Tag Archives: change

Alan Cohen on Cycles

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Alan Cohen,
The Tide Always Comes Back In

A coaching client told me about a friend of hers who was freaking out because “the economy is never going to recover.” I suggested to her that her friend was suffering not from economic distress, but simple nearsightedness. Of course the economy is going to recover. Thinking that the economy will never return would be like standing on an ocean shore watching a wave break on the beach and anxiously exclaiming, “There will never be another wave!” There is always another wave, and the tide always comes back in.

Everything in the manifest universe functions in cycles. It’s all about frequency and vibration, crests and troughs. Economics is no exception. The economy goes up and it goes down. The stock market goes up and it goes down. Real estate goes up and it goes down. For every up there is a down and for every down there is an up. To believe that when it is up it will stay up and when it is down it will stay down is quite the short view.

People who recognize the wave nature of life are not disturbed when things change. Smart people do not resist or complain about change; they capitalize on it. In the 1970’s during the “gas shortage,” people were selling their big gas-guzzling cars and buying little economical ones. At that time I read a newspaper article about a fellow who was buying Cadillacs for ridiculously low prices because he expected that the time would come again when gas would be plentiful and there would be a demand for Cadillacs. Sure enough, the oil companies “found” more gas, the price of fuel plummeted, and the price of Cadillacs soared. The man was an entrepreneurial visionary.

(Translated to today’s market, we might say that a visionary would recognize there are other sources of energy besides oil, and place his or her chips on the tide of commerce flowing in that direction.)

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, lots of people were afraid to fly and travel, and the tourist industry suffered badly. Many tour agents threw up their hands and found other careers. In the spring of 2002 I read an article in a Hawaii newspaper about several tour agencies that were thriving. In the midst of the doldrums following September 11, they were planning trips for the following spring. They realized that at some point people would feel more confident and want to travel again, and these tour agents would be waiting for them and have trips for them. That’s exactly what happened. While the tide of tourism was out, they were preparing for its return. They were the only agencies thriving at that time.

One of my favorite models of vision in action is portrayed in the film, Tucker, the Man and His Dream, based on the true story of Preston Tucker. In 1947 Tucker developed an automobile many years ahead of its time, with a range of features that have since become standard equipment. Because his invention posed a threat to the auto manufacturers in power, Tucker was squashed and falsely accused of crimes. In the midst of his trial, Tucker doodled. When he was acquitted, Tucker showed his wife the sketches — schematic plans for a new kind of refrigerator with the potential to revolutionize the industry. Tucker wasted none of his precious time. Why bother with a trial when you can be creating things that will change the world?

I am also inspired by creative entertainers who see beyond appearances. Mel Torme, for example, wrote The Christmas Song (“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire…”) in the month of June, when there was no Christmas, snow, fire, or chestnuts. Oscar Hammerstein, partner in the legendary musical team of Rogers and Hammerstein, composed his magnum opus, The Sound of Music, while he was dying. While his body was withering, his spirit was soaring. He was not distracted by the appearance of limitation. While one tide was going out, another was coming in.

An economic downturn, or recession, is an intrinsic piece of a greater progression. Abraham-Hicks notes that, “This economy is planting seeds of desire, intention, and invention that will make the economy stronger than it ever was.” Likewise, Native Americans would purposely burn down certain forests because the area needed cleansing, and the forest that grew back would be healthier. There is a wisdom in apparent destruction, which paves the way for ultimate construction. I once saw a sign posted at a road construction zone, “The inconvenience is temporary. The improvement is permanent.”

We are going through a period of temporary convenience. We can moan, complain, criticize, and blame, or we can take a breath and flow through it. Just keep watching the ocean, and you will find that the next wave is not far behind the last one.

