BeautyDialogues

It's a New Day!

Like about 300 million other Americans and countless others all over the world, I spent much of this historic day glued to the TV for the inauguration ritual celebrations. Like so many others I found myself choking up with tears and the courage to hope for a new day in America. I felt pride and a sense of gratitude towards my countrymen and women who helped elect this good man.

In his powerfully direct yet compassionate and inclusive inaugural speech, Obama didn't balk at the immense amount of work in front of us, nor did he give us false promises that it would be easy. But I couldn't help but feel if anyone can pull this self-obsessed nation together and inspire us to make the changes that are imperative for our survival, and the survival of others on this planet, he can.

Part of the excitement for me is how beautifully Obama's election is galvanizing the people and organizations I am part of. Basking in the glow of the new president's idealism, there seems to be an explosion of optimism and a feeling that this is "our time"... to have the conversations we've needed to have, to reach out to each other, work together, and begin to rebuild our country.

Just this evening, I received this video from the new Soul of Money website, revealing the silver lining in the current economic crisis that no one seems to be acknowledging yet.

"Most Beautiful" in 2008

The end of another year... 2008 slides back into history and we march forward into 2009. But before she disappears from view, I want to stop and contemplate the abundance of beauty I experienced in 2008.

Here are just a few of the those moments that provoked the "beauty response" in me this year:

~ Learning that Oprah Winfrey had produced a 10 part series on Ekhart Tolle's A New Earth and was offering it free online to the public

~ Watching the grace and power of all those synchronized bodies in the opening ceremonies for the Chinese Olympics; experiencing the pride they felt as hosts and the warmth of the hospitality they extended to the world

~ Sharing in the wave of relief and joy that spread throughout the world when Barak Obama won the election for US Presidency

~ And most recently, waking up to a Winter Wonderland in Eugene

We are so blessed! To be surrounded by all this beauty!

How about you? What was the Beauty that stood out for you this year?

Alex Grey's Obama

Here's the amazing Alex Grey's view of Obama as a truly global visionary:

Global Celebration

One of the thrills in the aftermath of this election has been the excitement with which the news of Obama's win has been met abroad. My in-box is full of jubilant congratulatory emails from friends around the world and it's so joyous to see television coverage of people dancing in the streets of Kenya and naming streets after our new president-elect.

The photo above came from Ricki Bascombe in Paris, where Barak has a 95% approval rating, reporting on the massive celebrations there - launching red white and blue balloons and drinking champagne as gospel singers sang "Oh Happy Day" and thousands of people shouted "Yes We Can" in French.

The Good News Sinks In

 

"If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress." ~ Barack Obama

And what a path it's been..

As the election returns were coming in the other night all kinds of emotions were rising up in me. I found myself restless and unable to concentrate; it was almost unbearable to hold the uncertainty with any equanimity. I was transported back to the previous election where the fire of hope had also been strong in me, only to be worn down to a flicker by all the conflict and eventually doused altogether when the "official" decision came in. I almost couldn't stand to hope again.

The morning after the election I was talking with a close friend and sharing these thoughts, the two of us still almost dazed with the shock and delight of Obama's victory, OUR victory. I realized that it's not just me - my entire generation has experienced this frustration of hope that "good" in the way we understand it will be manifested in the world. I was a child when J.F. Kennedy was assassinated, and as an adult every one of the good men I voted for - George McGovern, Jesse Jackson, Al Gore - were defeated in the presidential elections.

So the good news is slow to sink in... but now, several days later, it's beginning to. And with it a renewed sense of civic purpose and hope and responsibility. Not the overwhelming futility of responsibility without authority that I've been feeling for so long, but a new authority that comes with the "Si Se Puede", the "Yes We Can" that brought this new administration into power.

Now let's see what we can do together.

The Rhythm of Change

This is my other favorite video from the 2008 election campaign. Written by poet Aaron Jafferis and performed by him and his friends (here are the full lyrics) with music by KronZilla, it has the strong stamp of one of the clearest blessings emerging from this campaign - the young men and women of this generation stepping up to make their voices heard.

My Country

photo by Marxchivist, from Flickr

As some of you may know, I spent 13 years in England fairly recently. I loved England. I love her still, that green and pleasant land will always be home in my heart, but at some point I knew I had to return to the land of my birth. Not only because I wanted to see my niece and nephews grow up and spend time with my mother as she lives into and through her 8th decade, but because my country was in such trouble (ok, I admit it. I also had a wicked craving for blueberry pancakes and maple syrup, but that was secondary; honest!).

