The Promised Land Project: Turning Vision into Action

Turning Vision into Action....at least hypothetically

Strike up the music of the band
We're blazing a trail for the promised land
Heaven on earth is within you.

Through the writing of stories, poetry, essays, and a novel, I’ve creatively contended with the consumer culture and the problem of the ideal in the modern era. This preoccupation in time would lead to a vision of cultural transformation and where I believe our democratic society needs to go to truly progress beyond the modern era. Conceding my limited credibility, this blog provides a synthesis of recognized visionaries, poets, and writers with the objective of making a credible argument. Ultimately, it is a certain feeling the project strives to inspire and sustain on a certain level, making more vital use of poetry and the arts; consequently whether one agrees or not is less important than whether one senses it and feels it over time.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Turning Vision into Action

Inevitably, the question arises, how does one initiate a spiritual movement? Or, put another way, how does one go about turning vision into action? Having given much thought on the subject, I arrived at some pluasibilities that can be articulated in time. Currently, given my limited credibility and resources, to date I've had to focus on publication. But here I'll provide a glimpse of how we can literally take to the streets.

Once some organization begins to come together, we act local while dreaming global: promoting community spirit within the greater context of the human spirit. First you start with a general heading followed by a general purpose, for example: The Promised Land Project. Purpose: promoting the human spirit through poetry and the arts. Such a definition is fairly innocuous but if one should begin to feel, and believe they can sustain, a sense of urgency, in time such a purpose can evolve as follows: addressing a spiritual crisis in the modern democratic society.

Then you attach a subject for a specific action, for example: canning blemished fruit into preserves. Obviously, this is a very specific action to make greater use of resources. So you bill a meeting as follows:

The Promised Land Project: canning blemished fruit into preserves.

When the notion of a full-fledged spiritual movement may seem far-fetched -- and one should expect to encounter such moments -- one can break it down to the more manageable pursuit of “keeping up the spirits”, so to speak. Toward this end, one can bill another meeting as follows:

The Promised Land Project: dancing in the streets.

The above can serve as a new kind of public demonstration to keep up one's own spirits while attracting others to the cause. Such a demonstration also has certain advantages over the warmed-over, 1960's version. For those who put forth meetings or demonstrations, it is expected to be a mutually beneficial relationship, promoting others as we promote ourselves. The key to success is developing mutually beneficial relationships and enabling individuals and groups to make it their own in some form or other.