The Embassy – A lighthouse illuminating the patterns of creation.
Ben Knight, Rhian Miller,
The Embassy – A lighthouse illuminating the patterns of creation.
When the Embassy first arrived at the Factory I remember taking a moment with Ben Knight outside and just looking at it as a blank canvas form, it was all white and ready for another life.
It was an ambulance in its former life and I began reflecting on this and started wondering through the visions of how many lives did it help save? How many conversations of reassurance to worried family members did it witness? How did it store all the life saving tools needed when it didn’t know exactly what situations it would be in from day to day.
Then Ben and I posed a question to each other… how will it fit into our world? After a few moments we concluded that we’d just have to figure out a way to put the whole world on a stretcher and load it into the back so we could figure out how to save it. Challenge accepted! Next question is – how do we do that?
I’ve been considering patterns of thought and what it means to activate intelligence for the better part of a year, some of the questions that keep coming through are.
- What effect does that activation have on people?
- That intelligence, where does it go?
- How does that activation and exchange of intelligence shape Mother Earth, who in turn shapes us on her own journey through constant transformation?
As I try to answer some of these questions I find myself being drawn back to this part of Sand Talk by Tyson Yunkaporta,
Our knowledge endures because everybody carries a part of it, no matter how fragmentary. If you want to see the patterns of creation talk to everybody and listen carefully. Authentic knowledge processes are easy to verify if you are familiar with the pattern – each part reflects the design of the whole system. If the pattern is present the knowledge is true, whether the speaker is wearing a grass skirt, a business suit or a school uniform. – Tyson Yunkaporta, Sand Talk.
If you want to see that pattern of creation, talk to everybody and listen carefully… a good intention to set as relationships build so you can find your way back when challenges and barriers pop up as they always do!
My connections to people and stories have increased since working in the UNI, while it’s certainly not everybody, I get the sense that I can see some of the patterns emerge as we flow with the design processes outlined in this blog across everything we are doing.
One of the constant reminders during the design phase is the need to bring people with us, make space for others to build the process. Don’t get to the destination and ask them if they wanna come for a ride, if the answer is yes they’ve already missed the whole journey and all that’s left to do is stand there awkwardly swinging their arms wondering what to do next.
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How will the Embassy fit into our world?
It’s gearing up to hit the road and will be in schools from April 27th, as I write this it’s being kitted out and transformed into a roving puppetry/ performance/ workshop space for mentors and young people to tell stories and develop connections in relation.
To launch on April 27th we’ll work with the maps YHA crew already have across AUS, train the staff in each destination and deliver mentoring sessions with nearby schools. The 3 hour mentoring workshops the Embassy will deliver are
- GAIME of Life
- Food break/ Relations building
- 1M Presidents workshop
- DreamSpace – Submissions open May – OCT// AIME produces 5 EPS before end of year on IN{TV}
- IMAGI-ZINE delivery and submissions for ongoing storytelling/ publications
Post Embassy visit for schools: Top of my mind right now is another question – How do schools use the workshops and mentoring sessions to become accredited in imagination and join IMAGI-NATION {University} Lab as Fellows? I’m conscious we need to find ways to ensure systems change is ongoing post Embassy visit and think it’s a healthy approach to keep reminding ourselves that we are not a smiley face program that creates one off experiences, this might feel good at the time but it’s not regenerative and it doesn’t allow space for other perspectives to inform and build the processes, if we find the pathway from Embassy visit to School accreditation in imagination then I believe we’ll be on the right track for lasting change
Each Embassy visit supports schools to become at least 40% accredited as an imagination school, full list below.
- Centre imagination as a strategic target for the school
- Create an Imagination Declaration for the school
- Take on a Mentor Mindset
- Teach With Imagination
- Purple carpet experience
- MentorClass
- Pop Up Imagination Factory
- 1M Presidents workshop
- Implement Imagination Library
- Create your own Imagination TV Show – Dream space
- Create making of a Hoodie podcast
- Create an IMAGI-ZINE for the school
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How do we get the world into the back of the Embassy and make it healthier?
We fill it with stories, we map the world together from ours and each other’s perspectives to a healthy future built in a relational networks so we can all see and action the solutions that are hidden deep within the layers of relations and the systems we all live in everyday.
