I Thought

Study Report

In the midst of the swell from the launching of our Possible Human Study, our early Think Tank meetings – and – the intriguing impact of our Bus Ride Story Adventure at our recent Abkhazian Dinner, I thought we may well have found the magical solution to that oft posed quandry of Neale Donald Walsch, given the stories people were telling us about themselves.

"How is it possible that 6.9 billion people can all claim to want the same thing (Peace, security, opportunity, prosperity, happiness, and love) and be singularly unable to get it? Neale Donald Walsch

That was until events fell out after our recen event.

When I/we discovered the sub-text of the event, I/we had to go back to our proverbial drawing board for some important considerations. I thought and I pondered. Then I consulted my three devoted board members, Lisa, Sue and Sandi (our unofficial board member).

Here are a few of the conclusions to date that we came to. They have brought us to a turning point insofar as our Possible Human, Possible Society Study and our developing Bus Ride Story Adventure series project.

• High minded people can “say”, even trouble themselves to give lengthy testimony as to their righteous endeavors in the service of peace-action and still be disrespectful and disruptive and lacking in accountability.
• High-mined people can “say” they abhor racial intolerance and still be emotionally violating to "others," even in a setting established to draw attention to peace and non-violence (i.e. our recent Abkhazian Dinner, supporting our local Season For Non-Violence).
• High-minded people can “say” they stand for peace and justice and still take no action at all when injustice is staring them right in the face.

This is all so interesting for us to witness, right before our eyes, insofar as it involves participants in our Possible Human, Possible Society Study. It is intriguing to us, not only in an academic way, but from the vantage place of each one of us being “radically immersed” in the circumstances. In other words, if we are not part of the solution, how might we still be active parts of the problem?

This we do not know.

So now we have come to an area of concern that our board believes is an important enough issue for us to consider in terms of how we are progressing on our study and our developing Bus Ride Story Adventure series. We are. thus, pondering the following. wondering how best to proceed given that:

1. We seem to have designed an important set of community-unity, peace building assessment inventories, activities, tools and skills to contribute to the evolution of the “real” Possible Human, Possible Society through our Small “Zones of Peace” Project, including our newest project, the Bus Ride Story Adventure series (If so bravo for us!);

2. The gross incongruency between what people are telling us about themselves in this study and how they choose to behave is truly a fascinating scenario to witness.

3. What shall we do next, given that we are presently challenged as to whether or not to honestly report what we are gathering from our study, including the accounts of some participants regarding their personal peace-building activities that appear to either be steeped in massive discounting, denial or lies? Or, I may still be blind.

The central question of our study, from its inception, has always been: who is walking the walk, who is not?

What to do? What to do?

If you are in our study (or would like to be) we are interested in hearing from you regarding our quandary.

Of one thing we are certain; although we have no idea where what began at our Abkhazian Dinner will take us, we will always be able to trace back to it as a beginning. Hopefully that will mean we will be more and more in it together, possible humans, consciously building a possible society, walking the walk.

Now we are seeing, unless, of course, I am still blind, how that central theme plays out (Also reference the above quote from Neale Donald Walsch.)