COMMUNITY EXPANSION
Transition in Leadership: Peter to François
François Duquesne took over from Peter as the illusions about the community’s expansion in the second half of the 70s collapsed under the weight of a massive structural debt. Our generation of members had to learn the same lessons that Peter and Eileen had learned and had lost track of: that visions are realised in their details, growing organically from the ground up.
The new cycle did not repeat the old pattern of a strong leader actualising a vision aided by a bevy of sensitives. Reimagining and grounding the vision of Findhorn was everyone’s job. And many stepped forward. Lyle Schnadt invented a solar panel and started a business; John Talbott took the focus for what would become the ecovillage; Caroline Shaw wrote the best grant application the Scottish Tourist Board had ever received and their investment enabled us to complete the Universal Hall; Vance Martin brought the World Wilderness Congress to the Community; to name just four of many who filled similar roles both large and small. François kept the focus on the current reality and our goal of long-term sustainability — as an organisation we had made a lot of mistakes in Peter’s final years. François saw only one option: purchase the Caravan Park and put down permanent roots or slowly perish.
Information flowed out of decision-making groups far more readily than it had under Peter, which helped rebuild the trust that had eroded in the brief era of proposals to decorate Drumduan with crystal chandeliers and reproduction Louis XIV furniture and the Universal Hall with velvet, suede and gold leaf. A flatter, less hierarchical organisation was born.
But even more important to me now, looking back from three decades later, were our elders — the ‘odd bods’ whose patience and perspective helped us stay the course — and our families, the moms, dads and kids, most with little in the way of financial resources, who pioneered a broader grounding of the vision with no less commitment than our founders.
I remember thinking during the blessing of the Family House, completed at a time when budgets were tightest and large doubts about the future lingered: Nope, we’re not going away. We’re going to make it.
Gordon Cutler
Findhorn Foundation Trustees, including Francois Duquense, Giles Chitty, Michael Shaw, Erica (secretary), Mary Inglis, Tom Welsh, Ross Stewart, Joannie Hartnell-Bevis, Stephen Field, Michael Lindfield, Nick Rose Photo Findhorn Foundation/Charles Petersen
I am in the 15th year of a series of retreats exploring co-creation, reality-creation, transpersonal realities, and the phenomenology of consciousness through attunement, meditation, and art.
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