This essay was a finalist in the How We Saved the World essay contest, where people wrote as if it was 2050 when the world was working, saying how we got there starting with something they did. Here's the intro to this presentation of results, with links to the other finalists and an invitation to make comments about the contest.

7

Living Life as Inquiry: Every Moment Counts!

I well remember that fateful day in 2024, when I read Suzanne Taylor’s invitation to write scenarios as if they were in 2050. The idea was to share ideas of how we could create a world where all work together for the good of all. It was an inspired notion. I have always believed that change will only work from the grassroots up, and here was the opportunity to encourage people to think how they might contribute to this co-operative process. Through disseminating the essays, there would be a wide readership and mutual support for everyone involved. It would create a rich resource for people to draw on.

The timing was great for me.  I had just started an educational initiative, with my friend and colleague, Laurel, to evolve education about consciousness within a postmaterialist worldview across the globe, starting with a small group of 12 people.  These 12 would engage in a collaborative inquiry, responding to the question: “How can we, individually and in community, contribute to evolving a form of education that will inspire everyone to live in ways that are of benefit to the whole planet?”  In responding to this question, each of these 12 people would create and facilitate educational processes in their own settings.  And the process would expand out, with an increasing number of people involved.  If every person were to influence the thinking and practice of 12 people, somewhere between levels 8 and 9, the whole of the global population (7.9 billion people) would be reached.  Even if less ambitious, and each person only influenced 6 others, the global population would be reached between levels 11 and 12. This was an amazing possibility which provided a strong motivation for action.

But before talking more about that, let me go back a little.  In 2024, I had for a long time known that real change would not happen from the top down, because people who occupied the highest positions in our hierarchical society were normally more interested in their own power and prestige than in genuinely improving the lives of all.  The ‘politics of knowledge’ told us that power lay with big business, government and the media, and they had vested interests in retaining a society where the wealth and wellbeing of the few were gained at the expense of the many.

So when the invitation came to write an essay in 2024, I decided I wanted to share more widely my belief in working collaboratively from the grassroots up, and that the educational initiative which Laurel and I were just starting was a great way to encourage that.  I had already found this kind of process works.  Collaborative inquiry is a great way for a small group to explore a question in which they have a shared interest.  For example, way back in 2010 I had been asked by an early years specialist, Janice, whether I could help her train some early years practitioners in the knowledge and skills they required for their work.  As an educator, though, I had found that didactic training usually had little impact.  And also, as the practitioners were the people working with the children every day, they would have a knowledge and awareness at least equal to what I had.  So I suggested that we all, with myself and Janice included as equal participants, create a collaborative inquiry, where we responded to the question, “how can we, individually and collectively, improve our practice with children?”

Firstly, it took some time for the practitioners to really believe, and to adapt to the idea that Janice and I were there as equal participants, not as ‘experts’ with a more influential voice.  That we were seeing everyone’s voice as of equal value, rather than taking a hierarchical approach and dividing us into ‘experts’ and ‘lesser beings’.   We all have something useful to contribute, whether that be personal experience or useful theorizing. In research terms, we were all co-researchers and co-participants.

But once the early years practitioners realized that we really meant what we said, the whole process started to fly.  These women (for they were all women in our group) were often so devalued by wider society for ‘just’looking after children. (Hey, isn’t that the most important job in our world?  Aren’t the earliest years the most vital?) But they did in fact have a wealth of knowledge and experience that could be used to the benefit of all.  And through following the principles of Bohm Dialogue, where the listening is as important as the talking, and where people suspend their own internalized beliefs and values in order to truly hear what others have to say, there was wisdom that arose from the whole process that no one individual held at the start.

There was much knowledge that came out of that process, which the early years practitioners presented at a conference held 12 months after the collaborative inquiry started.  The main learning to emerge was actually very simple.  It was ‘Every Moment Counts’.  Every moment counts in the life of a young child.  It made practitioners aware that, if they come into the day nursery feeling stressed because they’ve had a row with their boyfriend before leaving home, and they take that stress out on the child, then the child is likely to feel they have done something wrong. Thus it is crucial that practitioners are aware at all times of the quality of the relating that takes place between them and the child. That one phrase, “Every Moment Counts,” transformed the consciousness of many practitioners during that year and became something of a mantra.

But it did not stop there.  Several years later, I did a follow up study of the impact of that inquiry, which demonstrated that the learning had had a long-term effect.  One person said that not only did she remind practitioners of it daily in her work setting, but she had taken the principle and applied it to her own family life.  It had transformed her relationship with her husband and children, and they were all much happier for it.

