Commoditization of our Attention

Reclaiming our attention. I believe this is a very logical first step. From there we will have the spaciousness to consider what the next most important things are. Slow down to read this one... especially taking time with the image... striking.

There are many causes for the increasing concentration of wealth in a shrinking elite, but let us throw one more into the mix: the ever more aggressive appropriations of the attentional commons that we have allowed to take place. 

I think we need to sharpen the conceptually murky right to privacy by supplementing it with a right not to be addressed. This would apply not, of course, to those who address me face to face as individuals, but to those who never show their faces, and treat my mind as a resource to be harvested.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/opinion/sunday/the-cost-of-paying-attention.html

I'll Know I'm "Successful" When...

It's never straightforward to walk a straight and narrow path. I don't walk the Christian path, rather I'm walking one that I've been materializing just metres in front of me as I walk it for 4 years now. One that grows clearer, one that I can see farther down everyday. I daresay you won't see too many walking a path as unconventional as mine.
Having abandoned most of society's predetermined definitions of success, and as many of its destructive implicit assumptions as I could identify, I've been left with quite a fog to navigate these past years. Rolling your own road out in front of you isn't easy. I do it because, for the human species and the planet's sake (which, logically, includes my own), we need people forging new pathways. On the planetary level, if all humans keep walking the same path we will collectively proceed off the cliff at whose edge we are already poised (environmentally, socially, economically, etc). For myself, to give me hope, and proof, that another way is possible. This blog post is mostly for myself, to create more definition to my path, and to create landmarks along its edges so that I will know I am still on it when I travel past them down the road. Perhaps it will also inspire others to forge their own path.
I'll know I'm "successful" when... (if it says yes, it means I've already been successful at that one)

• I live embedded in a community that is explicitly grounded in non-violence, non-coercion, and a fundamentally generative (life-enhancing) spiral dynamic. [yes]
• I have ample capital of the most useful currency of the time
• no financial debt [no]
• In the short term, financial stability in Canadian dollars  [no]
• In the short and long term, abundant social capital (through investment in community) [yes]
• In the long term, in a currency which aligns with the natural limits of the Earth and local community [no]
• each day I see evidence (causation might be too ambitious, correlation would do) of my having impacted one or more people's (or other plants or animals) lives in a generative way. [not every day]
• the work that I do to change the world [yes] is the work that I do to generate my livelihood [no] is the work that I would do if I had infinite resources [yes].
• I am physically [yes, mostly], mentally [yes], and spiritually [not sure what this means to me yet] fit.
• my everyday surroundings (abode and place of work?) bring me (in an aesthetic and feng-shui way) joy, inspiration, openness, and connection with others and nature. [no]
• me and my community live in a symbiotic way with the Earth rather than a cancerous way. [paradigmatically, yes; literal physical impact, no]
• my friends, family, and strangers alike hear the name Connor Turland and think of a global leader (in the global Commons movement?) [no], and one who leads by example at the front of the pack, by pulling the hardest of anyone [yes], and not one who cracks the whip at the back [I don't think people think this about me].
• my wonder at the universe grows everyday [yes]

This feels sufficient for my purposes right now, though it's inspiring me to write a more low-level, immediate set of success definitions, perhaps to be met by the end of 2013. I'll post that here too.

I keep feeling that the missing piece of writing this, is stories about how I got where I am today, and why, at 21, these are my definitions. I'm excited to share soon a blog post about my participation in building the "new economy", that tells the story of my choice to participate only partially in a post-secondary education, and my choice to recently leave my job to pursue the work on Metamaps that so inspires me and has the potential to facilitate the kind of change I want to see in the world. Both of these turning point decisions are part of pivotal stretches of my path. The importance for me of writing this today can't be underestimated I think. Everyday around me I am bombarded with society's definitions of success, and even well-meaning people projecting their ideas about success onto me tempt me from my path. Here's some of the stories people tell themselves about me.

•  "You'll have to figure out how to lock-down the IP and monetize Metamaps if you want to be the next start-up that Google buys out"
• this one is particularly frustrating to me given how many assumptions it makes, but my frustrations with the modern start-up and venture capital ecosystem are a topic for another blog post
• "Well you know Steve Jobs didn't finish university, and look what he did" (the 'you could be and should want to be the next Steve Jobs' story)
• "Most companies won't look at you twice if you don't have a post-secondary education" (the direct 'you need to adhere to societies standards if you want to be successful' story)

I'll be damned if I spend my life working my way up an archaic corporate ladder. I haven't been able to generate my livelihood working on Metamaps yet, but I know that our time will come soon. I'm a believer in the social enterprise, where one can do well for oneself, by doing good in the world. It's been a lot of hard work already to get to this point, I know a lot of hard work remains. But I don't mind; my work is my play. What's your path?

Reflections on April & Working in the Commons Sector: Day 1

Mothers hands in the fertile soil of a fallen tree.

Earlier in April I wrote that I was dedicating the remainder of the month to relaxation+reflection+future planning. I'm both pleased and disappointed to report the results. Similar to the passing of 2012, or of university flying by, I'm wondering: Where did April go?