Alan Cohen is the author of many popular inspirational books, including I Had it All the Time. 

from:   http://www.spiritsite.com/forums/columns/others/part64.shtml

Change, Community, and Personal Power

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Michele Hunt

Transformation Catalyst; Author, ‘Putting Vision and Values To Work’

 The Genie Is Out of the Bottle — People Everywhere are Claiming Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
Posted: 12/ 2/11 09:44 AM

As we look around our world we see a plethora of outcries, protest and revolutions demanding change. On the surface they seem to be very different groups with different agendas, from vastly different cultures, different races and even different generations. The remarkable thing however, is that this phenomena is happening almost everywhere, in the same timeframe and at a volume unlike anything we have seen in the history of humankind. This should cause us to ask some very important, fundamental questions:

  • On a deep level, could there be some common yearnings in people that connect all of these cries for change?
  • Why now and why everywhere; is there a common cause beyond the obvious economic and political conditions?
  • Could there be a shared vision of life’s possibilities and potential growing in the hearts and minds of people around the world?

In the mist of the chaos and confusion of our time we tend to be too blinded by our “day to day” struggles and parochial focus, to see what might be unfolding on a macro bases. When I step back and listen to what people are saying — fundamentally, I hear the same cry for change. The “Arab Spring” revolutionaries in the Middle East; the “Occupy Wall Street” protestors in cities across in the world; the anti-globalization protesters at the G-20 Summit, all seem to be demanding the right be free to pursue their hopes and dreams.

While the messages of these revolts and protest speak to specific conditions: ending oppressive dictatorships, ending the income inequality, the fear of the growing marriage between corporations and governments, I believe the core message is fundamentally the same — PEOPLE FIRST! People around the world have evolved to the place where they are claiming their unalienable rights.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The essence of this profound statement from the United States Declaration of Independence is shared by a rapidly growing number of people around the world, and impassioned US citizens are finding the courage to claim their Rights.

Why Now!

Since the beginning of the “civilized” world, people have been serving governments, businesses, institutions and the economic systems that support them. Under this model the world has seen continuous war and conflict, poverty, pain and the degradation of our planet. I believe the most devastating affect of putting people last, has been the damage to our individual and collective self-esteem, which has dampened the human spirit.

People are changing! People are now demanding an authentic shift in power from governments, institutions and systems to PEOPLE FIRST. We may be on the cusp of actualizing the social model most people have dreamed about and countries have fought for — a model that is — “of the people, by the people, for the people”. This radical change is evidenced by the proliferation of social media technology. Massive numbers of people and organizations are creating the technological tools to enable people all over the world to connect to one another, in real-time, unencumbered by governments, institutions, media, geography and cultures. Even language barriers are diminishing, thanks to Google translate.

The social media revolution is a phenomena created by people, for people. This revolution has dramatically enabled people to communicate with one another igniting what I call a “PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE movement. This movement is growing at an exponential pace. The Arab Spring spread across the Middle East in a matter of months. The Occupy Wall Street movement, started in September of this year in New York City and San Francisco — today the Occupy Together Meetup website reports there are 2,683 Occupy communities throughout the world, including 95 countries around the world — all this momentum in just two and a half months.

In the early stages of these movements people were perplexed, critical and many were dismissive about their validity. Today many people believe they have the potential to go viral. It is not just the protesters we see in the streets crying for change — listen to your neighbors, the conversations at your local restaurants and bars and the conversations around the dinner tables — the silent majority’s frustration levels are nearing a breaking point.

It is impossible to calibrate the impact all of these movements and technological developments will have on governments and civil societies around the world in 1-3 years — I believe it will be enormous. The People-To-People movement is eliminating the barriers and boundaries that separate us. This is a historical game changer never before realized in the history of humankind. This movement is messy, unpredictable, and wrought with ambiguity. The old forms of social control are not working and this is creating fear, and confusion. At the same time, something far more profound is happening. On a very deep level people are beginning to understand that we all have far more in common than we differ. We are discovering common values and aspirations that transcend nations, cultures, race, ages and circumstances. We are learning that what people value most is fundamentally the same: Everyone shares the need:

  • To connect with others
  • To participate – be included, be heard
  • To contribute our talents and gifts towards something that matters to us
  • To learn and grow
  • To be recognized
  • To have a sense of belonging
  • Ultimately, to be loved

I strongly believe these universally shared-values resonate with all of us. Growing up, I was raised a GI Brat living in many places around the world. Over the last 25 years I have traveled 50-80% every year working in cities on every continent except Antarctica. I have worked in and with corporations, governments, and nonprofit organizations. I worked in a halfway house for adult female inmates and a prison for adult male felony offenders. In my diverse journey I have yet to find anyone who did not want to be included, to be heard, to be valued, recognized and to be loved.

