By Kris Bayer, Hamilton
I’m the one that asked all of us to upgrade our thinking.
As I read the letters to the editor (mostly the only thing I read in newspapers anymore), I get a sense of what matters to you, what triggers you, and what you are thinking or not thinking.
My sense is that we are having the wrong conversations.
We are asking the wrong questions.
We are distracted!!
Distractions come in many forms and happen all the time.
I get distracted regularly.
Shiny things, etc.
I’ve been in the valley only ten years but feel as though I know the place and the people somehow. It feels like a mix of rural folks with a settled heritage, the Pinesdale bunch with their stuff, retirees, veterans, strongly opinionated Christian conservatives and strongly opinionated liberals on the other side, and some that don’t fit any of this. As I’ve gotten to know people from all of these walks of life and listen to the opinions in the letters, I wonder what matters beyond the differences, the conflict, and the complaints.
What are we missing? What are the right conversations? the right questions?
What matters most in the end of it all?
I facilitated Socrates Cafe for over 5 years in Hamilton and hosted or co-hosted several community meetings to discuss and work on a variety of themes. Trying to convince others, fighting others, and playing the “King of the Mountain’’ game is no longer helpful or workable. I know this is a sacred cow; however, it’s an old game that has run its course; and yet, we play it anyway. Doing the same thing expecting different results.
If NOT the “King of the Mountain” game, then what next? As we step away from the insanity of it all, the old out-datedness of it all, and the distractions that take us somewhere else, we see the vast possibility and potential of something new and vital and full of life! People are coming alive and creating solutions because the space on “the mountain” in the old game not only doesn’t make room for us but also does not allow creative, relevant, and timely solutions.
It’s stuck, it’s controlled, and it’s no longer helping humanity as a whole.
We need an upgrade now! The next set of questions and conversations required to create something new include the following:
What can you do, what’s your part in the new game? What makes you come alive?
If you no longer complain and wait for others to change or solve the problem, what will you do to make life better?
What could a thriving life and community look like, and what steps can you take to make that happen? The political system can never solve this for us! They will not miraculously save the day, even if your guys or gals or whoever are on top of the mountain.
The reality is that we need to do something different or risk further insanity.
We need to realize we are all in this together, with all of our particular quirks and opinions. M. Scott Peck said, “In genuine community there are no sides… Community-making is always an adventure. But we learn what is significantly new only through adventures.” To thrive as an individual in any thriving community, we need you to come alive, to discover what puts a smile on your face, and to do whatever you do best.
Please upgrade your thinking and play this new game, this new adventure with us!
It requires your individuality within an interconnected whole that reality is (not any sort of an overlord, just the richness of all of us and all of nature!).
We can learn to thrive!