Greece

AXLADITSA-AVATAKIA

FROM INTERVENTION TO FRIENDSHIP

In our pursuit to find what works, we seldom notice how disempowering it is when we look for answers from experts and best practices created elsewhere. At the Art of Learning Centering at Axladitsa-Avatakia, participants walked out of dependence on experts and learned to trust the capacities and creativity available in friendship to address their community’s needs.

[Click below to watch a slideshow of Axladitsa’s beginnings in August 2006]

The ancient Greeks preferred clay and stone, while the Romans opted for a sponge on a stick. The Nara-period Japanese pulled off the sponge and used the stick as a scraper. Henry VIII had his very own Groom of the Stool (a highly respected position) who provided hands-on ministration to the King. And until the Scott brothers introduced toilet paper on a roll in 1890, Americans preferred the Old Farmer’s Almanac and Sears Roebuck catalog as their outhouse attendants.

What is the transformative potential when people and place are hosted with intention? Vanessa Reid explores a journey with the land, relationships and practices of Axladitsa-Avatakia.

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Read the Order of Creation, Sarah Whiteley’s book of poems.
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Tim Merry talks about the role of friendship in creating lasting change.
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Vanessa Reid reflects on People, Potential and the Power of Place.
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