SOMEBODY’S GOTTA DO IT

As you have probably noticed, I have written a lot about Buckminster Fuller and quoted him on many blog pages. Why? Because, it has seemed to me, since the first day I heard him speak at least four decades ago, that he, more than anyone I had ever heard, was:

a complete truth-teller; someone to be trusted.
a person who could see the BIG, BIG picture.
someone who was brilliant enough to handle all the facts.
a doer, not a persuader.
someone who made things, invented things, and provided solutions.
a wise, benevolent, and gentle guide into mankind’s challenging and uncharted future.

I was shocked the other day when a business associate of mine whom I totally respect and on whom I confidently rely for advice, told me that he had never heard of Fuller. A cold shiver went up my spine. “We’re in deeper trouble than we realize,” I thought.

So here I go again. Somebody’s got to do it.

I’d like to share his words:

“This all brings us to a realization of the enormous educational task which must be successfully accomplished right now in a hurry in order to convert man’s spin-dive toward oblivion into an intellectually mastered power pullout into safe and level flight of physical and metaphysical success, whereafter he may turn his Spaceship Earth’s occupancy into a universe exploring advantage. If it comprehends and reacts effectively, humanity will open an entirely new chapter of the experiences and the thoughts and drives thereby stimulated.”

This sense of urgency, this awareness of our nose-dive toward our complete disappearance as a species, is what drives me to boldness.

Today I read on BRAIN PICKINGS, (a fabuloully wonderful website, in case you haven’t discovered it) a few lines that sum up what I am now feeling. They were written about Elizabeth Gilbert, the powerful author of Eat, Pray, Love. 

“The human gift, she says, is the willingness to march forward – – in terror and transcendence, and often alone – – even though we too flinch beneath the shadow of the unknown.”

All I know for sure is that on this day, the very day before my own book is about to be published and sent forth into the world, I am nonetheless still willing to “march forward in terror.”

I’M BACK!

At last!! I am back!  I sincerely apologize for the long absence. Here is why I’ve been gone:

One day, all of my blogs simply disappeared. I could have cried. I had spent two years  thinking, researching, collecting ideas, ferreting out information, writing and rewriting.  Suddenly, it was all for naught.   Even worse, I was at a critical juncture and couldn’t spend any time at all to try to fix the problem. (Not to mention that I didn’t have a single clue about what was wrong or how to go about fixing it.)

I was up to my ears in deadlines with my publisher, trying hard to get in a position to actually print the book I had spent years writing. There was simply no time to tackle the sad state of affairs with the blog.

Then one day, I realized that I had at last completed every single task on the book. Ahhhhhhh! (You could have heard the relief all the way from Tennessee to Alaska if you had been listening.)

I jumped on the blog problem, and within two days, I had it solved. All those words were still in the cloud. (Oh, blessed cloud, wherever you are, whatever you are!)

The book is now at the printer and I am told I could be holding a copy in my hand by next Monday. Now that warms my heart, let me tell you. . .

I have big plans for that book. I am hoping that it will open the doors that will lead to the funding of this project. As soon as I have it, it will be posted on the website and you can surely order one if you are eager to read it. A friend told me “it’s the best non-fiction page turner I have ever read!” (Actually, I still get truly excited when I read it myself, if that tells you anything.)

In the meantime, I continue to work and work on different aspects of what is surely the world’s most fascinating project. Some days I am all into geology with visions of geodes, volcanoes and sub-Atlantic trenches going through my head. Other days, I am so excited about Luna Moths and their incredible pheromone system that I can barely resist stopping strangers on the street to talk about it.

There are simply not enough hours in the day to delve into all the wonderful caches of strange facts I wish to discover, and then think about how a learning center could present them to eager, still curious young minds.

More to follow . . .Stay tuned!