It’s All About We A


Conscious Evolution: Why We’re Better Together by Linda Sechrist


fter decades of studying issues of environmental destruction, poverty and war, Malcolm Hol-


lick, Ph.D., author of The Science of Oneness: A New Worldview for the Twenty-First Century, concluded in 2006 that a better future for humanity requires a more holistic worldview. It must be one that reflects the evidence of both new sciences and established spiritual traditions, all of which point to a deep unity, or Oneness, the grand reality underlying and often belying the superficial testimony of the senses. Hollick concluded, “We become open to the experience of this unity only when we recognize at the deep- est intuitive level that we do not exist as separate selves.” The founder of the Findhorn College Foundation, in Scotland, recognized that while the old worldview has disintegrated, the concrete of a new one has not yet set. He also observed how the accelera- tion of scientific findings—advancing knowledge and understanding of the universe, as well as the meaning and purpose of life—would continue to influence the general worldview.


Within a decade, of the publica- tion of his book, hard scientific evidence across many disciplines—particularly physics and biology—as well as pio- neering ideas and anecdotal evidence presented by leading philosophers and authors, affirmed the existence of a real- ity in which everything is connected and linked in a coherent whole. Such thinking further revealed


that evolution has equipped humans with genetic wiring for co-creation, cooperation and collaboration. Martin A. Nowak, a professor of biology and mathematics at Harvard University and co-author of Super Cooperators: Altru- ism, Evolution, and Why We Need Each Other to Succeed, explains that most great innovations of life have resulted not from competition, but cooperation, the real “master architect” of evolution. Nowak believes that figuring out how cooperation comes about and breaks down is the key to human survival as a species.


Books such as The Bond: Con-


necting Through the Space Between Us, by Lynne McTaggart, a scientific researcher and award-winning journal-


ist, and The Golden Motorcycle Gang: A Story of Transformation, co-authored by motivational speaker Jack Canfield, are helping individuals to see through the illusions of the old “survival of the fittest” and “I win, you lose” paradigms into one expressed in terms of con- nectedness and relationships. This new “Me-We” thinking and way of being has been spreading; it now informs everything from enlightened environ- mental stewardship to economics, as well as health and spiritual well-being.


How Community Works Canfield emphasizes the valuable lesson of collaboration and cooperation he learned while working for W. Clem- ent Stone, a philanthropist and self-help author: When working together, focus on overlapping goals and interests, and not on differences.


In Chicago, Illinois, where the


Eat Fresh Eat Local movement sparks successful collaborations, the focus is on food, rather than issues of race, sex or economic disparity. There, hundreds of people are growing food together in communal spaces on city-owned land, privately owned empty lots and roof- tops, as well as in school gardens, food forests and urban farm sites. “Self-reliant, community-operated urban farms and the food centers that retail the produce to residents in sur- rounding neighborhoods—some in the city’s most isolated and impoverished communities—are economic drivers that create jobs,” says Erika Allen, projects manager of Chicago’s Growing Power office. The daughter of national organi- zation founder Will Allen notes that lo- cal workshops resemble a cross-section of the world. “Participants from different countries, cultures and economic levels come together for three meals a day, where we connect, share perspectives and learn from one another.” Another successful initiative, Building a Healthier Chicago (BHC), brings together the Chicago Depart- ment of Public Health, the Office of the Regional Health Administrator of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Chicago Medical Society and the Institute of Medicine of Chi- cago. The BHC agribusiness project de- velops and maintains a system of more


16 NA Twin Cities Edition natwincities.com


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