The growing People-To-People movement, enabled by the social media revolution is bringing us out of the dark ages. We are becoming aware of the fact that everyone and everything is related. We are inextricably connected and bonded by a powerful life force that compels us to grow, evolve and pursue our dreams.

This new consciousness is rippling and multiplying across our world almost as fast as the technology that carries it. Although the media focuses on the negative aspects of people connecting to people, if we look below the waterline we will see that people are breaking out of the patterns of cynicism, hopelessness and despair and discovering the individual and collective power we all have within us to change our reality. The rapidly evolving internet technology has become a powerful tool for social, environmental and political action — and it is unstoppable!

A New Vision

What we need is a new story for the future of humankind. It is a new day; the past has relinquished its hold on the future. We need is vision that is inclusive and born out of our universally shared human values. A vision that inspires us to overcome our fears and compels us to recreate our governments, institutions, organizations and communities to be worthy of peoples commitment.

Imagine governments that authentically serve the will of the people — participatory democracies that are inclusive and transparent.

Imagine leaders having the self-confidence, inner strength and wisdom to become what Robert Greenleaf called — servant leaders. Leaders who see leadership as a function rather than a status.

Imagine corporations and consumers alike working together for the good of all. Corporations and business committed sustainable value — doing well and doing good as a viable business model. And people, making the commitment and having the discipline to buy products from companies and patronize businesses whose products, decisions and actions are ethically, socially and environmentally responsible.

Simon Mainwaring’s new book W First, proposes a compelling argument why we must alter the current free market capitalism from destructive capitalism to sustainable capitalism. He offers a new vision and specific ideas to “transform the entire private sector, corporations and consumers alike — into a force for global renewal” Mainwaring believes that We First is neither anti-capitalist nor anti-wealth. It is pro-prosperity”. He defines prosperity as — “Well-being for all” and believes that in the long run serving everyone’s interest also serves our own.

There are a growing number of companies and consumers that share Mainwaring’s vision of prosperity.

  • There are innovative mobile phone applications that enable consumers to become ethical shoppers. Barcoo, developed by a group of young Germans, is a free download application that allows customers to point their mobile phones at the barcode on products while shopping to cheek a company’s performance on social and environmental responsibility. It even gives information on how a company treats its staff.
  • Some Internet gaming developers and companies are beginning to use social gaming to solve real-world problems. Zynga, the worlds largest social gaming company is developing “Games for Good”. According to NPD Group, a marketing research firm, the on-line gaming industry, has grown into a 15.7 billion dollar industry – 60 million Americans have played a game on-line. Imagine if the Apps for Good trend accelerates.
  • A company out of Amsterdam, Oat Shoes, has developed sneakers that are attractive and environmentally friendly. When they wear out, bury them and they will blossom. OAT Shoes states on their website “The future of fashion lies in reconciliation between nature and industry. OAT Shoes strives to lead the way to that future”.

People are becoming passionate about changing the world. The explosion of social networking through internet technology is a powerful example of people’s hunger to connect with one another. People are not just demanding change — they are making change happen.

Communities of like-minded people are redefining ways of being together; moving from hierarchical, exclusive, separate constructs, to inclusive communities that flourish on the flow of ideas around common interest. While the media focuses on the abuses and destructive groups on the internet, there are far more positive communities creating new thinking, new possibilities and generating new actions and movements for change. People are coming up with bold ideas to change our world, many of which do not require a lot of money. They are not asking for permission or forgiveness but rather putting their ideas to work. The number of social networking groups connecting, learning and working together to solve problems is amazing. This authentic shift of Power to people has the potential to impact everyone and every segment of our society.

The genie is out of the bottle! People are claiming their power. That energy cannot be forced, coerced, bribed or beaten back into that the old controlling structures, systems or mindsets. The People-To-People movement, enabled by the powerful social media revolution, leads me to believe that a massive global movement to transform society’s unhealthy systems, structures and behaviors, to enable all life to flourish — is possible.

from:    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michele-hunt/people-to-people-movement_b_1125381.html?ref=impact&ir=Impact

Grassroots Movements Everywhere

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by Stephen Lendman

Ordinary people across the Middle East, Europe and America are fed up and want long denied social justice.

