Welcome 2012
01/02/2012

We also witnessed complete political stalemate and folly in Washington over the budget, the deficit, taxes, climate change, and every other conceivable issue—except war funding.  Public approval of the federal government hit at an all-time low, but that didn’t noticeably affect the participants,  who still seem hell-bent on destroying what’s left of the country by any means available—unemployment, war, a bloated military budget, fiscal austerity in every other department, political repression, environmental deregulation, and a blithe refusal to even discuss the real issues we face—such as how to live sustainably and happily on a finite planet with seven billion neighbors and a breathtaking diversity of other species whose welfare we might be advised to consider.

It was a momentous year on a personal level, too.  My sister and her children—my quadruplet niece and nephews—finally succeeded in relocating back to California.  Their proximity is a continual joy and blessing, enriching moments like a night spent under the stars feeling both small and intimately connected; days at the beach watching them fearlessly ride the waves on their new boogie boards; and profound comments they share in the most casual moments—such as Luke noticing that “Your brain is your friend and your enemy!” 

My own personal highlights included The Sun’s publication of my interview with Paul Chappell (http://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/424/fighting_with_another_purpose), accompanied by a note from publisher Sy Safransky calling it “one of the best interviews we’ve ever printed.”  I also included the three months I spent in relative isolation in rural Washington completing a vision quest with Methow spiritual elder Spencer Martin, aka Se Olum.  When I look back on those nights spent sitting out, I’m awestruck by the things I experienced—which I had no choice but to accept, even though they fell far outside the known laws of physics or the bounds of physical “reality.”  The very first night, for example, I stood up in the morning to find giant cat and wolf tracks in a tight circle just outside the ring of stones that formed my “power circle.”  These tracks were so close I would certainly have been touched by any physical animals who made them.  But Se Olum said they were the tracks of spirit animals—who most likely left them for the benefit of my doubt-filled Western-educated mind.  How I wish I could have seen them!

At about 3 a.m. on the last night we sat out, angelic singing broke the silence—a disembodied chorus singing “Ahhhhhhhh!”  Then quiet.  “Sing it again, please!  Sing it again!” my mind pleaded.  But the chorus did not sing at my command.  For my benefit, yes; at my command, no.  Se Olum said it was a piece of “my song,” the song I would learn in its entirety if I followed the path to full initiation.

But I didn’t follow the full path to initiation.  As faithful readers know, I broke with Se Olum in August and came back to California.  I couldn’t accept the darkness of his vision of the future, nor his presence in my consciousness in a place I felt should be reserved for direct connection with Spirit.  I wanted him out of my head.  Though I was proud of myself for making the break, I’ve also carried a sorrow, a burden of wondering whether I’m just in denial about the future, and also of wondering what my future path should be. 

In October I attended the Leaders Causing Leaders Conference, where it appeared that the next thing I should do was attend CEO Space’s “Free Enterprise Forum” in Las Vegas in December.  (From three months in the solitary wilds of Washington to 10 days in the capitalistic wilds of Las Vegas—what a journey!)  CEO Space was a phenomenal experience—10 days in 12- to 16-hours per day contact with hundreds of successful, talented, visionary people, all committed to each other’s success. 

CEO Space is built on a model its founder, Berny Dorhmann, calls “collaborative capitalism.”  Competitive capitalism, based on scarcity and a win-lose basis for human interaction, results in fear, punishment, greed, and exploitation—personal and environmental.  Collaborative capitalism, in contrast, is based on generosity, reward, celebration, and a win-win basis for human interaction.  Helping each other achieve our dreams creates greater success for everyone and builds bonds that reach far beyond our collaborative endeavors.

One of the most amazing phenomena I witnessed at CEO Space was that no one had to compete for anything they wanted or needed.  People synced up based on whom they resonated with.  What a joy!  There were plenty of projects and people for everyone; if you didn’t relate easily with one person or her project, hold on a second because you were bound to be inspired by a person or project you’d encounter in the next 10 minutes.  That also meant I didn’t have to “chase” anything.  The people I was supposed to meet and connect with would find me—and vice versa—easily, as in with ease.  What a blessed way to do business.

Here’s one of the most incredible examples:  At the beginning of the conference I met a woman, Jennifer Simms, who kept saying she knew she’d met me before.  I hear this a lot, so figured I just looked like someone else she knew. The last night of CEO Space, we were sitting together in the hotel bar and she started telling me about her past.  She was in Kenya in 1985 for the United Nations World Conference on Women.  I stared.  “I was in Kenya in 1985 for the United Nations World Conference on Women,” I said.  Her eyes widened and she said, “Lonnie Green—International Women in Leadership League,” which was the group I attended with.  I nodded my head and we both started crying.

She now has a project called ServeTheFuture.org, which teaches college students a game for creating a sustainable, collaborative world.  She is funding her nonprofit through an amazing profit-sharing program called 1MinuteMillionaire.  We will be working together in 2012 on both projects. 

In fact, as I enter 2012, I am aware that there is much to be concerned, dismayed, and even distraught about.  Yet as I acknowledge why I am here—to participate in humanity making this shift into “a world that works for everyone”—I am amazed, humbled by, and grateful for the incredible people who are similarly committed.  Thanks to CEO Space, I am teamed up with a good number of them—as many as I can handle!  And I know that, rippling out from CEO Space alone, are hundreds of other transformational teams; in other parts of the country are countless more teams; in other parts of the world are countless more.  It is as Paul Hawken described in Blessed Unrest: change is afoot.  The old way of doing things doesn’t work.  It is falling apart of its own decrepitude.  The best I can do—at least by the light I now see by—is to help build new ways that do work—for the Earth and for everyone.  For all my relations.

As we embark upon a new year, I’d like to make the following commitments to myself and ask my readers to hold me accountable to them:

To undertake a shamanic journey to Peru and perhaps Ecuador.  (Thank you, Micheal!)

To promote the peace work of Paul Chappell, David Krieger, and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation from a national platform.

To earn enough money to repay the loan on our project in Washington, complete our house, and fulfill our vision there.

To advance ServeTheFuture to inform and inspire 100,000 people. 

To continue and expand my own writing for publication.

To complete the year-long Medicine Wheel training.

To help my sons and siblings and dozens others achieve financial stability through the 1MinuteMillionaire program.

God bless us everyone!
And so it is.