I've read about a legendary meeting between Tesla and Westinghouse where Tesla showed W his free energy system to a cynical response: "How could we make money from this?" He couldn't, so a corner was turned and we headed down the road of energy dependency.

What if Westinghouse had shared Tesla's vision - free energy for all. ???

This was just one of many forks in the road throughout our human history where we have consistently chosen short term benefits for the few over long term benefits for the many. Those choices all put control over sharing.

How do power players stop making those lousy decisions? Only when something other than power profits becomes more important to them. "Don't hold your breath" I hear you warning and I agree. But, change has to start somewhere... how about with me?

What if I change my own priorities? That's a start. It's easy. I just think ahead before I act. "How ill this decision affect my great grandchildren?" That simple question seems to make decision making a whole lot easier.

For instance, I can get a bag of screws for $4.00 at Lowes. They cost $4.50 at my local ACE hardware. It costs some gas to get to Lowes but, more important, the extra 50 cents I pay at ACE goes towards salaries for neighbors. They can then spend more in my little town... it adds up.

So, I'm happy to pay more - not feeling that I am getting ripped off or losing, but that the extra is my investment in my local community. So, I start to see pricing differently. There is the cost of an item and then the investment in my local community. On that basis, I don't mind paying a little more because I like where it is going.

If enough of us thought this way and did it, actually redirected our buying power, that would begin to accrue a lot of value in our locally owned businesses and drain money away from the giants.

What if?

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This 1957 movie starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas has been described as the classic Western. In 2011, humanities movie could be described as the classic insane asylum.

This just in, "A nuclear expert has warned that it might be 100 years before melting fuel rods can be safely removed from Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant." This nuclear disaster is shocking the world into reassessing the "clean and safe" nuclear brand. And some people are even doing personal research, enough to discover that all this technology does is boil water.

That's right. Nuclear power is about boiling water to make steam to turn turbines. Uh, might there be a simpler way that actually is clean and safe? Like... how about THE SUN!

Here's where we get to the insane part. We have ignored the Sun. Without the Sun there is no life on earth. Everything, everyone, is solar powered already. So, how come we didn't develop technology that related to the Sun? Instead, we created toxic substitutes.

I think this is quite the ironic symbol of what we have also done in consciousness, substituting "religion" for genuine spirituality. I'm referring to indigenous practices that often, interestingly, acknowledged THE SUN, plus the rest of nature, animals too.

How isolated we have become in our arrogant humanity, marauding across the planet with utterly no concern for the litter we leave behind. And now, this Japanese disaster, is making the obvious obvious. Maybe a few of us will finally get the message and do something about it.

I can't really change nuclear energy policy, beyond voting and writing a letter or two, maybe attending a march. But I can explore what it would mean to acknowledge the Sun in my daily life, both on the physical level and including all of nature and on the inner level as an acknowledgement of Source energy that powers us all.

As I do that, even in the beginning stages, I wake up from another aspect of this insane nightmare, the concept that we are separate. No, we're not. We're all powered by the same Sun. And that makes our differences easier to celebrate. So much for conflict!

The Sun just came out from behind a cloud, think I'll go outside and bask for a bit. My cat Yogi beat me to it... I think he knows something I don't!

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Don't  you love those moments of spontaneous inspiration? 

I've had my share but this morning was a doozy. Just waking up, starting my meditation, I downloaded a chunk of inspiration about segues. Segues are transitions in film or other communication forms. Going from this to that.

The problem is that A changes B. Examples: the budding director who agrees to do slash macho films to get his foot in the door with the intention of morphing his career to socially responsible movies. Tough to change. The politician who compromises his position to "reach across the aisle" and ends up with no position at all. The artist who spends his creative force designing logos for corporations he detests.

The hero takes a stand. We've all seen it over and over, someone reaches a breaking point and refuses to continue denying their passion.

Well, why go down that road in the first place? The alternative: start with a clear intention. It doesn't mean I turn my back on "temporary work" or that I refuse to negotiate. But, the big difference is that I state my position at the beginning, especially to myself.

Segues can be a curse... once I am headed down a certain path, it can be tough, sometimes impossible to change directions. Actually, there's a sweet spot early in the process where change is easiest. It's not at the very beginning, nor is it when things have advanced very far.

One way to think of it: Imagine you're in your car. You turn it on and sit there, stationery, thinking about where you want to go. Now, if you try to turn the steering wheel before you are moving at all, it's very difficult. Plus, you have no feedback, you can't really tell where you are headed. Conversely, if you start up and put the pedal to the metal and don't think about steering until you're doing 40 mph, you'll take out your garage and run over the cat.

The sweet spot is once you are moving, just barely moving, that's when to aim. It's the "ready, fire, aim" formula, but applied in a particular way.

1. I know where I want to go.

2. I break inertia.

3. I change course to aim where I want to go.

4. I keep correcting course until I get there.

Obviously, key to success is having an actual destination! And most of us are vague on that. What's your intention for today? How clear is it in your mind? If you are not moving towards the fulfillment of your own dream, you are enrolled in helping someone else fulfill theirs. That sounds like slavery.

I love the smell of freedom in the morning.

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What's become of us?

Every day we read, watch and hear more bad news. All this and 2012 too? But, you know, my life is filled with some pretty great stuff. Sure, there are daily challenges. But, for the most part, I live in a space of grace. Great friends, warm home and food, cat who loves me, work I love and people who pay me for having fun.

So, I'm grateful. And, of course I'm aware that I am probably within the 1% group of those most fortunate on this orb. That makes me think. What's my contribution? How can I improve things just a little bit?

I used to think it would be some big thing. But over the years I've noticed the disconnect from big visions and little actions. Now I'm more keen on the little actions. Kindness here, helping there... it all seems pretty simple, if I pay attention.

What's to become of us? One moment at a time we create our future. So far, I'm feeling confident that we're going to be able to handle pretty much anything that shows up. Including death. Gotta come some time, after all.

But, til then, it's quite the adventure to make life affirming choices and know that there are billions of others like me doing the same. Nope, it doesn't make the news but that's OK. We know.

It's a wonderful world, after all.

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Yogi sits by the window, rapt with attention in case a deer walks by. Out here in the woods anything can happen.

Glad we named him that. He's turned out to be a true yogi... I'm sure he's meditating most of the time because he is always present to what is happening right now.

I'm gradually learning from him (he's patient with me). Life is what's happening right now, not the endless chatter between my ears.

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