Transitioning Towards Self-Empowered and Earth Friendly Communities: The Mid-Atlantic Example

Lets focus on a living Transition example, the Mid Atlantic Transition Hub -- MATH. This organization covers a huge area of the Eastern United States encompassing some of the biggest cities in the world (e.g., New York, Philadelphia).

Facilitating the organization is Pamela Boyce Simms. Pamela is a Leadership Coach and Consultant who convenes MATH, a six-state network of environmental activists working throughout the Mid-Atlantic coastal megacity corridor. https://midatlantictransition.org/math-initiatives.

Pamela works with clients spanning a variety of fields. Within these fields, she cultivates strong relationships that sustain thriving organizations and businesses by cultivating clear communication.

In a Truthout article, Pamela writes:

Imagine a respite from the relentless torrent of bad news! Both The Transition Towns (Transition) and Intentional Communities movements facilitate secession, to varying degrees, from the exploitive culture that surrounds us, and build alternatives that are supported by broad networks. Now the two movements have joined together to share lessons learned about egalitarian community building. http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/34078-for-a-resilient-future-put-community-first

Pamela is a seasoned social change agent offering teams and organizations an experiential understanding of how groups can work as regenerative "human ecosystems". Pamela is a keynote speaker and facilitator of conversations that unleash visionary leadership at work, at home and in the community. Her priority is to foster authentic relationship building in eliciting healthy and positive results. Pamela further assists environmental initiatives, organizations and businesses with group dynamics, change and stress management, conflict resolution, organizational development, and governance challenges.

Pamela is a neuro-linguistics master-practitioner. In this work, she challenges clients to hone in and focus on the infinite power of mind while refining emotional intelligence, and tapping into "heart-mind" (Skr. Bodhicitta). What beauty! What power! Self-Power, your power.

Pamela is an Eco-Buddhist, a UN ECOSOC Representative of the national Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW) organization, and convenes the Earthcare Working Group of New York's statewide network of Quaker congregations. Pamela furthermore advocates work that transforms anger and despair into compassion toward neighbors, communities and the environment.

Pamela seeks to cultivate a sense of interconnectedness that can see communities through the climactic, social, and economic challenges ahead. Her intent is to affirm how working with the pain of the world can be a vehicle for self and community transformation.

This reminds me of a Gestalt teacher I had in college who often spoke of "going into the pain." Her idea was that if we did not meet the psychological pain head on, it would resist going away. As a psychology professor once said, "if you do not go through the pain, you remain stuck in it." We can't negate ourselves, or the world. We have to look at our state and the state of the planet with open eyes. We can no longer remain in hiding. Indeed, the polluted state of our minds reflects the pollution of the planet. What's within is without. The outer mess reflects our inner mess.

Transition Town is the step you will wish to take after going through the pain of your mess while realizing you are living on a planet housing sociopathic authorities who are destroying our world. Yet, it is not the authorities that we need to change. We need to change. Transition Town fosters change within communities and within our self. We can make the Koch Brothers, Rothchilds and Trumps things of the past.

Wake up from the nightmare and transition into a bountiful and beautiful world. That world begins in you. When you realize your power, bounty and beauty within, the world will blossom once more.

A video of Pamela's beautiful discussion regarding Transition is at; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whVQJN8HVKI

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