Itineraries Spring 2006
Contents:
Speaking for the Earth: A Tribute to Connie Mahoney by Nina Tepedino
Vision and Creating the Future You Most Want by Bruce Elkin
Can New Orleans Save America?
On May 25-28 Second Journey will convene a COUNCIL OF ELDERS charged with Reimagining New Orleans. Our public debate has focused on the question, can we save New Orleans. Can (or should) the devastated city be rebuilt — and how? Posing a different question — can New Orleans save America? — gets us to the heart of a different truth: we cannot reimagine New Orleans without also reimagining America.
The May Council will invite elders, meeting in circle, to reexamine fundamental aspects of the American social contract and confront realities made starkly clear by Katrina. Those realities include the unconscionable existence of abject poverty in America and a failed public policy approach to a host of environmental issues.
Ironically, great national calamities — such as Hurricane Katrina and 9/11 — contain the seeds of great opportunity. They trigger in us a deep recognition of solidarity: “We are all from New Orleans. We are all from New York,” as a posting to one online blog declared. When we participate vicariously in the suffering of our fellow citizens, a second response is triggered. We feel a call to citizenship, a call to civic engagement.
Our usual inclination is to leave discussions of this sort to “the experts.” How to solve poverty in America, how to reverse global warming — what do we know? The truth is, with the most critical decisions— including questions of distributive justice and right stewardship of the Earth — no accumulation of technical expertise is ever conclusive. Such decisions require citizen wisdom — the wisdom, according to University of Texas philosopher Paul Woodruff, that reasonably well-informed people bring to the political process and one of the defining marks of authentic democracy. “Because experts may disagree, and because self-proclaimed experts may be wrong, we ordinary people depend on our own citizen wisdom to make good policy decisions, after we have heard the experts, and after we have listened to informed debate.”
As its subtitle, An Experiment in Citizen Democracy, suggests, the Council is less about generating solutions and more about creating the forum in which we model how to deliberate together as citizens. By launching a national conversation, the Council in May will build upon heroic efforts by many who — sometimes one neighborhood at a time — are working tirelessly to engage their fellow citizens, come to consensus, and birth a new vision of how civil society might be lived out in the specific community of New Orleans. Let us follow their lead.
The Council will be held the Wildacres Retreat Center atop the Blue Ridge in western North Carolina. It is limited to 40 participants, a quarter of whom will come from the Gulf Coast region.
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Council Facilitators
Isaiah Madison, who is currently Visiting Associate Professor of Political Science at Jackson State University (MS), holds a B.A. and J.D. from Howard University and an M.Div. from the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. He worked in the 70’s as a civil rights attorney in Mississippi; during the 80’s pastored United Methodist and Baptist congregations in Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee; and from 1990-95, directed the Institute for Southern Studies in Durham, NC.
John Cronin served in a variety of leadership positions in community hospitals and academic medical centers until his recent retirement from the position of CEO at Northern Berkshire Healthcare (MA). He has extensive experience in facilitating community and leadership groups through the use of Appreciative Inquiry (AI), an exceptionally effective facilitation process that allows diverse groups to self-organize and move quickly from vision to action.
Speaking for the Earth: A Tribute to Connie Mahoney by Nina Tepedino
On April 22, the Earth Elders of Sonoma County will gather to celebrate Earth Day. This tradition — now in its eighth year — is a testimony to the difference one fiercely dedicated elder can make. In the article below, Nina Tepedino, a member of Earth Elders of Sonoma County, writes a tribute to Earth Elder founder, Connie Mahoney.
Connie Mahoney might very well be an elder soul, reincarnated from a remote Hopi village in New Mexico. I have a vivid recollection of Connie reading that wonderful proclamation of Native American wisdom, “Hopi Elder Speaks.” She is standing before the microphone in the wooded grove at Jenner. Her voice trembles with a powerful passion for ALL elders. At her side is Kay McCabe, who originated the annual celebration for the Russian River. A strong wind from the ocean is blowing Connie’s silver hair back from her face — a face that is smiling out to the whole world, a face that communicates a fierce excitement for beliefs now put into action.
