In Caring for the Commons, I talked about a “what if” that if it becomes reality, I strongly believe will change the world. If we create a growing group dedicated to friendship and caring for community resources,we will begin to see more and stronger relationships and improved resilience to challenges of economy and climate in every community touched by such a group.
In my mind,the question then becomes, How do we get there from here? First off,we have to start where we are and that requires an understanding of both where and how we are right now. Knowing where and how you are makes getting anywhere else a whole lot easier.
Learning that where and how about ourselves and others requires the ability to listen to ourselves. When we can listen to ourselves we can begin to understand our own story about where we come from and become clearer about where we might like to go. When we can listen to ourselves it becomes easier to listen to others for understanding rather than influence. When people are listened to in a way that shows real interest in who and how they are as a person they are able to understand themselves better in ways that lead to healing and growth. Helping ourselves and each other to develop and strengthen our innate abilities to listen to ourselves and to each other is how we can become able to work on making our lives and world better in all the ways that make sense to each of us.