Londoners are enraged about growing social pain, government in the pockets of monied interests, and endless imperial wars they want ended – NOW!

On October 8, The London Guardian headlined, “Stop the War Coalition demo in London marks 10th anniversary of Afghan war,” saying:

Protesters read aloud names of fallen UK soldiers, sacrificing their lives for war profiteer gains.

Masses “attended the Stop the War Coalition demonstration in Trafalgar Square, led by a former soldier who refused to fight and a 106-year-old peace activist.”

Court martialed and jailed for refusing to serve, Lance Corporal Joe Glenton read a letter to Prime Minister Cameron signed by other former US and UK servicemen, saying:

“We are making this statement in defiance of the propaganda and lies in support of the so-called war on terror for the last 10 years.”

“We know these wars have nothing to do with democracy or security or women’s rights or peace or stability. They are fought for money and power and nothing else.”

Precisely so! Wars are never for liberation, humanitarian reasons or democratic values. They’re for imperial dominance, colonization, resource and people exploitation, and war profiteering enrichment, no matter the body count to achieve them.

…

Spreading US Protests

At the same time, Occupy Wall protests spread in weeks to nearly 1,000 cities and towns nationwide. They’re the first national uprising in decades. Nothing like them has been seen since earlier civil rights and anti-Vietnam war activism.

Global justice demonstrations since Seattle 1999 lasted several days then ebbed. Today’s rage against the system shows promise provided spirited energy doesn’t wane, leaders emerge to sustain it, and focus concentrates on what matters most – money power in private hands to make more of it at the public’s expense.

Wall Street controlled money can’t co-exist with democracy and social justice. It bribes political Washington to get what it wants. It buys members of America’s duopoly like toothpaste.

Americans have the best democracy money can buy. Addressing Freedom Plaza activists on October 8, Ralph Nader said:

“It is time for citizens to push their elected officials to break the corporate stranglehold on our country.”

“Congress has done more to bail out Wall Street than Main Street.” Infinitely more, in fact, with sustained trillions of dollars of handouts. At least, $16.1 trillion but very likely much more unreported.

“Wall Street crooks have avoided penalties and prosecution and continued to receive bonuses and excessive compensation while pensions and saving have been looted.”

Record corporate profits belie a growing Main Street Depression. Unemployment is over double official numbers. America’s worst ever housing crisis continues with no end in sight. Millions lost homes. Millions more will before it ends. Washington is doing nothing to help or create jobs.

“(I)income inequality in this country” is unprecedented. (T)he top 1% of the population has financial wealth equal to the combined financial wealth of the bottom 95% of the people.”

Protests across America are “way overdue (to make) the president and Congress listen.”

They hear, but they don’t care. They know, but they do nothing. They talk, but they don’t act.

Business as usual won’t end until people power replaces fossilized duopoly power with progressive government of, by and for the people.

Its main focus must be on returning money power to public hands where it belongs. Without it other objectives will fail, including ones Occupy Wall Street (OWS) adopted on September 29.

They stress:

to read more, go to:   http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2011/10/10/social-justice-protests-head-everywhere#more19020

Grassroots Movements on the Rise

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World uprising against corrupt thieves

07.10.2011

World uprising against corrupt thieves. 45568.jpegThousands of Americans occupied Wall Street without violence  – an epicenter of global financial power and corruption. They are the last rays of light in a new movement for social justice that is spreading rapidly around the world: from Madrid to Jerusalem, and 146 other cities, with others joining all the time. But they need our help to triumph.

The families of workers are footing the bill for a financial crisis caused by corrupt elites. The protesters are demanding a real democracy, social justice and fighting corruption. But they are under strong pressure from the authorities and some media are portraying them as extremists. If millions of us around the world support them, we will increase our determination and show the leaders and the media that the protests are part of a massive movement for change.