So that mantra, “Every Moment Counts”, has since then guided the living of my life.

I ran many collaborative enquiries following that one, each affirming its value of facilitating transformative change. So, returning to 2024, and with the world still struggling with problems that threatened life on the planet, I had been thinking about how the idea of living life as inquiry could become more embedded in society.  We needed ways of bringing people together at a grassroots level, and working collaboratively and democratically in ways that would eventually present a meaningful challenge to existing power structures.  What was actually needed was a transformation in consciousness; a transformation from a materialist to a postmaterialist worldview, which would include a transformation in our understanding of consciousness itself.  There needed to be a realization that consciousness was not limited to the brain and dependent on it for its existence, but that consciousness was in fact primary, meaning that there was a reality beyond this embodied one.  The evidence to support this was huge, including empirically evidenced in out-of-body and near-death experiences, but the embedded materialist worldview in 2024 created a barrier to people being prepared to even consider the evidence.

As an educator, I believed that education was the vital key.  The problem, though, was that schools and universities, financed and regulated as they were by government agencies, were embedded with the same materialist mindset as the rest of western society.  So we had to start with educators who were aware of the limitations of that mindset, and were willing to work together to create educational opportunities that would offer an expanded view of reality to that which was offered in mainstream education.  We had to widen horizons.

So Laurel and I sent out an email to the Scientific and Medical email list, inviting educators to a series of three webinars.  Our aim was to create a Consciousness Educators’ Network, made up of people who were committed to the progression of consciousness education, including the development of curricular and pedagogical support for teaching and learning in a diverse range of settings.  We also want to produce an edited book about the content and processes of consciousness education, to support the learning and practice of future consciousness educators.

We were blown away with response!  Expecting at best around 50 people to register their interest, we had over 270 register to become a member of the Network.  We had 76 people attend the first webinar.  This presented us with challenges.  How to keep that number of people informed and involved when we had limited resources ourselves, in term of both time and budget.

We decided to stay small to start with: do one project well and then build on the learning gained from that. Out of the proposals we received we selected 12 to join us in the first phase of that project. Ambitious as it was, it became highly successful. The individual projects that were submitted as proposals developed well and flourished.

We met online on a monthly basis to share our experiences and learning.  Although each person was engaged with different age groups in different geographical settings, there was much to talk about because of the shared interest in transforming consciousness and ideas about consciousness.  Because this was being approached as a research inquiry, we were – with the agreement of all participants – recording meetings, so that we had the data gathered as a resource for all to draw on.   These meetings were exciting and energising.  Everyone present knew that we were engaged in a most important activity, perhaps the most important in terms of contributing to a healthy and flourishing planet.

What was also wonderful was that, in the different educational contexts that people were in, they could introduce all the ideas that individuals had been generating in their own worlds.  This is where the ideas of the originator of the contest, Suzanne Taylor, came into their own.  Suzanne had put together a fantastic list of suggestions as to what could be done to generate positive change.  Because they were on a website, though, they did not get the widespread attention they deserved.   But an educator introduced them into her group sessions, encouraging participants to choose at least one to implement in their own lives.  Members of her group were motivated to such an extent that they then began to create ideas of their own to add to the list. The educator would share this experience in one of the collaborative inquiry monthly meetings, and then others took her initiative into their projects. In this way, valuable ideas were adopted and spread through diverse places. For example, an Appreciations Page became almost standard in all the schools touched by the project, and contributed enormously to the improvement of the mental health of young people.  And the Circles of Trust, where 8 people met on a regular basis to share what was happening for them, became a great way of creating confidence in individuals, enabling them to work out what they were born to be, and to go out into the world as that person.

Although this project was initiated in 2024 and quickly developed an identity and had some impact, it stayed on the margins for a long while. In the meantime, life in the mainstream was getting worse. The inequalities between the rich and the poor grew ever wider, to the point where they became almost unsustainable.  Even in relatively rich countries like the UK, more and more people went into debt and depended on foodbanks for their survival. Mental health problems of young people were escalating, with medication too often being seen to be the answer. Crime levels were rising, often born of necessity as those with nothing fought for survival.  It was a society spiralling out of control.  In 2024, when things were bad but apparently manageable, a Labour Government had been appointed, with the expectation that they, with their more socialist values, would ensure a fairer society.  However they had too easily absorbed the neoliberal principles of individualism and pleasing those with power and money, with no real idea how to govern effectively so problems escalated. Financial and social crises ramped up, and those who had been relying on a left-wing party to find the solutions they required became utterly disillusioned and feeling helpless. The rich became increasingly anxious as their homes and belongings came under threat.  There were some infamous cases of kidnapping, with ransoms demanded for releases. In 2027, a further General Election was forced, with the Conservative Government promising answers and control.  But the answers didn’t come, and the control did not work. Increasingly, a desperation swept through society. What was happening in the UK was a microcosm of what was happening in other countries. It was a world close to collapse.

