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easy town books | rethinking
@easytownbooks.bsky.social
130 followers 260 following 170 posts
Welcome to my playground for rethinking- well, everything:

THE EASY TOWN STORY

August - December featuring book 4, building

CAMPAIGNS FOR OUR FUTURE

This is a @charlie-alice-raya.org project.

Website: https://www.easy-town-books.com
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easytownbooks.bsky.social
CAMPAIGNS FOR OUR FUTURE

DAY 7
body & sexuality

‘Dire situations need dire symbols. Something everyone sees. Something that makes everyone look and wonder. What’s the message? That we want our town?

🧵

#shaving #bald #body #photography #blackandwhite #health #OurFutureDay7 #revolution #resist
Double shadow against white wall of me with bald head.
December 7, 2025 at 8:22 AM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
‘Instead of going to the roots to find out what made the tree sick, politicians tear off the odd leaf, replace it with a new
one and call that change for the better.’

book 1, beginning

👇
www.easy-town-books.com/book-1-begin...

#photography #roots #politics #change #nature #treeroots #treetrunks
Sprawling tree roots of an old beech.
November 15, 2025 at 10:32 AM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
NATURE

When and why did so-called civilised humans stop to coexist with nature?

Did their fears and anxieties drive them to fight and conquer nature?

Or did they become too conceited to acknowledge their kinship with nature, and their dependence on nature?

#nature #climateaction #tippingpoints
Yes, but we can’t build in a place like this. We would only destroy it.’ ‘You could build with nature in mind.’ ‘Test if preservation is possible?’ ‘Or coexistence,’ Lian said. Coexistence, Alice repeated to herself while watching a yellow butterfly climb along the stem of a fern. When and why did so-called civilised humans stop to coexist with nature? Did their fears and anxieties drive them to fight and conquer nature? Or did they become too conceited to acknowledge their kinship with nature, and their dependence on nature? Or did they lose all understanding about the natural world the further they progressed? A connection lost and forgotten? Progress. How can we call disconnection and destruction progress?
October 29, 2025 at 1:40 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
CAMPAIGNS FOR OUR FUTURE
to be found in book 4, building

Find the links to the latest chapters in the thread 🧵

The chapters are available on my website for free & anonymous.

#booksky #planet #future #actnow #climateaction #tippingpoints #UK #politics #greensky #challenges #photography #resist
Waves rolling in.
October 27, 2025 at 7:50 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
‘Today you know that you don’t belong, that you have no one, that there is no home, no warmth, no welcome, no coming together.
There is just you.’

#loneliness #belonging #Christmas
#7 Why? Why is Christmas Eve difficult for me? Because you think that everyone is happily nestled in their family circle, and you are alone. You know that that’s not true. But it feels like everyone else has a place where they belong. A place, a group to go to. The rest of the year it doesn’t matter. Today, it does. Today you know that you don’t belong, that you have no one, that there is no home, no warmth, no welcome, no coming together. There is just you. © Charlie Alice Raya, book 3, shaping, 24 December, 2025
October 27, 2025 at 7:40 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
‘It’s like they say, being the head of something is the loneliest job.’

#loneliness #rethink
#6 ‘Alice?’ Alice exhaled noisily. ‘Um? Oh. There’s no time. It’s like they say, being the head of something is the loneliest job.’ Kaya frowned. They continued to stroll through the exhibition, and Alice’s mind emptied as if it had exhausted itself with this last rush of thoughts and couldn’t be bothered with another thought. Which was nice. A pleasant quietness. After a while, Kaya remarked: ‘How about you rethink that?’ ‘Rethink what?’ ‘The old narrative is that the leader has a lonely job. Why not find out how a leader can have the friends she/he cares about?’ ‘That would be interesting.’ ‘Honestly. You and Jack should be friends. You’re good together. I saw it in South Africa.’ ‘Not sure that will happen. There are other reasons. But I don’t want to talk about those.’ ‘One obstacle at a time.’ Alice took a deep breath. One obstacle at a time. © Charlie Alice Raya, book 3, shaping, 15 October, 2024
October 27, 2025 at 7:37 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
‘The sooner we all get on board and sort out the mess on our planet, in our societies, in our economies, the sooner we can begin to restore our planet, energise our societies and reshape the way we do business.’

#loneliness #restore #climateaction #rewild #reshape
#5 ‘What kind of statement?’ ‘A comment on the following: There is no lonely failure. We all failed our planet, our societies, ourselves.’ Alice smiled. ‘The sooner we all get on board and sort out the mess on our planet, in our societies, in our economies, the sooner we can begin to restore our planet, energise our societies and reshape the way we do business.’ © Charlie Alice Raya, book 3, shaping, 15 October, 2024
October 26, 2025 at 9:02 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
‘I just rediscovered a poem by Hesse: 
The lonely to God. I remember reading it and shouting the same words at God.’