Relaxation: I think I was quite successful here. With my partner in crime, Alexandra, we spent 4 days truly revelling on my farm in the absence of work and school, enjoying the animals, the woods, the sunshine, and the river. We even took a trip up to the Scandinave Spa up by Collingwood, which I highly recommend. Having her around helped force me into a state of much needed non-productivity. Over the month, walks through the forest and time spent outdoors doing chores helped refresh my body and mind. Building physical things with my hands certainly has its very distinctive sense of reward versus the digital artifacts I'm used to producing that you can never hold on to, they're just code. Also the critical factor of reconnecting with my family. My mom, superwoman, handling the stress of my older brothers mental health challenges, and younger sisters physical disability, while managing the 100 acre farm is always an inspiration. Not to mention my sister who, despite her disability, is set on becoming a motivational speaker. They're both a lot of fun and its a blessing to be able to spend time with them again.

The blog posts I had hoped to write covering my stories, learnings and experiences from Knowledge Integration, Emerging Leader Labs, the Commons Seminars, and the Household As Ecology didn't emerge. I think it's important to acknowledge and learn from failures, so I guess what I'm taking away is that in order to truly reflect on past experiences I have to let go of my obsession with the future.

That said, I was successful in doing a decent amount of future planning including planning to attend the Emerging Leader Labs collaboration that will be from June 17th - Aug 8th. Going as a participant, you receive all kinds of support for a project of your choice that you want to incubate, so of course it is the perfect place for me to go and work on Metamaps, while embodying a practice of commoning and growing the gift economy. That brings me to Metamaps.

Today is my first day in a new job. Metamaps. Making the fledgling platform truly usable and useful is, as of right now, my full time endeavor. Metamaps is not a business persay, but is being produced by a value network (http://p2pfoundation.net/Value_Network) of which I am a key part. Please keep this in mind as you think of me, as most of my time will be dedicated to the ongoing creation of the platform, and will require of me a structure and self-discipline in my life. By choosing to create value in the world through the value network model, rather than choosing to work at a job just created for a jobs sake, I'm withdrawing to the extent that I can my participation from our highly dysfunctional job market/economic system and thus using my 'voting' power to begin the creation of a more functional one, in which everyone creates value in the world doing the work that fulfills them. For me, I work on metamaps so that communities can better manage their knowledge, and humanity as a whole can improve our knowledge management in service of tackling the many wicked problems we face. Check out this blog post for our current position, trajectory, and what we're looking for in collaborations: http://blog.metamaps.cc/?p=569

So there you have it, the next phase of my life and journey into what some are calling the Creative Economy. I call it the Commons Sector, where we grow and protect the global commons, all kinds of commons: Social, Cultural, Intellectual, Solar, Natural, Genetic, and Material.

Thin Ice (or: On the Commons of Goodwill)

In relationships (any and all), I sometimes, perhaps often, have the experience of walking on thin ice: the knowledge of danger close at hand, looming beneath our feet. Regardless of just having used the words ‘our feet’ though, my experience is more often that I feel danger beneath MY feet. I’m stuck looking at the ground, paralyzed, and fearful. And as I get caught in the fear, I start to work myself up, now I’m panicing, and I start to generate heat. Now, oh god, the ice is getting thinner. And now I redirect my attention to my relation.

Aha! here is someone who can receive all my fear and anger. It was them who got us into this situation in the first place. Meanwhile, they’re scared too, and starting to send sparks my way. The more we heat up, the more danger we’re in, and we forget the key thing: that we’re in it together.


In this metaphor, the thickness of the ice is what we call in the Household As Ecology the Commons of Goodwill. When the ice is thick, we can feel safe together, and the situation is calm and cool, with lots of shared understanding and empathy. However, the danger of taking actions that thin the ice, or even, terrifyingly, break through it entirely, is ever present. Trust is also a word that comes to mind.

Paradoxically, the moment when we most need to feel ‘in it together’ is the moment when the ice is thinnest. Because the reality is, if the thin ice you stand on together breaks for one of you, you’ll both be plunging into that icy water.

And so here in the Household As Ecology we practice staying cool, collected, and maintaining connection and empathy, in moments where we feel on thin ice together. It’s in this way, that for the two years that I’ve been here, I’ve experienced almost solely the thickening of the commons of goodwill. As an ecosystem, it’s in this way that you generate resilience. Your relationships develop thick ice, where there’s the leeway to make mistakes.

The commons of goodwill, like any commons, flourishes when people give their attention and intention to its development. I believe that it is a key foundation for any living situation to thrive, and in the larger picture, will be required on a scaled-up basis, to keep humanity from the icy depths it rides so thinly above on the ice now.

And it doesn’t look good with this record heat.

Written by: Connor (cross-posted from a place that I'm excited to reveal soon!)

What Do We Want?!

"WHAT DO WE WANT?" "COHERENT TECHNOLOGICAL RISK MANAGEMENT POLICY" "WHEN DO WE WANT IT?" "IN TIME FOR THE HUMAN RACE TO HAVE A FUTURE!"

