Possible Human, Possible Society Study Reboot Launches This Week With A Preliminary Survey

Update: September 10, 2023

Under construction

There is soooo very much to say. Lots of stories to exchange. I write this now with much disappointment that my words have.been so sparse and irregular throughout the pandemic because -- well -- it was the pandemic and everything was irregular -- with the hope I can begin to do better now.

Irregular and sparse blogs do not mean we weren't busy at our mission -- guiding the challenging effort two be "best possible humans" whatever we are up against.

And I say with gratitude -- having done so -- we are coming through with gifts of wisdom and guidance you almost wouldn't believe.

More to cone as we begin -- 

"G-d willing and the creek don't rise"-- to open up and share the bounty the pandemic brought us, along with the hardship."

Update: March 6, 2023

How very naive was I -- as was almost everyone else -- when I wrote this post. How strange it is to me -- intriguing too -- that this post, time and time again, is one of my most read.

Why is it?

I am realizing that just now. And contemplating it. As I begin reflecting on this, deep sorrow surfaces somewhere between my heart and throat. Unshed tears I guess it is.

My personal mental health crisis at this time. Shared by everyone else in the WORLD!! across the entire planet.

I take a deep breath and let it come -- the grief.

.......

February, 2023

My oh my! And, goodness me!

There’s so much chaos and upheaval in this country of ours these days, we are way too early to get right back into the update of our Possible Human, Possible Society Study directly.

What with the aborted impeachment trials of Donald Trump, the presidential election campaigns heating up and Harvey Weinstein found guilty of something, at last, though not as much as some wanted to see -- 

and the coronavirus, bordering on a threatened pandemic -- 

and Kobe Bryant and his young daughter, Gianna, killed in a helicopter crash along with a handful of others who are now gone too soon, who can begin to imagine a new world view, even a morning after the next election?

After our organization tried out a few interviews for our updated study back in the spring, last year we got waylaid, once again, in our search to find discernable pathways to stabilizing our country, let alone a sampling of people inclined in that direction, other than ourselves, who would be up for exploring the “possible?” 

Contact Anastasia at
MountainWomanRJ@aol.com

Of course, we did bring in the Pro-Truth Pledge, our Truth Or Dare GAME and our Truth Or Dare Movement. 
But they haven’t been enough yet to help us get out of the quicksand we, at New Horizons/Small “Zones of Peace,” – and – possibly yourself, along with us, have been stuck in since the morning after "Election 2016."

On top of the detours brought about by my eye crises which are now stabilized, we, at New Horizons/Small “Zones Of Peace,” have decided that the sane path for us is to take up the work of some of our long overdue remodeling projects to upgrade the “zone of peace” we hold at our Harpers Ferry Retreat Center and also to now start to develop a forest bathing sanctuary, finding our own peace as we do it.

More on that topic later.

Today’s news, however, is that we "believe" we have now found a reasonable path forward, regarding our study, by easing into it with a preliminary survey that will help us gather the data we need for visioning life in these United States after November – and/or the January, 2021 inauguration.

But who knows for sure, right? 

Still we will give it our usual best.

Facing such a highly charged, unknown future, with the high stakes and everyday drama involved in determining how our country is to be run for, at least, the coming four years is, without doubt stressful. 

Behind that, of course, are several main questions that our “Preliminary Survey” will concern itself with, such as --

• What will our society be facing, if Donald Trump wins the election? 
• What will the U.S.A. be adjusting to, if a Democratic candidate (or an Independent or write-in) wins?

Regardless of who wins in 2020, our country will be polarized in 2021! 

This we know.

• What does this mean to you?
• Is there anything/something you’d like to do about the situation, as it stands now?

These are some of the questions we want input on from our “Preliminary Survey.”

Our main vehicle for obtaining answers will be focused on, not only getting responses to our questions, but especially wanting to draw out the personal stories behind these – and – also finding out how people are managing the chaos and stress all this upheaval is bringing into their lives.

So here we go on our next steps forward!

We hope you will want to join us and participate in our “Preliminary Survey,”  beginning today!

If you would like to contribute to our survey data collecting – and – possibly in the larger study when we get back to it, please contact me at: MountainWomanRJ@aol.com.

