New Culture Summer Camp East 2020:
Co-creating Positive Culture

Diving Into Connection – Dawson Driver, Friday July 12

Let’s find out who’s here and what we have to offer each other! We’ll spend much of the time moving around, meeting new folks and deepening existing relationships. Participants can engage with the group and get quick, direct feedback on issues they care about. We’ll also have time to go deeper in one-on-one connections. This is a quick, fun, easy way to meet lots of people, get a sense of the diversity of the group, and explore opening up to each other.

Creating Our Culture of Love and Freedom – Organizer Team, Saturday July 13

In our first day together, we’ll create the cultural container that will hold and nourish us for our collective adventure.  We’ll discover our intentions for camp, meet our teams and people with special roles, and start building a field of empowerment, love, and freedom.  Sarah and Indigo will guide us in a dynamic combination of sweet connection activities and compelling logistical details. The organizers request that all campers join us who are not performing camp duties so that we can form our community with common understandings.

Boundaries: Finding the Sweet Spot – Sarah Taub, Indigo Dawn, Saturday July 13

Mmm, that glorious moment in connection or collaboration when everyone is a “hell yes” to exactly what’s happening! Sometimes we find that “sweet spot” spontaneously—but more often, we find it through clear communication and feedback. How many of us say “yes” to things we don’t actually want out of guilt or a fear of losing connection? In many ways, “no” is the most daring and intimate response possible – if I can hear your “no”, I can trust your “yes.” Let’s practice finding that sweet spot of mutual “yes” through a series of juicy experiential exercises. The organizers request that all new campers participate in this workshop, since it develops core skills for New Culture community.

Love Ceremony – Harold Kornylak, Saturday July 13

Harold will invite you into a series of partnered and group interactions to celebrate the divine in you and in your fellow participants. Beginning with ritually honoring one another, we will open up to emotional and physical intimacy. This love ceremony will focus on emotional connection and nurturing touch. All participants are always “at choice” to modify the interactions so that they are comfortable with them, or simply to witness.

Snuggle Party – Indigo Dawn, Saturday, July 13

Together, we will open up a playground to explore consensual, platonic touch in community.  Nurturing touch has been shown to release compounds (i.e. oxytocin) which help lower blood pressure, heart rate, and cortisol levels, and contribute to feelings of connection and emotional well-being. No one is required to touch another person in this workshop; you’re welcome to talk, cuddle, read a book, or observe– observation is full participation.

Emotional Intelligence: Relating to Self and Others – Sarah Taub, Indigo Dawn and Debby Sugarman, Sunday July 14

This workshop focuses on concrete skills and practices that make relationships work well.  Knowing your truth, speaking your truth, working skillfully with emotional triggers, holding compassionate space for others, developing curiosity about ourselves and others, letting go of attachment to being “right” – all of these contribute to loving and intimate relationship with self and others.  We’ll engage body, mind, and emotions in this exploratory and experiential learning process. The organizers request that all new campers participate in this workshop, since it develops core skills for New Culture community.

Shamanic Theory and Technique for Conscious Cultural Evolution– Christopher Fuelling, Sunday, July 14

What is the fastest, most concentrated and efficient way to change our culture?  What if the multisensory learning enabled by immersive theatre and embodied rituals could cause lasting shifts in mindset and cultural norms?

This presentation alternates between theory and embodied theater-based exercises for contemporary “shamans” to engage the cultural field directly. Drawing upon anthropology and performance studies to offer a theory of the shamanic cycle of cultural evolution and, specifically, the intentional role of changemakers in social drama and rituals of healing and transformation.

Sensual Space Orientation – Dawson Driver, Fuzzy Konner, Emma Daley, Sunday, July 14

The Sensual Space is a warm and inviting space to explore Connection & Intimacy by engaging all of the senses. This is a space to lounge together after spending the day learning communication and intimacy tools – the perfect place to practice communication and share affection in a relaxed and sex positive atmosphere. We will give an introduction to the space and we will demonstrate the “Safe Sex Elevator Speech.”

Play Your Desire – Christopher Fuelling and eO, Sunday, July 14

“PLAY YOUR DESIRE” invites you to write and star in the love scenes of your life!
That challenge can lead one into our immersive Playshop/Playscape for several reasons: – Energetic level: Desire often feels like something that just happens to us…or not (and we begin with Betty Martin’s “Wheel of Consent” to gain clarity about the nature of those feelings). But our Playshop challenges you to engage your desire through both ACTOR and AUTHOR archetypes: allowing you to actively imagine, generate, and project your erotic energy. – On a physical level: Desire is a rather instinctive guide to movement and character… providing an organic way into performance, regardless of your level of training in theatre or dance. – On a metaphysical level: the self-discovery of one’s performative breadth, ease, and intersubjective impact awakens a deeper awareness of your power to create the roles you want to play in this world and co-create the world we want to live in.

