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The Emergent Field of Social Healing

There may be no more important human activity than healing social rifts between individuals, families, communities and nations. The new field of Social Healing promises to make this an ongoing activity in multiple forms with major impacts. This exciting development in the human journey promises profound change in resolving human conflict and, in fact, has already done so in many countries. We are witnessing the birth of a powerful conflict resolution tool that may well spell an end to war and the arguments leading up to it or, at the very least, may make this world a far more peaceful place through myriad forms of compassion in action.

Judith Thompson and James O’Dey are pioneers in this emergent field and Judith has written a brilliant overview that beautifully articulates the story and framework of Social Healing. I invite you to enjoy her article and if you want to know more to download the free The Social Healing Project Report available at http://www.charityfocus.org/docs/books/socialhealing.pdf

We Are Between Stories
by Judith Thompson

We live in an exciting time. As cultural historian, Thomas Berry put it: “We are between stories.” The old story — bracketed on the one side by reductionist scientific materialism, and on the other by institutional religious dogmas — is no longer able to guide us toward human or planetary flourishing. Instead, the chasms created by both science and religion, and the various social philosophies they spawned, are implicated in pushing us toward the precipitous edge upon which we now stand. At this edge we see both breakdowns and breakthroughs.

While the story of scientific materialism has been part of our evolutionary journey, it has created a map of reality — a worldview — that de-legitimized a vast portion of wisdom and experience. It placed reason over intuition, intellect over emotion, material over spiritual, objectivity over subjectivity, exteriority over interiority, and condensed this into a story that we live in a mechanistic, material world that can only be known through objective and measurable observation in which human reason reigns supreme.

Institutionalized religion upheld a story that gave male authority figures the power to interpret and mediate purported divine
laws and construct theological justifications for power over women, children, the natural world, and non-believers. While scientific and
religious stories were at odds with each other, both saw it in their interests to label metaphysical or spiritual worldviews outside their boundaries as heresy, superstition or witchcraft.

Yet ironically, science itself has now begun to step into the realm of the mystics. The “new sciences” story finds biologists and neuroscientists astounded by the hitherto unstudied capacities of the human brain and heart, indicating our ability to intentionally amplify love and compassion. It finds psychologists exploring the territory of contemplatives and revealing a map of human consciousness far beyond the individual ego-self. It finds physicists discovering that the presumed separation of observed and observer doesn’t exist.

Much like the African worldview of Ubuntu — “I am because you are” – all things exists as a communion of subjects, not an assortment of objects. The new story frames the human journey, not within the context of tribes or nations, but embedded in a constantly evolving planet and cosmos, interconnected and interdependent at every level. The implications of this framing could signal dramatic changes in
every field of human endeavor. The trends we are seeing within restorative justice, reconciliation, transitional justice, dialogue and other forms of peace practice, are evidence of new ways of addressing human conflict that are moving beyond the old dichotomies. We have chosen to name this trend social healing partly because we see an evolving paradigm that is not fundamentally hinged around the dualities of good vs. bad and right vs. wrong, but is rather inclined toward viewing human conflict through the lens of wounding and healing. Social healing, then, is not guided by revenge, retribution or punishment, but rather by the compassionate response of relating to all people — victims, transgressors and bystanders alike – as inextricably connected.

–JudithThompson, in _Social Healing Project [1]_report
Links:
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[1] http://charityfocus.org/docs/books/socialhealing.pdf

MISSION: Paradise

At last, a feature length film full of practical steps to co-creating a new paradigm world with over an hour of social architect Jim Channon’s 35 years of researching the best strategic ideas for getting us there and nine years of receiving visions from 2000 global leaders. Part of Jim’s amazing life story was included in the film, Men Who Stare at Goats.

Please feel free to send this link on to your network and ask them play it forward. Let’s help this important film go viral.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAU2K4JwTjc&feature=share

If you are moved by Jim’s wonderful work, please consider making a tax-exempt donation to help recover the production costs.

CALL 808-339 2432 and thanks to all who helped!!

Go Planet!

JIM

Having More by Owning Less

–by Maria Popova , Original Story

Inconspicuous consumption, or what lunching ladies have to do with social web karma.

Stuff. We all accumulate it and eventually form all kinds of emotional attachments to it. (Arguably, because the marketing machine of the 20th century has conditioned us to do so.) But digital platforms and cloud-based tools are making it increasingly easy to have all the things we want without actually owning them. Because, as Wired founder and notable futurist Kevin Kelly once put it, “access is better than ownership.” Here are seven services that help shrink your carbon footprint, lighten your economic load and generally liberate you from the shackles of stuff through the power of sharing.