This could be our year, our 1968 of this century, but to succeed it must be a movement of all citizens of all social classes. Click to join the campaign for real democracy. A giant counter will be erected in the center of the occupation in New York and when one of us signs the petition, it will be shown and relayed live on the petition page:

http://www.avaaz.org/po/the_world_vs_wall_st/?vl

The worldwide wave of protests is the latest chapter in the history of this year’s global power of the people. In Egypt, people went to Tahrir Square and overthrew their dictator. In India, the fast of a man brought millions onto the streets and the government was forced to give in – winning a real action to end

For months, Greek citizens protested without a break against unfair cuts in public spending. In Spain, thousands of “angry” protesters defied the ban on pre-election demonstrations and set up a protest camp in Sun Square to speak out against political corruption and government manipulation of the economic crisis. And this summer, Israelis built “tent cities” to protest against rising housing costs and for social justice.

These national issues are linked by a narrative of global determination to end the connivance of the elites and corrupt politicians – that in many countries helped cause a damaging financial crisis and now they want the families of workers to pay the bill. The mass movement that is responding to this can only ensure that the onus of the recession does not fall on the most vulnerable, but it can also help to improve the balance of power between democracy and corruption.

In each revolt, from Cairo to New York, the request for a responsible government that serves the people is clear and our global community has supported the power of the people around the world, wherever it has appeared. The time when politicians were in the hands of the few corrupt is ending and, instead, we are building real democracies, of, by and for the people.

Translated from the Portuguese version by:

Lisa Karpova

Pravda.Ru

from:    http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/conflicts/07-10-2011/119267-World_uprising_against_corrupt_thieves-0/

Ronna Herman on Ascension, the Intellect, and Consciousness

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Seeking The Light of The Intellect

Ronna Herman
a message from Ronna Herman
Friday, 30 September, 2011

Beloved masters, there is an ebb and flow rhythm in the ascension process. You will experience a period of intense activity created by challenging and mind-expanding experiences, followed by a desire to turn inward and a need for contemplation and solitude.

You are striving to develop a strong Soul-consciousness, which will eventually become the dominating force within your life. Your mental consciousness and emotional consciousness were meant to be under the direction of your Soul-Self and not controlled by your ego personality. Illumination and spiritual awareness begin with the mental body / the mind. To achieve Self-mastery, it is vitally important that you seek the Light of the intellect. Conscious awareness begins when you become aware of the bigger picture so that you may see both sides of a controversial scenario. You must learn to be a keen-minded observer of life, and you must be willing to withhold judgment. A master does not need to constantly have an opinion or to always try to influence those around him/her. A spiritually evolved person is to offer the truth as it has been revealed to him/her and to encourage others to seek their own truth as it is unveiled to them.

The frequencies of unconditional love begin in the mid-fourth dimension and increase with each higher sub-dimension. Below that the frequencies are too fractured and discordant. The polarity of good and evil was not part of the original Divine plan. The Divine Blueprint was designed so that you, the Sparks of God-Consciousness, could experience duality. It was to be an experiment in diversity, in opposites, within an accepted spectrum of Light and shadow. It was never meant to be a reality of good versus evil.

The great INBREATH OF ASCENSION means that you are being urged, via the consciousness Time Seed Crystals encoded within each and every Soul, to end your descent into the lower realms and to begin the ascent back into the higher realms of Spirit. However, first you must experience and heal the miscreations stored within your physical vessel and within the astral body / plane of consciousness. You must claim ownership of your miscreations and the negative imprint you have created down through the ages. No longer will humanity be able to blame the Devil or Satan for all the pain, suffering, chaos and destruction of the past and present times. You must acknowledge and claim ownership of all your creations from the most loving, refined frequencies to the lowest, most discordant thought forms.

We implore you to let go of your old, negative, established view of death.DEATH IS NOT AN ENDING. IT COULD BE LIKENED TO A COMPLETION OF A PROJECT AND THE BEGINNING OF A NEW, WONDROUS ADVENTURE. Each lifetime has a major theme and the cast of players are specifically chosen because they have the characteristics needed for each unique part in your personal, grand production.