Sensual Space Opening – Christopher Fuelling, eO, Fuzzy Konner, Emma Daley, Sunday, July 14

Immediately after Play Your Desire, those who wish will proceed to the Sensual Space for its official opening. All are invited to explore the Sensual Space – the opening activities will be sensual but nonsexual, and the Sensual Space Team will create a clear transition when the space becomes open for sexual connection.

Four Phases of Conflict – Gary Reiss and Irina Feygina, Monday July 15

Conflict is an organic process that flows through four different phases. Knowing which phase a conflict is in helps us understand it, work with it, and move through it. In this training, we are going to work with interpersonal conflict, and learn how to identify what phase each person in the conflict is in. We will then dive into how to unfold, being awareness to, and transform each phase. Our goal is to make the facilitation process move more smoothly and effectively. Working with phases of conflict can be used across many types of conflict to help guide them toward resolution.

Heart of Now Triads – Debby Sugarman, Monday July 15

Heart of Now is an experience of creating intimacy by letting ourselves truly open and be seen by each other.  In a culture that teaches us that we must only show our best self, it’s a radical act to be who we really are and share our truth.  When we take the risk to share deeply about our journey on this path, we grow closer. And when we do this as a community, we exponentially expand the possibilities of what we can create together! 

“Triads” is an experience where everyone who wants to will have an opportunity for deep personal sharing and discovery in small groups. As listeners in those groups, participants will build capacity for compassionate witnessing and simple coaching.  We invite the community to dive into this culture of sharing, witnessing, and coaching as a path to intimacy and emotional resilience at this camp and beyond.

Dance Playground – Indigo Dawn, Monday July 15

“Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of their passion.” ― Martha Graham.  Whether you’ve danced all your life or never set foot on a dance floor– come express yourself with radically accepting, loving community!   In this space, all forms of expression are welcome– from yoga, to laughter, to shaking, to rest. All bodies, movements, emotions, and sounds are welcome… in our Dance Playground.

Four Phase Bodywork – Gary Reiss and Irina Feygina, Tuesday July 16

We may not realize it, but our bodies are the site of conflict just like relationships and world processes. What does it mean to work with conflict in the body, and how can we use the four phases of conflict to support that work? In this training, we will focus on becoming aware of what phase our bodies are energetically, and offering bodywork that is in sync with the one receiving touch. In this approach, there are no prescriptions to follow; instead we deeply and attentively follow the signals and the phases of the body, to give the most attuned and beneficial bodywork.

Healing the Emotional Body – Gary Reiss and Irina Feygina, Tuesday July 16

Are you experiencing all of your emotions? What can you do to have better access to your feelings? In this workshop, we will focus on accessing all of our major emotions, and expressing them more freely. We will learn how to ride the wave of emotional fluidity into our deep mythical body and into our essential nature, which is free of restrictions.  We will then learn how to cultivate that kind of freedom in our emotional body as a daily practice and integrate it into our lives. 

Fundraiser Auction- Tuesday, July 16

Expect to be amused and surprised by the variety of unusual items and services donated by fellow campers for bidding. Previous auctions have included such offerings as “1000 kisses” and “a morning serenade.” Auction proceeds help to provide scholarships and improve future camps.

Group Process – Gary Reiss and Irina Feygina, Wednesday July 17

Being part of a group can meet deep needs for belonging and connection, yet can also be a source of frustration and disturbance. Within the complexities of group life there are many lessons to learn, and important truths to uncover – about our inner dynamics and those of the outer world. How can we work with a group’s experience to support the group, and tap into this learning?

When a group comes together, its challenges, as well as the world’s issues, are part of its atmosphere – the field. In Process Work, we have developed ways to work with this atmosphere to bring awareness to what is arising, make the group’s process a useful source of insight, and support group members to be more comfortable and present.
An important part of group process is cultivating deep democracy, the practice of seeing and valuing every person and position present in the group. Another important practice is holding space to unfold more deeply issues that hold a lot of energy for group members, or are particularly challenging, to uncover their messages and the possibilities for growth they are trying to bring in.

In this training, we are going to use brief open forums, as well as full-length group process, to make the atmosphere between us more conscious and positive, and delve into pressing issues. Group processes can be enlightening for individuals within the group and improve team dynamics, and their positive effects on the field may go well beyond the group which is working on itself. 