Our original Possible Human, Possible Society Study had the interviewing of 400 participants as our intention. We interrupted the process at around 250 interviewees, give or take, due to the chaos of the 2016 presidential campaign cycle. 

The outcome of that election was a doozie, dontcha think? 

And the aftermath of the election hardly brought any calm that would lend itself to imagining a desirable future, especially one in which an average voting citizen might have any say. Thus we are, at least, 150 shy of our original goal, planning to reach that mark, even possibly go beyond it as we take up this next phase. So your participation would be most welcome.

We are thinking and hoping that our “Preliminary Survey” can help us aid ordinary folks in taking back our days and nights, if we do a bit of advance planning for a future in this U.S.A. that just might hold some of what we’d like it to be.  

At New Horizons/Small “Zones of Peace” some of the things we’d like to be doing are:

• Coffee House Conversations – with people of diversity who would prefer to build bridges rather than divide;
• Encouraging storytelling as a way for people to get to know one another and other cultures;
• Overcoming Polarization, in general, in our local area, our region and our country;
• Aiding relationships, personal and in the workplace to move “Beyond Gender Tyranny;”
• Teaching people the art of “Climbing The Mountain Of Awe” and how to "Dialogue rather than Debate” and bunches of other things that bring people together rather than dividing them.

On and on for the good stuff that has for most of the years of my life represented the American Dream, with anything other than politics dominating our lives!

Isn't that why we vote and DELEGATE the running of our government to officials we'd like to be able to count on to manage things satisfactorily, while we give our attentions to bettering the quality of life closer in to our day-to-day responsibilities?

That's how I remember the old balancing of powers and would hope to see it again.

Rebooting The Possible Society In Motion Radio Show

More from behind the scenes of the New Horizons Small “Zones Of Peace” Project,  moving forward with our new Truth Or Dare Movement plans, projects and programs.

The "rebooted" Possible Society In Motion Radio Show will launch a new online series, aligning itself with the other activities of New Horizons Truth Or Dare Movement -- 

To Lie Or Not To Lie: That Is The Question

Sunday, September 8   4 p.m. EDT

Background: Listen to the podcast of this new series to hear how we came create it and what our plans are for moving forward.

The story of the original Possible Society In Motion Radio Show program goes like this --

The original Possible Society In Motion Radio Show began to fade, with Anastasia The Storyteller Radio moving to the fore when my/Anastasia's Beloved co-host, Jack Slattery, left the show for other priorities at the end of June, 2016.

Other program formats were experimented with, such as Beyond Gender Tyranny: The Online Course initiative for a time. However Jack's departure was a huge loss to the  momentum of the original form with his input and co-hosting of central importance.

Additionally, by the time Jack departed the unfolding presidential compaigning was already taking a toll on the small "zones of peace" mission of New Horizons to provide programs and training that can help individuals and communities overcome social and political polarization, among other things. Then with the November, 2016 election surprise of Donald Trump upsetting the Clinton campaign, we experienced an added challenge, non-partisan as we must remain as a non-profit, and simply did not know yet how best to proceed through the chaos now at hand. 

Given that New Horizons agenda, since its "new" formatting began in 2006 has always held the "overcoming of polarization" as a central objective -- and -- almost everyone we could identify was far more invested in divisiveness, after the 2016 election than otherwise, we began seeking other alternatives for utilizing our gifts, talents and overarching mission -- building and sustaining small "zones of peace."

You can see what and how our evolving process has been, up to now, to be able now to believe, at least, that we have found a clarified form for our mission, with our revitalizing New Horizons'' signature program -- the Truth Or Dare GAME, as of last September, and our recent collaboration with the Pro-Truth Pledge Movement, beginning in late April.

With all that said and done, we are now in a position to reboot our Possible Society In Motion Radio Show with a new series, To Lie Or Not To Lie. Enter New Horizons next major agenda, the Truth Or Dare Movement, with this series fully in alignment with it.

We hope the series will boost your present and future journeys through the hurtles now facing all of us as American citizens. 

Where Is Your Dark Side Hiding?
In half-truths, lies or other covert maneuvers?

You can help our country heal by transforming your Dark into Light 
and/or encouraging and supporting others to do the same.

This new radio show program, with Anastasia's expertise to the fore will help guide you on your way!