YOU ARE NOT YOUR BODY, YOU ARE PURE CONSCIOUSNESS encased within a costume of flesh. As you have done thousands of times before, when you leave the earthly plane, you will discard your physical body for garments of Light, and in due time you will prepare for another great adventure in a new reality. As you gain Self-awareness, you will develop a Divine curiosity and an intense desire to begin a new personal spiritual quest. You will develop a sense of adventure as you delve into the mysteries of the cosmos, and the Divine Plan will begin to unfold at your level of awareness. It is important that you understand that each major transformational, human progression involves cosmic wisdom in a new form to fit the forthcoming cycle of evolution.

The components of life and all things possible come to you as formless Seed Crystal Cells of great potential. You supply the necessary thought forms, which are infused into the dormant Seed Crystal Cells, and then you must ignite them with God Fire, the Adamantine Particles of God Light, with your loving intention.

Understanding the laws of vibration is required in order to become a master builder on the material plane of existence. You must learn to manipulate thought matter efficiently. The major requirement is developing strong, focused mental abilities.

Beloveds, now is the time for you to display your newly refined cocreator abilities, for humanity and the Earth need your Love/Light more than ever before. Remember, we have repeatedly stressed the fact that the Adamantine Particles of Creator Light must be activated with your focused, loving intention before this wondrous gift may be used as fuel for material manifestation purposes. No longer can anyone deny the fact that the Earth and humanity are in the midst of an Earth-/Soul-shaking time of transformation. The negative vibrational patterns of fear, anger and desperation are spewing out at an astonishing rate into the frequency band of astral plane mass consciousness which surrounds the Earth. Daily, it is growing more difficult for the average person to stay in a positive mode and to envision a bright, joyous future. You are in the midst of the times of great change that you, the Star Seed, have been preparing for in many past lifetimes. Again, we tell you, as a World Server you have the capability of neutralizing the negative thought forms of thousands of people who are functioning in the limited environment of the third/fourth dimensions. Now is the time for you, my earthly Legions of Light, to step to the fore and take up your blazing sword of Light so that you may do your share in overcoming the destructive dark forces of humankind: fear, judgment, greed, selfish, ego-motivated and power-seeking intentions/actions.

We understand that in recent past messages we have given you a vast amount of information to integrate. Therefore, we will condense some of the concepts into concise thoughts for your better understanding and retention:

to read these points, and for more, go to:   http://spiritlibrary.com/ronna-herman/seeking-the-light-of-the-intellect

Citizen Protests

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As Scorn for Vote Grows, Protests Surge Around Globe

Adnan Abidi/Reuters

INDIA Parliament capitulated to Anna Hazare’s demands on an anticorruption measure.

By 
Published: September 27, 2011

Their complaints range from corruption to lack of affordable housing and joblessness, common grievances the world over. But from South Asia to the heartland of Europe and now even to Wall Street, these protesters share something else: wariness, even contempt, toward traditional politicians and the democratic political process they preside over.

They are taking to the streets, in part, because they have little faith in the ballot box.

“Our parents are grateful because they’re voting,” said Marta Solanas, 27, referring to older Spaniards’ decades spent under the Franco dictatorship. “We’re the first generation to say that voting is worthless.”

Economics have been one driving force, with growingincome inequality, high unemployment and recession-driven cuts in social spending breeding widespread malaise. Alienation runs especially deep in Europe, with boycotts and strikes that, in London and Athens, erupted into violence.

But even in India and Israel, where growth remains robust, protesters say they so distrust their country’s political class and its pandering to established interest groups that they feel only an assault on the system itself can bring about real change.

Young Israeli organizers repeatedly turned out gigantic crowds insisting that their political leaders, regardless of party, had been so thoroughly captured by security concerns, ultra-Orthodox groups and other special interests that they could no longer respond to the country’s middle class.

In the world’s largest democracy, Anna Hazare, an activist, starved himself publicly for 12 days until the Indian Parliament capitulated to some of his central demands on a proposed anticorruption measure to hold public officials accountable. “We elect the people’s representatives so they can solve our problems,” said Sarita Singh, 25, among the thousands who gathered each day at Ramlila Maidan, where monsoon rains turned the grounds to mud but protesters waved Indian flags and sang patriotic songs.

“But that is not actually happening. Corruption is ruling our country.”

