reluctant ramblings

Stayed in a haunted 15th Century mansion. Rooms were ok - neat, clean, 4 cup-cakes on the sign. But the location, oh that was stunning. Just another amazing UK location.

The little village of Ironbridge, on the Severn River was a perfect slow-down and respite. Its the birthplace of the industrial revolution - Coal and Iron. It would have been a dark, filth place at one stage. Now its a gorgeous little food and historical destination. Ate awesome pork at the Malthouse withMark Berry, who began my Whiskey education with a glass of Lagavulin. Stunning, smooth, long… mmm

Mark was an awesome host, and we shared three really significant conversations, one contextual, where we looked at what makes his community of Telford tick. Dinner at his house with some of his SafeSpace community was brilliant. Many ideas, too many to mention.

More to come… 2500 photos to sort through!

I’ll have more to say about Ikon when I’ve unraveled it a bit more. For now, here are some out of context photos…

Billy Bragg may have been doing this for 25 years or more, but he’s still the bard, still a great protest singer-songwriter. It was so cool to see him live.

This a really pretty place to be at 6 in the morning!

Cold. No other word for 3 below. I know that’s not real cold for some, but its cold enough to need the electric blanket on. I so do not want to get out of bed in the mornings, though when I do, the view is worth it.

I comment on the cold because its part of the culture here in winter. People are preoccupied with finding firewood, cutting an d storing it, and the best ways to burn it cleanly. Conversation turns from the weather to firewood-gathering very easily!

Oh, I did?

Sorry - its just that I’m a bit excited…

The graffiti asks the question, and the building seems to answer, “I’ve been better…”

I’m really not a natural blogger.

This came as quite a shock. For several years now I’ve been teaching others how to blog, divulging the secrets of successful blogs, and tweaking blog strategies for all and sundry. Turns out its harder than I make it sound. And you know what? It’s nothing technical or artistic. Its the raw, personal and vulnerable nature of blogging that makes it difficult.

I took to RedBubble easily - http://www.redbubble.com/people/rfbfmike - check it out.

But pure blogging is proving much harder for me than I expected. So, bear with me. We’ll see how we go. I’ll diligently apply all the tricks I’ve espoused to the 77 sucessful bloggers I currently coach, and we’ll see how we go!

I think my focus for this jaunt has a title. Context.

I think I’ll be looking to put everything in context, to study context, and evaluate against my own context. This should be fun. Of course it now means I have only 4 weeks or so to discover what my own context is.

I’ll start by photographing it and talking to selected co-dwellers of my own context - that’s my approach for the time in the UK too, except that the key conversations are pre-determined.

This could be fun.

Audio-iChatted with Rod this morning.
As always, got my thinking bone prodded.

Mental notes:

• Remember to watch the Kristin Johnstadt DVD - for trouble-shooting intentional communities.
• Look into back-story for formation. All very interesting.
• What was I thinking that got me here?
• What were we each thinking at the beginning of this?
• What got me here?
• Is there a common thread?

I think thats about 10% of the conversation…

I know from talking with others that a common answer to “what got me here” is described as a lasting dissatisfaction with the church, however I think its also safe to say that knowing what we don’t want is not a long term recipe for community health and growth.

All very interesting…