A while back I (Charlie) had read this article by Charles Eisenstein describing a new potential community-building tool that would further spread the paradigm of the gift economy - the gift circle. The concept, quite simply, is to form a circle of people and go around sharing needs and gifts. No barter, no money exchanged, just giving for the sake of giving. Having attended one of Charles' workshops on gift economies, a fellow named Alpha Lo (Open Collaboration) developed this simple concept and started the first gift circle in Fairfax, CA, just north of San Francisco. The idea has spread, and there are now gift circles sprouting up all over the place.
Our bike brigade passed through Fairfax on the very last day of our east-west cross country tour, and, unsurprisingly (synchronicities being what they are), one our riders meets Alpha Lo. The meeting is brief, and he leaves Anda with a small pamphlet on gift circles, entitled "The Gift Circle Book". Flash forward to the end of our stay in the bay. Anda has been reading the book for a while, and has this crazy intuition telling her to go to one of Alpha's gift circles tuesday night in Fairfax. While the packing of her bike did not allow for this, two our our other riders (Moss and John) did get to go, and returned the next morning with the news that Alpha Lo will be joining us on the bike tour. And so, in less than one day, Alpha, having no bike and no gear for the journey, called upon his friends from the gift circle and met us that night in San Mateo fully suited up. He's been biking with us ever since.
Along the way, Alpha hopes to establish more gift circles in more places, eventually creating a nationwide web whereby people can travel back and forth between communities and have all of their needs met without monetary exchange. We had one during our stay in Santa Barbara to great success. It was amazing to see the level of excitement centered around it. I think, on a deep level, this excitement stems from an inner yearning for something real, something tangible. Money, although at its root can be a beautiful thing, has become the antithesis of true community and an abstraction from reality. Getting people together to express needs and share gifts serves to reconnect us to the web of interdependence of which we are all a part.
Without further ado, here's a video of our very own Kevin May giving a rundown on gift circles and how they operate:
Here's a link to Charles' Eisenstein's article on gift circles:
http://www.realitysandwich.com/circle_gifts
Awesome Charlie! Thanks for the update on your synchronicites!! I recently went to a talk about gift circles with Bill Kauth and Zoe Alowan and it turns out they've done a workshop with Charles Eisenstein - very inspiring!
Love to you all!!
Posted by: 'Aunt Nansee' | 02/03/2011 at 01:51 PM
i love you all :) keep the gift circles going!
Posted by: Kevin May | 02/07/2011 at 07:59 PM
I like this post, it reminds me to always have a willingness to give. It is often said: 'To give is better than to receive.' It means, you have countless blessings that you can even share to others a few of them. :-)
http://www.campsbayaccommodations.com
Posted by: Account Deleted | 08/18/2011 at 11:48 PM