.
NOW WE ACTIVATE
How nice that we have a Universe to play in!
So many adventures, so much time!
Where shall we go, what Beauty shall we cocreate together?
(oh, didn’t you know THAT is the meaning of life?)
Come, share your wisdom with your colleagues and evolutionary playmates.
Share your love of creating experiences with your friends and communities,
Share them, pass them along!
Wisdom, Kindness, Compassion, True Power, Loving Attention and Experience are the coin of the realm here.
AT THE CENTER OF THE GARDEN, THE GOLDEN APPLES
So here, we return to the beginning-
‘arriving, never left, but always forgetting’
This is where we find ourselves sparking with evolutionary fire,
ready to carry the flame seeds of cocreation into the world.
This is where we ask ‘how can I participate?’
This is where we find ourselves ready to serve.
Behold, on a tree in Beauty Engine’s Garden, The Golden Apple.
These Golden Apples are invitation from The Beauty Engine itself,
inviting us to take a bite.
Taste the apple, become the invitation.
Model Cocreation through artful living.
Here we become both the gardeners and the garden, growing with goodness.
Bearers of The Golden Apple are the fertile, twining tendrils of Beauty Engine itself going into the world….
Beauty Engine Guides, as they are called, are teachers, enthusiasts, stewards, advocates, promoters, and community builders…all joined by a desire to serve , a passion for seeing potential revealed and a shared love of cocreation.
You will know them by their gold stars (hmmm, maybe it should be a gold apple?)
Here is where we go under the hood of THE BEAUTY ENGINE itself…and find out just how deep the rabbit hole really goes.
Here is where you find that Beauty Engine is an open system which invites direct participation in its process of distillation and refinement.
Here is where you find a great repository of practical methods, visionary solutions and community wisdom that grows in value as more people use it and add to it.
Here is where you can access the tools, wisdom and networks of The Beauty Engine.
EPILOGUE
You bristle with Evolutionary Fire, seeds in your hand-
You burst at the heart with a desire to explore the stars
‘Beauty is everywhere’, you realize…
Step up, no-one can claim your Sovereignty for you!
Stand in magnificence and allow the stars to shower upon you
‘I Am Worthy’, you say
The Star Council is ready to welcome you,
Evolutionary Operators- standing by…
We’ve been expecting you.