#loneliness #reading #books #hesse
#4 18:27 I just rediscovered a poem by Hesse: 
The lonely to God. I remember reading it and shouting the same words at God. Here some lines, roughly translated: 
Lonely I stand, torn by the wind, 
Unloved and abandoned
In the hostile night.
Heavy is my mind and full of bitterness
When I think of you
Blind God, who, full of cruelty,
Always does the inexplicable.
(…)
Why do you lash me, 
who loved you,
Why do you hunt me, 
alone, 
through the night,
Why do you rob me 
of everything.
 © Hermann Hesse, Gedichte, quoted in book 2, travelling, Berlin, 2021, Charlie Alice Raya
October 26, 2025 at 7:30 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
‘If humans were selfish, they wouldn’t screw up the planet they live on. ‘

#loneliness #booksky
#3 ‘Pah. You’re such a dreamer. Businesses are run by selfish and ruthless people. That’s what makes them successful.’ ‘If humans were selfish, they wouldn’t screw up the planet they live on. And ruthlessness only gets you so far. Usually it leaves you on the losing side. Unless you’re into being a paranoid, lonely and wasted arsehole. And I guess some people must be into that, considering that there are quite a few exploitative jerks around. But you know what, I think we have the potential to be clever. There’s no need to be stupid or short-sighted or unhappy.’ © Charlie Alice Raya, book 2, travelling, Australia, 2020
October 24, 2025 at 9:38 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
For the #LONELINESS Days, I went on a forage in my books & selected related quotes.

Why is it important to address loneliness? Because we are #strongertogether!
#2 Despite Adeola’s connection to Tom, she often felt lonely. Even during the previous stops in the big team. Tom was always busy. Her own team, eighteen people, were all new too. Everyone was sort of alone, trying to please. She was proud that Tom trusted her enough to keep her on the travelling team. And so far, he called her every day for an update. But being on this small team still terrified her. Now she wasn’t alone like many others. Now she was the only one who was alone. © Charlie Alice Raya, book 2, travelling, South Africa, 2020
October 24, 2025 at 8:59 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
For the #LONELINESS Days, I went on a forage in my books & selected related quotes which I’ll post here over the next 3 days.

Join me in addressing this urgent issue by adding your thoughts, quotes and works to the conversation #loneliness.

Why is it important?
Because we are #strongertogether!
#1 ‘What sort of animal would you choose to be?’ Alice chuckled. ‘Actually, I always liked the idea of being an eagle. Not only because of my surname, but I love the image of being free and independent, flying wherever the wind would carry me. But I also like the lion with his majestic mane and his bone-chilling roar. Though, I was disappointed when I learned that the lion is rather lazy. So if I were to go for an earthbound predator, it would probably be a leopard or a jaguar. Or, come to think of it, a wolf – the lonely sort that howls at the moon. No, I wouldn’t howl. But I would roam the deep forests and the lonely steppe and the jagged mountains.’ © Charlie Alice Raya, book 1, beginning, 2018
October 23, 2025 at 8:36 AM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
CAMPAIGNS FOR OUR #FUTURE
are featured in the first part of book 4, building.

Tomorrow, The #LONELINESS Day marks the return of the campaigns’ publication & explorations.

All previously published chapters are available, online & as free pdf downloads, see 🧵

#actnow #booksky #photography #nature
Waves rolling onto the beach.
October 22, 2025 at 6:21 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
'What if we came together? Not to speak with one voice but with all our many voices, each adding a piece to the puzzle, each with the goal to make a future for us and our planet happen.'

notes for book 4, building, campaigns

#booksky #strongertogether #resist #writers #amwriting #visions
The trick will be to be the majority. Be the majority. There are excellent voices out there, but they are swallowed in the whirl of everything that happens in our lives and around us. What if we focused? What if all writers, thinkers, activists, scientists, explorers of our planet focused on creating the stories we need to reshape our world? You have been taught what a story ought to be. You have been taught that you have to be right. You have been taught that you need to compete. What if we came together? Not to speak with one voice but with all our many voices, each adding a piece to the puzzle, each with the goal to make a future for us and our planet happen. We don’t need people with answers, judgements and divides on their minds. We need people with imagination, clarity, curiosity and courage who contribute their visions. We are the majority. As soon as we decide to actively be the majority, everything will be possible.
June 25, 2025 at 10:20 AM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
'Did you enjoy fantasising about building a beautiful green world where everything is all right?'

