Education for Sustainability
08 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment
Sustainable ideology emphasizes durability, longevity and environmental respect. Sustainable practices take the health of the future into consideration. This idea isn’t just reserved for the physical, material world- but also applies to thought, belief, human conduct and society as a whole. (Zeitgeist .10)
Our current education system was born out of the Industrial Revolution for the purpose of serving Industrialization. With the needs of the labor market dictating education’s path, a left-brained approach to thought was designed, emphasized and delivered in an effort provide jobs for Americans and in turn grow the industrial economies they served.
As we collectively embark on post-industrialization, we now face a new set of challenges. Climate change, economic turmoil, political power struggles, and health concerns litter our perceptions of the world in which we reside. “Change” is a prevalent buzz word, however tangible action is a scarce reality.
If students today are expected to endure the obstacles of the future and create new solutions to old problems, it is time we equip them with the tools to do so.
When one compares the skills and processes taught in today’s schools with those needed for tomorrow’s problems, our current education system is falling short.
Upcoming planetary change will directly influence and create hundreds of thousands of jobs and careers. A more “earth centric” knowledge-base drawing off of creativity and innovation is a necessity for future professionals. Yet, instead of spending more time in nature, students spend the majority of their school hours in concrete buildings exercising the left brain. This is not sustainable education.
Most professional sectors have embarked on a movement towards understanding and implementing “sustainability”. From business to architecture, design, urban & rural planning, agriculture, local & state government, and even higher education – a transition in thinking is underway. Creativity and innovation are being emphasized and rewarded for their ability to usher in new ideas and help to answer problems posed by sustainability challenges. Current academic and professional research, experience, wisdom and debates across the disciplinary spectrum are all de-emphasizing practices that destabilize and threaten our future. It is time our public education system embraces these new transitions in thinking.
Fluid social change at large can only materialize if the human value system (our understandings and beliefs) are updated and changed through education and thoughtful introspection. Transforming education has to be at the root of everything we hope to achieve and nothing we do in the short-term will be sustainable otherwise.
A sustainable education will develop in students the capacity to create a remarkably different future – one that brings forth innovation, prosperity, meaningful work, and true security. It must take the future health of this planet and its occupants into consideration.
This new education system will accomplish these goals by fostering and supporting creativity: the ability to form new solutions to old problems. It will require new knowledge and new ways of thinking making room for more creative play, problem-based learning, and out-of-the-box thinking by teachers and students alike. Future thinkers will be able to analyze and synthesize information from various fields, work with others, and learn from their perspectives. The new system will provide leadership at home and abroad to promote deeper forms of cultural understanding and cooperation. Sustainable Education will not only create intellectuals….it will create action takers.
Your MapMaker Documentary Team is on a mission to further the evolution of our public education system. We are mapping out some of the components of a sustainable education, a school of thought based on an evolving belief system – one of mutual benefit and cooperation (rather than scarcity and competition). By providing students with visions of opportunity, responsibility, and a sense of place and purpose, we can reverse the damage being done by disconnection and hopelessness.
We are exploring what it means to live sustainably and learn sustainably….we are documenting a transition for the purpose of spreading useful insight and sharing knowledge.
Our next documentary is a map of the understanding, beliefs, skills, and habits of the mind and heart that will enable students to fashion a sustainable world. We are focusing on individuals and organizations that are committed to resolving core problems in education. We are traveling to explore the “unconventional” ideas and expertise surfacing in education.
As our social, ecological, and economical futures shift towards increased interdependence and integration, the core of our ethical belief systems must also align in a way that supports cooperation in the relationships upon which this new future is built.
As our social, ecological, and economical futures shift towards increased interdependence and integration, the core of our ethical belief systems must also align in a way that supports cooperation in the relationships upon which this new future is built.
