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Dear Friends,
We hope the season finds you well, warm and ready for the New Year.
These are momentous times, as Alice Walker captures in her book, We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For:
“It is the worst of times because it feels as though the very Earth is being stolen from us, by us: the land and air poisoned, the water polluted, the animals disappeared, humans degraded and misguided. War is everywhere. It is the best of times because we have entered a period, if we can bring ourselves to pay attention, of great clarity as to cause and effect….We have only to open our eyes, and awaken to our predicament. We see that we are, alas, a huge part of our problem. However: we live in a time of global enlightenment. This alone should make us shout for joy.”
Securing the future is a big calling, a daunting task ahead, and it requires the best of all that we can bring to it—our healthy minds and bodies, open hearts, passionate spirits, and creative imaginations. The stakes have never been higher. Each of us has a contribution to make—we are alive on the planet now for a purpose.
At Tools for Change, we’re working with individuals and groups who feel called to step up and bring their best efforts forward in these critical transitional times. TfC provides tools for personal healing and empowerment, including Custom Applied Meditation CD’s and our new book Practical Meditations for Busy Souls. In addition there are many pages of free resources on our web site. TfC is also working with organizations and communities who are seeking to build stronger connections, vision and resiliency for the tough times ahead.
Many of us alternate between being hopeful about the possibility for real change and fearful about the future. On the one hand the American people have reached a great historical moment, choosing an African American for president. And president elect Obama is inviting input from the grassroots, another benchmark to celebrate! People across the country are in motion for change, the moment holds promise. On the other hand, climate change, peak oil and economic devastation loom before us more than ever before. We need to think in new ways and to open our imaginations to change.
Einstein tells us,“One cannot solve problems with the same consciousness that created them.” When we to slow down and reflect we can open to the intelligence of heart, intuition and imagination which may prove to be more practical now than the rational mind. Nothing is created without imagining it first. Our images are key!
Historian Fred Polak in the 1950s suggested that a correlation exists between self-defining images a society creates and the direction in which that society subsequently develops, proposing that a society’s images of itself as expressed in art, literature and popular culture is predictive of its evolution or demise. The preponderance of America’s cultural images in books, on TV or the Internet are images of violence, chaos, greed, or despair. It is crucial that we envision different ways of living on the planet and with one another so that the future ones have a place to live.
Each of us can gain inspiration from signs of hope. All over people are coming together in new ways to generate local economies, create alternative currencies, design local food production and distribution systems, design energy alternatives and build earth houses. There is a renewed growth of communities incorporating spiritual practice, healing and reconciliation into their lives. All of this promises to lead to what Howard Odum calls a “Prosperous Way Down”, and what Joanna Macy calls the "Great Turning". In future news letters, we (TfC) will be exploring these and other Transition Initiatives.
While learning how to face what is undeniably real at this moment in time, we can also learn how to envision a new world together with our families and communities, drawing on positive moments in our past--working from the inside out. In the coming months we will be hosting conversations to grapple with the challenges of the times, share vision and tap the power of spirit.
We invite you to join us for a New Year’s Circle in Seattle to look back on the past year and vision into the New Year, or if you live further away, host your own gathering (see article below). This is the first of a series of gatherings we call Circles for Change: Attending to the Times. Each Circle will help us vision into the new world and support each other to contribute our part to The Great Turning. Tools for Change dedicates our work over the next year to helping build communities of support, reflection, vision and action.
We hope you will join with us in these efforts!
In Spirit and Solidarity,
Margo Adair and Bill Aal
These are trying times! Vincent Harding tells us,
“Where there is no vision, we lose the sense of our great power to transcend history and create a new future for ourselves with others… Therefore, the quest [for a vision] is not a luxury; life itself demands it of us!”
With all the great challenges we face, it is vital that we build a wealth of positive visions because they will help move us and our communities into harmony with one another and all life on Earth.
We suggest that you start the New Year with an Energy Circle Gathering to build up your stores of positive visions with your family and community. This powerful practice enables people to tap into the power of meditation collectively. It offers a way to align with the positive forces within and around us, which in turn inspires us to live in ways that are coherent with our visions. Energy Circles work magic – participants tap deep resources of consciousness and get to play in the realm of imaginal intelligence. Energy Circles open the imagination to see what is possible and to increase the probability of what is likely. Being together in this way strengthens heart connections and builds mutual support. Invite friends over to share stories about the year past and vision into the New Year with an Energy Circle. This will “power–up” your highest aspirations. Energy Circles are great ways to start the New Year and they also help weave your community when used during the throughout rest of it.
Energy Circles are described in depth in Chapter six of Practical Meditation for Busy Souls.
Here is how a Gathering can work:
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