In Europe, news of America comes mostly through the distortions of popular media and let me tell you, we look pretty bad. There is absolutely no coverage of citizen dissent or alternative views and after a while I began to question my own memories of the country I had grown up in as a somewhat low key rabble rousing radical. Even though I'd held the same views when I lived in the US, I felt like a coward criticizing her from far away, distance and shadow projection giving me the illusion I had no responsibility for what all with eyes could clearly see was wrong.

I came home in 1999 because I wanted to make a difference and address some of those wrongs. Because I wanted to be one of the voices here speaking out and sharing the positive change movements that have always been part of the idealism and drive of this country; my country.

I was in Europe during the last election returns, and I was a little surprised to see how my own abject loss and disappointment over Gore's defeat was felt just as keenly by all around me. The world clearly has a stake in the US elections, and this one more than most as the world's threatened fortunes are linked ever more closely together.

On this day, the day of the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, I am filled with the anticipation of a change for my country and for my world. I'm voting for the change Barak Obama is standing up for - a change from war and corporate interest and the trickle-down theory of economics, to a healthy international and national relationship of respect and equality and the belief in the goodness and integrity of regular human beings. For green energy and a primary relationship with the earth that sustains all life. For education and health coverage (God, I miss the National Health Service!) and a way of living that respects natural limits on spending and protects our long-term interests without dismissing others'. That's the kind of change we can live with, wherever we are.

So on this day, in tribute to Obama and the creativity and optimism he inspires, I wanted to post one of my favorite videos from his campaign because it makes me tear up for gratitude and pride in the human spirit.

May our common humanity and the spirit that inhabits it carry us through this day and guide us in all the days to come.

Cultivating Happiness

My favorite of the post-election emails circulating now is the amazing Alice Walker's letter to Obama, and this is my favorite part of it:

"... you alone are not responsible for bringing the world back to balance. A primary responsibility that you do have, however, is to cultivate happiness in your own life. To make a schedule that permits sufficient time of rest and play ... We are used to seeing men in the White House soon become juiceless and as white-haired as the building; we notice their wives and children looking strained and stressed. They soon have smiles so lacking in joy that they remind us of scissors. This is no way to lead. ... One way of thinking about all this is: It is so bad now that there is no excuse not to relax. From your happy, relaxed state, you can model real success, which is all that so many people in the world really want."

Walker ends with a reference to the Dalai Lama, who truly embodies the spirit of leadership in today's world, and Obama's incredible smile, to which she pays tribute:

"A good model of how to “work with the enemy” internally is presented by the Dalai Lama, in his endless caretaking of his soul as he confronts the Chinese government that invaded Tibet. Because, finally, it is the soul that must be preserved, if one is to remain a credible leader. All else might be lost; but when the soul dies, the connection to earth, to peoples, to animals, to rivers, to mountain ranges, purple and majestic, also dies. And your smile, with which we watch you do gracious battle with unjust characterizations, distortions and lies, is that expression of healthy self-worth, spirit and soul, that, kept happy and free and relaxed, can find an answering smile in all of us, lighting our way, and brightening the world."

Thoughtful Citizens

Pretending I was still in my 20s, I stayed up until 4am the other night putting together an e-Book called Thoughtful Citizenship: A Guidebook for Decision-Making and Participation (Download ThoughtfulCitizenship-eBook.pdf - 670k) and a website to house it & other great resources.

The guidebook is a non-partisan call to action and was written by a number of Berrett Koehler authors (including Juanita Brown and the World Café community) who contributed their thinking on ways to become more consciously involved in posing and engaging the great questions of our times.

 Marilee Adams from the Inquiry Institute, who sponsored this project, wanted to get something out before the US election but the work she's commisioned will remain a valuable resource far beyond that important event. It behoves us all to learn to become more thoughtful citizens, no matter where we are or who sits in the oval office.

Youth Give

My friend Matt Robertson went on a Journey to Africa this summer. He and several other high school seniors were part of a YouthGive trip to look at how microfinancing has been working in villages in South Africa and Zambia. They were all given Flip Videos as part of a Digital Storytelling "kit", and this is what he made with his: