Occupy Vision. What's Your Vision?

Despite being generally turned off by politics and activism, the recent ‘Occupy Wall St., Occupy LA, Occupy SF etc’ movement kept catching my attention and making me think deeply about what’s going on in our amazing world at this profound time.

I have found that in our complex and fast-paced world, things are never what they APPEAR to be… so, with the recent Occupy movement, what is REALLY going on here? What is the deeper reason for the Occupy Movement – and how can we be involved in a way that helps create positive lasting change?

One thing is clear: people want something new and different. For various reasons, they are not happy with the way things are and want to do something about it. That’s great.

Now people know what they don’t want – the big question is ‘WHAT DO YOU WANT?’

It’s easy to be ANTI-something. Almost too easy. For many, it’s appealing and exciting to rebel and be part of something new… however, the rebellion is only the beginning, the spark, the initial fire. Look throughout history and you will see there have been sparks all over the world… endless sparks… yet most sparks do not create fire and positively change the world… they fizz and burn out – or end up with various kinds of messy, complex situations like we have seen in Iraq. So what will happen with the Occupy Movement?

We have seen some pretty amazing sparks in the night with Occupy, but it’s what happens next that brings about revolutions – or fades away back into the night.



In most movements that actually work and lead to a real shift, there is a 4 step process of change…

If Occupy can get to Stage 4 – we will see amazing things happen. If not, it will fizzle and fade away as most sparks do…


The 4 Stages to Lasting Transformation



Stage 1. “I don’t like this!”

In the beginning stages of a movement to change we look around our world and see, hear, feel something we don’t like – in this case Wall St. and what it represents for many people: greed, looking after the 1% and ignoring the 99% etc… Seeing and feeling this situation creates a feeling of anger and discontentment in many people. We get to the point where we do not like it and want to let others know how we feel. We complain about it. We talk about it – but at this point – nothing happens. We just complain and listen to the complaints of others feeling ourselves to be victims. Many people live their entire lives in this stage. They never evolve to the next stage. They instead create long lists of excuses and reasons for why it can’t change and why they can’t do anything about it.



Stage 2. “We’ve got to do something!”

After complaining enough and not seeing a change – we start to feel we will not stand for it anymore and something must actually be DONE!!! Because we don’t like the thing (in the this case Wall St.), we rebel against it in some way and take the position it is bad. We are not going to support it or cooperate. We will fight against it in some way.

This stage typically has an ‘us’ and ‘them’ energy to it. There is a victim and a perpetrator. A right and and a wrong. The Jedi or the Empire. Our feeling becomes so strong we will not tolerate the old system or way of being anymore and are motivated to ACTUALLY DO something. This process of being anti-something and choosing to act has taken many forms, from civil wars, guerilla wars, terrorism etc – to peaceful non-violent resistance (Satyagraha) advocated by Gandhi – and everything in between.

This stage does require courage and is often much better than sitting around simply complaining about it. However, at this point there is an opportunity to get stuck in simply being anti-something (and not really being part of the solution). I call this the hate trap.

What is the hate trap?

The hate trap is to fight the system and try to kill it without a vision of what will happen after it’s gone. Many do not look to see a new horizon. We are stuck in the hate trap when we devote all our energy and focus onto the thing we despise and hunt it down to the death and that is all we do. In this trap we fail to see any merit to the things we despise, we have no idea of what we want and are oblivious to our own personal problems or contribution to the problem. Many people think that when the beast is dead, life will be great because all our problems are caused by the beast. No beast = no problem, the thinking goes.

With this mindset, it appears all we have to do is kill it quickly and the rest will take care of itself automatically (didn’t work especially well in Iraq)….

If we simply focus on the beast and kill, we forget to consider that our life will continue after the death of the beast… We may not have considered where we will end up or how our life will be. It’s one thing to get out of Babylon and another thing to reach Zion. One thing to kill a devil and another to find an angel. The road out of Babylon does not necessarily lead straight to Zion. If we want to go to Zion, we must know where it is and focus on getting there.

If we simply take the position ‘they are wrong’ (but we don’t have any better ideas) then it is unlikely much is really going to improve when the beast is killed. We may overthrow the force we are against to simply experience more of the same ‘evil’ appearing again - or in some cases even worse problems. Most dictatorships are replaced with new dictators because no one established a NEW culture before the old one died – so the evil old ways were simply replaced with a new change that is basically the same as the old change the last politician sold us on. Change can’t happen if we don’t know how it looks, sounds and feels. Without a clear solution, we will not be free of the problem.