This is what New Horizons Truth Or Dare GAME accomplishes. 
So be sure to find out how you, too, can be a player in it.

Also, for personal, one-on-one guidance, check out Anastasia's
Super Sleuth'd Coaching and Consulting.

All fees presently donated to initiatives of
New Horizons Small "Zones Of Peace" Projects 

Breaking News: New Horizons To Redefine Priorities

Effective immediately!!

Tuesday, April 30, 2019 -- We added one new item to our Truth Or Dare Movement agenda. Check it out: The Pro-Truth Pledge.

in the service of supporting , Executive Director, Anastasia Rosen-Jones, with her expanding publishing efforts on Medium and through a variety of other outlets, both online and in print, all New Horizons projects and programs are to now be put on hold, with the exception of New Horizons Truth Or Dare GAME and Truth or Dare GAME support groups. 

(Also see: Anastasia The Storyteller article, "Another New Book Into Progress Popped Up In Me Today.")

All current programs, projects and initiatives created, post Trump's presidential election, will be affected. 

This will include, but is not limited to...

• Beyond Gender Tyranny;
• Making Violence Obsolete;
• Overcoming The Polarization Of Politics;
• Possible Human, Possible Society Study Reboot (Interviews for this will continue, in a very select manner.);
• Possible Society In Motion Online Course;
• Storytelling;
• The Truth Or Dare Movement (Update: April 30, 2019 -- this project now back in motion, as a result of New Horizons' partnering with the Pro-Truth Pledge Project).

Look for these to resume or take on new forms as Anastasia’s publishing projects move to the fore. 

As I start on this next chapter of my writing life, the cumulative effect of the programs and projects New Horizons has been doing since the early eighties -- when we formally inaugurated the Asklepeion prison rehabilitation counter-culture community approach*, developed by my former psychiatrist mentor, Martin G. Groder, M.D.,  into what had merely been a private counseling center, remodeling it for application to a co-dependency/power addiction recovery, counter-culture treatment program -- will now become more accessible through my writings, lectures and public speaking presentations.

* Scroll down on this wikipedia article to the section on "therapeutic communities -- U.S.". New Horizons "exceptional community" model is an expansion of Groder's Asklepeion model, beyond prison rehabilitation, where it began, into the mainstream, combined with the ancient teachings and present-day mentoring of the Kebzeh community approach through Murat Yagan.

What we have accomplished over many decades, based on Groder's and Murat's mentoring, guidance and support, has been meritorious. And, we have been continuously evolving better and better strategies for directing what we have back into the mainstream.

Now, with our focus, once again, on our signature program, the Truth or Dare GAME, we will further this shaping process, while I, personally, set out to carry the message of the enormous successes we've had to an expanding readership audience through my articles, online, and sometime in the future in print form.

What has been difficult for us -- in near-recent years, especially as New Horizons has struggled to proceed with its main initiative, building and sustaining Small "Zones of Peace," and its mission to overcome all forms of polarization, from the simplest one-on-one relating to the local, the national and the global, in a nation, post Trump -- is that we are now, as a citizenship, more invested in divisiveness than unity.

How can we reverse this?

We can only hope to do our best and contribute what we have and can with hopes for a better future.

I will have much to write on this also.

Anastasia (I) have struggled too, alongside my organization, especially concerned about where could I/she lead my/her truth squad, if truth had taken such a back seat in our society as to be almost an anathema!

Please do wish us luck!

This may be the most challenging step we have ever taken, to date.

We thank you for your kind and continued support.

Note:

Anastasia’s Super Sleuth’d Coaching And Consulting will continue on, unimpeded, both as a service to readers and a source of fundraising for New Horizons Small “Zones Of Peace” Project.

Find out how you can contribute through these services of Anastasia, a truly awesome, win-win opportunity, as a support for your personal agendas, as well as boosting those of New Horizons.

Anastasia can be reached at: MountainWomanRJ@aol.com

Possible Society Study Background

An open letter from Anastasia Rosen-Jones, New Horizons Executive Director

As we, at New Horizons, prepare to set our updated Possible Human, Possible Society Study in motion, once again, this time aligning it with our revitalized Truth Or Dare GAME and our forthcoming Truth Or Dare

Movement, a period of reviewing the past history of the original study seems to be at hand.