book 4, building, starts with a fierce reminder that reconnecting with nature also means to recognise who is the stronger.
Megan climbed on the table next to the covered corpse. ‘For everyone who doesn’t know me, yet, I am Megan Rhys, head of the Agriculture Team. It seems to me that I am one of the few people who grew up on a farm, and who actually knows something about coexisting with nature. Did you enjoy fantasising about building a beautiful green world where everything is all right?’ Megan shook her head in anger. ‘I should have had this talk with you months ago. Nature isn’t something that cares about you or your wishes. It just is. And when nature decides to lash the land with gusts of winds that knock you to the ground, then you run, you hide, you stay out of nature’s way, out of nature’s forces. We humans have become so bleeding superior that we think nothing can harm us. We have lost every sense of how fragile we are, and that yes, bad things happen to us, not just to others. Building, creating with nature in mind also means to know who is the stronger. It means to listen to the wind, to the creaking of the trees. It means to grasp what is happening and where to find cover. Because unlike in our fantasies, we are terribly vulnerable, and nature doesn’t spare us. We have to take care of our safety ourselves.’ Megan paused and looked at the covered corpse. ‘He did not have to die!’
June 21, 2025 at 11:37 AM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
//63

#mihsM #takeaction
We all failed our planet, our societies, ourselves. The sooner we all get on board and sort out the mess on our planet, in our societies, in our economies, the sooner we can begin to restore our planet, energise our societies and reshape the way we do business. Charlie Alice Raya, book 3/1, shaping
June 7, 2025 at 4:54 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
ONLY HUMANS CREATE DEAD THINGS

'Nature works because it constantly digests, renews. It’s alive. It even recycles. No better, it constantly makes new life possible by dying because a fallen leaf serves as nutrient for new life.' (book 2/1, travelling)

The end of crude oil collection #mihsENDOIL
ONLY HUMANS CREATE DEAD THINGS part 1 ‘You had a dream?’ Megan teased. ‘Yeah. But that’s not the point. A thought came up in this half-dream-half-awake state where the dream still rolls on, but you’re aware of waking up.’ ‘Any chance of telling us what that thought is?’ Jason teased. ‘Sure. But it’s still kind of thoughts in progress—’ ‘Alice, spit it out,’ Ethan laughed. ‘OK. See, the body is constantly digesting. Take food. Food goes in, poo comes out. Take skin cells, bogies, spots, hair, blood. All of it is constantly in a process. Constantly transforming, constantly renewing, constantly in motion. Not everything digest, but if you think of spots as a way of digesting all the excess fat and sugar, that holds. Hair doesn’t seem to digest, but it does something when it gets greasy. And hair is replaced frequently. Skin cells die, they get thrown off the body once they did whatever it is they do. But the point I’m getting at is—’ Alice stopped, countering the amused expressions on the screen with a lopsided smile. ‘Look, you really have to let this sink in and think about it. Digesting. Sit yourself down and look at how your body works, and never stops changing, never stops digesting, or cleaning the blood, or fighting some infection, pumping liquid through the system, or whatever else it does. And here’s the thing that struck me. ONLY HUMANS CREATE DEAD THINGS, part 2 The body, and nature in general, is in constant motion. Nature works because it constantly digests, renews. It’s alive. It even recycles. No better, it constantly makes new life possible by dying because a fallen leaf serves as nutrient for new life. And that’s where humans get things wrong. We don’t produce or build that way. We produce and set up so many things that aren’t alive.That’s how we’re killing our planet. Our planet can only live if it constantly digests, and we block the system with our products, buildings, streets. And we don’t think in terms of digesting, renewing, not even in terms of being alive.’ ‘Well—’ Jason started, frowning. ‘Think about it. We don’t build or live in a way that digests. Hell, I don’t know how to put it better. You have to really think about your body. How it constantly grows, burns energy, digests, dies. That’s sustainable. But nothing we do is motivated by working with a living system. Funny enough our approach is all about fighting living organisms. We use plastic because nothing can get through. We use chemicals to kill bacteria not even asking what these bacteria might be good for. We use concrete because it puts a barrier between the natural forces and our settlements. We cover living land in dead tar to have straight surfaces. We even cover up rivers. We block the natural flow of things and kill living organisms out of some need for control or for being oh-so-clean. ONLY HUMANS CREATE DEAD THINGS, part 3 And on top of that, we accumulate and hoard things instead of putting them back into the cycle. So we drain and block. We are like a great constipation for this planet. I’m sorry for not being more precise. It’s just something that hit me this morning, and I don’t know what to make of it. But it seems to be important. And it’s still very sketchy.’ ‘You might be right,’ Megan said thoughtfully. ‘We’re the only creatures on this planet who build dead things. And we fill the planet with dead materials adding blockage after blockage.’ ‘Yes,’ Alice said with a gleam in her eyes. ‘Humans are the only organisms who constantly create things that neither regenerate nor digest or live. It’s as if we make the planet swallow plastic balls. No one can survive swallowing plastic balls, not even once. Look, I don’t know where this might lead, or whether there’s anything in it we can use with regard to the way we build, produce or live. But think about it.’ ‘You’re looking for another key?’ Ethan said. ‘Like with the sex talk?’ ‘Yes.’ Ethan nodded slowly. ‘You’re not wrong. We have made our world into an artificial world. It’s not properly alive any more.’ ‘And we keep adding dead things, suffocating our planet and ourselves.’
June 7, 2025 at 2:30 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
//53
#mihsM
The way out of our crises leads through a dark valley, and that is called: superiority complex. We have to face it and we need to find a way out of it. Before or after this valley is another dark valley, and that is called: inferiority complex. It’s no less dark, no less paralysing or misleading. Charlie Alice Raya, book 3/1, shaping
June 7, 2025 at 1:54 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
“A restored planet is the basis for unrivalled prosperity.”

