| INTERVIEW |
| Q1(b): Why this is an important story? How has it influenced you? What lessons does it offer going forward? |
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Q1(a): As you reflect on a time when people came together in a powerful way for positive change, choose one that stands out for you. Tell me your story about that time and any part you, your family and/or friends might have played in it [if relevant]. |
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Q2: At this time in history, what challenges do you see in the way we choose to organize ourselves politically, economically and socially? What opportunities do you see in the ways that things might be shifting, awakening and/or emerging in response to these challenges? |
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Q3 Context: Imagine we’re a few years down the line and people like you have been hugely successful in moving us towards lasting and far-reaching changes that benefit all people and the planet as a whole. Wherever you look, there are dramatic improvements in how leaders behave and how communities interact. As you walk through your city, town or village and talk with others across your country and around the world, you see evidence of positive change spreading everywhere.
Q3(a): Describe the differences you, hear, feel, and experience in your everyday life. |
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Q3(b): Describe the differences you see, hear, feel and experience in the way we choose to organize ourselves politically, economically and socially. |
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Q3(c): What did people do early on that helped to generate such positive outcomes? |
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Q3(d): What role did you play in making this happen? |
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Q4(a): What skills, talents and/or resources might you have to offer in service to collaborative work that emerges via the connect 2012 initiative? |
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Q4(b) What is the nature of this potential offer (as a paid service, barter, gift, a combination, etc.)? |
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Are you interested in developing the infrastructure of Occupy Cafe in support of this initiative or in other respects? |
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Are you interested in collaborating on the production of a short video or a blog post based on your stories and vision? |
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| INTERVIEW |
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This company showed that in implementing their environmental vision, it unleashed new innovation, lower costs, and created more goodwill than anything else they could have done. They grew to over a billion dollar company in over 110 countries, and an industry leader. This is a win-win for users, the planet, stockholders, and stakeholders.
- Doug Neilson
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YES! Magazine just mentioned the fall of Apartheid as an event from which we can draw inspiration. Few people expected that a country with that history and that attitude might turn around so quickly. But this demonstrates that major changes can happen very fast when critical mass is reached. A small number of people, hitting the right lever, can have a substantial impact. And we shouldn't presume that it has to take decades for major change to occur--it is entirely possible that we are already on the cusp of such transformation and we simply don't see it yet.
- Ben Roberts
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After 1 1/2 years the conscientious objector emerged in Jim. Jim went AWOL and spent 8 months in jail. While in prison Jim had a lot of time to reflect on the unpleasant nature of the war machine, the paradigm of militarism and young men returning from war so broken, all of which confirmed what he learned during military service.
Paradigm of militarism still with us. Collectively experiencing an outburst not seen since late 60s. Similar energy: system is broken and needs to be fixed.
- Jim Prues
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It shaped the path of whole life. Drove deeper/learned lesson that any system in place will default to lowest common denominator of people driving it. People talk of "new economy," but we need to focus on internal value and self worth as fundamental block of a new economy.
Going forward: Myself along with other brilliant people. Understanding of the nut, bolts and organization of systems. A deep understanding of internal shifts that need to occur for systems to shift and be sustainable over time.
US and constitution was a step forward, but got dragged backward from where people were when it started.
Energetically people are not free and fundamental rights are deeply compromised.
We can write whatever laws we want, but if we don't change our hearts and the way we connect, then we build new foundations on sand.
Core awakening journey work: all relationships are bounded by one and thats a relationship with ourselves.
If we build a system when we are unsure of where our hearts reside, we will build another exploitative system.
- Jitendra Darling
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This experience opened Cindy's eyes and heart to less than ideal conditions facing people that Cindy was unaware of, prior to contributing to these annual events.
- Cindy Stradling
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Important to Cathy because the process was respectful of participants, the process and the planet.
- Cathy Nesbitt
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Influenced me to see something being accomplished. Also big was the spontaneous community that developed. Folks would join us as we marched. Lesson is 'Don't give up, even though sometimes we're not 'feeling it.'
