For this mission “Spotlight: social innovation” of Making a Living Campaign, here is what was asked: “Find and describe a socially innovative company, initiative or project near you (if possible, interview the social innovator who made it possible) that you find inspiring. Do you think it has a chance to actually make the world a little better? Why?”
There is COMMUNAUTIQUE (http://www.communautique.qc.ca/) , in Montreal, Quebec, CANADA. Communautique is a community organization whose mission is to support citizen participation by promoting information literacy, ownership of information technology and communications and contributing to their development.
I already went there, and spoke to one of their researchers and to the administrative leader of this organisation. I think that open government issues should be promoted via this channel. But they don’t have enough human and financial resources to accept one more project. It did not fit their method of internal operations, which seems somewhat closed.
In the past, I found myself in a situation where I did all the field work with an organization of a more experimental nature (AADRAV), because the existing organization in place did not handle the work, did not get involved (RAAV). The result was that the government provided half a million dollars to RAAV as assistance to solving the problems that I raised during two pretty intense years of lobbying, with annual funding extended to lifetime, and managing my projects that I could no longer continue to lead, because there was a legal problem. We disputed this legal problem all the way to Superior court: AADRAV against RAAV. And we lost, because the law stated that there can only be one artist organization. The winner was not the one who did all the hard work and mobilized the entire community. The winner was the one who was the older structure and did nothing.
I would rather die than see this happen to me again.
My heart still strongly belongs to GOVERNMENT IN THE LAB (http://govinthelab.com/), in Wintrop, Massachussetts, UNITED STATES. Parting with it was pretty heartbreaking. I shed many tears. This Summer, we had to postpone our plans, because of lack of funds. If there was somewhere on this Earth, a government institution that could provide financial support to open government initiatives, and hire us as consultants, I would love to go back to TheLab. If, if, if.
There is the GOVERNMENT OF QUEBEC, in Quebec, CANADA. I really enjoyed my conversations with Deputy House Leader Henri-François Gautrin (http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/deputes/gautrin-henri-francois-1051/index.html). We get along well (my humble opinion). We even discovered that our fathers worked together on building the highway 40 connecting Montreal to Quebec City. We have previous genealogical connections. If the government could decide itself to launch an open government initiative, perhaps there would be room for me somewhere in their teams, or in a firm of consultants, like Loran Technologies. But there is no current open government project. Business opportunities are very slim. If, if, if.
Next to this, there is the OPEN GOVERNMENT AND FRANCOPHONIE project. If Innovation and Economic Development of the City of Three Rivers (http://www.idetr.com/fr/index.aspx) could miraculously change its mind, or if some other or several funding organizations could give a hand, and if several Francophone governments agreed to collaborate, we might be able to consider the financing of a new social business, to carry this multilateral partnership project. And we even could consider building a relationship with the existing Open Government Partnership (from United Nations). If, if, if… Sigh. (This project only exists in dreams.)
Another project floating in my mind is OPEN GOVERNMENT 2060. I would like to attach this project to a group of governments, government organization, research laboratory, whatever. As far as it allowed to look toward what open government should tend to, trends, avenues and solutions, how it can be transformed in beneficial ways. (This project only exists in dreams.)
Another path I would love to explore is finding a way to get involved in a community like the INSTITUTE OF NOETIC SCIENCES (http://noetic.org/), in California, UNITED STATES. This institute was founded by Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Mitchell). As he approached the planet we know as home, he was filled with an inner conviction as certain as any mathematical equation he’d ever solved. He experienced Oneness. This experience radically altered his worldview: despite science’s superb technological achievements, he realized that we had barely begun to probe the deepest mystery of the universe—the fact of consciousness itself. Within two years of his expedition, Edgar Mitchell founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 1973.
This institute gathered thinkers from all over the world this summer, like Dr Deepak Chopra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepak_Chopra), and I just would have loved to attend the 14th international IONS conference. A positive shift in human evolution is underway and beginning to reshape our future. And while humanity faces numerous unprecedented challenges, it has the tools at hand to find resolution, renewal. Connectedness is no longer the exception to the rule. New technologies have created new expectations about how we engage one another, how we work, how we learn, and even how we play. They gathered a stellar collection of inspiring, thoughtful, and visionary people to address this unique moment in our collective unfolding. Chopra gave a keynote on ‘Harnessing our power to change the world’.
I would like to meet this collection of people, talk with them, explore with them.
(Please don’t laugh) One day, I would like to work with people like Deepak Chopra on open government projects.
I would like to meet the astronaut who founded this institute, and other people who had experiences of oneness, who are in a physical state of consciousness, like me. I don’t have anyone to talk about this stuff right now, besides reading in books and daily watching Deepak Chopra on YouTube. I need a master. Someone that can help me, guide me, to pursue my exploration of consciousness. I could still figure it out by myself, but a guide would be great.
Another option, that strangely really attracts me, is becoming a monk. Going to a MONASTERY, somewhere on a lonely mountain, sit and be. And don’t talk. This would be wonderful! This lifestyle would be absolutely perfect for me, and I would probably reach in no time the last step of spiritual development that awaits me. Learn the trick of the cloak of invisibility by intoxication of love and raising my body vibrations. Vanish from the face of this Earth (houla, stop feeling out of the box), and connect with individuals exploring higher states of being. But I must however scrap this option, because I am a single mother of a 6 years old son, and I am solely responsible for his development. Maybe this option will become possible for me in 20 years from now. There is the possibility that I can still reach the last level of consciousness without becoming a monk. I did ¾ of the way without even doing one hour of meditation. It was a spontaneous experience. I can also postpone this goal to another life incarnation. I know now that I was destined to become what I am since I was very little. I felt higher vibrations and energy running through my veins at a very young age. Naive as I am, I thought I had very poor blood circulation…
As long as I can remember, I strove for awakening. Personal development is my Number One priority. The more I position myself in projects with global reach, international projects, and the more my thoughts are busy trying to help others, the more my body mental vibrations rise.
Put me in the right context, and I might have the chance of reach the last level. I really would like to achieve the final beatitude. And once I get here, I will have access to even more knowledge and consciousness, and I will have more love, and I will be able to help even more.
And the two will become One Flesh. So they are no longer two, but One. Mark 10:8
