I have been involved with this community for around 9 months now…just enough time to give birth if this was a baby.
A project like Conscious Crete is in many ways very much
like having a baby: the intensity of it, the novelty, the not really knowing
what to do.
The only difference (or maybe not really the only one!) is
that when you have a baby there are only two possible answers to the question
what is it? A boy? Or a girl?
I wish the answer to what Conscious Crete is all about was
as simple and binary as the one above. It is not…yet I will try to bring some
light into the matter.
Conscious Crete is more than a Facebook Group
There is no doubt in my mind that Conscious Crete is much
bigger a project than a Facebook Group. Yet, for many people this statement is
not clear as they tend to see only the tip of the iceberg.
The Facebook Group is a very useful platform to gather likeminded
people and keep them informed of the activities of the community and not a purpose
in itself.
Its purpose is to create opportunities for the members to meet in person. Because we are old fashioned in this group, and we like to get ‘in touch’ with each other.
Likeminded, but likeminded about what?
In my old job, as a Climate negotiator, ‘likeminded’ was a taboo
word as it was used to designate a group of countries opposing any kind of
climate action (China, India, Saudi Arabia and maybe others that I forget now).
As you can imagine, being likeminded was not really cool in that context.
I needed to reappropriate some of the genuine senses of this
word to be able to use it in the context of Conscious Crete. I took it over because
many of you mention it as the main reason for joining the group: connecting
with likeminded people.
Connected Crete
Conscious Crete is about living wholeheartedly, in
connexion with our true selves, with others and this beautiful island we call
home. It could be easily called Connected Crete too.
It is a huge project as you can easily see.
It is about self-development
but not only.
It is about learning
to live in harmony with nature and all the other beings on the planet.
It is about growing businesses that are sustainable for us physically
and mentally.
It is about art and beauty.
It is about reappropriating the real value of money without divinising
or demonising it.
It is about growing a safe space for all members to be themselves.
It is about paying respect to the sacred past and culture of
Crete.
In a nutshell, it is about supporting each other to find and
walk our ‘other way’ as compared to the way proposed by the mainstream culture
of consumerism and disconnection. (I could say a few words about that, I bet
you could too if you got so far reading this text).
Finding the recipe of happiness
The issue with the mainstream culture is that it promises a recipe
of happiness that does not deliver.
It essentially says that if we have the house, the fancy car,
a traditional family with at least two kids and a flourishing career we shall
be happy forever.
Well…most of us who lived more than a few years on this
planet know (from our own experience) that it does not work like that. That you
can be successful and rich yet perfectly miserable.
If you read about the life of famous actors or more recently of royal families…you have all the validation you need that your own misery is shared also by the ones that are by default the holders of all ingredients of this famous happiness recipe. Yet very few people talk about this. They chose to suffer in silence, too afraid that they might be exposed as failures.
What is Conscious Crete all about?
Very few people have the courage to exit the paradigm imposed
by society and look for an authentic and individual recipe of happiness.
Because one thing is clear to me, the recipe of happiness
can be only individual because we are all so different from each other, with
different needs and different skills.
Conscious Crete is there to:
- offer you support on finding your way,
- to cheer you for your bravery,
- to show you that you are not alone or defect in any way.
- in a nutshell to provide a safe space where you shall not be judged for being different and where you can thrive in the company of other people who are on the same path.
So do not be a stranger, do get involved with the different
activities, the newsletter or even getting in touch and saying hi! That is what
community is all about!
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