During this time, though, the Consciousness Education Project had expanded in the UK and in many other countries. This included as a central message the limitations of the materialist worldview which was responsible for the fragmentation, selfishness, and alienation of so many people.  A postmaterial worldview, with its central notion of the primacy of consciousness, was being written about in many publications. That there was a reality beyond that of the 5 senses, where Consciousness was infinite and eternal with the core qualities of Love and Creativity, was being explored in ever-widening circles. People were increasingly being open about their near-death, out-of-body, and other ‘anomalous’ experiences, realizing they were normal!  Stories of communications with those who had passed were told in conversations. People were becoming aware of the permeable boundary that existed between this embodied existence and a more expanded one.  Something significant was happening!  People were connecting with this wider reality through meditation and other contemplative practices as society was becoming increasingly polarized between those who were struggling and suffering, trapped in materialism, and those who knew a different reality and were working towards the transformative global shift in consciousness that was so urgently needed.

And then it did!

Through a networking of people within the Consciousness Educators’ Network, which had become a worldwide movement, in 2030 the ‘People for the Planet’ was created as a global political party whose founders were from the UK, Europe, USA, South America, and Asia. Within 6 months, local and national groups had been created across all continents.  It was a different kind of pandemic!  The central tenet was that we live life as inquiry, motivated to collaborate with others in the asking and responding to questions related to improving the quality of life for all.  The general message was “the wellbeing of the whole is my responsibility too”.  That was a super-exciting time.

In the 20 years that have passed since the founding of People for the Planet, it feels like the transformational change that in 2024 was so desperately needed has, through the ripple effect of change from the grassroots up, achieved total global reach. It has had positive impact on all aspects of life that were causing us concern. The foundations have been provided by an educational system which is guided by postmaterialist values, including the core qualities of love, creativity, and empathy. The principle of collaborative inquiry encourages an ethos of curiosity and mutual learning. We have become a connected humanity, which has fostered a sense of global citizenship.   Wisdom is now recognised to be more important than knowledge.   Societies are run by inter-generational Wisdom Councils, themselves approaching what they do in the spirit of inquiry where the ideas and energy of the young are seen to be of equal and complementary value to the experience and skill of older members of society. The wellbeing of all people is evidenced by basic needs, like food, water, and shelter are guaranteed to all.  The world’s forests, oceans, and biodiversity hotspots are being restored, and are thriving from concerted conservation efforts and advanced ecological management strategies. Wildlife roams freely in expanded areas, and near-extinct species are being brought back through careful conservation efforts.

In addition, medical intervention is not so much required. Each individual is now valued, and everyone, through family and education, is provided with a safe and nurturing environment which enables them to be the person they were born to be.  Health has improved vastly, through people being fully supported to live meaningful lives that safeguard them from dis-ease. Addictive behaviors, like alcoholism, overeating, and gambling, symptoms of spiritual hunger, are vanishing. Meditative and contemplative practices are common, with levels of anxiety being much reduced.  We are now living in a world where everyone has time to listen and share with each other at a deep level, reducing thus reducing feelings of loneliness and isolation. The time spent on positive mental and spiritual wellbeing has contributed to improved physical health.

As I sit here and reflect, I am conscious that I am nearing my 100^th birthday.  In 2024, I had little hope for a positive future. As a human species, we seemed set for disaster.  And yet, something inside me always knew that transformation was possible. I was, even then, aware that many people were listening to their hearts and living from that space. We were longing for opportunities to connect in meaningful ways with each other, as learning how to inquire collaboratively from bases of love, care, respect, and empathy has helped that to happen.

We still have a way to go.  I still feel that we could learn to communicate more consciously and meaningfully with the spirits that inhabit the unseen world and with the consciousness of those who have passed before us. But watching my great-grandchildren, and how they are being brought up in a family and educational environment in which communication with nature and the wider cosmos is being nurtured from the very beginning of their lives, I believe that humanity is moving towards the next stage of its transformative evolution.  It is exciting, and I wonder where that may take us.  I am sure I will experience it in some way, as I look forward – in the continuing spirit of curiosity and inquiry – to wherever the source of my being takes me on my own personal evolutionary journey.