The longest journey begins...
History's being made all around us.
Just a few weeks ago I live-blogged the American election results, watching in trepidation, then amazement, then elation as the world changed. Standing before the world stood a new human hero, it seemed: a man driven by destiny to take the reigns of power at the precise moment when the world needed him most.
And yet only two nights ago, I confessed that I was afraid the Obama era was over. Now that the speeches are done, won't it all be about politicking and policy-making? Consensus-building. i-dotting and t-crossing? The boring stuff? Yet implementation is the key to vision becoming real. How much will that vision be sustained through the doldrums by collective belief? How much of that belief comes from me? How much ought to? Needs to?
Today in Canada, a coalition of left-leaning leaders signed a bold, unprecedented agreement to topple the minority Conservative government and share power. Sovereigntists, social democrats, and centrists, under a lame-duck policy wonk who until a week ago was considered a footnote in Canadian political history. It's mind-blowing.
And yet I want to know what's on the other channel, too. Gotta keep this all in context.
The times they are a-changing, as the old song goes. With the twin perils of environmental and economic collapse looming, not to mention global social upheaval the times NEED changing more than ever before.
And in moments, I can feel it happening, if only when a glurgy YouTube video gets me all choked up. I can even sustain the feeling for the length of a DVD, as long as there are not too many menu options. I can hear the clarion call of my generation in status updates. Was that the voice of freedom, or just the IM chime in my gmail?
It's hard to get a grasp what moves all these currents at once, and it's easy to swing between total elation and complete panic. Yet what's scariest to me is the thought of becoming apathetic. I need to be reminded that the times demand my attention and my participation.
As in the the old Chinese proverb, we've been blessed and cursed to live in interesting times. They feel like they're without precedent. Why are we here? Where are we going? What's next?
A buddy of mine says, "You gotta look which way your feet are pointed."
Then it's time to take that single step.
Just a few weeks ago I live-blogged the American election results, watching in trepidation, then amazement, then elation as the world changed. Standing before the world stood a new human hero, it seemed: a man driven by destiny to take the reigns of power at the precise moment when the world needed him most.
And yet only two nights ago, I confessed that I was afraid the Obama era was over. Now that the speeches are done, won't it all be about politicking and policy-making? Consensus-building. i-dotting and t-crossing? The boring stuff? Yet implementation is the key to vision becoming real. How much will that vision be sustained through the doldrums by collective belief? How much of that belief comes from me? How much ought to? Needs to?
Today in Canada, a coalition of left-leaning leaders signed a bold, unprecedented agreement to topple the minority Conservative government and share power. Sovereigntists, social democrats, and centrists, under a lame-duck policy wonk who until a week ago was considered a footnote in Canadian political history. It's mind-blowing.
And yet I want to know what's on the other channel, too. Gotta keep this all in context.
The times they are a-changing, as the old song goes. With the twin perils of environmental and economic collapse looming, not to mention global social upheaval the times NEED changing more than ever before.
And in moments, I can feel it happening, if only when a glurgy YouTube video gets me all choked up. I can even sustain the feeling for the length of a DVD, as long as there are not too many menu options. I can hear the clarion call of my generation in status updates. Was that the voice of freedom, or just the IM chime in my gmail?
It's hard to get a grasp what moves all these currents at once, and it's easy to swing between total elation and complete panic. Yet what's scariest to me is the thought of becoming apathetic. I need to be reminded that the times demand my attention and my participation.
As in the the old Chinese proverb, we've been blessed and cursed to live in interesting times. They feel like they're without precedent. Why are we here? Where are we going? What's next?
A buddy of mine says, "You gotta look which way your feet are pointed."
Then it's time to take that single step.
posted by David Newland at 1.12.08
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