Clearing Fear and Opening to Emotional Energy Forces
09 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in MapMaking
Mankind is undergoing a major transition towards evolution. Many of us are learning that we are very, very powerful. We can, and do, create our world with thought. By clearing our minds of fear based chatter, we are freeing up our energy to tap into a new understanding of the 4th dimension. Through the process of fine tuning our 6th sense, we realize that emotion and feeling is a very powerful part of being human. We resonate with this power to “feel” and “know” that which we cannot see. This process of trusting and believing in ourselves is important to the collective survival of man. For in this process, we are revealed the patterns of our creations – and we can begin to “remember” why we are here.
As part of this awakening, many of us are being called to question even our own currently held perception of reality – we long to peak beyond the curtain, push the unlabeled button…and see, just what might happen??….
When we catch a glitch in the matrix…and trust with everything we are, that the “blip” we just saw and felt really was something more – when we fully trust ourselves to validate a FEELING; what might happen? What new energy is freed up from this simple consciousness practice, and what is the consequence?
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I believe that collectively we are on the brink of a major emotional awakening. On earth, mankind is attempting to transition from a 3dimensional space into a 4dimensional space. This is our upcoming evolution. This change is illustrated through the raising of our consciousness, and the advancing of our thought processes. Metaphorically speaking, the collective consciousness in moving focused energy into the 4th chakra, the heart chakra – and out of the 3rd. This new awakening is cleansing the lower chakras and healing the traumas that exist in that space. This is physically manifesting in the world around us.
The healing processes started with a surfacing of secrets that have been hidden away in nooks and crannies all across the macro and micro cosom of this planet. These spaces are stress zones. The energy in these spaces stacks until they finally reach capacity and have nowhere else to go. The consequence is deadly. These places exist in our environment and in our bodies. In the environment it might be seen as the dark, mulchy plasma of the earth – a hiding place for protected traumas of the past, which is now surfacing – literally. Mankind, alongside Gaia, is being asked to face their past in order to advance into the future.
Externalizing problems and pointing the finger in blame only perpetuates energy in the lower frequencies. It is not until we are at peace with ourselves, and our ownership of the creation (good and bad) that we can begin to heal the larger system. Fear of our own creation has built a negative system of emotional coping – ego attachment, disassociation, resentment….all of these feelings are generated by fear to feed fear. We cannot come at traumas of the past with more negative energy, rather we must learn to channel our higher self, and come to a space where we can love ourselves again.
As you brave this territory from a new perspective, the unraveling begins – you begin to disocever the unhealthy relationship we have built with fear. This space imprisons our energy in the lower chakras, keeping us from the healing “source”. Removing these blocks we have built (the feelings we each created as a response to a fear) is necessary for healing. We have forgotten our purpose for being here, and thus have forgotten our own power to believe in ourselves as capable of achieving this goal of evolution.
Accompanying this awakening to energy is a new awareness that thought is the mechanism of creation. In the 4th dimension, thought will create reality instantly. Deep down we know this transition is approaching – and soon we will start to release old patterns of the past and learn new strategies for the future. This release will free up energy, making manifestation a much quicker process than ever before. The focused energy of intent will build a new reality, and if it is guided by emotions of love and bliss…we might just leap into a new dimension.
When our perceptions are littered with thought, we are drowning out our ability to feel the energy field which surrounds us. We can’t tell the authentic message from the jumble of broken sentences, fleeting faker feelings, and sensory input. If you listen to this clutter of thought you will often realize that this plane consists of residue frequencies based off of a relationship we have built with fear. Follow the feeling to the source. Face the source and begin to develop a new relationship with it.
