Vision

As someone who goes to too many conferences and is disappointed more often than not, the BALLE conference that was held in Burlington this weekend exceeded all of my expectations. This is an organization that is full of hope and possibility, passion and commitment, a movement at a time where few pursuits rise to that level.

The office is now quite as all have shifted their minds from here to there. There, the great and glorious weekend where we are now allowed to do time as we-please. And this weekend we get one-free-paid-day where we can again do time as we-please...funny how we all just do the weeks and then the weekends as if that is some profound pattern leading us Somewhere.

Friday we convened a group of leading Vermont businesses, NGO’s, and politicians to explore new visions and possibilities for accelerating the process of creating a more sustainable future for our state. We talked a bit about the Earth Charter and about connecting our work in some way to the template for a healthier society it provides. We discussed how we can generate new patterns for how we work together, think about the future, and engage the public.

When I think about what the world needs most and what I need to do to contribute to at my highest level of capability I think about what we need more of not what we need less of! I believe in endless possibility. That tomorrow doesn’t have to be the same as today. On a good day we use less that 5% of our potential, on a bad day we’re likely to use none at all. I believe nothing is impossible – unless we are thoughtless and lazy.

I believe that our world is at greater risk these days than ever before, but I know that we can generate the will and find the opportunities to create a better future than we can imagine today. We celebrate our efforts to stopping global warming, the reduced reliance on sweatshops, a smaller number of toxic chemicals in product design, less obscene wages paid to CEO’s, and preventing big box stores from destroying our downtown communities.

Yet, quite frankly the world is in too much danger to simply aspire just to do less damage. We need to do more. Much more. We need to create a vision of the world we want after we stop global warming, eliminate toxic chemicals and reduce health care costs, etc. To create a possibility that both fulfills our highest potential and ensures there is a sane, safe and decent place for our children & grand children requires we envision a world that has yet to be born. What do you envision?