​​A Supersaturated Theory of Change: "It's well beyond a theory--it's what's going on"
​​This discussion is part of "DandDTrans," a "community of inquiry and action" regarding the role that Dialogue & Deiberation can play in addressing the mega-crises of our time
​​Image courtesy of www.NewStories.org
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​The post below is part of ​+OS Topic 11 A Supersaturated Theory of Change​
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​"It's well beyond a theory--it's what's going on" [Mark Dubois, 1/22]

​​From notes taken by Ben R during a 1-1 conversation with Mark on 1/22. Below is a more-or-less verbatim transcript of his words, posted with permission...
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​​We cannot see what we're becoming, and that we are part of the Great Turning.
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​​I don't know if we're five weeks, five months or five years before the equivalent of a great leap no one can predict. A month before Apartheid ended, or the Berlin Wall fell, or the Vietnam war ended--before Civil Rights became a concept, before the first Earth Day-- no one could have predicted the melting of these old paradigms.  The news reports that we're as stuck in "old" as ever. And I profoundly know that the conditions are SO ripe. Even those living in the most denial sense the dissonance in the world. That contributes to a saturating solution...
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​​Everything we are doing is a part of it. We're all doing the best we can do. And every conversation, individually and collectively, is either a clear a channel and path as we can, or not. With that, we get to contribute.  So your ideas, Ben, are in full resonance with how I see things. It's well beyond theory--it's what's going on.
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​​We practice this whether we like it or not. The angst and frustration... it reminds me of the Beingness Doctrine by Steven Schwartz. The Quakers have been involved in a number of major shifts in our collective awakening. This article sees their way of being as contributing to those, via seven ​+eight "laws." ​They beautifully capture what we get to learn as we do all this. Its an inside job.
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​​We get to shed our fear & anxiety, and speak truth to power. When we 'fight' power, we're just reinforcing the old paradigm. But when we listen to that Gandhian voice... when we let a deeper voice flow through us...
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​​I'm reminded of how engaged I was by Paul Gilding's The Great Disruption... His pivot point is that "hope is the most powerful political force on the planet." Gandhi, Churchill, King, Mandela, all held space for hope. And my debate with him is that it's not just HOPE, but a KNOWING of "who we are meant to be" and of  "who we get to be." We seem to be collectively infatuated with being small, and these times call us to tap into being much deeper/bigger. When I get out of the way, I can let my voice be a voice for the much deeper knowing that scarcity and separation are an illusion. We're meant to flower, each in our own unique way! We get lost in our mind's little story, and now the times calls us to see and be the beauty/richness of who we really are.
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​Comments on Mark's Post

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​Ben Roberts, 1/22
​​Mark, I so appreciate your contribution to this conversation. that includes not only what you said to me earlier today (posted above), but also the "seed crystal" you planted years ago when we were colleagues on the Pachamama Alliance's FOUR YEARS.GO ("4YG") campaign. I'll offer a brief recap for other readers, who were not there...
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​​The whole notion of this metaphor was something that was part of our core 4YG team conversations back in early 2011. There was a question as to whether or not "the global solution" was supersaturated or not, and thus what our work should be. Mark thought there was sufficient saturation for us to catalyze big action. Others, notably Jon Love and Bill Twist, thought the more valuable work lay in increasing the saturation level, i.e. "waking people up," shifting the context of the conversation to one of possibility and urgency, and inviting people to commit to action.
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​​Mark "lost" the argument, and ended up moving on from the campaign. The campaign itself broke down some months later, after plans to invite the whole world to take "a stand" failed to catch fire and funding ran out.
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​​As Mark and I recalled that history, we reflected that both sides were "right." That insight is reflected in the core of the supersaturated theory I am now articulating, and finding so inspirational. Yes, the global solution isn't supersaturated yet, so many kinds of action we wish to take aren't likely to have the transformational effect we wish for. At the same time, there are many opportunities now for supersaturation at smaller scales, and that action might also serve to add to the global saturation level, as well as providing seed crystals that might be of value if and when the whole system reaches an inflection point. 
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​[your name, date]
​​[your response to Mark]
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