Hope is a Path

Hope is a path on the mountainside.

At first there is no path.

But then there are people passing that way.
And there is a path.

~Lu Xun

Of Note: After conducting a series of opinion surveys, California's Institute of Noetic Sciences came to the conclusion that a hopeful subculture is flourishing in the United States. This subculture could be identified by the following shifts in values and beliefs:

1. A shift from competition to reconciliation and partnership;
2. A shift from greed and scarcity to sufficiency and caring;
3. A shift from outer to inner authority;
4. A shift from mechanistic to living systems; and most significantly,
   
5. A shift from separatism to wholeness.

Called by public opinion researcher Paul Ray the "cultural creatives," this group is growing rapidly and currently constitutes between 24 to 28 percent of Americans. They are not alone, of course. In other developed nations, 35% of the population espouse a holistic viewpoint. Even more encouraging was the view of the leader of the Holistic Network based in the UK: "The holistic approach is rapidly becoming a major cultural force. There is substantial and rigorously researched evidence that the majority of the population in the United Kingdom, and other industrialized nations, is adopting a holistic worldview."

(This information comes from an insightful book by Ervin Laszlo, Quantum Shift in the Global Brain--a must-read for prognosticators of change.)

Today's Weather Report: It started off as hot day today, and muggy. But thankfully, clouds rolled in and mercifully obstructed the sun's rays. We had a small shower sometime during the night with another forecast for this evening. Bring it on. Anything to break this heatwave. The dogs and humans living here have not moved much in the last week or so. But that's OK--with all the big summer projects done, it is time to contemplate the beginning of fall and the impending winter seasons where hibernation is the accepted mode.