- Gregg Tull
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Moving experience for Dave to be present, feel tangible connection with people to heal 9/11 wound.
Event healed a dark event that touched people deeply, felt very real. Favorite event of all the subtle activism work Dave has ever done.
Going Forward: Dave trusts that people will mobilize and connect. Urgency of sweeping planetary change will become more apparent. Listen for right chain of events or meme that we can all channel energy into. Dynamism in the Field now. Many creative 2012 events planned in support of a planetary shift. People inspired by 2012 as a transforming year. Excited about what will emerge this year.
- David Nichol
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Initially the project was to help local people eat healthier food not transported 1,500 miles, and also to help the Earth. The project helped build community and expanded collaboration on other projects.
Going forward: Sharing this success story with other people and details of how it was done.
- Donald Simon
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Gave her a belief that we CAN make a big difference and things can "scale up." A desire to see a team become adventurous in the way people linked up--creative thinking beyond barriers, versus within our silos. So much potential/opportunity for this sort of inventive collaboration, although it's hard to get it to happen.
Studying this for 30 years, e.g. Asset Based Community Development and Family support networks.
With people now aware of the need for change, that opens doors. People are ALREADY inspired to change.
Learned that teams want to work differently- and as long as they have shared values and goals can achieve the objectives as they wish.
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It is important because I imagine myself in the other person's shoes in the difficult times. We don't know how badly we need each other, until we need each other badly. In the midst of a dark times it sometimes feels hopeless but people can help each other to emerge from these dark times, and that is the healing process. No mater what the difficult times are, (loss of health, loss of job, loss of loved one through death or relationship ending, loss of finances etc.), there is always hope.
The lessons are: we must prepare for the inevitable losses in life. The way to prepare is to develop vibrant and mutually beneficial community where we live and work, with our families, with our friends and with our neighbors. The lesson is that we are not supposed to do life alone.
- John Teeling
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In committing myself to transformation, I was unwittingly inviting transformation on many levels: social transformation-surface of things
transformation is about wholeness-realize inter-connection; shamanic journey accelerant-necessary to do social transformation work; seems small in contrast to transformation of consciousness-
Life is living us- part of joy of having human experiecnce is having say in how we live; but earth is larger movement that is occurring/ moving all things
Something wants to happen that wants to happen thru leaderless movement such as occupy; realization that occupy and social change people are agents of Earth herself changing
Ask questions: move into more open relationship to movement; move into listening to what wants to happen from a deeper place
Individual makeups of people and their unconscious and conscious behavior patterns are part of a whole movement.
Currents want to be in more and more conscious relationship with what's happening
to allow ourselves to be in unknowing place
Reason for Occupy success: able tp stay in not knowing and therefore stay in a ripe condition for something new to emerge
IN ever unfolding unchanging is-ness, we don't get to hang out in anyone state forever
Change from not knowing flowing into taking action in the midst of uncertainty
What is interesting about humans-we get to press pause button to reflect. But if we pause too long, consequences can be undesirable.
What can allow us humans to recover playfulness and curiosity (do we really know what we think we know?)
- Jeff Vander Clute
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I think this is important because our society and government can do better. It can be better. Our democracy can be more democratic. We can have more equality and we can have less suffering. The consequences of capitalism don't have to be homelessness, dying of curable diseases. We can have capitalism with a gentle landing. I don't care about those who win at capitalism, but the losers shouldn't suffer so much. Every chilld needs a warm home, a good education, and we should all have an equal voice in the government. If we have that I'm fine with capitalism. Nothing is going to change unless we put enormous presssure on the system to change.
Lessons forward: It's pretty simple. The genius of Ghandi and MLK's nonviolence and civil disobedience is to put pressure on the system. To wake people up and allow things not to go on. It's an amazing, powerful tool. It's not enough to do safe protests, letter writing. If you want to shake things up, you have to do civil disobedience. If you're fighting for the right cause, it can stir people up and eventually so many people will doing it, the system will have to change. At its core, the occupy movement has identified a valid problem, the economic and political injustice in our society.
