Now or Never

INTRODUCTION

What can one person do?

That is the question millions of us ask as we survey the global landscape. Any sort of personal initiative, like voting, signing a petition, attending a rally, donating to a good cause, driving a Prius or – on the inner side of the equation – praying, meditating, and visualizing, all seem about as effective as peeing in the ocean.

We ask the same question about our personal lives. What can we do about financial debt, illness, trouble in our marriage, kids out of control, the weird neighbor, the boss, the investors, the lack of meaning, and most of all, the escalating stress that has turned so many lives into a wearying struggle interrupted by peak moments of fleeting enjoyment?

We’re asking the wrong question.

More important than what we can do is who are we. This book invites you to trade What can one person do? for Who can one person be?  Let’s find out.

WHO ARE YOU?

When you look up at the stars on a clear night, do you feel small or large?

It’s easy to feel small... you’re looking at something vaster than you can compute. But think of a bowl with a marble in it. Which is bigger? The bowl, obviously, because it contains the marble.

So, returning to you and the stars, which seems bigger now? Are you the bowl (your awareness of the starry sky) or are you the marble (your body and ego)? If you identify as a separate human then you’re the marble, you’re small, and the bowl is the vast starry sky. This makes it inevitable to become discouraged when you ask, What can one person do?

But if you identify with the awareness that contains the vastness of the visible cosmos, then you are large. You are the bowl that holds the marble. You are consciousness itself and consciousness contains everything. The moment you identify as consciousness, rather than just as a separate individual, you become that vastness.

That transformation of identity opens a door to extraordinary impact. As consciousness, you can influence the entire matrix of our numberless universes in this moment. The same principle that says you cannot disturb a flower without troubling a star means that every breath and thought impacts... everything.

Who can one person be? The consciousness that contains everything! Suddenly, you don’t feel so small and ineffective, right? What can (this) one person do? There are utterly no limits.

Try on this perspective the next time you and the stars come out to play together. Perhaps you’ll feel the strategic shift I advocate from What can one person do? to Who can one person be?

YOU ARE ALREADY AMAZING

I salute who you are and the contribution you’re already making. Most of my friends here in Ashland, Oregon and the global network of associates I’m in daily contact with are amazing. The way people raise children, grow careers, volunteer, run not-for-profit ventures, handle emergencies... it’s truly an incredible testament to who you are. It shines through all that you do.

And, I notice that many of us get frustrated, especially when we watch the news. Regardless of our intelligence, our passion to do good in the world, whatever skills we have, and how spiritual or centered we are, we lose it from time to time.

It seems unrealistic and grandiose to believe that someone like you or me — not being a rich celebrity with 25 million likes on Facebook — could really make much of a difference. Case in point: as of this writing, the 2016 American national election is finally complete and, against all odds, Donald J. Trump is President-Elect. Shock waves are reverberating, GOP’ers are celebrating, and liberals are tearing out their hair. What will this disruption destroy and inspire? Are we now even more powerless or is there some kind of unprecedented opportunity here?

It’s frustrating, wanting to help but not knowing how, because we’re painfully aware that terrible things are happening in this country and in the world. Children are being abused and going to bed hungry, women are being raped and tortured, pensioners are losing their savings to bank fraudsters, entire species are going extinct because of human greed and ignorance, and the planet is reeling under an assault of toxic pollutants as climate change threatens human survival. 

Still, we watch games on TV. We go out to dinner with friends. We read novels.

I do. I do all that and more. It’s like I have to, because if I only focused on trying to help I’d get depressed and head to the oven for a nap. My heart has been broken so many times. I know yours has too.

I am a 20-year-old college student in Canada

and the Kent State shootings are happening right now.

I stand in shock, staring at our small black and white TV

as students my age sprawl on the ground, bleeding and dying.

I feel my breath catching; I’m trembling, and tears pour freely.

For the first time in my life I feel unsafe. I begin to shrink.

Later, reading a Newsweek article entitled

My God! They’re Killing Us,

I make a snap decision and jump on a ship for Australia.

My plan? To get as far away from the madness as possible.

I sail to Australia... but I come back.

