UFO Voice

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Creating The Vision

“Like most genuine social movements, it defies easy definition. The borders are fuzzy, and the participants are all too diverse and changing to be pinned down by a set of words. This movement compounds these problems by the unusually broad scope of topics it addresses, as well as its deep resistance to being limited by labels and boundaries.” – A description of the Sustainability movement.

Recently on the UFO Updates list the question of how ufology might make a collective move forward has been raised. I guess people will have their own theories and I have mine. From my perspective, I believe the biggest reason there is a lack of unification in ufology, therefore no seeming move towards collective change, is because the UFO community holds no collective vision of what it is about. For some it’s about exploring the idea that ET life might exist in the universe, while for others that life already exists and they want to understand what that may mean.

For a cause to become a force for change it must hold a clear vision, a set of values and a strategy for people to focus on. If these don’t exist then logically there is no point of focus, no avenue for commonality to emerge and no growing power to move in any direction on a large scale. It's a bit like firing arrows wildly into the air with no target. Since Ufology is defined very differently by individuals I'm asking myself if it is even realistic to request or expect a shared vision?

I know some will rebut this idea with suggestions of egos being too big and getting in the way therefore the UFO community will never pull together, it's just too much of an ask etc. etc. Upsets due to the varying degrees of individual personal development is a challenge in any community whether it be the scientific community, religious groups, in education, sports etc. Human dynamics are exactly the same whatever living space you pass time in, so in that respect the UFO community is no different. But to say this is the reason why the UFO community does not make any movement forward misses the mark and fails to approach the crux of the challenge – lack of vision, values and strategy.

When a vision of the heart, mind or soul is shared and focused on by a group a lot can be achieved but this needs to be consistently supported via a process. This process involves social dialogue where community members engage in respectful discussions where they are open to learning from one another. This dialogue starts where we are at about our current stories and issues, and the concerns or perspectives that they raise. Then we move on to envisioning a new society/civilization that has incorporated those stories thereby creating a new perspective and consciousness born from the UFO subject. We then end with our personal contributions to transforming the subject, and inevitably ourselves and society.

What seems to be currently happening in the UFO community is that it is stuck in the first stage of this social dialogue, discussing current issues and stories over and over. It’s time to move to the second step of envisioning a society where these have been incorporated. This is a great challenge and tends to divide the UFO community because some are not ready to move to step 2, still deciding if ET life is a fact or a figment of people’s imagination. What we need to remember is there are forces that don’t want step 2 to be taken, and whether their source is from various institutions, of a metaphysical nature or the fear in mankinds psyche makes little difference.

But for those who are willing to take step 2 its time to learn about society and how change happens, question myths and assumptions both mainstream and our own, and seek to understand this from a planetary perspective as well as locally. We need to look at the world systematically and break it down to understand cause and effect and take an historical and future oriented view on change and development towards the emergence of a cosmic society complete with ETs.

In the middle of all this we need to understand that our current society is breaking down and a new civilization is evolving that will require strategies we haven’t even thought of yet. Running parallel to this process we need to use approaches that help those in the UFO community generate creative ideas and possibilities, mining it for the richness of it’s diverse ideas and perspectives rather than letting them become a dividing factor.

It is imperative that the UFO community creates a shared vision because any society that lacks this will stagnate and die out while those with a positive vision prove to be quite successful and retain a healthy longevity. If the UFO community can create a shared vision it will no longer matter if we have different perspectives because the vision will help us rise above our differences while even possibly learning to appreciate them.

In the end, the UFO movement must embody the values of the new culture that is being born from it. This new culture is one that has accepted that we are not alone in the universe and the flow on effect this awareness will bring. We are at the point where we need to change our focus and approach to this subject and move on to integrating it within our psyche and our lifestyle. We need to embody its vision, live its values and employ strategies that will bring about the change we would like to see. Only then will we see a real movement in the true sense of the word.

1 Comments:

  • At 8:34 PM, Blogger Kyle said…

    Hi Sheryl,

    Welcome to the coalition! I've followed your posts on Updates with interest. You seem to be an optimistic member of the "reality-based community". :)

    I agree that Ufology needs a direction, an impetus, and some kind of obvious value to attain or regain legitimacy. A common uniting goal would be very helpful. To wit...

    I wonder if you have seen my posts on just this subject...giving the Ufological community relevance, values, and a clear incentive to unite. And perhaps a new name.

    If you find time, please take a look at these posts...

    http://uforeflections.blogspot.com/2005/07/new-ufology.html
    http://uforeflections.blogspot.com/2005/07/additional-rationale-for-neonetology.html
    http://uforeflections.blogspot.com/2005/07/organizations-with-neonetological-bent.html
    http://uforeflections.blogspot.com/2005/07/potential-synergies-for-neonet-ology.html
    http://uforeflections.blogspot.com/2005/07/ufo-uap-neo-wtf.html

    I'd be very interested in your reaction, and your opinions.

    Again welcome aboard, and I look forward to more of your "eccentric" writing. :)

    Kyle
    UFOreflections.blogspot.com

     

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