The following "Love Letter To Possible Human, Possible Society Study Participants" by New Horizons Executive Director, Anastasia Rosen-Jones, June, 2014, excerpted from a correspondence collection of that time, offers a view of what we, at New Horizons, and I, Anastasia, were thinking back then that prompted the original study, initially launched, informally, in 2011 and, formally in January, 2012.

FYI: It was intended that we would interview 400 participants, of various persuasions, by the end of 2016, following the wrap up of the 2016 presidential election cycle.

However, we ceased our interviewing efforts in mid-2016, having interviewed approximately 250 people, as campaigning seemed to become more and more volatile and, thus, a distraction from our overarching objective of overcoming polarization in our country.

By then we had concluded, and rightly so, we  believe, that the polarization we were witnessing was an essential part of our democratic process.

Thus, we should, appropriately, back off from that objective, overcoming polarization, for the duration of the election cycle, assuming as we had expected and seen, historically, would "naturally" occur.

We were shocked, however, to experience what would happen in our country this time, with Donald J. Trump, the winner!

Please note: Although I did not especially like Obama in 2008, or even later, by default I voted for him.

The letter below, nonetheless, reflects that at the time it was written, the strong idealist in me was truly hopeful and believing that Obama might just be able to carry forth the light of Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as JFK, whose election had prompted my moving to the Washington, D.C. area, as a young adult, to live and be a part of the aura I anticipated of Kennedy's Camelot.

The letter below depicts this idealism that is my basic nature, in the process of interviewing people, I now believe matched my idealism with their own.

When all was said and done, however, and a few years had passed into the Trump Administration, I came to realize that many others were still being neglected and hurting, badly under Obama.

Also, I came to see that many of the so-called idealists we had interviewed did not even have the necessary skills to truly "walk the walk" of values they represented themselves as having.

They were, in actuality, unable to genuinely carry out the ideals our study represented, believing themselves upholders of principles Gandhi had taught and spoken of, yet incongruent with these in their actions.

We witnessed this, blatantly in some of the workshops we conducted, occasionally quite hurtfully. As an organization, sponsoring this study and our various related public programs, we learned a great deal from this and lost another pound or two of naivete, along the way.

However, New Horizons Beloved Community Development mentor, Murat Yagan, had shown us how to come closer to the "Possible Human, Possible Society" values ourselves, personally and as an organization, even under extreme conditions.

So in spite of some hurts and disappointments, along with the chaos, ever since the last presidential election, we picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, finally have found our new path forward and are now ready, willing and able to get ourselves back in the game of "possibilities," in spite of obstacles.

Having said all this, by way of introduction, requesting your patience with me, I offer, below, my, basically, unedited letter, reflecting much of the original background for our study, now about to be updated.

Dear Possible Human, Possible Society Study Participant,

Shortly after Barack Obama’s 2008 election to our presidency I made an extended trip to South America, living among Ecuadorians for the better part of two months, sometimes challenged as I did not speak Spanish.

The majority of people I encountered at this time were of the intelligentsia: psychologists, artists, economists and so forth. Over time, each, in his/her own time, would eventually come around to inquiring about what it might mean to us, Americans, to have elected this particular man, decidedly of African/American heritage.

These questions spurred my own contemplations on the subject. And, because I was in a distant and foreign land, I reflected on this point with the added spice of the views these people offered back to me.

At the time, I was aware of only one or two personal perspectives on this state of affairs.

The first was that after close to thirty-five years away from Washington, although living in the nearby Maryland suburbs, I had only returned one time with joy and hope.

That was when I had ventured into D.C. a few days after Obama’s election.

I was prompted to make this foray because I wanted to feel the upsurge of spirit in Washington, following Obama's election. wishing that the Washington I had loved might rise again.

Although I had been very much engaged in high profile Washington (1965 – 1974), the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated I watched the Washington I loved “burn” from my high rise apartment near the Pentagon.

That day was truly the beginning of the end of my active love affair with our nation’s capitol.
The Watergate scandal finished it off.

Still, one cannot end a serious love affair and just simply walk away.

Thus in 1974, I began what was to develop into a life-long passion to understand the Dark Side of Washington and its affairs. And, to do, with this understanding as a base, what I could to aid the transformation of it. At least, as best as a single, yet devoted and heartbroken idealist can.