TIMOTHY LEARY’S MISTAKE

I was 16 when Timothy Leary said, Tune in, turn on, and drop out. I followed his instructions. Millions of us did. The result? We left society to be run by others. Unfortunately, many of those others turned out to be self-serving sociopaths. Here in thetwenty-first century I believe that many baby boomers are re-examining that decision. Many of us are realizing that it wasn’t just Leary’s mistake; perhaps it was ours too.

I wonder, "What might our society have become if we’d tuned in, turned on, and engaged?"

I’m talking about getting more involved back then by taking a stand inside the system: running for public office, starting companies to do good in the world, learning how to be responsible citizens, and speaking truth to power as part of the mainstream, rather than from outside in our many sidestreams. Thank you, everyone who hung in there and contributed as best they could. I didn’t. I started meditating, was introduced to God by LSD, and joined a spiritual community with hopes of regaining a measure of my security, gutted by the horror of Kent State.

I spent twenty-one years inside that community and it was positive in many ways. I can’t begin to enumerate the benefits to my young life and I still have friends I met there. I developed leadership skills, refined my writing and speaking abilities, and was trained in a form of energy work that I’ve used all my adult life. I developed real self-esteem and helped people, so I appreciate that chapter in my life.

On the other side of the coin, I graduated at age 43 with $1,000, a failed marriage, and very little sense of how to survive, let alone thrive, in the real world. Now, 23 years later, I’m grateful that I landed on my feet, met and married the love of my life, and I’m proud that I built a career that has provided meaning to me, value for others, and funds to care for my family. But I’ve wondered what my life trajectory could have been if I hadn’t listened to Timothy Leary and dropped out.

THE PROBLEM WITH THE COUNTER CULTURE

Millions of us dropped out. Some joined communes like I did. Others drifted for years from one meaningless job to another. We gave up hope in a system we saw as deeply corrupted. We were right. It already was. We became part of the counter culture, which some say began with John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 and stretched — in some historian’s minds — to 1974 when Nixon resigned.

Others of us got married, had kids, and bought station wagons. We lived those New Riders of the Purple Sage lyrics: The people who live round the bend in the river have forgotten their dreams and they've cut off their hair.

Either we left the mainstream to take a contrary position, or we dived into the mainstream and forgot our dreams. Some of us have been in opposition to ever since; others of us have been silent enablers of escalating madness. Today the system is more corrupt than ever. So, what now? Do we pat ourselves on the back? We were right, ahead of our time. Do we feel guilty? I sold out! Or, do we make a different decision and take a stand today?

FAST FORWARD TO NOW

All that speaks to baby boomers. What about millennials and younger? In 2010 just 21% of voters aged 18–24 voted in the mid-term election,¹ allowing older voters to sweep leaders into power who have accelerated the destruction of our modern feudal Empire. Maybe that’s a good thing. But I’m seeing a repeat pattern here with youngsters, more dropping out or staying silent, with the same likely result: leaving our society to be run by those who want to run it.

Will they do any better than the last batch?

The trend of young people dropping out or going mute deeply concerns me. Did I/we set an example they are following? I agree that this Empire must fall and will. Good riddance! But shouldn’t we be building a new ship before the old one completely sinks? I don’t believe the best way to do that is to drop out or to ignore reality. Both open the way for more bullying leadership.

It’s time to take a stand.

IT’S NOT OVER UNTIL IT’S OVER

This book is entitled Now or Never and it’s a call to readers of every age. The world needs you, not to fix a hopelessly corrupt system but to create a thriving new one.

By the way, the first person reading these words is me. I get a second chance and so do you, if you’re a boomer drop out like me. If you’re younger, here’s your chance to own the (new) system.

Who knows if dropping out was right or wrong. Who cares, really? That question can only lead to judgment and shame, or to denial and more apathy. If necessary, let’s take a breath, forgive ourselves, and appreciate that those decades off-line were not totally wasted. We learned a lot. Now is the time to put what we learned into practice. I’m sixty-six as of this writing. I should be retiring, right? But who could retire in a world on fire? There are young people who need me as much as I need them.

I’ve seen a sign in stores: You break it, you’ve bought it. We broke the world. We’ve got to own that. We’ve also got to fix it. No energy for that? What are we going to do instead — play golf and drink martinis until we die, knowing we’ve left a colossal mess for our grandchildren to clean up? We told our kids to clean up their rooms, didn’t we? How about we clean up the world? Maybe we can do that together.

