From the editor
The birth of this publication can be traced back to 2004 and the general elections. All that year I had been a Paul Revere with email, bugging all my friends with information. I joined MoveOn.org, signed and passed along online petitions and even worked for the Democrats during the election. After the hoopla in Florida was over and Bush’s re-election was official, I fell into a deep depression.
I had spent twenty years meditating, trying to be “spiritual” and “positive” and above the worries of the world. Up until 2001 I had also been a newspaper reporter - and with that career being positive was tough. Even journalistic objectivity couldn’t keep me “above” opinions and fears. By 2004, my concerns about the condition of our world – from the war in Iraq to global warming - had finally sucked me off my meditation pillow and pushed me personally to “get involved.” That hadn’t worked either. So now what to do?
 |
I realized that during my email /information campaign frenzy of 2004, I had disseminated a lot of information that was wrapped in dissatisfaction and self-righteousness. My work had come more from a position of “against Bush” than it was “for Kerry.” I had been obsessed with what I didn’t want and didn’t like. Negative or positive, energy is energy; thought is thought. With all the energy I poured out against Bush, I helped elect the man.
Albert Einstein once said, “Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them.” The consensus reality that is mainstream society can never be changed by brute force, a landslide election, or email campaigns against the status quo, because that’s all part of the same game. Nor can it be changed by being positive. Positive is just a rejection of the negative. I’d played that game for 20 years and lost.
If mysticism and religion are right - if quantum physics is right - everything is part of everything else. The universe is one vast hologram in which the whole is in the most fractional of parts. Adolph Hitler is me. Mother Theresa is me. I am sinner and saint, destroyer and healer. Everything positive and everything negative is within me. Rejecting any part of self is to create war within.
I have finally realized that peace comes when we finally look the world in the eye and embrace everything in it with no judgment, because we are the world.
What would happen if we accepted the world as it is and didn’t focus on trying to change it? What if we loved it instead? What if we gave all our energy, time, attention, thought and action to things we found uplifting, deeply satisfying, healing, beautiful, and fun? What could we create?
The Global Intelligencer flowed from this question. Its theme is inspiration through sharing what works; what brings out the best in us; what assists in uplifting the whole without drawing lines in the sand and making the status quo bad or wrong. It’s about innovations and insights, about people working together; and it’s about technologies, discoveries and aspirations that affirm life and support it.
Many wonderful people have taken a great deal of time and effort to help get this publication off the ground. My sincerest thanks to all The Global Intelligencer contributing writers who have given their time, their thoughts, and their talents freely to this endeavor. Blessings to my webmaster Cameron for seeing and believing in its vision. And a deep bow to Shelley – our fabulous designer who pulled it all together and made it beautiful.
And now to you, dear readers. To a great degree, the success of The Global Intelligencer depends upon you. We need you to be the eyes and ears of this publication around the world. We look to you for stories, ideas, and yes, inspiration. These editorial pages are open as a forum to every one of you. May it prove to be fertile ground.
Cate Montana
Publisher