Increasingly, citizens of all ages, but particularly the young, are rejecting conventional structures like parties and trade unions in favor of a less hierarchical, more participatory system modeled in many ways on the culture of the Web.

In that sense, the protest movements in democracies are not altogether unlike those that have rocked authoritarian governments this year, toppling longtime leaders in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Protesters have created their own political space online that is chilly, sometimes openly hostile, toward traditional institutions of the elite.

The critical mass of wiki and mapping tools, video and social networking sites, the communal news wire of Twitter and the ease of donations afforded by sites like PayPal makes coalitions of like-minded individuals instantly viable.

“You’re looking at a generation of 20- and 30-year-olds who are used to self-organizing,” said Yochai Benkler, a director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. “They believe life can be more participatory, more decentralized, less dependent on the traditional models of organization, either in the state or the big company. Those were the dominant ways of doing things in the industrial economy, and they aren’t anymore.”

Yonatan Levi, 26, called the tent cities that sprang up in Israel “a beautiful anarchy.” There were leaderless discussion circles like Internet chat rooms, governed, he said, by “emoticon” hand gestures like crossed forearms to signal disagreement with the latest speaker, hands held up and wiggling in the air for agreement — the same hand signs used in public assemblies in Spain. There were free lessons and food, based on the Internet conviction that everything should be available without charge.

Someone had to step in, Mr. Levi said, because “the political system has abandoned its citizens.”

The rising disillusionment comes 20 years after what was celebrated as democratic capitalism’s final victory over communism and dictatorship.

In the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, a consensus emerged that liberal economics combined with democratic institutions represented the only path forward. That consensus, championed by scholars like Francis Fukuyama in his book “The End of History and the Last Man,” has been shaken if not broken by a seemingly endless succession of crises — the Asian financial collapse of 1997, the Internet bubble that burst in 2000, the subprime crisis of 2007-8 and the continuing European and American debt crisis — and the seeming inability of policy makers to deal with them or cushion their people from the shocks.

Frustrated voters are not agitating for a dictator to take over. But they say they do not know where to turn at a time when political choices of the cold war era seem hollow. “Even when capitalism fell into its worst crisis since the 1920s there was no viable alternative vision,” said the British left-wing author Owen Jones.

to read more, go to:    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/28/world/as-scorn-for-vote-grows-protests-surge-around-globe.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

September 18-24

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Overall Color for the Week:   Light Pink

Ah, this week.  Everything is in such flux.  This is not a good time for relying upon…. whatever.  The Trickster is about and he is spinning his tricks everywhere.  In relationships, in job situations, in promises, in trusts, … in everything.  Let it go.  This is a time in which you must let it go or you will find your self; spiraling downward into expectations and old patterns which cannot help but be thwarted now.  This is a week for a sense of humor, a sense of optimism, and a super strong sense of self.  You have all the tools and strength you need.  What you are lacking is your own confidence in WHO you are.  Spend some time within.  Take some time to know what you truly are and what that means in what you want and your expectations.  This is an important time, and this is an important exercise.  Choices now are what we will be manifesting and discovering for the next eighteen months. Just an additional note, this is a very important time to listen to your intuition, pay attention to your hunches.  You can learn a great deal about what lies just around the corner. Oh, and emotions, emotions, emotions.  Let them flow. Continue reading →

Toning Down the Inner Critic

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Walter E. Jacobson, M.D.

Psychiatrist, speaker and author, ‘Forgive to Win!’

How to Turn the Volume Down on Your Inner Critic

Posted: 9/1/11 08:34 AM ET

Many of us resist change because we are more comfortable with the known, as bad as it may be, compared to the unknown, which we fear could be far worse. Many of us resist change because we fear it may make others uncomfortable to the point where they distance themselves from us and possibly leave us, triggering our abandonment issues in the process.

Consequently, instead of making efforts to change and being willing to deal with the uncertainty of the unknown and the possible abandonment of others, we cling to the past, we cling to the unsatisfying relationships and circumstances of our lives, we don’t take risks and we accept a life less lived.

What can we do about it? First, we have to deal with the prevailing fear that is dominating our resistance to change. We must make the conscious decision that it’s better to risk potential disappointments, in an effort to reach for the stars, rather than accept a life of dormant dreams and quiet desperation.

