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For far too long, we have been asleep — silently accepting the reality presented to us.
In this illusion, we are powerless. Conformity and convention have manipulated us into feeling alienated, afraid, and full of despair. Our souls are in agony to connect, be understood, share our inner light, and express our creativity in a beautiful world gone mad. Some have given up hope, and sadly live in darkness.
But, there is a shift underway, and though it is often so hard to see, many of us are starting to wake up. It is already happening all around us, in our cities, in our workplaces, in our homes, around the world.
We are empowering ourselves.
We thought — if we could only make this shift more transparent, perhaps we could accelerate its rate.
And so, in one of humanity’s greatest displays of ingenuity, we have created the Web.
It is not a destination.
It is an interface between minds that transcends space and time.
It is not a solution in and of itself, nor a savior.
It is an opportunity and a tool to find our tribes and ourselves.
It is an environment and an ecology where communities can emerge and unite.
It is a training ground in which to experiment with what might happen if we learn to open our hearts, to trust, to share, to be authentic, to engage in discovery, embrace uncertainty, and allow ourselves and each other to grow.
The Web will not save us.
It can only show us that we already have everything we need in order to heal, and it’s not located out there.
It’s in here.
It always has been.
The solution is us.
We can only save ourselves.
– venessa miemis 05.13.10
Spiro Spiliadis said:
People ask me what makes me a philosopher, i say because i befriend philosophy,
Then what is philosophy, they say it’s the love of wisdom, (partially true) by definition but what it “really ” means is philo-sophia, meaning wise friend.
When we befriend “wisdom” through telling stories, experiences, when we scream to be heard for our wisdom because we’ve opened our eyes and made it a part of our life’s experience, then we all become philosophers.
Philosophers need whimsical, and beyondness, to bring back it’s beauty in physical space.
The web thus is the ability to do both in real time thus bringingus closer, “wiser” and more involved in experiencing harmony, happiness and detachment from it all.
Scott Lewis said:
I love this. Thank you!
Your leadership continues to inspire and your writing continues to impress.
Brendan Howley said:
Well said. What resonates for me is the notion that the web is not simply an accelerator of received wisdom—it’s an innovation engine the likes of which we’ve never seen before.
Back in the 1950s, TV was hailed as a bold new step forward in education and cultural exchange…but television has never outgrown its essentially passive nature. What makes the web different is that we reward one another’s contingency—we’re at once in touch and actually capable of doing more than simply complaining to the wind.
This hit me right between the eyes on the second day of the Haitian horror, when a guy on the MIT Media website asked why no one had ever thought to have solar powered web relay stations ready to activate when a catastrophe takes out the terrestrial telecom/web.
There it was: the power of the web to amplify the power of the web, in the spirit of urgent compassion…and innovation.
Someone much cleverer than I has written that the future of capitalism hinges on whether or not we can excavate a real kindness in relationships predicated on profit.
Men and women do not spontaneously become better people: that takes willpower, consciousness and a pretty daunting mindfulness.
To me, the single most powerful thing I feel in my interactions on the web is that the collaborative is the answer to the question about the future of capitalism—or at least democratic capitalism.
How we share and co-create value (to use my wise colleague Scott Walker’s phrase) will determine our future as a species.
It’s a given we as creatures need live interaction to do stuff: that’s in our bones. But under the right conditions and right mindfulness, the web can incubate that collaboration. And there, like you, Venessa, I see real promise.
Cole Tucker said:
Always growing up between us, when we come together.
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
As always, thank you.
Jerry Eaton said:
Sorry Venessa, too much motherhood and apple pie here. I’ve enjoyed your recent postings tremendously, but your ‘Manifesto’ to me is nothing more than a bullet-list of obvious sophomorisms.
Venessa Miemis said:
no need to apologize, jerry. i’m just expressing the way i feel.
Michael Josefowicz said:
Thanks for sharing your opinion. But I have a question and observation. The Q: How precisely is your comment meant to move the conversation forward. The Observation: My experience is that one of the points of friction in figuring out what’s going on and how to get from here to there, is that the paths are often so simple that they sound sophomoric.
Gavin Keech said:
an excellent life manifesto. 😉
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Tristan Naramore said:
Yes! I think you’ve pointed out something really important, namely, that the Web exposes for all to see that which has been there all along.
Cath Styles said:
Your manifesto resonates with mine too. Maybe – hopefully – wellness is emerging.
Openworld said:
>>The solution is us. We can only save ourselves.
Yes, and…
What is most extraordinary about the nexus (to me) is that goes farther than our own unfoldings. What I sense emerging are “entanglement partnerships” (Spiro)” or “mating flows” (Adrian Bejan) that are remixing memes and lumines (qualities of spirit) as a way of paying forward to the future. From this may come offspring in the form of new seeds or generative scripts that inspire others to explore and evolve – much as we have had provenance from others who came before us to do here.