It was with this same energy and passionate advocacy that Connie founded Earth Elders in 1998. Though she saw Earth Elders as a global network — “Earth Elders exists wherever and whenever an individual calls herself or himself an Earth Elder” — she worked with great energy to birth a specific local organization in her own backyard of Sonoma County, CA. Connie’s wish was to join together compassionate and wise elders committed to caring for the Earth. Over the last eight years — despite sabbaticals for family, traveling and her stoic and brave battle with cancer — Earth Elders of Sonoma County has continued as a vibrant legacy for elders who share this beautiful corner of the Earth.
A prime annual activity of Earth Elders is the celebration of a traditional Earth Day event on April 22. Plans for the event this year — set among the towering redwoods on Luther Burbanks Gold Ridge Farm — are representative. It will open with musical ceremonial welcome followed by a Calling of Directions by local Native American, ChoQosh Auh-ho-Oh. After the recognition of this year’s “Earthkeepers of the Twentieth Century,” the “Earth Day Proclamation” of the City of Sebastopol will be read by Vice Mayor Sam Pearce. Songs for action by the Raging Grannies will lead the participants into “A Walk Through Time Into The Future” encompassing many of the teachings of Thomas Berry. A closing circle to express Gratitude, Appreciation and Commitment by all attendees will be followed by an organic reception.
Through her motivation, meticulous organizational skills and enthusiastic encouragement, Earth Elders of Sonoma County continues with monthly gatherings that mark and celebrate earth’s seasons. Its members are active volunteers in our local and national political and environmental movements. Its Environmental Book Study Group meets twice a month to discuss books by local and national authors like Luther Burbank, Martin Griffin, and Thomas Berry. Indeed, Connie’s passion for one of Berry’s books, The Great Work, has been downright infectious.
Connie Mahoney has inspired us. In the way she expects excellence she has urged all of us to be the constant dreamers and to challenge the current status quo for the sake of the generations yet to come. A quote from Teilhard de Chardin accurately describes her impact on our lives:
“Once the truth has made its presence felt in a single soul, nothing can ever stop it from invading everything and setting fire to everything.”
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Connie Mahoney died at her home in Sonoma County, California, on October 6, 2011, after a 10-year battle with cancer. She was 70 years old. She was a lifelong learner and student of the world. She receiving a B.A. from Ohio State University in 1953; master’s degrees from East Tennessee State University and the University of Tennessee; and at age 57, a Ph.D. from UC San Francisco. Connie settled in Sonoma County in 1992 as the program director for HICAP. She also taught classes and workshops at SSU and Santa Rosa Community College and spoke at numerous conferences including a 1995 White House Conference on Aging. After she retired, Connie founded Earth Elders, which she described as a network of elders committed to caring for the Earth. At the April 2010 Earth Day Celebration, Sebastopol Mayor Sarah Gurney read the City’s proclamation honoring Connie as the founder of Earth Elders and creator of the local Earth Day celebration and Universe Walk.
Vision and Creating the Future You Most Want by Bruce Elkin
The author is a Personal/Professional Coach with 20 years experience. He helps people who are stuck, stalled, or drifting to shift from solving problems to creating what matters most to them in life, work, and everything. This piece was excerpted from his book Simplicity and Success: Creating the Life You Long For. He is also the author of the eBook Emotional Mastery: Manage Your Moods and Create What Matters—With Whatever Life Gives You!
The future is not some place we are going to,
but one we are creating … first in the mind … next in activity.
The paths to it are not found but made, and the activity of making them
changes both the maker and the destination.
— John Schaar
To create what you truly want, start at the end, with a clear, compelling vision of the result you want to create. This might not be as easy as it sounds.
“Learning what to want,” said Sir Geoffrey Vickers, in Freedom in a Rocking Boat, “is the most radical, the most painful, and the most creative act in life.”
Part of the difficulty stems from confusion around the word “vision.” It is often used interchangeably with “purpose,” “goal,” or “mission.” Although there are similarities between these, it helps to clarify their specific meanings.
The Concise Oxford defines them so:
- Purpose: an object to be attained, a thing intended.
- Mission: a particular task or goal assigned to a person or a group.
- Goal: the object of ambition or effort, a destination, an aim.
- Vision: a thing or idea perceived vividly in the imagination.
Imagine a couple who desire to create a simple, ecologically responsible, and successful life and business. “Our PURPOSE,” they say, “is to create a simple yet rich life, in harmony with the systems that sustain all life, and to help others do the same.” “Our MISSION is to make simple, affordable, eco-friendly housing available to everyone in our bioregion who wants it.” “Our GOALS are to design and build an eco-friendly home, develop an ecohousing business, write a book and offer workshops on eco-housing.”