History is well populated by heroes and tales of their mighty deeds. But the stories we love most are about ordinary people like us who come to a point where they must take a stand. They often put it off as long as possible, until the pressure builds to a breaking point. Suddenly, the choice they’ve been avoiding becomes the choice they must make now. The pain of fearful resistance outweighs the risks of brave and often foolhardy action. A profound shift occurs in one climactic moment when they choose to act.

We love that moment in films; here is that exact same moment in your life and mine. It’s now or never for me, and for you too if you’re reading this book. Your desire to help, your hunger for fairness, your frustration with the system, your passion for doing good... this has brought you to these pages.

They say a film that’s good for eighty minutes but sucks at the end will be remembered as a lousy film, whereas one that sucks early but has a great ending will be remembered as a good film.

The way we finish our lives matters. It’s not over until it’s over. For elders that means saying, I’m back! For youngsters it means saying, Count me in!

THE DAWNING AGE OF LOCAL HEROES

There are no celebrities in nature. Trees don’t compete against each other for headlines and awards. Alpha animals don’t train to become champions of their forest. Insects don’t vote for their next Great Leader.  The desire to be visibly great is distinctly human. It’s called narcissism and it’s fundamentally contrary to the way nature works. 99.9999% of us are not and will never be super stars. No problem; what the world needs now is millions of local heroes.

There’s an indigenous principle: Anyone can be chief, except someone who wants to be chief. Our world is run by those who really want to be chief. They have big egos. They want power and control. Of course, there are also those genuinely in service, but the majority — not so much. I’m thinking of politicians right now who drone on about what an honor it is to serve. Fine.  Then work for free and contribute to improvements for constituents, rather than to retain power for your party and satisfy donors.

Local heroes don’t crave power or glory or money. They contribute. And they cooperate, not just with other people but with other species. It will take all of us working together to do what needs to be done on the planet. And when I say all of us I mean exactly that.

Found online: One biologist has been working on a simple language, the first to allow two-way communication between humans and wild animals, Wired reports. Divers showed dolphins how to press on a keyboard to get items they wanted, and the dolphins showed interest, even bringing friends along. Communication worked best when humans first established a rapport with the dolphins, imitating them and making eye contact as humans do with each other. Perhaps, Wired notes, this inter-species good manners is universal—even beyond our planet." ¹

You’ll be reading inspiring stories about nature and species intelligence as we go along. I describe the kind of interaction humans must begin to have with other species as enlightened self-interest. We need them as much as they need us. We wield the power to destroy them. Sadly, that’s exactly what we are already doing and at a record rate. Meanwhile, they keep us alive every time we eat – if we’re eating them and not just the junk we make from chemicals.

INSPIRATION

Bravo to the inspiring individuals busy building a new system; they motivate us to get involved. I admire Elon Musk (SpaceX, Tesla Motors, his stated goal is to help change the world for the better), Oprah Winfrey (born into abject poverty, has helped millions through her television programs and charity work), Malala (brutally attacked and wounded, became the youngest Nobel prize winner, her Fund works to guarantee quality education for girls 12 years of age and over), etc.

I honor what these amazing individuals overcame to succeed and contribute towards building a new world. There are countless others throughout history: Mother Theresa, Gandhi, The Dali Lama, Nelson Mandala, etc. None of them is or was a lone ranger.

By the way, neither was The Lone Ranger. He had Tonto. And Silver.

But these guys are all celebrities. What about those less famous who nonetheless provide inspiring examples? I’ve chosen to highlight a few individuals that you may or may not know. They met their now or never moment and answered the call.

