hello everyone. eye am so glad to see your activity and presence here. not so much because of a festival as much as the cause that it represents in our hearts and souls. which brings me to this post here at this time.

Eye too feel the pressures of many facets of our envirionment growing. from agricultural to political to financial and so on. to say the economy is going to hell is an understatement. the economy has been in hell for quite some time. not reflected so much in the numbers as much as the owners. the consolidation of wealth in this world is at such an imbalance that the wealthy Banksters can cause the economy to struggle or thrive at the drop of a hat. make no mistake, we are talking about trillionaires here. they (Rothschild, Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, Rockefeller, Warburg, Elizabeth II, Openheimer, Johnson, etc.) caused the great depression through the stock market crash (from which the federal reserve- owned by most of the same folks mentioined earlier- profited severely through aquiring most of this country's farm lands... which means they control what goes in the food... that most of america eats) and they can do it again-.
anywho- i don't mean to scare anyone, but we have got to start being real here. a handfull of people are running this world and we are mostly without recourse because we are mostly segregated. these people are wealthy and organized- though they need and use each other. we can still barely get along well enough to run a yearly 4 day festival, and while we dibble dabble and argue and go through our dramas and egos- THEY continue to make moves on the board. more importantly we keep ourselves out of reach from that blissfully creative community and land space we so long for and seek in our dreamtime. you get my jist? if we are going to make a stand for loving blissful truth in this world and manifest any expression of this, we are going to have to drop our egos and ownership.
I am thankful and grateful to Jen and Eli for taking the initiative to get this festival/ event going. I am also thankful and grateful for all the volunteers that make it happen, and the attendees who are curious and supportive of this presence in the world. Without EACH of these people (not just jen and eli) dreamtime would not have happened. It is now time to realize, that, while we each have a roll (or perhaps multiple rolls), this is OUR dream. all of our dream. we have been dreaming it together for awhile, and it doesn't matter who patented it, or who made it first. it doesn't belong to any1 - since the very nature of the dream is inclusive and expansive. which brings me to the heart and core of this reflection.
in my conversations with Jen and Eli, it has been made very clear that "their vision" of dreamtime and others is quite different. This is fine, there is no blame to Jen or Eli. I am surprised that it still has not come out publicly which is why I am leaving this response. For those who wish to continue to be involved with dreamtime, I think it's imperative to know very specifically what dreamtime is to Jen and Eli (and what it looks like to them). In my reflections, Jen and Eli's vision is not only very different than what many others feel dreamtime is (which, the experience is certainly subjective and, in many ways, dreamtime is something different to each of us), it directly conflicts with many of the activities and events as well as some higher consciousness philosophies that occur and have occured at dreamtime for awhile now. In one of my conversations with Jen it was made clear that they are even looking for a different demographic of attendees (ie. -no hippies please). I don't know which way they are leaning at this point, though it was beginning to sound like dreamtime should be a coat and tie event held indoors at some convention center. Anywo- I don't wish to speak for Jen or Eli, or put words in their mouths- ask them yourself, and be very specific. I offer this reply because I have noticed that it has gone completely unaddressed- meanwhile they continue to look for and gather volunteers- without resolving the space of last year or being clear on what their vision is now.
Finally, I am disappointed with the present results of so much clear and sincere feedback. This organization needs a budget report: required by law- there's no integrity in blaming others for breaking their word, when this whole organization is out of integrity with the very laws required for it to be a non-profit. do i need to report this organization to get a budget report? the sad thing for me is that my request started out as a sincere and helpful request for the budget. I know that it will be helpful to many to see where the expenditures are going and how much- this is how you assses the health of your business and identify the areas that need attention. though Eli told me at the end of July that he would get a budget out around the end of August, I can understand things take longer than expected at times, but this is to the point of neglect. how can you run or even pretend to run a business/ organization without a budget? I spoke with Eli on the phone again back in early December and reitterated to him the importance of posting a budget. He agreed and said it should be done by the end of the next week. We're now at the beginning of March. Hello folks- a budget is the center foundation of such a business. It's not something you put off until you're about to do another project. Here eye am months later, though now i am starting to wonder- where is the budget? why is it not up yet? why is it not seen as important enough to get done immediately (or at least before traveling overseas- vacation)? hmmmmm. where my initial request was out of support and helpfulness, now i am starting to get suspicious? why is the question being avoided? there are a lot of odd anomolies here that could simply be answered with a budget, but since it still has yet to appear, I have to wonder...
With about 600 paying attendees- call it 500 fine- that's $50,000... and we did not make any money on the event? hmmmm. you see the budget would provide me with a complete list of expenses to match against the net gain. without that, i am left wondering where the hell all the money went. Not that I have to know all the finances of the business in order to support it. It's more about how money has been such a huge point of upset and stress for the Jen and Eli throughout this last event, yet now in this moment when we can put the resources to examine the finances in order to resolve money stress- their not here to do it, or even provide the "required by law" budget report-... seems unproductive to bitch about something in which you avoid taking the steps that resolve the issue. Now some people will say to me- there are lots and lots of expenses to throw a festival, you have no idea all the costs involved- OK... so show me- but no one will show me. luckily i am a smart guy, and i have thrown my own events before, rented space, porta poties, paid performers, rented equipment, etc... unfortunately, it still doesn't add up. My dear friend in Salt Lake City throws the burning man regional event out there. This year they had about 800 attendees, with rental space, porta potties, fire safety, etc... their budget was $9,000 for the same size and duration of event. hmmmm. now, i can understand dreamtime costing a bit more than other festivals- though it seems it should be less since it is a non-profit with many donations, and held on private land. i would have to assume that Eli is paying his dad something for using the land (which is fine- but how much?), otherwise my calculations are coming up way short. So, maybe this is blown out of proportion or somethings have really been misunderstood here. Well, I have been asking and waiting for a clear answer of exactly what IS going on, though it seems to get easily swept aside.
So, there you have it. I don't have any ill feelings or upset towards Jen, Eli, or dreamtime. Like I said, I am thankful for the event's birth and presence in this world. Mainly, I believe that there are things that should be expressed that are not. If you wish to help dreamtime- great- bless you- i think you should also know what the "directors" of dreamtime think it is and what it looks like to them (no hippies is just one simple example, you must talk with them more to find out the lengths at which this vision differs). in the meantime, i also support and love you all and applaud your being present. Consider also the best use of your skills and presence to the greater cause at hand and not just for 2 people's exclusive interpretation of it.
Finally, I know there are many of us that share a very common vision of what dreamtime can be- and the energy and drive to bring it into being. In Lakota leadership, when the tribe is not happy with how they are being lead, they follow the person that will lead in a way that is agreeable to the rest. they don't wait for the next election or to form a new company. Ultimately, I love Jen and Eli and wish to work with them. The silly thing is that this whole obstacle could easily be absolved in the face of 1) presenting a budget, and 2) letting go of control and embracing the time of group leadership where we honor each person's input. Eye much prefer to join together in the face of what this ruling class is plotting, though my devotion is to the essence of evolutionary love consciousness whatever way it is to unfold. I know this was a bit long, though I hope it has served the greatest purpose in being informative.

Love and Blissings,

sat nam-

Tasi