When asked, most protestors do NOT have any solid ideas of what the solution is, they are just interested in killing the beast. Taking action is good – but not any action will get the result we want (especially if we don’t know what we want…)

The BIG LEAP

It is essential for those who really want to see a change to be able to take a big leap into the third and forth stages – NEW VISION & PERSONAL COMMITMENT. This is like discovering the map to get from Babylon to Zion and then having the commitment to take the untravelled road to get there.

Are you interested in finding a new life? Do you know how it will look, sound and feel? This is the magic moment where lives really begin to change and new worlds materialize.



Stage 3. New Vision

By this stage, we know what we don’t want (stage 1) - and we have chosen to not go along with the old system (Stage 2), now it’s the time to create original thoughts and create a NEW vision for what will be new and different.

In this stage we ask ourselves - How can this situation be improved?

If you were in charge, what would be new and different? How would this new situation look, sound, feel? What would be the advantages? How would the new system run? Who would do what? What would happen to the old system? How could you integrate all the best parts of the old system into your NEW system?

It’s easy to be anti-something – because someone else created the thing you don’t like – and we simply take the opposite position saying we don’t like it. Someone else created something – and we simply say – ‘don’t like it’. That’s easy.

Simply being anti is like being the mirror image, the ghost of something else. It only can exist in relationship to the other thing. It relies on the existence of the other thing. If the other thing vanished, so would our cause. We need a perpetrator to have a victim. They are intimately connected.

But to think of something NEW, something that doesn’t exist right now. To IMAGINE a new world, to see something that has no opposite, something never seen before – this is where the real power is found. This is what all real revolutions were founded on – a new vision. A fresh approach. Original ideas.

Without vision, the people perish.

If we all simply occupied Wall St. – and had no vision on what the new Wall St. would be and how it would run – or what would replace it, the economy would probably completely collapse and there would be wide-spread poverty, food shortage and anarchy (not something those protesting would appreciate, I’m sure)…

SO what is your vision? What new ideas and vision can you see in your mind? What new experiences do you feel in your heart?



Stage 4. Personal Commitment

Once we have created new ideas, and have a new vision – then the final and hardest stage is required. LIVING IT! It’s easy to see what we don’t like and complain. It’s easy to be ANTI-something, but it’s hard to think of what we DO want… and hardest of all is to really and truly LIVE in a new way and be an embodiment of the change we want to see in the world.

To initiate and live in new ways is rare. Less than 1% seem to be able to do it. 99% may be against something, but out of that 99% what % will actually commit to living in a new way? Forget about the 99% – that doesn’t matter, what matters is will YOU live in the new way – and will I? This is what it all comes down to. Real change. In our own lives. Today. And sustained tomorrow and the next day come what may.

When it comes to deep personal integrity and ability to create real changes, Mahatma Gandhi stands head and shoulders above the rest. He consistently believed and demonstrated that we need to: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Being the change requires having a clear vision – and living that vision even when it means personal sacrifices and hardship. Chances are most people who are anti-something are personally benefiting from many of the things the system they want to overthrow provides for them (like food, clothes, certain freedoms etc).

If we want something new, it means we may have to let go of the old things entirely and live in a way that is uncomfortable at first, even scary – but that’s what it takes to be new and different. Do you have a vision? Are you prepared to be the change you want to see in the world? Are you ready to take 100% responsibility for your life?



I’m writing this because I’d love to inspire you to take a moment to consider what YOU really want. If you ruled the world, what would be new and different? How would you improve it? What are your original ideas? What are you committed to?



When the answers arise – please share them on a new community we’ve set up called Occupy Visions.

It’s brand new, so be one of the pioneers to share your visions and what you are committed to and let’s see how many people we can reach and support to create a map to achieve the goals and dreams dear to their hearts too….

It all starts with YOU… today…

http://www.facebook.com/pages/OccupyVisions/295657553790854



You can consider Occupy Visions the part 3 and 4 of Occupy Wall St. for people who are willing and ready to commit to the new and live it.

Going to Zion is less popular than steps 1 and 2 (getting out of Babylon) because we have to think and act in new ways – but if you are capable of doing that, you will be one of the few who really changes the world… and inspire others to do the same.



Sending you love and appreciation for your courage.