Perception is merely a tool – created by you, to aid in performing your higher purpose for being on this planet, and in this plane of existence. You created your perception and it is littered with clues to help you get back to a moment of remembrance. This moment of remembering is marked by a powerful surge of positive emotion on the empty tapestry of the mind. As you resonate with this powerful surge of feeling, you “remember” that trusting and believing in yourself is the key to tapping into this power positive energy. You radiate on a higher frequency when you are in this state, and as you follow with trust, the truth begins to unfold. In this unfolding, you see more clues and patterns you left for yourself – the clues take you closer to remembering more, more of why you are here – and why you created yourself the way you did. Everything about your existence was created by you in response to a higher purpose which we have merely been separated from through forgetfulness. Forgetfulness is generated by a busy mind caught in cycles of fear based backlash. Through remembrance we trust ourselves and discover just how powerful we are. We are moving our perception from the space of the created to the creator.
This life will be a process of remembrance, and to navigate this territory you will need trust and an open mind clear of fear. We are coming to realize that we are not the created, but rather the creators. This shift in perception lifts our vibration to a space where we can truly begin to take ownership of this world, and start to manifest the space we truly desire to inhabit.
Travel and Psychokinesis – Patterns of Synchronicity
18 Jun 2010 2 Comments
in MapMaking Tags: coincidence, global consciousness project, interconnection, observation, pattern, practice, princeton, psychokinesis, psychology, radin, self, synchronicity, travel
Psychokinesis, or remote influence, is psychic influence upon an object, process, or a system. It is the scientific term for practices like prayer, voodoo, chanting mantras, and witchcraft. It may also refer to the power of positive thinking to bring about desired events. Psychokinesis is the ability for conscious intention to act as a force on the external world.
The Global Consciousness Project is a parapsychology experiment begun in 1998, described as “an attempt to detect potential interactions of ‘global consciousness’ with physical systems.” Using geographically distributed random number generators to uncover potential anomalies in their output and its potential correlation with world events that elicit widespread emotional response or focused attention by large numbers of people.
It suggests that focused consciousness among people can have an ordering effect on the universe; a type of psychokinesis. When the observer notices the correlation, it is perceived as a synchronicity.
According to Jung, synchronicity is: “a causal connection of meaning between inner psychological states such as dreams, fantasies, or feelings, and events in the outer or material world.” Synchronicity is like a quick “blip” of the underlying interconnectedness of the universe.
Thus, one can see through synchronicity – an observation of interconnectedness – that our external world is connected to our internal world. Likewise, a person’s individuality is connected to the whole. Through an understanding of psychokinesis we see that something as individual as “thought” and “emotion” subsequently manifests a “reality”.
Synchronicity is an opportunity to return to the whole. By acknowledging these “coincidences” and assigning them meaning – we are training our brains to see pattern. This is a practice. The more open to this reality we become the sooner we begin to uncover how unconscious and subconscious thought effects behavior.
To authentically evolve our individual and collective thinking we must begin to operate with conscious knowledge that what we do DOES affect the whole. We create life by putting off our own unique biological rhythm all of the time. What type of life are you creating? Are you being responsible with it?
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Travel is just one way we experience synchronicity. I also notice the phenomena when I am skiing, walking, conversing with strangers and engaging with the “mundane”. However, certain qualities of travel increase the likelihood that I will experience the phenomena. In addition, these synchronous events also appear to have a greater chance of correlating with an event of perceived importance – like needing to locate lodging for the night, or find a ride to the next town. In this way, synchronicity overlaps with psychokinesis. And the “user experience” is a realization of living in an interconnected universe.
The traveler must adapt at a very fast rate. When traveling, we are thrown into a foreign environment, and navigation of this new environment is key to our survival. More specifically, when we are traveling to experience new cultures – it is the behavior of people that becomes the “environment” we must perceive and navigate. As a result, our limbic systems switch into overdrive – assigning meaning to the objects and people that comprise our new environment.
This is how a new perception is built.
Our temporal lobes attempt to derive meaning from this new input, and the received information is seen as highly symbolic and meaningful to us. We begin to witness the synchronous qualities of life. This is when the nature of our thoughts becomes extremely important. If we are paranoid, these new symbols may come across as threats in the environment – building into a negative experience built off of a fear based perception. However, if we allow our “higher self” to navigate this experience, the symbols can appear mystical – unveiling the interconnected world around us.
