I received a lovely Valentine card from my zen friend David Corzilius, a kindred soul in San Francisco, and then I realized Halmark has hijacked this holiday into one for school children and lovers but left out the most vital form of social capital: friends we love.Last night I attended a live play at the turn-of-the-century theater The Pollard in Guthrie, Oklahoma. The audience was full of people I loved: my fellow Lions club members, my parents, various Senators, a former president of OSU, my date, my mentor, etc. The play was good but the audience was divine. New couples, blind dates and 50 year sweethearts filled the place with good vibes. I took note of the "social capital" being exchanged during each intermission. Handshakes, greetings, hugs, and business cards were flying.
Dr. Halligan mentioned I was glowing with happiness and I suppose I was. I recognized the world was perfect and beautiful for that moment in time. Sometimes sustainability is like having Nemo matrix vision where you see invisible patterns and although you can't explain it, it is a source of bliss.
If there is one thing I have learned about sustainability it is that genuine collaboration in the foundation. Social capital builds the trust necessary for collaboration to flourish. There is forced collaboration (i.e. eminent domain) and there is genuine collaboration entered into with good faith that seeks a win-win.
Yes, yes. Win/win by all means...the zero sum game is so hopelessly twentieth century mindset.
ReplyDeleteThe horizon of compound collaboration - the synergistic partnership between humans and our ecology - fast approaches with the quiet confidence and certainty of the inevitable.