My first husband and I had, originally, come, after his college graduation, to Washington for JFK’s “Camelot.” Both of us, also, had remained nearby these many decades later.

While I was not, particularly, enamored or impressed by Obama, I was somewhat intrigued by his platform that seemed rooted in an expansion of a national grassroots’ effort.

With these thoughts in mind I returned, in late December, 2008, to Maryland, from South America, with Obama’s inauguration near.

Having previously discovered the pitfalls of inaugural balls and other similar related revelries, I, happily, observed the happenings from a distance. Yet the spirit of celebration did not pass me by.

And, given that I was, at the time, a lifelong Democrat, I was satisfied for the moment. (In 2016, I registered as an Independent.)

Still, I couldn’t help but wonder at the seeming naiveté of our new president, especially in his perspectives regarding the Washington political game.

After all, I had been a player in it, having served clients in the White House, on Capital Hill and throughout the lobbying community.

Oh, well, thought I, let’s just wait and see. But social activist that I had become, by then, waiting and seeing was not quite enough for me.

That’s when I, first, designed the Possible Human, Possible Society Study, imagining,
from my own grassroots position, as Executive Director of New Horizons Support Network, Inc., that my organization and myself, personally, might help further Obama’s grassroots’ agenda.

Yet, somehow, this idea of mine did not take root very deeply at this time. So I shelved the study and went on to other things.

Then, in July, 2011, with the debt ceiling debates grabbing daily attention with outrageous partisan blaming, hostility and polarization, I came to realize that our country was in an irreconcilable mess.

And, that no one, on either side of the aisle, could or would, competently – and – graciously, lead us out of it any time soon.

At that point, I turned my attentions away, as much as possible, from Washington, once again, taking to the hills (one of which, calling itself a mountain, I live upon, just above Harpers Ferry) to initiate and develop the Possible Society In Motion Project of which the Possible Human, Possible Society Study is the focal point.

From that time on, officially beginning January 1, 2012, I began a new love affair; a love affair with you, the participants of our study, and others such as you, the various and sundry people who make up the regional community, residing within the one-hundred mile radius of the Washington, D.C. White House who may become soon-to-be participants of the Possible Human, Possible Society Study!

From then on, I began asking each and every one of you that seemed interested and appropriate about your hopes and dreams for this country’s healthy future and your perspectives on how we might find our way out of the painful polarization that was overtaking our country, even increasing under Obama's administration though it had, at first, promised hope.

At that point, I asked increasing numbers of people for their personal opinions on how we can grow together and move beyond our differences.

How we could, again, be that one nation, under God, we set out to be. Given that I come from a small town in Ohio this is the view with which I grew up.

Maybe it is the reality of the maturity I have now attained that I realize that the Camelot that, originally, brought me to Washington will forever remain the myth it has always been.

Nonetheless, each and every day I spend engaged with participants working on the study I designed, after leaving this country for a time, I am heartened.

Yet, I have one regret in the carrying forth of this project. I have been unable to adequately communicate on a regular basis with study participants.

You see doing the interviews has expanded my knowing just how very important are the bonds of community-unity that we build with one another. These connections are precious and require care.

Yet, our busy world does not offer us much opportunity for this.

Initially I attempted to call or write participants to keep you updated on study progress, developments and projects. But soon there were so many enthusiastic participants I could not manage this.

Next I tried to post blogs to keep participants informed.

This format, as it turned out, seemed to be both too impersonal and difficult to manage in terms of detailing, even the bare minimum of unfolding and, frequently, inspirational perspectives and personal stories.

After all, who would want to miss out on the “good news” in these trying times?

While we, at New Horizons, strive to improve our communication with you, our treasured study participants, please know the immensity of our/my gratitude for your participation to date.

From the bottom of my heart, as well as the top of my intellectual, research-oriented mind, I humbly thank you for the hope and inspiration your contribution to the Possible Human, Possible Society Study has brought me, personally.

My New Horizons Board of Directors joins me in this expression of gratitude.

The generosity of your personal storytelling in the service of this study your transparency, time and support have shown me the stronger stuff, beyond polarization that we, Americans, are made of, regardless of who it is that sleeps in the White House!

We, the people, shall overcome!