A Day of Creative Attention – Shoshannah Crow, Wednesday July 17- Thursday July 18

Leave Your Words at the Door! (Or in the tent!) 
How many of you have experienced the following greeting ritual, “How are you?” You respond, “Fine, thank you, and you?”.  . . “Fine, thank you.” And, . . .you’re done, that’s it, that’s all! Just an act of habit. Well, humans are creatures of habits. Our minds predict what will happen next based on passed experience. 

What happens when we create a new environment, if we change our habitual behaviors, our reflexive, predictable behaviors?  We create an environment of attention. We pay more attention to ourselves and to each other. Listening deepens when we hear different sounds. When we interact and express ourselves without words, we open up the space for the unusual, the unpredictable to happen. When our deep human desire for connection is coupled with this attention, powerful, creative play ensues!

I first experienced this at The Leibeskunst Festival in Berlin 2017. I was blown away by my experience; and wanted to bring it back home. For this one day, we will put our words aside and play. Please join us, it won’t be whatever you expect !

Channel Writing Poetry – Apollo Love, Friday July 19

A workshop focused on opening up our channels to receive inspiration, as we explore the power of language right after a non-verbal day.  We will integrate the lessons from the week and receive downloads on what’s next in our lives. We will tap into our creativity through a group mastermind writing session, as we allow the words to flow through us.  We will then open up the space for a few people to practice using their voices and share their creation with the group.

Blindfolded Contact Improv Jam – Apollo Love, Friday July 19

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”

Let us explore the depths of our vulnerability in this blindfolded experience that allows us to remain anonymous, while connecting with each other based on energy instead of projected story lines.  This blindfolded dance is a slow, sensual, emotional experience that will bring you deeper into yourself and allow you a level of freedom that’s often untapped in the visual world. How deeply can you trust?

Open Sessions – Friday, July 19, and Saturday, July 20

Join in as the entire camp self-organizes for concurrent events, inspired by your own passions and interests. Open Sessions are an opportunity for campers to convene dialogue groups on topics they’ve been wanting to explore, or create group massages, or do a music jam together. Participants are free to move from session to session, honoring their instincts and natural enthusiasm. /wiki/Open_Space_Technology

Cabaret – Saturday, July 20

Come one, come all, and show us more about you! No talent is required – “if you can walk, you can dance; if you can talk, you can sing”.

Closing Circle – Sunday, July 21

Honoring the experience of the past ten days, we will connect, reflect, and bid farewell to this incarnation of our community.

ZEGG Forum – the Forum Team, Daily

Forum (http://www.zegg-forum.org/index_en.phtml)  was created at ZEGG, an intentional community in Germany, and its sister communities as a way of promoting transparency and mutual understanding among community members.  ZEGG members found that decision-making meetings often got derailed because of emotional conflicts and undercurrents that were not known to or understood by all. In Forum, each individual’s experience could be seen and understood, leading to greater empathy and creativity in the community.  Now, many residential and non-residential intentional communities have adopted Forum as a way to maintain ongoing connection, intimacy and understanding.

The goal of Forum is to reveal what is alive but not known to all.  The community sits in a circle, forming a stage for one person at a time to stand and show what is true for them.  Facilitators may assist the person (or “presenter”) to reveal themselves more deeply. Afterward, community members may offer reflections, or “mirrors,” on what they saw.

One of the gifts of ZEGG Forum is that it allows us a space to appreciate every perspective without taking it on as “truth.” Every voice has its own poignancy, its own wisdom, its own truth, that does not negate the wisdom and truth of other perspectives. Allowing all voices to surface and be known can lead to a profound and unexpected integration within a community. We tend to think that events leading to painful experiences and conflicts are bad, because they feel bad in the moment. However, when we open ourselves and compassionately witness what is happening for everyone, these experiences can be gateways to greater closeness, understanding, and love. When conflict emerges, whether or not we are in a formal Forum space, we can choose to listen in this way.  This deep listening sustains and nurtures community life and relationships.

Going Deeper – Multiple sessions throughout camp

Over the years we’ve been building a culture that supports intimacy by teaching skills for healthy boundaries, handling painful emotions, holding space for others’ process, and so on. Now it’s time to take it to the next level. When the need arises to give difficult feedback or address something that’s getting in the way of getting close to another person, many times we still let it go, not wanting to ruin a happy moment or create a rift. But in reality, we’re keeping ourselves from intimacy when we could have it. When we’re willing to tell another person what’s keeping us from getting closer, we actually get closer.

In the “Going Deeper” spaces, we’ll have a chance to share difficult truths, intimate appreciations, and vulnerable parts or ourselves. Let’s get beyond this kind of sharing being an extraordinary experience, to where it’s an ordinary everyday thing. Every day we deepen our connections. Consider the possibility that we have no idea who our closest friends could be once we start sharing at this level. We have no idea what could happen when we really give our relationships our deepest attention.