Because a VISION is a clear, compelling mental picture of a result you want to create, it can be applied to each of the other three. It asks the question, “What would it look like if I created the result I want? What would it look like if I achieved my purpose? My mission? My goals? A vision of a desired result generates energy. It inspires you to greater effort. It helps you see where you are relative to where you want to be.
Getting Started: An Example
Three questions can help you clarify a vision of what you want to create.
- What result do I want to create?
- Why do I want to create that result?
- What would it look like if I successfully created that result?
Try this. Choose a simple, tangible result you want to create. Write the result at the top of a sheet of paper. Below it, write two short paragraphs. In the first, list the reasons why you want to create this result. This helps you discern if this is a creation you want for its own sake, or something that supports a more important result. In the second paragraph, describe what your result would look like if you actually created it. Be specific. How big is it? What color? What features does it have? What makes it unique? How does it make you feel?
If your result is non-physical, such as a job or relationship, describe the aspects and qualities that make it what you want. Describe any result as if you already completed it.
Here’s an example of how Richard, an engineer. answered these question, and reinvented himself and his life:
- What do I want?
A high quality, handcrafted mountain bike made from recycled parts.
- Why do I want it?
I want the challenge of building a great bike cheaply. I want to get in shape and be healthy. I want to live simply, drive less, and create less pollution. I want to spend time outdoors, not money on gas. I want to have fun exploring the trails up behind my house with my friends.
- What would it look like if I successfully created that result?
The bike is a silver-grey, dual-suspension, aluminum-framed bike with carbon forks, grip shifters, top of the line Shimano drive train, and an independently suspended crank. It weighs 25 pounds and cost less than $500. I love riding it and feel proud that I made it myself.
Vision acts as an attractor. It draws you forward. When held in tension with current reality, it generates energy needed to organize decisions and action in support of what matters.
A vision provides a clear picture and criteria against which to measure progress and success. Always use “vision” as in, “a vision of a desired end result.”
A vision is not a thing in itself. It is not an affirmation you put out to the universe and passively expect to receive results in return. It’s a clear, compelling description of a result that you care enough about to act on and create.
Vision can be a unifying force. It helps you focus values and organize actions. Some visions, such as for your life, or career will be large and all encompassing. Others, such as a vision of a cottage, or a book you want to write, will be smaller. Others, such as a garden, or birthday party for a friend, will be smaller yet. You need a vision for each result you want to create.
Vision can also be an impelling force. It motivates and empowers you. It helps you persevere in the face of difficult circumstances and adversity. It enables you to stretch beyond limits and produce extraordinary results.
Over time, specific results you create will organically accumulate into the life you envision vividly in your mind. The rest of your life could turn on a vision you craft today, tomorrow, or over the next few weeks.
After he built his bike, Richard radically refocused his life. He built more bikes, which he sold to friends. Emboldened by that success, he quit his engineering job, downsized to a smaller house, opened a small shop, and began living a simple, yet rich, and fully engaged life as a custom bike builder.
“I am happy now,” he says. “Happier by far than when I was engineering and had no time to get out on the trails with friends. Now people pay me to take them out riding. It is just awesome.”
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Bruce Elkin lives on Saltspring Island in British Columbia. More of his work can be found on his website at BruceElkin.com.
News and Notices
Second Journey’s Visioning Councils Receive International Award from German Foundation
Second Journey has been honored by the Körber Foundation in Hamburg with a 2006 Transatlantic Idea Award for its series of regional VISIONING COUNCILS. The “Transatlantic Idea Contest” is an ongoing initiative of the Foundation whose aim is identify US projects which are good candidates for implementation in Germany. “Transitions in Life” was the focus of this year’s contest. The award will be presented in Berlin to Second Journey’s founder Bolton Anthony on June 26.
The Foundation’s support will be used to develop plans to replicate our Visioning Council experience in Berlin during the spring or fall of 2007.
Over the past two years, Second Journey Visioning Councils have been held in venues across the country and continue this summer with a July 13-16 Council at Whidbey Institute north of Seattle. The Councils gather diverse participants together in a process which generates new ideas and practical, innovative solutions to the challenge of Creating Community in Later Life.