Positive thought and perception can increase the likelihood of experiencing a positive reality. By mindfully engaging with the world from the perspective of an interconnected, whole world view, we manifest a more harmonious reality.
Psychic Phenomena, Synchronicity, and Travel
17 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
in MapMaking Tags: altered states, archetype, behavior, change, diane hennacy powell, esp, esp enigma, extrasensory perception, language, positive, synchronicity, travel, web bot project, world
“We are not alone in forecasting the future, all humans do it to some degree. Just a quick search of the internet will provide dozens of forms of future forecasting. Some use astrology, some use other methods.”
-Cliff High, halfpasthuman.com
Halfpasthuman.com is home to the infamous “web-bot project” – a future predicting ‘machine’ built on linguistic patterns released in our language over the internet. By employing data mining techniques based on radical linguistic patterns which reduce extracts from readings of dynamic postings on the internet into an archetypical database; Half Past Human calculates the rate of change in language. Calculations are based on a system of associations between words and numeric values for emotional responses from those words. Forecasts of the future are derived from these calculations.
The results? The team accurately predicted Hurricane Katrina, The Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster, the recent economic unraveling, among others…(http://urbansurvival.com/simplebots.htm)
(http://socioecohistory.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/webbot-project-predictions-for-2009-and-2010-iran-war-depopulation-flu-pandemic-famine-and-dollar-collapse/)
As MapMakers, we believe that every person displays or experiences some degree of psychic power, although most of these experiences are often dismissed as pure “coincidence”. In fact, poets and artists commonly express concepts before they are discovered in science, suggesting that their unconscious mind is in touch with a deeper reality. In her book, “The ESP Enigma”, Diane Hennacy Powell, M.D. describes what she calls the Mobius Mind – an explanation for consciousness that pulls together psychic phenomena and science. She explains consciousness as the “relationship between our inner and outer worlds, how we access information about times and places other than the here and now, and where information is stored.”
Thus, the unconscious mind can be explained as the place that stores information from our past and present that isn’t relevant to what we are currently doing. It may also store things that we don’t want to face or admit to ourselves. We now know that the unconscious mind contains far more information than our conscious mind. “It is estimated to take in more than a billion pieces of information per second.” The unconscious mind plays the largest role in determining behavior.
“The eyes only see what the mind is prepared to comprehend”
–Henri Bergson
Our conscious mind does not naturally see how interconnected the world really is. However, sometimes, we do experience this interconnection through “coincidences”. A simple shift in language illustrates the power of these events: Jung coined that “coincidences” ARE “synchronicities” – a manifestation of the world’s underlying interconnectivity.
Synchronicities increase when our limbic systems are highly activated. The limbic system, which is responsible for assigning emotion and meaning to people, numbers, colors, events…etc…is connected with our temporal lobes. Thus, when the limbic system is turned up, the world around us becomes more symbolic and meaningful! This illustrates an intriguing interconnection – between our inner reality (thoughts) and our outer reality (experiences).
When we travel to new places, our limbic systems are in a heightened state, and our thoughts seem to increase the likelihood of experiencing synchronicity. As synchronous events unfold around the traveler, we are shown the immense power that thought has on creating reality.
Likewise, while traveling, we are revealed stunning insights about the power of unconscious thought. At times we are out of touch with the interconnected nature of our inner reality and our outer experiences. By observing and exploring our physical reality, we are capable of re-connecting with the unconscious mind.
Why is it important to connect with the unconscious mind? Well, that’s simple – to control behavior. If we desire to “see” change in the world around us – we must accept responsibility for what we are unconsciously creating. Currently our collective behavior reflects a world that is largely unconscious. That is why sites like Cliff’s are so astounding – it points to the collective power of thought. We may very well be responsible for manifesting our own realities, and by placing entirely too much value on “fear based” media memes, we are manifesting some pretty sketchy stuff.
