I am a warrior, that my son may be a merchant — and his son, a poet. ~ Thomas Jefferson
The Founding Fathers (and Mothers) risked it all – their property, their status, and their very lives – for the sake of honor, duty, and radical ideas about human dignity and freedom. Jefferson reminds us of his abiding concern for future generations, a sentiment shared by many environmentalists and social justice activists in our time. The term, “seventh generation,” has been adopted by some environmentalists from the Iroquois Confederacy, who came to decisions through careful consideration in context of both ancestors and descendents. Interestingly, we are now the seventh generation after Mr. Jefferson. This week, how can your actions demonstrate concern for future generations?
More: Read John Mohawk’s moving essay about the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) approach to peacemaking.
Bonus #1: Read about seventh generation sustainability and the Great Law.
Bonus #2: Thom Hartmann has written many evocative books, including one called “What Would Jefferson Do?”
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Barn’s burnt down. Now I can see the moon. ~ Masahide
When something unexpected or devastating happens, my first reaction is often to reject it, push it away, or otherwise obsess over it. I might question, fix, analyze, or otherwise seek to minimize the blow. Thinking it’s my fault or something I could have prevented mistakenly puts me at the center in an unrealistically black-and-white world. This week, can you open to a wider view and see a setback as a gift that is simply not yet fully understood?
More: Poets and artists have the gift of vision that allows them to see beauty in the midst of challenge. View the “350 Sky” video by Daniel Dancer. On Dancer’s website is this tagline: “Art Changes People – People Change the World.”
I arise in the morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. ~ E.B. White
Much as I love his humor, maybe White has set this up as a false dichotomy. What if the best way to save the world is to savor it? The play between spirit and matter is so fascinating and mysterious. Our senses are exquisitely designed to tune in to the world around us, to bring us information and temptation, moment by moment. How can savoring the world help you in your quest to save it?
More: Save or savor? We have much to give thanks for, here in North America. This brief video puts it all in hauntingly beautiful perspective.
Prince Charles has a fantastic platform from which to deliver this message: I don’t want my future generations to ask, if you knew what was going on, why the hell didn’t you do something about it? If mankind had the cleverness and power to bring the earth’s ecosystems to the brink of failure, we certainly have the ability to bring them back.
This film, Harmony will air on NBC Friday, Nov. 19 at 10:00 p.m. / 9:00 Central. This preview seems to promise a film about solutions, rather than just more hand-wringing about the state of things. Would love to hear your thoughts if you watch it. Meet you back here after Friday night.
We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims. ~ R. Buckminster Fuller
How refreshing! The future is not something we passively live into, based on past patterns or trends. The future is something we create. If we aren’t happy with the current state of things, we can choose to examine our underlying assumptions and beliefs. Every single human system on earth is created out of nothing but the stories we tell ourselves about the meaning of life, our relationships with each other and the planet, and our capacities for good or evil. This week: can you identify a limiting belief that keeps you from designing a future that you are fully excited about?
Related quote: “The best way to predict the future is to create it” ~ Peter F. Drucker
More:The Awakening the Dreamer symposium provides excellent background and lays the foundation for this work.
FOUR YEARS. GO. is a campaign to catalyze and empower a fundamental shift in the direction of humanity, inspiring collaborative action, connecting individuals and organizations, and amplifying best practices and successes.
This campaign is inspiring an awareness of the urgency to shift humanity’s trajectory by 2014, before our destructive trends make that shift impossible. They are empowering individuals and organizations to set and reach goals that will cause a positive global tipping point by 2014, setting humanity on a new path toward a socially just, environmentally sustainable, and spiritually fulfilling future.
This may sound like pie-in-the-sky, but — IT’S NOT. It’s entirely possible — as long as we think in terms of possibilities, rather than probabilities. (To paraphrase Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition Movement.)
Take a look at this site. Get connected. Join a campaign. Become an allied organization. We just did.
Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I may remember. Involve me and I will understand. ~ Confucius
As a teacher, I find this humbling. Given my own education and experience, these three actions and results are listed in order of difficulty. Telling and showing come naturally, but are not very effective to catalyze lasting change. This week, what are some ways you can involve people or at least show them, rather than just tell them what you see?
More: “Switch” is a fantastic book about the power of experience to shape change.
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