We can only say the world is changing in “unforeseen” ways if we haven’t been paying attention.
We haven’t yet experienced widespread disruptions here in Adams County, but things like supply shortages, crop losses, property and infrastructure damage, and prolonged power outages, are becoming daily more conceivable in light of what we see happening in so many other places in the world.
It’s too late to reverse all of what’s already in process, but there’s No Time Like The Present for us to be thinking together about adaptations we can develop locally, both technical and social, to help us deal with the coming changes. We need to be engaging the best of our local ingenuity and resources–strengthening our relationships and community connections in the process.
It might be time to revive/re-invent the Adams County Arts Council’s “Imagination Station” as a kind of Open Source Community Design Think Tank. Dreamers and Visionaries encouraged to apply.
Rev. Cindy Terlazzo, pastor of the Unitarian Universalists of Gettysburg, expressed these thoughts beautifully in her September 25, 2022 sermon, entitled “Re-Imagining the World,” excerpted here with her permission:
“Friends – when was the last time you made space in your life to dream – to really dream and envision the future AND to imagine the world you want to live in – the world you want your children and your grand-children to live in?
We have spoken before about the power of our thoughts, the power of the stories we tell ourselves and how those thoughts, those stories, are the seeds of what manifests in our lives.
We are living through a cascade of crises that keep us in a state of constant siege, endlessly reacting to assaults on our bodies and psyches.
We need to resist in order to survive, but resistance alone keeps us locked in a power struggle that doesn’t create the world we long for. We need to do more than resist. We need to re-imagine. We need to explore visions of a world where we all can flourish.
We won’t ever fully be able to transition our individual lives, much less the whole of humanity, into a new place unless we are able to imagine it first. [We need to] re-imagine the institutions of power that order our world.
So often we are good at identifying what isn’t working, but how often do we invest ourselves in imagining the world as it could be?
Take a moment right now to close your eyes and think about what you would like to re-imagine in your life?
Can you imagine a society in which we are able to seek justice, to hold those who cause harm to others accountable for their actions, while at the same time doing this with a spirit of compassion – a spirit that values healing for all as its highest goal?
Are there changes in our many broken systems – criminal justice, immigration, education, infrastructure, economic equity and more that you can imagine existing in a way that serves the common good?
Imagining possibility is the first step toward change of any kind.
There are so many things in this world that need attention, that need to be re-imagined. Let us give ourselves permission to embrace the potential to be found in our collective imagination – for we cannot do this work alone – AND then let us commit ourselves to keeping our eyes on the prize of what such imagination can bring.”
Carolyn George first acquired an Adams County address in 1978, even though USPS didn't list the mythical land of "West Orrtanna" in its zip code directory. Carolyn's background includes a twenty-three-year stint as Director of the Catholic Charities Counseling Office in Chambersburg, operating a forklift at Knouse Foods for eight years, and seven years of cleaning up after the public in her pre-retirement "geezer gig" as a custodian at the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor Center. Since retiring from there in 2020, Carolyn has been reveling in her volunteer involvement with the Adams County Farmers Market Association and several other wonderful local Better World organizations.
Here are a few quick dreams: I imagine no cars in the National Park, reforesting the battlefields and beyond, free public transportation, reopening the Gettysburg passenger rail, cleaning our streams and rivers, ending our dependence on fossil fuels, educating children about our local environment, welcoming productive immigrants, and supporting those in need of housing and food in Adams County. I could go on and on, but that is a reasonable first pass.
Ryan, I encourage you to think about which of your “quick dreams” you want to engage with personally. There’s a lot to choose from in your “reasonable first pass”!
Thanks Carolyn- I’m doubling down on Environmental Education.
What is the next step we should take after we have “re-imagined” or formed a notion or idea in the mind regarding changes that should be made in the institutions of power that order our world today? That which is “imagined” is only formed in the mind. What shall we do when what is “re-imagined” in the mind when expressed would be considered by many to be “critical” of the institutions of power as they exist today, especially if criticism doesn’t work? Criticism is good if it is constructive. To speak of something “critically” is to speak with discernment of… Read more »
Thanks so much for your comment, Harry! You asked, “What is the next step we should take after we have re-imagined…changes that should be made?” Can’t answer that–because we haven’t taken the FIRST step yet! Posting this was one of MY first steps. Maybe you just took yours, too. Speaking only for myself, I haven’t the faintest clue what to do about “institutions of power.” That’s too remote and abstract for me. Personally, I can’t see much beyond the local, things we can be doing right here to adapt to the kinds of changes some of us are pretty sure… Read more »
Carolyn, when I asked what is the next step I was referring to the “next step” we should take after taking our first step to “re-imagine the changes that should be made in the institutions of power that would fix the criminal justice system, immigration, education, infrastructure, economic equity that you wrote were presently broken. How can we embrace the potential to be found in our collective imaginations until someone shares with us how they imagine the institutions of power should be changed to better serve the common good in fixing these systems that you say are broken? Your article… Read more »
Well said, Carolyn! Criticism doesn’t work, but some creative thinking and efforts will always be helpful. Thanks for speaking up!
This theme belongs in the conversations that happen among entities such as the Adams Economic Alliance, the @Home in Adams County Coalition, the school districts’ technical institutes, etc. I used to think of this kind of imagining as frivolous dreaming, but nowadays it looks more like basic survival strategy. We’re going to need all the local, on-the-ground ingenuity we can muster to adapt to coming changes. The truly amazing thing is how much FUN this is when it really gets going! Deeply rewarding and energizing–and we need that as much as the ingenuity itself.
Good one, Carolyn! Thanks for sharing Cindy Terlazzo’s message – she and her husband John have long been voices for peace and imagination, through Creative Problem Solving. We must think outside the boxes, for the future’s sake. Cheers!