In desperate need of transcendence

There has perhaps never been a time in living memory when dreams and creative imagination are more needed. We need big visions that can inspire us to take on the enormous challenges that face humanity. We need dreams that help us transcend the fear that threatens to paralyse and numb us because of the scale of the task at hand. We need creative imagination to get us beyond the old thinking that has got us into this situation and provide new strategies for a new way of living that is more in harmony with the planet and all of its inhabitants.

I write this chapter in November 2020 in Central New York (USA), having endured a scary first phase of the COVID- 19 pandemic followed by a late summer and fall of false hope and growing fear and now, where I live, the numbers spike higher than they ever have. This global pandemic has hit us at a time, at least in our experience here, which is characterised by an unprecedented polarisation of debate, partisan contention and a lack of government response that has left commentators speechless. The latest phase of this drama has seen the country gripped in one of the most combative elections ever seen, with all of the once trusted processes that accompanied the ‘peaceful transition of power’ being questioned and challenged, culminating in the horrifying scenes of a mob storming the Capitol building and loss of life for police and protesters alike. Now the inauguration has taken place and was marked and celebrated by diverse voices and perspectives. I am inspired by the words of Amanda Gorman our young poet laureate, ‘We’ve learned that quiet isn't always peace, and the norms and notions of what just is isn't always just- ice. And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it. Somehow we do it. Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn't broken, but simply unfinished’.

As I read and contemplate these chapters in light of these circumstances I remind myself that these events have also inspired other more heartening responses.