Discuss: The Transition Initiative

Jay, this is a beautiful piece. Your thinking - the meandering flow of your thoughts - just lights up my computer screen.

I’m a member of Transition PDX in Portland, Oregon, USA, and I plan to send this to leaders of all the fledgeling neighborhood organizations that are just starting to peep (never mind getting to the edge of the nest) to give them direction, understanding, and hope. You have written what I would write to them, only better.

As one who is critical of Pollyanna-ish, feel-good, change a light-bulb approaches that sell pipe dreams rather than honesty about the need for dramatic change, I am fast becoming a fan of Transition Towns. This is the real deal. These people get it, and they are working out a way to bring people on board without setting the bar low.

Dave Gardner
Producing the documentary
Hooked on Growth: Our Misguided Quest for Prosperity
http://www.growthbusters.com

What a wonderful way to start my day—reading your evocative essay, Jay.  Many thanks for the joy that resonated within me.

It seems to me that there needs to be clear articulation of 3 ideas which are at the core of truly grassroots movements.

First, community already exists.  It only needs to be uncovered and its existence appreciated.  Then, it naturally strengthens.  Community can never be built.  It totally destroyed.

Second, community cannot be uncovered by individuals who are only listening to each other.  Rather, it is the hearing of the other that is required.  And hearing involves being open to new information, being willing to receive it and then honestly accepting the fullness of what is being shared.

Third, the grassroots relies upon the personal, owned understanding of its members rather than the acceptance—no matter how carefully considered—of outside, expert authority.  The grassroots must make each truth its own.

Thanks Jay,

Lovely article, yes community spirit and the practical function of a community has been eroded in so many places by a financial system we do not own but feel the need to follow.

Most of us will talk of indigenous people as if separate from what we think of as our developed lives, but if we do think about it we all are indigenous and completely dependent upon our environment and of course each other.

We have our own transition initiative, the sleepy Cotswolds in Minchinhampton in the UK, an unlikely demographic but even here people are listening, thinking and energising inner resources to be proactive in helping each other, that’s an initiative worth more than its weight in gold.

I recently attened a training in Albuquerque, New Mexico and facilitate symposiums Awakening the Dreamer Changing the Dream http://www.awakeningthedreamer.org.  I feel we need to move forward and not depend on the government for change.  I recently listen to an NPR discussion on the Presidents climate change and the issue is moving toward innovation.  Innovation according to the program is what the public will relate to and not the raalities. This is where these initiatives are important. I feel there are many people who want to be proactive and not wait on innovation and return to basics.

Thank you Jay for this lovely piece. I want to let you and everyone know that as someone deeply involved with the Transition movement, I have just published “Sacred Demise: Walking The Spiritual Path of Industrial Civilization’s Collapse” which is an emotional and spiritual roadmap for navigating the unprecedented transitions ahead. Please visit my website Speaking Truth to Power to receive not only daily breaking news but options for enhancing our transitions. The book may also be ordered at the site.

A very beautiful piece. I especially liked the idea of a Keynote Listener! What a deeply respectful, loving, open-to-potential, enabling phenomenon that would be!

Great piece, Jay.  About the best article on Transition I’ve seen. You talk about the deeper issues that elude the newspaper coverage of Transition.

I posted an excerpt/link of this article on Energy Bulletin, and sent emails about it to the people at Post Carbon Institute.

Bart / Energy Bulletin