The Gulabi Gang are a group of female Indian vigilantes who all wear a pink sari. The group fight against child marriages, the dowry system, abusive husbands, and female illiteracy. ²

Melchora Aquino de Ramos was eighty-four when the Philippine Revolution broke out against Spain in 1896. Her shop became a refuge for injured and sick soldiers and a revolutionary meeting place where she was a respected advisor. The Spanish arrested and deported her. After the revolution, she returned from exile and was commemorated as the Grand Woman of the Revolution. ³

Buckminster Fuller was thirty-two when his only daughter died. Blaming himself for not being home when she passed, he waded out into Lake Superior, intent on suicide (or so one version of the story goes). Suddenly a thought occurred to him: what if his life could become an experiment to see what one little person can do? He chose to find out and is now revered as one of the greatest inventors and thinkers of the twentieth century.He introduced the metaphor of the trim tab to explain how a small number of people can make a big difference. ⁴

The trim tab turns the rudder which turns the ship. Bucky said, Call me trim tab! He’s got a whole lot of company these days; enthused change makers all over the world. This book champions their efforts and invites us to join the party and find out if a relatively small tribe of local heroes can steer the ship of humanity in a better direction.

As Margaret Mead famously said, Never doubt that a small group of thoughful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

WHERE WILL OUR BETTER FUTURE COME FROM?

If we don’t change direction we’ll end up where we’re headed... and that’s not good.

If you Google human near-term extinction, you’ll find scores of sites presenting everything from hysterical raves to scorn. Some writers offer sober studies with statistical evidence to prove we’re committing species suicide. Some conclude that we could be the dumbest species on the planet, pointing out that no other species fouls their own nest the way we do.

Contemplating dark possibilities doesn’t come easily to an irrepressible optimist like me. My habit (an old one that’s nearing extinction) is to think positively about our human potential while complaining vigorously about heartless CEO’s, lying politicians, greedy pharmaceutical companies, and Wall Street sheisters. My Dad did that and I’ve followed his example for years. Talking and blaming has been easier than feeling emotional pain and taking action, at least, until lately. Now that’s no longer acceptable.

My moment has arrived and I have a plan. You’ll read about it in later chapters. But my job right now is to grab you by your integrity and give you an irresistible offer: join me. Become a local hero. Let’s learn how to change the future together.

Who can be effective with their contributions towards a better world? Local heroes who don’t need fame, fortune, or adoration from others to actualize and offer their gifts; Trim tab activists who rise to meet the challenges of personal and global challenges confronting us; and Time travellers who transcend the enslavement of this linear, 3D simulation we inaccurately call reality. 

This is what we explore in the following pages, through three sections of insights and application:

PART ONE is about tuning in to our primary medium of influence, what I call The Wonder Field, otherwise known as consciousness. Everything we create begins with imagination but most people haven’t honed their skills of proactive imagination. You will learn the incredible potential of wonder, and how every moment holds the opportunity for quantum influence beyond space and time.

Your guiding mantra? I experience (and increase) what I express.

You will learn the most effective behavior for every moment by referencing this question: Am I expressing qualities that will build the future I desire? If you are, it will be obvious, because you will be experiencing those qualities.

PART TWO is about turning on, getting activated. You’ll begin to develop the tools you’ll need for conscious creating in the Wonder Field and living on purpose rather than by accident. As all storytellers know, the second act is where the hard work gets done. Traditionally, act two can be the un-fun part, but this is not that kind of story and PART TWO is designed to be equally intriguing and compelling. You are invited to become a detective, following one clue per chapter towards resolving a mystery in PART THREE.

PART THREE is about engaging everything you’ve learned towards developing your own local hero initiative by our deadline: May 1, 2025. I will introduce you to my own B.H.A.G. (Big Hairy Audacious Goal), ⁵ and you’ll be assisted to discover, embrace, and implement your own. How? By facing what has broken your heart to connect with whatever calls to you from our world on fire.

Some of you will create your own initiatives; many of you will join others. Some of you will partner with me. All of us are here to "be the change we wish to see in the world," as Gandhi said, not just to do our best. My invitation is simple but life changing: Exchange a limited human identity mired in fixing problems for the vastness of who you truly are.

YOU’LL SEE

My Dad, bless his wandering soul, had an irritating habit, which my wife tells me I’ve perpetuated. Picture three little boys and a weary mother, jammed into our 1953 Embassy Brown Customline Ford Sedan, heading out for a summer picnic.

Where are we going? one of us would ask. And Dad would inevitably say, You’ll see.

We hated that. He took delight in his secret, intending to surprise us with something wonderful, I know, because he was a goodhearted man. But we resented that he knew something we didn’t. So, I don’t want to repeat that at the beginning of this book. I know where we’re going and I want you to know too.

We will become epic givers. We will become generous contributors, skilled