"WHAT DO WE WANT?" "COHERENT TECHNOLOGICAL RISK MANAGEMENT POLICY" "WHEN DO WE WANT IT?" "IN TIME FOR THE HUMAN RACE TO HAVE A FUTURE!"

"WHAT DO WE WANT?" "COHERENT TECHNOLOGICAL RISK MANAGEMENT POLICY" "WHEN DO WE WANT IT?" "IN TIME FOR THE HUMAN RACE TO HAVE A FUTURE!"

"WHAT DO WE WANT?" "COHERENT TECHNOLOGICAL RISK MANAGEMENT POLICY" "WHEN DO WE WANT IT?" "IN TIME FOR THE HUMAN RACE TO HAVE A FUTURE!"

"WHAT DO WE WANT?" "COHERENT TECHNOLOGICAL RISK MANAGEMENT POLICY" "WHEN DO WE WANT IT?" "IN TIME FOR THE HUMAN RACE TO HAVE A FUTURE!"

"WHAT DO WE WANT?" "COHERENT TECHNOLOGICAL RISK MANAGEMENT POLICY" "WHEN DO WE WANT IT?" "IN TIME FOR THE HUMAN RACE TO HAVE A FUTURE!"

"WHAT DO WE WANT?" "COHERENT TECHNOLOGICAL RISK MANAGEMENT POLICY" "WHEN DO WE WANT IT?" "IN TIME FOR THE HUMAN RACE TO HAVE A FUTURE!"

"WHAT DO WE WANT?" "COHERENT TECHNOLOGICAL RISK MANAGEMENT POLICY" "WHEN DO WE WANT IT?" "IN TIME FOR THE HUMAN RACE TO HAVE A FUTURE!"

"WHAT DO WE WANT?" "COHERENT TECHNOLOGICAL RISK MANAGEMENT POLICY" "WHEN DO WE WANT IT?" "IN TIME FOR THE HUMAN RACE TO HAVE A FUTURE!"

Thanks for this Vinay Gupta :) https://twitter.com/#!/leashless/status/201617890011648001

Giving my voice to the commons: A short speech to 60 in the House of Commons, London, UK

Yesterday was the second in the James Quilligan seminar series, organized in London by a joint effort from the School of Commoning, and the Christian Council for Monetary Justice, and took place in the Portcullis House. As I headed to the event with the School of Commoning founders, George Por and Anna Betz, they asked me if I might say something briefly at the event, as to bring more feeling to the series and not just ideas. I happily agreed and set my mind to work thinking what I might say. I wrote the following and spoke following quite closely it's words. 

My experience of most people my age is that they've lost their curiosity. Stopped asking 'why are things the way they are?' let alone 'could things be different?' It felt hard when I was younger, but at this point in my life, I feel so grateful to have grown up in a family that asks why. A lot of why questions for me arise out of what feels like common sense. The classic questions like 'why do all these cars only have 1 person in them, when they all get stuck in a traffic jam that way?'  

What about sensibility as a commons?  

As a young person who asks a lot of questions, it seems to me the commons of sensibility has been depleted as much as the precious metals. The reason I'm here in London is because as I asked more and more fundamental questions about the root of our issues, the fewer and fewer people had sensible answers. I had to travel halfway around the world to meet people who were talking common sense! I've never traveled Europe before, let alone on my own, and at times it's been quite scary, but I've come to see that reconnecting with the commons will take a lot of bravery on all our parts.  

The conversation that is happening here and in the next ten days is possibly the brightest light for the future of this planet that I know of.
Thankyou. 

An excerpt from an email to my father about metamorphosis

"...Amazing things happening in the dialogue here, concerning transformation of our economic and political systems to ones that actually benefit and replenish the commons (natural, cultural, spiritual) rather than deplete them. An infinitely more advanced conversation than is going on anywhere in North American politics. The major thing concerns ceasing to claim ownership over those things, so that they can be managed rather through trusteeships and we can consider ourselves stewards of the earth, rather than owners who will do with 'our property' as we please. Much of what's being said requires us to expand our sense of self to include others, so that we remember that what is good for them, is also good for us, so not only is it virtuous to give to others, but in a way, a kind of enlightened self-interest as well.

Today I made a connection between 'common sense' and the commons, and considered sensibility as a commons (that has also been depleted). Your age old question of a hotel visitor, who uses as much water and leaves the window wide open with air conditioning on, just because they don't have to pay more, 'it's not their problem', but it feels like common sense to not do that. I thought to myself, it's not like the ideas being tossed around are out of this world brilliant, they feel like common sense, and yet I think as it is all unfolding hardly anyone can believe the dialogue is actually taking place, because as few as 5 years ago or less, it would have seemed absurd. There was only 1 MP there today, who convened this James Quilligan seminar in the House of Commons, but I feel that much more confident in the transformation of things, knowing that he's in parliament, and working towards common sense change. 

I just wanted to give you a sense of what I'm really doing here, and here to talk about :) Exciting stuff, for those of us interested in restoring sanity to this ol' world, eh chap! ..."