Much love to you & all souls in present and future EBDish realms —
Mark
@openworld
Alvis Brigis said:
As Mark points out the ‘us’ and the ‘we’ are not relegated to discrete brains. It may be splitting hairs to point this out, but I think a ‘life’ manifesto needs to reference other systems for it to transcend a ‘my life’ manifesto. Life-ism vs. Humanism (or Transhumanism). Nicely communicated human sentiments tho!
Venessa Miemis said:
k, then just pretend the title is “My Human Life Manifesto As Of Today, Which I Have The Right To Modify, Edit, Discard, Or Recreate At Any Given Time Should New And Relevant Information Come To Light Or At My Discretion Without Explanation”
Alvis Brigis said:
🙂 Will do – changes simulation – Whoa! This piece reads quite differently! Nice. The title is a little bit long tho… 😛
Suzanne said:
Hi, I clicked through to this post from TweetDeck earlier today. It popped up again — thank God — during a presentation to the DFW OD Network about Social Media and Org Design/Dev. So, I put it on the big screen and read your last sentences to them. Thanks so much for a timely, compassionate piece about our shared circumstance. May you be well.
Ed Shardlow said:
I know *exactly* what you mean. Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.
That system is our enemy. But when you’re inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.
The Web is everywhere. It is all around us.
Venessa Miemis said:
precisely.
just keep coming back.
it’ll be something like taking the red pill.
CoCreatr said:
Beautiful. #gratitude
From the Everyone’s an Expert ebook
Sometimes we need a starting point, not a movie. We need a nowblog.
TELL ME WHAT I NEED TO KNOW RIGHT NOW.
Point me in the right direction.
Put all the clues on the table at once. Tell me at a glance whether I can trust you and
how I can discover the meaning I seek.
That’s what most Web surfers want. That’s what everyone often wants.
And that’s been missing from the Web.
We need a nowblog. A place where a stranger can go to get insight and meaning—and then leave that site and go somewhere else. Leave to go back to work, or leave to read your best blog posts, or leave to go transact somewhere else online.
A nowblog is a place, the best place to start.
EVERYONE’S AN EXPERT (ON SOMETHING) by Seth Godin
2005-10-07 (international standard date format per ISO 8601)
Michael Josefowicz said:
CoCreator,
I think you’re on to something with “TELL ME WHAT I NEED TO KNOW RIGHT NOW.” If that were taken as a primary design principle in new forms of learning and education – most especially at the Bottom of the Pyramid with at risk HS kids – we could get from here to there, much faster, rather than slower.
To that point there is an interesting example I found from Minnesota in the States.
School Gets Rid of Classes, Teachers” http://ilnk.me/28f7
Venessa Miemis said:
here’s what you need to know right now:
http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2006/08/things-you-really-need-to-learn.html
Openworld said:
>>”Tell me what I need to know”
Here’s a scenario for on-demand learning (just-in-time learning), delivered thru Augmented Reality – http://j.mp/brcWIl
Best,
Mark
@openworld
CoCreatr said:
Wow. Things You Really Need to Learn by @Downes is like a
Code of Conduct for Lifelong Learners
Let me add Did You know? Three obstacles to learning
Michael Josefowicz said:
thnx for three obstacles to learning. My takeaway: to fix 85% of Bottom of Pyramid high schools. Focus on vocabulary. Give them time. And get them involved in Projects.
Seems so simple.
gregorylent said:
it is already done … the time lag we see is just the trick of the senses
Openworld said:
Venessa,
>>The Web will not save us. It can only show us that we already have everything we need in order to heal, and it’s not located out there. It’s in here.
Converging insights (and images) from Christopher Alexander’s pattern language site –
http://www.patternlanguage.com/leveltwo/spirit.htm
http://tinyurl.com/healingimges
Best,
Mark
@openworld
David Lemelin said:
Thank you for sharing your inspiring manifesto. It was the nudge I needed today to remember that we are all on the path towards something better.
Sophomoric? Maybe, but if cynicism is the other alternative, give me sophomoric thought. At least it doesn’t make me want to step out in front of a bus.
There is so much we can look at in today’s world that is cruel, selfish, greedy and unkind. To insist that this is all that there can be, or that every silver lining has a dark cloud is self defeating.
As humans we need to attach ourselves to the idea that there can be something greater to which we all aspire. It may be a figment of your imagination. It may be overwrought and sophomoric sometimes, but it keeps the soul alive. And without your soul, might as well check on the schedule for the #3 express to downtown. What else is left?
Edward Harran said:
Beautiful VM.
#gratitude
#samewisdom
#hoorayfortakingtheredpill
“The Web will not save us.It can only show us that we already have everything we need in order to heal, and it’s not located out there. ”
Buddha says, “All the answers are within.” The inherent nature of social media – openness, honesty, #samehumanness – is providing the catalyst for us express our authentic selves. The doors to our private selves is now shareable As more people see others do it, it gives us the confidence to live our truths, to see our wisdom within.
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Terence Kearns said:
Wonderful outlook Vanessa. Those words feel very true.
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