By stepping outside of our current reality, we are capable of seeing how much our environment creates unconscious thoughts of fear, worry and despair. For example, one of the first things I noticed when returning to The United States after our last trip was the amount of propaganda warning against a laundry list of impending threats – “Get checked for colon cancer NOW”, “Is your family safe in case of disaster?”
The MapMaker’s film team travels the globe documenting an external reality within the framework of our own evolving internal awareness. Our films explore how our own personal unconscious thoughts contribute to what we collectively experience as external “reality”.
As MapMakers, we desire to build a new collective reality. Like metal attracts magnet, MapMaker’s everywhere are uniting and building new realities based of positive thought, and consciousness expanding principles. The more aware we become of the interconnected nature of thought and reality, the more we are capable of stepping in and changing what we perceive as reality. This is how we authentically change our perceptions.
By tapping into the unconscious nature of “who we are,” and “what is” we can begin the process of unraveling our behavior and manifesting change.
Post Ethiopia Update
01 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
in Ethiopia
Nine weeks in Ethiopia definitely has lasting effects.
In retrospect, this was the trip of a lifetime, with lessons that will extend onwards and run through our lives forever. However, as we look through the footage and pictures we remember the harsh truth of reality – this was a tough journey. While in Ethiopia, we were met with a great deal of struggle and overwhelming challenge – it was impossible to overcome the fact that we were so obviously from another country. . . another planet, really. Many people were suspicious of the camera. Others perceived us as saviors from the west. Most simply stared at us until we were out of sight.
As intended, we made contact with Ethiopians and foreigners alike who were working to help others in need. After countless interviews and wide exploration, we have documented some pretty dramatic movements. But this trip was not without its eye openers. With international aid organizations beating down Ethiopia’s doors for the next opportunity to dig a well, or build the next hospital – we were given a first-hand look at the “progress” we collectively are making when it comes to helping others.
For now, we are diligently sorting through all of our footage for the next documentary – Project Ethiopia. The film will be an honest exploration of human cooperation efforts, within the context of evolution. We will feature interviews with volunteers working in Ethiopia in small and large organizations alike. The film will also track The MapMakers Team as we travel in search for insight about world around us, and ultimately ourselves.
Project Ethiopia Synopsis
18 Feb 2010 Leave a Comment
in Ethiopia
An evolutionary transition is underway. At the heart of this awakening is the understanding that evolution is not aimless, but rather directional. When we consciously realize that direction exists, we can then identify where we are located along the trajectory, and what our next steps need to be.
Following our evolutionary history, we clearly observe how cooperative teams united by common goals always have the potential to be more successful than isolated individuals. Thus, it is unmistakable that the trend is headed toward greater interdependence and cooperation amongst living processes at greater and greater levels of complexity and intricacy. If humans are to advance the evolutionary process on this planet, a major task will be to find more cooperative ways of organizing ourselves.
The goal of Project Ethiopia is to document and explore our currently held views and concepts about cooperation. Our film will highlight the actions and guiding philosophies of individuals who are emerging to dedicate their lives to consciously advancing the evolutionary process. All of the relationships we build along our journey will have an impact on how we ultimately come to view our human potential for cooperation. With Ethiopia serving as the backdrop for the film, we intend to truly put our current ideas about collaboration, assistance, and interdependence to the test.
Ethiopia Preparations
02 Feb 2010 1 Comment
in Ethiopia Tags: Connection, Directions, Ethiopia, Hopelessness, Insight, reflections, Web of Life
This whole pre-Ethiopia experience has been a whirlwind of synchronicities, peppered with new and unique insights. The process has also resembled somewhat of a catacomb, taking me down mysterious passageways with no apparent direction in sight, initiating personal “growth” and transformation along the way.