//33
quote from book 3/1, shaping

You can find the complete scene on my projects website: www.easy-town.vision/growth-versu...

Day 2, MiHS marathon
THE BEGINNINGS OF A RESTORED PLANET

#rethink #mihsM #economics #business #amwriting
We will reach a maximum benefit once we accept that the planet is our home and that the other humans are our fellow humans, that empowerment beats competition every day, that we can shape our world in a way that heals our societies, and reconnects us to each other and to the environment. And that will allow us to restore our planet. A restored planet is the basis for unrivalled prosperity. Charlie Alice Raya, book 3/1, shaping
June 6, 2025 at 8:55 AM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
//23
At the beginning were the words

Day 1, MiHS marathon
THE BEGINNINGS OF A RESTORED PLANET

#MiHS #mihsM #climateaction #writingcommunity #booksky #narratives #stories #laws #legitimise
At the beginning were the words which allowed humans to formulate ideas. These ideas needed justifications. Stories proved to be ideal to illustrate, justify and popularise an idea. As the ultimate seal, humans invented laws to legitimise their claims.’ Charlie Alice Raya, book 3/1, shaping
June 5, 2025 at 8:10 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
//18
CHANGE IS POSSIBLE

Day 1, MiHS marathon
THE BEGINNINGS OF A RESTORED PLANET

#MiHS #mihsM #climateaction #writingcommunity #booksky #writersky #quote #bookquotes #change
‘Too many people believe that change is impossible, that the way our world is run follows some kind of natural law no one can break.’ Charlie Alice Raya, book 1, beginning
June 5, 2025 at 7:08 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
//8
YOU ARE DANGEROUS!

Make it happen stories marathon 3 @mihstories.bsky.social

#mihsM #bookquote
You are dangerous! No. I'm worried. And I care about humanity & the planet.
June 5, 2025 at 10:40 AM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
Well, first I’ll focus on the next MAKE IT HAPPEN STORIES marathons (5-7June, restoring the planet & 14 June, NO KINGS) @mihstories.bsky.social

And in July/Aug it’s all about the campaigns for our future @campaign-ideas.bsky.social which are connected to book 3, so it will get mentions then.

3/4 🎯
May 31, 2025 at 10:17 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
I hope to welcome you as a reader. I hope to hear from you at the marathon, and I wish you a pleasant evening, morning, day wherever you are.

Here the latest from the Usedom forests, Baltic Sea.

#booksky #bluesky #photography #amwriting #publication #books #politics #peoplesmovement #democracy
Trees in a forest.
May 12, 2025 at 6:24 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
6/7
you'll have received an invitation to the 1st full MAKE IT HAPPEN STORIES MARATHON.

Which will happen here on Bluesky.

Thu-Sat, 15-17 May 25
Start: 9:00 GMT

This isn't a competition. This is about flooding our world with visions for our future.

More: charlie-alice-raya.org/make-it-happ...
15-17 May, The end of failing governments, Make it happen stories marathon, on Bluesky
May 12, 2025 at 6:24 PM
easytownbooks.bsky.social
4/7
why I love the challenge to fight for our planet, for our communities, for our future.
We don't always know it, but we are amazing & we can shape our world. We are the majority. And THIS IS OUR WORLD.
We can be courageous & bold.
THIS IS OUR WORLD.

And sometimes, we need a little rest 😏.
May 12, 2025 at 6:24 PM