REM Stands for…
“In the end…REM will mean what we make it mean. Each person who comes to work in REM defines it. As we grow, respond to change, REM should change too. REM will be that place where change is “safe” because everyone’s ideas are welcomed and respected.”
REM – Revitalizing the Energy in ME
Most people experience REM sleep every night. It is named REM (Rapid Eye Movement) because the eyes move rapidly during this stage of sleep. REM sleep is referred to as the most creative mind state humans experience.
Founders of REM chose to name their organization REM because they had dreams of their own based on their vision of an even more creative human mind state...greater because they would be awake and together.
REM sleep is a solitary experience, soon forgotten upon awakening. REM founders envisioned a process which would bring people together in a safe atmosphere that encouraged them to share their dreams, knowledge and creativity. Together they would design a process which allowed the ideas of one person to catalyze new ideas in others…ideas that could only have been born through the “atomic-like” exchange of ideas. Building upon each other’s creativity they would create an even greater human mind state.
Faye Nicholson
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One was that REM be a re-energizing place for individuals, a place to connect to community.
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It would be a process which allows for the richness of diverse ideas to coalesce into great initiatives which develop into great accomplishments. From the beginning, REM was creating a dream or vision for Mid-Maine. In discussions of the importance of a dream to a great accomplishment, people easily made the connection to the REM stage of sleep…the most creative human mind state. The question became, “Can we share and coalesce our dreams while we’re awake and create a new and even more powerful vision emanating from an even greater creative mind state?” This is the primary goal of REM process.
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Many people were thankful for their rights given by living in a free land, but concerned that to be in balance citizens needed to take responsibility for creating their future. By developing a shared vision and working together to implement it they could be assured that the future they would want to live in would be theirs. In fact, that would be the only way
- REM would be a place where they would work differently; by consensus instead of voting. The idea was to make the team the primary focus…keeping everyone at the table was primary. If they could build strong teams which represented the true diversity of the community they could do anything! What they learned from each project would strengthen their teams and expand their possibilities.
- ME also refers to Maine. REM’s vision is to make REM a re-energizing place for Maine as well. We will replicate the REM process all across Maine and in so doing, revitalize the energy in ME, our wonderful State of Maine. Linking our communities, sharing best practices, will be a new step in the building of our democracy.