The story of the individual
is embedded in a larger set of stories.
We play our part
in an ensemble cast.

How do we imagine a successful strategy
for addressing the tension between
the needs of the individual and
the problems of satisfying those needs
within the social, economic
and natural environment?

We must artfully dance
within this environment.

Not in technique but in community.

Real communities are anti-technique
because of their participation.

What we desire is civilization:
a stable relationship
between the individual and his environment.

I regret failing to capture the source of these lines.  These lines are a superlative summation of our condition.  You and I my friend, are stories yet to be finished, stories embedded in those of our generation.

I have little to say this morning while I finish my first cup of coffee at the Geneva Starbucks.  My story intersects with that of the two senior males seated next to me.  By virtue of overheard conversation their sense of “the world” seems calibrated (stuck) more or less at a high school level.  Not without them, I and they must create the future.  So what are the odds that an over-educated, philosophically minded guy from the South will make common cause with those two concerned with their golf game…  Also, I caught their shared distaste of any overt discussion of politics.  And yet the entirety of the overheard conversation struck me as political.

So how is it going, — this artful dance?

No one gets to sit out this dance.

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Time enough for a tune, a song to inspire hope, that we can maintain our grasp, to create a future where everyone participates, a future of care-taking of Nature, a society wherein everyone has enough.  What About Love by Heart.  What is love if not a will to express solicitude for ourselves, for our fellow humans, and for the earth?

What About Love

By Heart

I’ve been lonely
I’ve been waiting for you
I’m pretending and that’s all I can do
The love I’m sending
Ain’t making it through to your heart
You’ve been hiding, never letting it show
Always trying to keep it under control
You got it down and you’re well
On the way to the top
But there’s something that you forgot

What about love
Don’t you want someone to care about you
What about love
Don’t let it slip away
What about love
I only want to share it with you
You might need it someday

I can’t tell you what you’re feeling inside
I can’t sell you what you don’t want to buy
Something’s missing and you got to
Look back on your life
You know something here just ain’t right

What about love
Don’t you want someone to care about you
What about love
Don’t let it slip away
What about love
I only want to share it with you
What about love
Don’t you want someone to care about you
What about love
Don’t let it slip away
What about love
I only want to share it with you

Lyrics by: Brian Allen, Sheron Alton, Jim Vallance