Evolution or Extinction

I saw a fascinating program on one of the less popular TV channels the other night ...an interview with a chap called Dr Robin Wood.   The central theme of his chat was that humanity is facing a simple choice ... evolution or extinction !  I was caught by the fact that there was a TV program  bringing up such profound questions and wondered how many people around the globe also feel that not only are we are facing such a critical turning moment in history  ... but that we have a part to play in influencing the outcome.  Robin is pioneering something he calls Renaissance 2, and asks us to imagine living in a Solar Civilisation powered completely by renewable energy, with people living in resilient habitats in tune with nature, operated by enlightened enterprises, wise culture and conscious, integral leadership aligned with a full spectrum of healthy values. He believes that crisis catalyses evolution through creativity and that this is the best time ever to be alive. He likens the time we are in today to the extraordinary fertile flowering of art, literature, music, science and learning which began to blossom around five hundred years ago and is very much looking at the practicalities of new business models, new ways of living which will not only have economic success but which would incorporate the fundamental values of humanity and spirituality.

There is a lot one could debate about this, but there was one feature which I found very significant...which is that thoughts and ideas which began as philosophical and perhaps a little flowery, idealistic and very 'fringe' back in the sixties are now being translated  into very practical ideas about pioneering a new culture - a new civilisation. Only 50 years later!  It made me ponder just what does it really take, to make that next evolutionary leap and just what might be achieved in another fifty years ! 

Third Vector

I'm working at the moment on a small video about Aboriginal Culture for our Templates for Change You tube Channel.     I was really struck by a quote from one of the Aboriginal Elders when asked about reconciliation with the current state of affairs and population in Australia.  They said that it was impossible to talk about reconciliation when there had never been any agreement in the first place...the one implied the other.
I found that really profound ... and in many ways it applies to so many of the stand-offs in the world today, whether it be in politics or religion.
They went on to say that the way all the Australians could come together, was through a common healing and purpose ..and the way that could happen was through a shared concern and nurturing of the planet..which would in turn look after, heal and bring them all together.  What  a gem of wisdom !  Perhaps, it is in the finding of that 'third vector' - rising into the  the bigger picture, shared values and  importances  ... that the reasons behind old  battles could be left behind and a better future forged.

Crop Circles

I had dinner with friends on Saturday and one of the many subjects that came up was Crop Circles ... one of those modern day phenomena which seem to keep happening  .....and with increasingly  detailed artwork and beauty  .. they sent me a link this morning with beautiful shots by Steven Alexander, taken over a few years in the south of England....and the photos really are quite extraordinary! The one attached is from July this year in Wiltshire. We all know that some crop circles are hoaxes  ....  but even if 10% were genuine, they still present us with a great and rather inspiring mystery!  
Of course, many people dismiss them all as human  hoaxes  and I can understand that in some ways. . .  they are pretty unbelievable ....and yet the growing intricacy and sheer beauty of them makes it more unlikely that anyone could produce them overnight! And if they are man made pranks, then how come with all the satellites around the planet, that the authorities who have access to satellite photos, do not expose them as such? Others like myself, recognise them as intriguing and mind provoking . . and one big question, of course, is where do they come from ?  Could it actually be some kind of non human intelligence making contact with us? As one person put it "a fax from the universe" !!  If so, could they be looking for our response, to gauge how we  respond to their 'communications' ?

I thought twice about whether to blog about this  ...  crop circles seem to be so 'out there', left field and whacky !!   Yet, they do keep appearing ... and having looked at hundreds of photos of them today, I honestly can't dismiss the possibility they do come from 'elsewhere'...wonder what other people think about them?  Wonder what they really are?

Lifting the Clouds of Limitation

In Sebastian Coe's closing speech at the  Paralympics he spoke of how the games had  "lifted the cloud of limitation"  I loved that language and thought that the Paralympic  athletes had set us a great inspiring example.   The impossible becomes possible, with imagination, dedication, bravery, determination and a lot of hard work. 
And of course, behind the clouds, the sky is always blue !

Throw Away Attitude

Over the weekend, I found myself looking around the house at the amount of plastic based items in my home.  Once again, it caused me to reflect on how so many items around me have a short term life...a built in obsolescence. It is so much part of today's reality, that mostly once doesn't give it much thought.    At the risk of sounding decidedly like one of the older generation, I scanned back to the period I was growing up..in the fifties and sixties and how very different things were then. From white goods, to crockery, cutlery,  furniture, curtains, clothes,  shopping bags  .. you name it ...   everything was expected to last for for a good number of years and maybe even decades ... and  especially in the fifties, the amount of plastic and man made materials was minimal compared to today. If we go back a hundred or two hundred years, then things lasted even longer .... as I often marvel at, when visiting older national trust properties.

And with that longer term life span, I think everything was more valued, better looked after ... I wondered to what extent that throw away attitude has permeated our psyche ....where even people, relationships, marriages are also influenced by that way of thinking.  

I just made a mental note to myself, to watch my own thought processes ..to make sure I value the people and surroundings in my life ... and not be overly influenced by that 'throwaway' attitude.

Sense of belonging

It's been fascinating listening to people talking about the effects of the Olympics in London this summer. I listened to a radio program on the way to work this morning

Several aspects really caught me.
One was how inspired the two volunteers were from their recent experience . They loved working with other people, helping because they wanted to ..and  had volunteered to do so.  And there was a lovely sense of team-ship - a sense of belonging.  It struck me how very natural and healthy these feelings are for humanity. The move , particularly  in  the big cities, towards  insularity and a self serving way of life, doesn't make for the happiest of life styles!  The interviewer  made a wry comment about people being nice to each other and even talking with each other in the streets in London - surprise, surprise ! Long may it continue!! 
Wouldn't it be great if that sense of team-ship, didn't need an event to galvanise it..but sprang from being part of the one human family? And that very natural urge to help and improve the collective as well as the individual quality of life,  had many outlets for us  to volunteer into ?