The only way to finish a marathon is to temper your pace. You don’t run a marathon full out like a sprint. Evaluating your available energy, water, and other factors is a critical part of the race. If we expect to get to the “finish line” of Transition, we have review our strategy. (Thanks to Joanne Poyourow for inspiring the metaphor.)
In our race to Transition, a fundamental factor in our success will be each of us grappling with our own shift in consciousness. Transition represents a set of ideas that go beyond efficiency. Peak oil and environmental devastation are only two results of our in-grown need to be efficient. We all have the sense that our species is on the path toward human extinction. A contributing factor is precisely this efficiency paradigm.
In our race to Transition, a fundamental factor in our success will be each of us grappling with our own shift in consciousness. Transition represents a set of ideas that go beyond efficiency. Peak oil and environmental devastation are only two results of our in-grown need to be efficient. We all have the sense that our species is on the path toward human extinction. A contributing factor is precisely this efficiency paradigm.
I find that when communication issues arise, often it is really a microcosm of this notion of efficiency as the greatest good, without regard to anything else. An efficient mindset doesn’t necessarily produce efficient results. Factories are a lot more efficient than making things by hand. We now have lots of cheap goods that fall apart quickly, as opposed to treasured objects that stay in family use for generations. Factories are more efficient (in some respects), but they lack other important qualities.
It's going to take a miracle for mainstream human industrial society to move off its current path. By miracle, I don’t mean the intercession of an all powerful deity, but rather events that are inexplicable from our current perspective. A shift in consciousness can shift our perspective and produce events that are not explainable. We might call those events miracles.
One valuable quality of any face-to-face meeting, as opposed to electronic pseudo-community, is an investment in the future. Open, honest, and full communication is of the highest importance in achieving the success of any endeavor. Investing your time in face-to-face activity is the most powerful way to move the Transitioning of the LA area forward.
We all want the best possible outcome for our efforts. Not only for ourselves but for our children and future generations yet unborn. We are running a marathon. That’s exactly what we are doing in trying to Transition the Los Angeles watershed, and if we’re going to make it to the finish line, we desperately need to put our heads together and rely on our collective wisdom to find the way forward.
— David Cutter
It's going to take a miracle for mainstream human industrial society to move off its current path. By miracle, I don’t mean the intercession of an all powerful deity, but rather events that are inexplicable from our current perspective. A shift in consciousness can shift our perspective and produce events that are not explainable. We might call those events miracles.
One valuable quality of any face-to-face meeting, as opposed to electronic pseudo-community, is an investment in the future. Open, honest, and full communication is of the highest importance in achieving the success of any endeavor. Investing your time in face-to-face activity is the most powerful way to move the Transitioning of the LA area forward.
We all want the best possible outcome for our efforts. Not only for ourselves but for our children and future generations yet unborn. We are running a marathon. That’s exactly what we are doing in trying to Transition the Los Angeles watershed, and if we’re going to make it to the finish line, we desperately need to put our heads together and rely on our collective wisdom to find the way forward.
— David Cutter