We must make the conscious decision that if people can’t accept us for choosing to change it may be painful, but we’ll deal with it. We may feel abandoned by them, but we won’t abandon ourselves. We have faith that others will enter our lives, attracted by what we are striving to achieve, who will appreciate and support our growth efforts.

Once we make a commitment to change, we must vigilantly monitor our thoughts and neutralize our inner critic, that negative, disparaging, shaming and degrading voice inside our head that keeps telling us that we’re not good enough, we’re not loveable, we’re unworthy, we don’t deserve success and happiness and that it is a pointless waste of time to try to become something more.

We must de-fang our inner critic and give it no power to fuel our fear and our doubt, to discourage us and derail us. We must de-throne our inner critic and replace it with our inner colleague — that inspiring, encouraging, uplifting voice inside our head, that loving and nurturing voice of our higher self that truly knows what’s best for us.

For far too long we have kept that voice soft if not silent, relegating it to the back seat of our consciousness. But now, having made the commitment to change, we pump up the volume and use it to repeatedly reinforce positive, optimistic messages that neutralize the negative, critical labels from our inner critic and, at the same time, fuel our passion, our persistence and our perseverance.

Bottom line: We don’t have to sell ourselves short. We don’t have to settle for less. There is great joy and abundance available to each of us when we release ourselves from the bondage of “I can’t” and other limiting self-definitions.

to read more, go to:    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/walter-e-jacobson-md/fear-of-change_b_941300.html?ref=healthy-living-spirit

The Meaning and Power of HOPE

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How The Impossible Becomes Ordinary

Hope requires care and feeding. Rebecca Solnit on how she keeps it alive.

Recently, Nelson Mandela turned 93, and his nation celebrated noisily, even attempting to break the world record for the most people simultaneously singing “Happy Birthday.” This was the man who, on trial by the South African government in 1964, stood a good chance of being sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead. Given life in prison instead, he was supposed to be silenced. Story over.

You know the rest, though it wasn’t inevitable that he’d be released and become the president of a post-apartheid South Africa. Admittedly, it’s a country with myriad flaws and still suffers from economic apartheid, but who wouldn’t agree that it’s changed? Activism changed it; more activism could change it further.

Think of hope as something that requires care and feeding. You feed it by finding news sources that give you information about alternative movements and new possibilities.

Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch, who’d amassed a vast media empire, banked billions of dollars, and been listed by Forbes as the world’s 13th most powerful person, must have thought he had it made these past few decades. Now, his empire is crumbling and his crimes and corrosive influence (which were never exactly secret) are being examined by everyone. You never know what’ll happen next.

About 1,600 years ago, Boethius put it this way in The Consolations of Philosophy, written while he, like Mandela, was in prison for treason: “As thus she turns her wheel of chance with haughty hand, and presses on, fortune now tramples fiercely on a fearsome king, and now deceives no less a conquered man by raising from the ground his humbled face.”

Still, that wheel didn’t just turn. It took some good journalism—thank you, reporters of the Guardian!—to bring Murdoch to his knees. Just as it took some dedicated activism to break Mandela out of prison and overcome the apartheid era.

Everything changes. Sometimes you have to change it yourself.

Unpredictability is grounds for hope, though please don’t mistake hope for optimism. Optimism and pessimism are siblings in their certainty. They believe they know what will happen next, with one slight difference: optimists expect everything to turn out nicely without any effort being expended toward that goal. Pessimists assume that we’re doomed and there’s nothing to do about it except try to infect everyone else with despair while there’s still time.

Hope, on the other hand, is based on uncertainty, on the much more realistic premise that we don’t know what will happen next. The next thing up might be as terrible as a giant tsunami smashing 100 miles of coastal communities or as marvelous as a new species of butterfly being discovered (as happened recently in Northern Ireland). When it comes to the worst we face, nature itself has resilience, surprises, and unpredictabilities. But the real territory for hope isn’t nature; it’s the possibilities we possess for acting, changing, mattering—including when it comes to nature.

to read more, go to:  http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/how-the-impossible-becomes-ordinary