With boundless appreciation for your participation in the study I designed,

Anastasia Rosen-Jones Executive Director, New Horizons Support Network, Inc.
Lead Researcher, Possible Human, Possible Society Study

Possible Human, Possible Society Study To Be Updated To Support Truth Or Dare GAME And Movement: Destination Capital Hill

Check out blog post of March 8 for background on our Possible Human, Possible Society Study that will be serving to help us establish strategies upon which to help move our Truth Or Dare Movement forward, with our Truth Or Dare GAME as an essential foundation element for the exciting, new trajectory we are now embarking upon, destination: Capital Hill.

Also, please note Anastasia, me, has been having computer difficulties. While they are being remedied, with a new computer on the way (You know how that goes!! Yukk!), check out our archives for Possible Society Study articles.

Sorry, no links until the new computer comes. I do not know how to do such fancy stuff from my Smartphone.

FYI: Our new, updated study will build on the earlier study, aborted before final completion and tallying up, due to the 2016 Presidential election upset.

Take some time, if you appreciate what is offered on this site to visit or re-visit the articles posted, beginning with my last one for December, 2016 through to the end of 2017 to see how we, at New Horizons, have been managing the challenges we've been experiencing, on the heels of that election.

I think the articles posted in June and July, 2017 are of particular interest, as they show how our organization was truly struggling among ourselves with the aftermath of the election.

Did I want Hillary?

Not much. But I voted by "the lesser of two evils" rule for her. I am a registered Independent and that was my Independent selection.

Today, I believe that presidential election cycle was heading us for trouble, no matter which way it went.

Oh well. 

Now let's figure out how to get ourselves back on course.

At New Horizons, after experiencing ourselves derailed and in upheaval since that election, we are excited, now, with our updated course that includes our "new" revitalized GAME and Truth Or Dare Movement, developing and unfolding as I write this very post.

Check back for more in the days and weeks ahead.

New Horizons Announces Partnering Plan With Executive Director, Anastasia Rosen-Jones, To Bring Truth Or Dare GAME To Capital Hill

Read Anastasia's back story,  Capital Hill And The Manifesting Of Anastasia's Prophecy, about how and why this momentous, biggest ever New Horizons

collaborative project has, now, come to the fore!

• Find out how you can be a part of the movement to make easy Truth, without the Dare, happen on Capital Hill and everywhere!  
• Lots of people take the high road, with vigor. So can you!  Don't just leave the action to the currently, most visible. Become one of them! 
• Learn how to speak truth to power, effectively, and bring about change! 
• Help us combat, in non-combative ways, the degeneration of our society and politics into the Dark when the Light is so much saner, freer and happier!

• Discover why you, too, should become an active player in New Horizons Truth Or Dare GAME.

Truth Or Dare GAME facilitator training begins September, 2019

Contact Anastasia for details and information at:
MountainWomanRJ@aol.com

I Came Out Full, Not Empty When …

New Horizons Board of Directors played it’s  third “new” Truth Or Dare GAME on Saturday.
.
“On the path to our Higher Selves through community support and engagement.”

Saturday, I ended up on Full, not empty at all, after a truly tumultuous day, due to connection difficulties, on one hand, yet managing to do my part in leading New Horizons Board Members through the steps of our "new," monthly Truth or Dare GAME.

It felt soooo good to be back in this reaching for awe experience again! 

Snowy mountain roads did not keep us apart!

Not at all like the norm, these days, of what is going on around us in mainstream society and politics. 

That’s what exceptional community engagement is like and supposed to be like!

Yeow! We are on our way, at New Horizons, to strengthening our own small “zone of peace.” 

Everyone attending must have felt it, as I sure did! 

The hunger for authentic, cooperative, compassionate human contact assuaged was so palatable we ended up adding a bi-weekly GAME follow-up support group to our menu of delights, beginning next week.

Saturday's GAME, with the inordinate maneuvering we did to make way through a multitude of chaotic moments  ended up with our having established our intent to support one another in building, rebuilding, expanding and flourishing, an evolving community development agenda, grounded in our Truth Or Dare GAME, that may have no end, “G-d willing and the creek don’t rise” (again).

Getting curious and wanting to join in the adventure?

Look for information, after the first of the year, about how you might be able to qualify when we begin taking in new players, one-by-one, and by invitation only (or application) and meeting our criteria for participation.