Domestically speaking, my day to day life is spinning out of control…as many fellow Americans can relate to. Practically every day I ask myself, “What is this trip really for? Why am I being pushed towards Ethiopia of all places? What will this place teach me about my life here? And of course…the all too infamous…is our government completely insane?!” I wonder if I am crazy for going to Ethiopia, and even crazier for thinking anyone will be interested in seeing a film about people who are just about as opposite as they come.
I don’t have the answers to these questions or concerns. And I realize I am not supposed to right now. Nonetheless, I hear them echo in the back of my mind constantly.
Yet, I still continue to move forward. As I follow the directives our universe has set forth, the network of synchronicities begin to take shape, revealing a pattern of prevailing themes and concepts creating the foundation for something yet to come.
Shrouded in the mundane qualities of simplicity, I allow the pattern before me to unveil its gorgeous complexity and I begin to realize the ultimate power held in the meanings behind the patterns.
Our first film, Project Colombia, focused on identifying and flipping fear-based perceptions. Through this transformation process, our characters were able to establish new perceptions of the world, and create connections where before our mindset would have made connection impossible. The consequence was an unveiling of lessons and philosophies about life and the human condition.
Ethiopia is the natural next step in the transformation process. Now that we have seen that everything is connected – we are moving into a stage of action. Each day I read headlines, of hopelessness and despair, and I am left wondering how anyone is supposed to see the light at the end of the tunnel with so much shit in the way!
This hopelessness, projected from practically every direction, keeps us distracted from realizing our individual power, and most importantly it prohibits us from stepping into our power and taking charge.
“We”, your documentary filmmaking trio, are really just an illustration of “Us”, the collective human population. In our first film “We” illustrated what many of “Us” already realize – we are all connected to everyone and everything else. Consequently, what we do to one part of the web, affects everything else in it.
Awareness carries with it a great deal of power, and each day, more and more people are awakening to a reality of endless possibility and hope. Project Colombia highlights many of the beautiful things about the awakening process; however, it leaves audiences wondering “what do I do next? What do I do with my new found awareness and the associated hope for the world around me?”
Ethiopia is a blank slate for the next phase. This is a country that up until recently appeared to have been barely touched by the influence of the “rest of the world”. But this picture is changing rapidly, every day Ethiopia is impacted by their counterparts operating in the “rest of the web”, and it is becoming more and more apparent to “Us” that we need to change how this reaction to our behavior looks. Automatic weapons, insistent begging, famine….the list goes on and on…and as it trails off into space, we wonder how in the world we will ever solve all of these problems.
And where, oh where, do we even begin to try. Or…some of us, even feel like we are, but we just aren’t doing enough…
Personally, I’m not convinced that we have done enough to investigate what honest and helpful aid really looks like; for if we are connected to one another than Ethiopia’s cry for help is really just our own.
Who am I?
02 Feb 2010 Leave a Comment
in Introduction Tags: Amy Schlotterback, change, Colombia, Cooperation, documentary, Ethiopia, film, idealist, Jamaica, MapMaker Amy, oneness, philosophy, positive, The MapMakers
I like to refer to myself in “internet land” as: Mindful Amy. I am a ‘MapMaker’, and an idealist. I am an active participant in the positive change movement taking place - right here, right now.
More specifically, I am part of the documentary film trio, The MapMakers. Together we travel the world as backpackers creating connections with others…exchanging ideas…and exploring evolution.
We ask philosophically charged questions to the people we connect with on the road aiming to uncover the common thread that unites humans everywhere. We address the issues which are difficult to solve and perhaps most importantly – we challenge our own independent, and often misinformed, perceptions of the world.
We allow Connection and Oneness to guide us, dismissing fear and disconnection as a distraction from progress.
Our last project led the team to Colombia, where we produced a film illustrating the power of connection and contradicting the fear based perceptions promoted by the main stream media.
Our next film is taking the team to Jamaica and Ethiopia to investigate the Evolution of Cooperation.
For more info, please visit our webpage: http://www.themapmakers.org
And of course, check back for more notes…