 

NEIGHBORGOODS

The age of keeping up with the Jonses is over. The time of linking up with them has begin. NeighborGoods is a new platform that allows you to do just that, allowing you to borrow and lend from and to your neighbors rather than buying new stuff. (Remind us please, what happened to that fancy blender you bought and used only twice?) From lawnmowers to bikes to DVD’s, the LA-based startup dubs itself “the Craigslist for borrowing,” allowing you to both save and earn money.

Transparent user ratings, transaction histories and privacy controls make the sharing process simple and safe, while automated calendars and reminders ensure the safe return of loaned items.

Give NeighborGoods a shot by creating a sharing group for your apartment building, campus, office, or reading group — both your wallet and your social life will thank you.

UPDATE: Per the co-founder’s kind comment below, we should clarify that NeighborGoods also allows you to import your Twitter and Facebook friends from the get-go, so you have an instant group to share with.

 

SNAPGOODS

Similarly to Neighborgoods, SnapGoods allows you to rent, borrow and lend within your community. SnapGoods takes things step further by expanding the notion of “community” not only to your local group — neighborhood, office or apartment building — but to your social graph across the web’s trusted corners. The site features full Facebook and Meetup integration, extending your social circle to the cloud.

You can browse the goods people in your area are lending or take a look at what they need and lend a hand (or a sewing machine, as may be the case) if you’ve got the goods.

 

LANDSHARE

Growing one’s own produce is every hipster-urbanite’s pipe dream. But the trouble with it is that you have to actually have a place to grow it. And while a pot of cherry tomatoes on in your fire escape is better than nothing, it’s hardly anything. Enter Landshare, a simple yet brilliant platform for connecting aspiring growers with landowners who have the space but don’t use it.

Though currently only available in the U.K., we do hope to see Landshare itself, or at least the concept behind it, spread worldwide soon.

 

SWAPTREE

swaptree is a simple yet brilliant platform for swapping your media possessions — from books to DVD’s to vinyl — once they’ve run its course in your life as you hunt for the next great thing. Since we first covered swaptree nearly three years ago, the site has facilitated some 1.6 million swaps, saving its users an estimated $10.3 million while reducing their collective carbon footprint by 9.3 million tons.

Inspired by the founders’ moms, whose lunch dates with girlfriends turned into book-swap clubs, swaptree makes sure that the only thing between you and the latest season of 24 is the price of postage.

 

GIFTFLOW

Most of us are familiar with the concept of regifting. (No disrespect, but the disconnect between good friends and good taste is sometimes astounding.) Luckily, GiftFlow allows you to swap gifts you don’t want for ones other people don’t want but you do. The platform is based on a system of karmic reputation, where your profile shows all you’ve given and taken, building an implicit system of trust through transparency.

So go ahead, grandma. Hit us with your latest sweet but misguided gift. Chances are, there’s someone out there who’d kill for that kitschy music box.

 

ZIPCAR

We’re big proponents of bikesharing but, to this point, the concept has failed to transcend local implementations. While some cities like Paris, Amsterdam and Denver are fortunate enough to have thriving bikesharing programs, we’re yet to see a single service available across different locations. Until then, we’d have to settle for the next best sharing-based transportation solution: Zipcar, a 24/7, on-demand carsharing service that gives its members flexible access to thousands of cars across the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Zipcar has been around for quite some time years and most people are already familiar with it, so we won’t overelaborate, but suffice it to say the service is the most promising solution to reducing both traffic congestion and pollution in cities without reducing the actual number of drivers.

 

SHARE SOME SUGAR

Lend me some sugar, I am your neighbor. More than an Outkast lyric line, this is the inspiration behind share some sugar — a celebration of neighborliness through the sharing of goods and resources. Much like SnapGoods and NeighborGoods, the service lets you borrow, rent and share stuff within your neighborhood or group of friends

* * *

For more on the culture of shared resources, do watch Rachel Botsman’s excellent TEDxSyndney talk. Her forthcoming book, What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, hits bookstores in two weeks and is an absolute must-read.

UPDATE: Botsman’s book, What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, is now out and landed promptly on our best books in business, life and mind shortlist for 2010.

 

This article is reprinted with permission of Maria Popova. She is a cultural curator and curious mind at large, who also writes for Wired UK, The Atlantic and Design Observer, and is the founder and editor in chief of Brain Pickings.

Time to THRIVE

It’s here! Foster Gamble’s new paradigm film, THRIVE. Like NPD, this is a solutions oriented project. What makes this film so interesting is that it was produced by a member of the P&G empire and member of the 1% who has worked to make the company better and used his personal funds to make this powerful film. He is a great example for other legacy family members of other large companies.