We will let you know when. 

In the meantime, if you wish additional information, contact us at: mountainwomanrj@aol.com

Saturday’s GAME was our third. And with it came a solidifying of individual and collective commitments to our powerful, beyond societal and political polarization, making violence obsolete, possible human, possible society, gender transforming process!

All rolled into one.

And, catch this -- we did the whole thing by conference call!

An 8-10 inch snow storm, days before our GAME, made travel up to our mountainside retreat center totally unrealistic. Next time, on Saturday, December 8, hopefully, more people will be able to show up in person. 

However the "chaos" we went through taught us that our “new” GAME must now  take in the options afforded us by the high tech era we live in. Thus allowing GAME players to participate from as far away as one board member who lives in Northern California, if need be.

Via conference call it was a bit weird. But we, overall, accomplished our aims-- and in great measure!

Yeow!

The high point of the GAME, from my perspective, might have been when Steve our single male board member,  demonstrated his heroism, getting some heat, likely for all males, as he took his first "formal" steps in the direction of learning to recognize his subtle and not so subtle male-type put downs, i.e. discounts.

Of course, this was one of those times when “you just had to be there.”

It looks like Steve and I will be back on the air with an Anastasia The Storyteller Radio Show broadcast this next Saturday. 

Maybe, by then, the dust will have settled enough for New Horizons Truth Or Dare GAME players so that we can get Steve to share what he experienced.  

And, my two cents on what I saw happening for him with the others.

In the meantime, here’s a peek at how our GAME proceeded last Saturday.

New Horizons Support Network, Inc. presents

The Third “new” Mini-Truth Or Dare GAME

Saturday, November 17, 2018 1:00 – 4 p.m.

Agenda

Step One: Establishing working goals for the GAME. 

Setting our intentions to learning to work with other New Horizons Board Members to step out of the boxes we create in our minds, and consequently in our lives, by not having full access to and embracing the most complete truths and realities available to us.

Step Two: Playing the GAME. 

Discovering through dialogue how confronting discounts in one another can help us achieve our intentions to strengthen ourselves, personally, along with the small “zone of peace” base, upon upon which our board operates. 

This is Truth Or Dare at its most elegant!

For a discussion on the Transactional Analysis (TA) healing strategy of confronting discounts, check out the Cathexis Reader by Jacqui Shiff, one, among many, of New Horizons basic resources for our Truth Or Dare GAME, an interactive, educational process, based on community dialogue principles and practices. 

One comment on the Cathexis Reader by “Fishface” on Goodreads described this text, making a good case for it, as a profound  resource, on how critically important confronting discounts is, their presence and purpose in a person's life.  

The comment I appreciated is as follows –

This book was my introduction to Transactional Analysis. Absolutely intriguing, empowerment-based ... with roots that reach clear down to Carl Jung. It was a bit mystifying to a reader who did not yet know the basics so I went ahead and read up on it some more.

I will introduce readers to other resources on the psychological phenomenon called "discounting" over time so you can begin to make sense of it for yourself. 

Confronting discounts is a fascinating and central aspect of playing the Truth Or Dare GAME, as the active presence of discounts, minimized or ignored, is central to recognizing untruth and thus bringing ourselves and others into a fuller, authentic reality. 

Simply addressing discounts, in safe and non-defensive ways, is sometimes all it takes to get to awe. 

Try it! 

You might get to love it, as do the many thousands of people who have learned to honor this path. 

Step Three: Wrapping up the GAME

Noticing what and how we gained from playing our GAME, clearing away resentments, giving praise and acknowledgements.

Yum, yum – full, not empty. 

What made the difference, do you think?

Your comments are welcomed. Please post them here or send them to us at:
mountainwomanrj@aol.com.

New Horizons News Update!

Would you believe --- simply focusing on my "tranquility diet" has now gotten New Horizons to being in the planning stages with some awesome “coming attractions,” not by the urgency, trying hard and workaholism that often dominated my earlier days. Rather by creating day-to-day tranquility! I am getting to love it!

So, beginning yesterday, under the power of the Eclipse, New Horizons commenced to create a "storytelling" project to help our overall community building mission, via New Horizons-type programs, for next year. StoryCorps and possibly the Frederick County Public Library will be our initial partners (the latter item is still being discussed); this, in spite of the fact that I got stung by a hornet the hour leading up to the time to focus on that fast moving Eclipse. 

