Fourth of July, Independent of Illusion

Yesterday I posted a Fourth of July Blog leading into the work I’m doing through Wellness Without Walls LifeLong Learning Series at Webster Univ. here in WingHaven.  Staying true to my vision of a world of deeper learning, loving, and living through experiential life learning I want to start by saying our American Dream is not an abstract idea for the future, rather, it is a seed in all of us that needs to be cultivated now, growing today, producing immediately.  Because as long as we have millions of our fellow citizens living below the poverty line on the streets in squalor, without jobs, adequate medical care, or good schools we have work to do.  As long as we have adults waking up every day facing incredible hardships, little hope for a better tomorrow, the dream is dying or dead in them and our Declaration of Independence is not living up to its promise to the people.

In the 21^st century when we think about it, isn’t it untenable, unacceptable to me anyway,  to think about the issues we face in this country today given the intellectual prowess, natural wealth, incredible capacity here to not have more of the American Dream a reality to all of the citizens of this country.  Because let there be no ‘illusion' here;  a Free Society is NOT:

·        A political and social system designed to overwhelm everyone.

·        A community that would defy objective examination of moral or economic effects on the social order they want to protect.

·        A place where public questioning and disagreement is not tolerated. . .or there would be social, economic ostracism, social harm and imprisonment.

·        A highly contagious massive paranoia feeding on the hysteria, biased media, power hungry politicians.

·        An otherwise sensible and rational people getting caught up in the conformity and believe the sheer insanity of justifying one right way, or definitive answer.

Or, if it is, that would be an illusion of a so-called enlightened society not to mention and illusion of independence.  Think about the words of Thomas Wolfe, You Can’t Go Home Again on the advent of the Great Depression:

“I believe that we are lost here in America, but I believe we shall be found.  I think the true discovery of America is before us. . .I think the enemy is here before us, too.  I think the enemy is single selfishness and compulsive greed. . .I think he took our people and enslaved them, that he polluted the fountains of our life, took unto himself the rarest treasures of our own possession, took our bread and left us with a crust.”

Walt Disney on the other hand remembered his childhood education encouraging him to take advantage of his talents on the advent of the Great Depression.  In his words he wanted to create a community of the arts and built a bridges of True Life Adventure for himself and the world out of these barriers.  Disney growing up in Missouri, also had a dream to re-create the All American Dream based on his home town of Marceline.  New Town, here in St. Charles county, was part of  recreating his childhood experiential education. 

I’m not old enough to remember the Great Depression of the 1930’s.  I recall with painful clarity, however, the fall of 2008 resulting in large measure from a grand illusion.  Despite the odds, and knowing a fearful or selfish people cannot be free I launched Wellness without Walls in O'Fallon in September of that year.  And because of  my over confidence, bull-headed nature, and reassurance of leaders like Walt Disney,we are launching The LifeLong Learning Series beginning August 10 through August 25 to kick off our co-creating healthy communities right here in WingHaven.  I'm convinced community is the bigger solution to our problems today, because it is one of the best ways I know to open minds to new the possibilities before us for a highly innovative, independent ‘artful’ community concepts free of  illusion for the future NOW!

For more details, contact information  and other upcoming venues click on the tab for contacts and events, and let me hear from you.

4^th of July, Declaring our Independence again Today by Deepening the Dream.

“Power, properly understood, is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose.  And one of the great problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposite, so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love.  We’ve got to get this thing right.  What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic.  Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.  It is precisely this collision of immoral power with powerless morality which constitutes the major crisis of our time.” Martin Luther King in 1967 in his last presidential address to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

How to bring greater understanding, resonance relationships through liberty, freedom and rights of all people now?  I believe the words have to go into to us, we must embody them and our lives must model this in the world, but not in isolation, because no one can do this alone, but rather community.  We must have more truth, love and people willing to step up and give ‘voice’ to this in the toughest of circumstances.

Today, we are in the eye of the storm, a vast over-commitment of military reserves/resources, (out of control) healthcare costs, education challenged on every corner, twin deficits with no real plan for course correction, anti-Americanism around the world with so-so solutions there, climate change acting out all over the world and this isn’t the first time on any count.  What are we learning here?

For one, I say, given the current political divide people will tend to give up.  To restore the American Dream at a Deeper Level of resiliency, the people must unite.  Morning Joe began months ago talking about the grace and potential of simple political civility.  But, that didn’t last long.  If you watched last week you saw Mark Halpern, MSNBC Sr. Political Analysis, comment to the contrary, the controversy  and instant termination on that note.

I say we take civility to the next step of greater respect through ‘inclusiveness’, where we ‘integrate minds, systems, disciplines for greater performance/results.  We’ve seen this now in science, the arts, medicine and it is what I lovingly refer to as Whole Health. Whole health has roots in our ancient wisdom where Washington started us off combining faith and fairness in the period of Enlightenment, then Lincoln, a great systems strategist, reaching across the great divides, politically, spiritually, socially.  Fast forward to Franklin Roosevelt, a man of inclusion, and the partisan New Deal, add Truman, Kennedy before we got into ‘polarization and letting whatever thought slips into our brains, pop out of our mouths’.

How do we take the first step to being able to see ourselves and others together again?  I say, we have to be more thoughtful and think together, which is part of the new LifeLong Learning Series, starting at Webster Univ. in WingHaven this August 10 through the 25.  As soon as the kids are in school, you get into a league of your own with one day slated for whole health beginnings, the second for going deeper in Master Classes with local Masters.  We will see each other in different ways, think together in different ways, ask questions in different ways and experience a different freedom in different ways.  Starting with the freedom  of ‘illusion’.