Before you watch it, you may want to enjoy the interview with Foster conducted by Worldwide Tipping Point. The info on that interview and a link to view the film follow. My sense is that this fiim will do as well or better than the surprise hit What the Bleep a few years back and the great new online film distribution platform it is available on, Play It Forward, offers you the opportunity to enjoy the film and pass it along as a gift to friends you feel would really enjoy it. Please let me know your thoughts once you have viewed it.


After spending 8 years and millions of dollars to create the documentary THRIVE: What on Earth Will It Take? I am honored to have Foster Gamble on Worldwide Tipping Point today in what I believe is his first public interview since the film’s release!

So what is this THRIVE film all about? It will become quickly evident in this interview what THRIVE is hear to say, and I encourage you to check out our dialogue (and the movie) straight away!

Interestingly, Foster Gamble is a direct descendent of the Proctor & Gamble empire and I ask him some pretty pointed questions regarding his unbiased ability to shine a light on the unsustainable nature of our financial systems while obviously coming from a ‘financially elite’ family as described in the film…and his response is fascinating!

THRIVE weaves all sorts of topics, including tangible evidence of extraterrestrial life, the meaning of crop circles, and the possibility of unlimited sources of clean, non-combustible energy being accessible right now…a truth that would completely revolutionize the way human beings live on Planet Earth!

I ask Foster about his decision to include all these seemingly unrelated topics, and how this all relates to a world where we can all thrive. Again, his answers are fascinating.

In the end I find THRIVE to be a timely and relevant film, and a critically important artifact for our times. While I don’t expect all of you to agree with everything in the movie (as I am sure it will be controversial), I believe it is worth checking out and listening to our interview because THRIVE’s perspective certainly provides a few important things to consider.

In the end, it is up to ALL of us to decide how we can reach the Tipping Point and thrive together in our world…and I am looking forward to all your feedback!

Click here to screen the film and pass it along.

Seven Words That Can Change the World

Several years ago, my good friend Joe Simonetta was approached by Neale Donald Walsh after Neale had read a book of Joe’s and asked if he could rename it and publish it through his publisher. Joe agreed and Seven Words That Can Change the World was born. A few years later, I was visiting Joe in Vilcabamba and suggested that he turn the book into a video. He thought that was a good idea and I soon found myself shooting, directing and editing the DVD. Over the years it sold a few hundred copies and most recently, Joe decided it was time to gift his work to the world so here it is.

Seven Words That Can Change The World – Part 1 from Joe Simonetta on Vimeo.

Here’s the backstory on Seven Words:

At Harvard Divinity School in the fall of 1992 at a senior thesis seminar, each graduate student stated the subject of the paper he or she would present for graduation. Joe Simonetta, then nearly 50, said he would write on a new world belief system. His fellow students, incredulous, were taken aback that someone would undertake such a frivolous endeavor. Seven Words That Can Change the World is that belief system.

The author and speaker, Joe Simonetta, has had rich experiences in a broad range of fields: military, professional sports, business, politics, architecture, religion, writing, and higher education. His interdisciplinary journey has yielded clear, easy to understand, insights relevant to the challenges humanity faces.

Those who have heard Simonetta speak say he is “ingenious”…”brilliant”…”inspiring”…”the clearest presenter of reality”…”he provides the basis for a new world belief system”…

John Raatz, Founder of GATE (Global Alliance of Transformational Entertainment), says that “Simonetta brilliantly connects the dots of cosmology, evolutionary biology, religion, science and belief systems and presents a new understanding of the architecture of life itself.”

A graduate of Harvard Divinity School (Master of Divinity), Simonetta also holds a Master of Architecture degree. He is the son of an immigrant blue-collar worker who raised him in a World War II housing project.

Simonetta says that “a completely new understanding of reality is needed to arrest and reverse humanity’s destructive and unsustainable momentum, end its needless suffering, prosper together, find peace, achieve sustainability and advance civilization.”

“Our window of opportunity to accomplish the necessary and monumental transition in thinking is small compared to the large obstacles within our current belief systems (business, political and religious) that must be dissolved” he continues. “Yet, we must do this if we and all the life forms that share this jewel of a planet are to survive.”

In the film, Simonetta guides the viewer on a powerful journey through time, the cosmos, evolutionary biology, the world of religion, and our competing sets of survival instincts that have produced the troubled world we live in today.

“Simonetta has been able to see through all the garbage of the centuries like a laser beam and then state the obvious – truth – in such simple, straightforward words.” says Phyllis Leonard, of Sherborn, MA.