Oh my, having stepped on a hornet, was I ever in pain all through that time and well beyond until morning. 

Still, that Eclipse seems to have brought us, New Horizons and myself, new beginnings of a marvelous type. 

Why not? 

Yesterday was also the day of the New Moon!

In the meantime, as our more extended project develops, we are now amping up to develop an updated storytelling track, correlating with our Coffee House Conversations and Possible Society, Possible Human Study, our Counterculture Community Development and Making Violence Obsolete projects, all rolled into one, new updated effort.

So, we are feeling confident, thinking we are, now, beginning to find our new path, while trying to stay sane in this insane world. 

Although we don’t yet know quite how we will proceed, we do know that storytelling as a pathway to peace and the ideals of leaning in and dialogue rather than debate will be central tenets of whatever it is we are about to create. Collecting stories of people’s lives as they are, now, living through these turbulent times, in this momentous time in history, will also be a dominant theme.

If you would like to contribute your ideas to help us shape this project, please let us hear from you. Either by posting a comment here or by writing me, directly, at SuperSleuthDSW@aol.com 

Thanks so much for your continued support that helps keep us strong and hopeful during these turbulent times.

Please send prayers and other good wishes while we Imagine what we can become.

With gratitude from
Anastasia and the New Horizons Support Network, Inc. Board of Directors

An Open Letter To Our Loyal Followers

The letter that follows is being shared with you, in advance of New Horizons Annual Board Meeting, being held this coming Saturday. The intention of it being put forward, publicly, is to allow you to see how New Horizons and myself are presently struggling through these challenging times and some of the measures we are taking, collectively, to move through the darkness into the Light.

We invite your good wishes and prayers.

Dear Board Members and those about to become board members,

New Horizons is at a turning point like never before. My immediate observation of the situation is that this pending shift has been brought about by the recent election of Donald Trump to the presidency. Never before has our country faced circumstances such as this.  And we are very much a part of it.

My Higher Self sees a broader vista; a sense that it was only a matter of time until the shift that is about to occur for New Horizons and myself would have taken place anyway. For the past forty years plus I have, in a manner of speaking, been hiding out at New Horizons, protecting myself from an onslaught of pressure that high visibility in the public sector could bring about.

In short I can explain this by saying that at the inception of New Horizons, in 1974, I was,  personally, needing to keep my life very private and more or less subdued. This was in contrast to the high profile, highly charged life I had been leading as Executive Director of the U.S. "Male" Service. 

To understand what all of this has meant for me and been like is a long and complex story. Yet it was always part of my plan, my hopes and dreams that somehow I would find a way to blend what I left behind of me, exiting my D.C. life, with that which I next created to make a return. 

There is, I believe, something in all of us that yearns to go home to our roots. And much of me is, and always has been grounded in Washington. I could not leave it behind and never come back.

The time for my return is now!

Up until this time, I have purposely guided New Horizons in such a way as for programs and projects to take center stage. My role was to stand behind this in second place, in terms of what was being publicly promoted. The change about to occur will reverse that priority, from here forth, with me being lifted into visible priority and New Horizons coming up behind me.

I don't know how to do this. But one thing I have known all along is that I could only take this HUGE step if I were part of a loving, caring, supportive community that I would do my best to represent. That perspective came to me very distinctly in the visions that, I believe, you are now aware are a part of the way I SEE things. You are that community for me, large or small.

So please, when we meet this coming Saturday, open your hearts and minds; your hopes and dreams, your highest visioning capabilities -- and – join, with me, at our annual board meeting to begin envisioning a new kind of future for New Horizons; not only for New Horizons, but for each one of us, personally; a developing direction that can help our world, at least our country, to come through our present crises in our society and politics, better than we have ever been before.

These are treacherous times. Let us help one another through them.

I give you my promise that I will do my best to represent us, in this coming phase, in ways that will reassure and make you proud.

Please help me do this, for all of us (and not last or least for my children and the legacy I/you will leave behind someday).

Please let us make a difference together.  That is my wish and my prayer.

With deepest gratitude and affection,

Anastasia
Executive Director
New Horizons Support Network, Inc.