- Matt Ready
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I realized that my education didn't prepare me to be responsible in world events and life. It prepared me for a life of indentured servitude disguised as mediocrity, clouded with myths of hope around amassing wealth. I became aware of this, sought and found little help, then began my own journey to change myself. I'm still changing and loving the results more and more each day. Thanks to my family, friends and community circles. Lessons going forward include valuing the individual voice. Staying present to the moment ever watchful for people communicating from a place of pain and striving to empathize.
- Scott Krabler
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The future is already here, we just don't have eyes to see it. Those of us who feel this have a responsibility to call it out to others. Feels like the world shifted a year ago and some kind of critical mass of awakening is taking place. Large group dialogue is at the heart of this, showing us a new way of being together. Also new economies of collaboration are emerging. Fear/scarcity being replaced with abundance, although it's hard work right now--in the baby stages.
- Elaine Hansen
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The resistance to the draft, in general, did a lot to remind people of their personal freedom. Also the civil rights movement was a very important and powerful movement..
I think times have changed quite a lot. They are similar in that the government is a puppet of the corporations, but I see this movement as completely different. The draft resistance was about personal freedom and Occupy is about socialism.
- David
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Lessons regarding Syria and the Occupy: to be patient. I want it all to change quickly, but I realize that it might take time.
Occupy is almost too narrow a vision. The one here is branching off on so many problems. I'm waiting for an umbrella that will shelter all the causes - something nonjugmental. Bring people together but have a space to have your voice heard. So all the enviornmentalists can solve those problems, cancer people can work on that, good growing for the world. There needs to be something bigger. People are siding against Occupy, but if we had one umbrella (perhaps a technology that connects all the causes together). Occupy is excluding people. People are starting not to want to hear about Occupy. How can we touch everybody.
- Lyndsay Werbecky
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It's a path that brings me into my heart. Creates a wonderful, personalized journey - never boring, always opening to new revelations. You're always moving on to bigger lessons so you're always opening to more joy, relaxation, and peace. As one does this, it ripples into the world on a nonverbal level. Lessons: even with the best intentions as a community commited to peace, there are always humans that have destructive energy, want to manipulate. Where there's light, there's dark. Even with these people, you can still get things done.
- nita
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This gave me hope that we were already moving that way. To me, it's critical. We have to do something now, as soon as possible, or it will be too late. For me, there's no choice. I just got the feeling that this is why I'm here. All my life I've been drawn to Science and now I know why.
- Nina Roark
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An example of the way that major institutions are blocking things, e.g. ISO 26000. The UNGC (Global Compact) in particular. Still, ISO 26000 has been through five years of process and is now published. A tool that refers to and supports that program he presented in Madrid in 2000. So while it has been frustrating and taken a long time, there is positive movement.
- Mitch Gold
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It’s super-relevant. I gave a presentation “The Elephant in Saint Andrew Square” to Occupy Edinburgh based on what I learnt in writing that book. The analysis of the problems and the suggested strategy in the book are very relevant to Occupy Edinburgh. I suggest a systematic campaign targeting multinationals one at a time and making specific demands of them.
It’s hard to research and write books as well as promote them. There’s a different set of skills – the writing and the promotion.
- Robert Eric Swanepoel
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If you are pure in your intention--that you will do your best--you will be "protected." Not that you won't necessarily get hurt, but that it will be worth it even if you do. You will be EFFECTIVE and that's the most important thing.
- Bodie McCoy
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Something like Global Heart Initiative. The power of Occupy isn't really anger at the banks, but more of a "call from the heart of the world" (the Bat Signal). An incredibly primal and common experience for all who are capable of love, compassion and caring for your fellow human beings, we want a place for you at our table.
Tapping the "universal spirit current:" sacred, holy, trusting, humble, loving, joyous energy coming out of the center of the process. "Dialogue is a conversation with a center, not sides."
- Bruce Schuman
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