I Know Where I’m Going – And – I Know Who’s Going With Me

How beautiful it is to have even a modicum of certainty – these days – of where one is headed – and -- to know who’s going with. Amazing Grace, how sweet it is!

Listening to the podcast of last night’s Possible Society In Motion Radio Show, titled “When Worlds Collide” is what affirms these feelings in me today.

Jack and I took up a highly charged topic on last night’s show; religion.  And, with Jack’s astute clarity of mind to guide our progression I think we made some inroads for the mission of our Possible Society In Motion Radio Show.  Our intention of creating, conjointly, a teaching series and a discussion forum on the art of overcoming polarization was actually in motion as we spoke on-air and on the conference call that followed.

Bravo. I was lost and now I’m found. The people in my life with whom I am traveling now are the "IT" of it.

On the other hand, when I first commenced my return to post-911, mainstream life, after my eight year sabbatical (1998—2006) due to losing my eyesight (but never my vision), it seemed that only Rip Van Winkle could be a likely comrade for the sharing of the challenges I was encountering.  What an experience of separateness that was!

Not exactly polarized but truly without connection.

If you know anything about Rip Van Winkle, you know he slept away for more than twenty years. Among the experiences he had upon awakening was that he found the world around him changed significantly (as in America after 9/11).  And, while he slept he more or less lost his place in that world (Me too!). Along with that, Rip  discovered that his clothes were antiquated (double ditto!). And,of course, the relationships he left behind all those many years before had also fallen by the wayside.  (Mine too!)

Along with that there was another complication for me. Though any one would have their certain unique circumstances if somehow or another one simply checked out of life for a term. No matter the reason.

Parallel, but obviously not quite the same as Rip Van Winkle,  the situation of blindness and recovery from blindness, such as I experienced, has its share of quirks. For example, better than a third of those of us who have regained their eyesight after extended blindness walk with their eyes closed and/or sit in the darkness.  This being one of the peculiarities of my adventure.

So it should come as no surprise if I say that I had a mighty difficult time returning to mainstream life. Friendships and collegial relationships not the least of it. Recovering from being blind was actually harder for me than being blind.

Now eight years later, having paid my renewal dues, big time, “I was blind and now I see.”

And, do you know what I see?

I see growing numbers of people walking the walk of “leaning in” to do what one might to move beyond the polarization of society and politics in the U.S.A.

Up against the disheartening phenomenon of polarization to see this antithesis, bravo!

We’ve come a long way since the aftermath of 9/11 had us united one day and even more divided the next.

Joy and hope for me is in the finding, almost daily now, of ordinary people, just like you and I, walking this path. For me that’s an especial benefit of conducting New Horizons’ Possible Human, Possible Society Study. What a precious opportunity for me, coming out of a Rip Van Winkle kind of adventure in some respects.

And, our Possible Society In Motion Radio Show takes the magic of the study (and the gifts of it to me, personally) to the next level, on-air, interactively.

Find out for yourself how we are doing it; the lean in legacy in motion.

We keep getting better at it, week by week. You can too!

So, please join Jack Slattery, my co-host, and I as we do our part to ensure that the lean in path builds strong and sturdy, with others like yourselves, through this radio show forum.

The Possible Society In Motion Radio Show

With Anastasia and Jack

Bi-weekly, Thursday evenings, 6:30 p.m.