Visionaries

Visionaries think outside the box, and sometimes swim against the stream.

I am often struck by how many of the technological advancements we enjoy today were imagined or predicted by yesterday’s visionaries. What were once fictional creations—the imaginings of visionary artists and writers—have, in some cases, come to pass. For example, the first submarine was inspired by Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Likewise, the Star Trek communicator was the inspiration for Motorola’s first mobile phone. H. G. Wells wrote about lasers, directed energy weapons, genetic engineering and the atomic bomb, decades before they were developed.

In the socio-cultural realm, George Orwell is perhaps the best-known of the many prophetic writers of our era, presenting a dystopian vision of a society dominated by surveillance, misinformation and propaganda. Today, we seem to be in a “golden age” of dystopian literature and film-making. In her June 5, 2017 New Yorker article, Jill LePore suggested that “Dystopia used to be a fiction of resistance; it’s become a fiction of submission, the fiction of an untrusting, lonely, and sullen twenty-first century, the fiction of fake news and infowars, the fiction of helplessness and hopelessness. It cannot imagine a better future, and it doesn’t ask anyone to bother to make one.”

Whether our visionaries predict or inspire events, for better or worse, the ideas of individuals can clearly influence the course of history.

Where does this leave us? Might we all have the potential to be visionaries? I would propose that our individual thoughts and intentions matter—particularly if they guide our decisions and actions. If we create and hold a picture for the future…and live into it, it will ripple outward and influence the collective consciousness.

After all, in the words of Margaret Mead:

“Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have.”

Here is my challenge for you. (Aw, she’s assigning homework?) Describe the sort of world in which you wish to live. Your vision might overlap with mine in some areas, or it might not. (No two world views are identical, but searching for common ground is the first step in consensus building.) Post your vision in a prominent place where you live or work, as a reminder on difficult days.

I wouldn’t ask you to do anything I wouldn’t do myself, so here is my vision:

---

I wish to live in a world in which….

Words matter, and manners are practiced

Teachers and elders are respected

Children are “raised by a village” and none fall through the cracks

Violence isn’t glorified

We put more time and effort into our personal relationships than our social media posts

All individuals and families are connected to, and supported by caring communities

Children and teens are not so heavily burdened by societal and peer pressures

Artists and their amazing contributions are valued and compensated fairly

More people can find work that both fulfills them and provides a livelihood

We work fewer hours and spend more time with our families, and on activities that nurture our souls

Our bodies are nourished by wholesome, humane, locally grown foods, rather than by industries that value profit over our health

The health and welfare of the planet and all of its inhabitants are more important than profit margins

Our leaders are chosen based on merit and wisdom, and are held to high moral standards; and our government reflects the very best aspects of our values and goals as a society

People judge themselves and others based on character and actions, rather than net worth and influence

There is less grasping and more sharing. In this case, I suspect there would be enough to go around.