initiative

Since 1994 the European Council for Steiner Waldorf Education (ECSWE), together with the Friends of Waldorf Education, have been promoting and encouraging the Waldorf One World (WOW) Day activities in Waldorf schools throughout Europe and Germany to raise funds for the development of Waldorf education all over the world. Until now pupils have raised up to a 1.5 million Euros and supported Waldorf initiatives working mostly with disadvantaged children worldwide. Almost all Waldorf initiatives worldwide do not receive any kind of support from the government. In many cases, parents are not able to pay the tuition or the school/ kindergarten do not have the financial resources for investments necessary to both running the school and for providing a meal for the children.

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Dear WeStrive Community,

A couple years ago, my wife put a little cut out piece of paper on our refrigerator with the quote: “Don’t worry about what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come  alive.” The quote, from Howard Thurman, initially affected me so much, not because I wasn’t doing what made me come alive, but because I was also worrying about what the world needed – and that was the reason I was initiating in the world.The fire behind my work came, and continues to come, out of a deep sense of responsibility to the world; there is such a burden that needs to be carried. By virtue of the fact that I recognized that need, it became my responsibility to respond.

When I read that little piece of paper, however, something in me shifted. If I began by looking at what I loved to do – what truly made me come alive - I could do the same work, but could do it out of love both for myself and for the world. I could honor my own life while at the same time serving the lives of others. I think that realization has helped sustain me in contribution to the initiatives I take part in.

The truth of the matter is that the world desperately needs us to take initiative. It needs us to give our time, energy and resources to help solve the issues and questions we face today. But we must find a way to do our work – to take initiative – in a way that sustains our lives individually, as well. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. Read more »

On March 20, WeStrive had its first 2010 Meet-up, featuring the research and knowledge of Jane Lorand, a social entrepreneur out of California who has had made extraordinary ripples at YIP (www.yip.se). The Meet-up challenged participants to consider their own ways of thinking and educational paths; how well, Jane asked, do we know ourselves and how are we actualizing our potential to better serve the world?

There were Meet-ups in over four countries, including: Philadelphia-area (USA), Dornach (Swizterland), Toronto (Canada), Jarna (Sweden); more will continue in Germany and Lebanon. In the meantime, there is also a group coming together to collaboratively re-imagine the WeStrive Meet-up; if you are interested in being part of that conversation, please contact leslie@westrive.org.

John Beck wrote a reflection on his Meet-up in Glenmoore, Pennsylvania: Read more »

Discerning the true spirit of initiative requires an inquiry, which considers factors beyon the appearance of an action. The most significant feature of an initiative is not apprehended as a percept. Although the idea of initiative conjures up notions of an external activity, it can never be separated from the one who has initiated the action. There is always an internal field of concepts and motives standing behind every initiative. It is my contention that inquiry into this realm holds the possibility of grasping the true spirit of any specific initiative.

It would be naïve realism to conclude that all initiative springs from either a feeling to do or a compelling sense of willfulness. Such conclusions omit to consider the role of thinking and its conceptual power to engender new realities. And it is after all, the very character of great initiatives to create new realities. Another flaw in assuming the position of naïve realism is that it bypasses the individual’s own moral disposition. Only when these two areas are given serious consideration can the true spirit of initiative be found. Naïve realism simply does not distinguish the drive of egoism from the moral intuition of the “I”. The former is often a set of desires expressed as responses to outer stimuli, yet masked as initiative; whereas the latter is a free act based on a love for the significance of a deed. Read more »

There is a new mood walking the earth…
 
FOCUS will be much more than a conference – more than a space to meet and listen to lectures. We will not simply talk about our ideas and themes, but will instead try to find ways of realising and practicing them in our daily lives – in our tasks in the world. Read more »

Last March the Santa Cruz Monterey Bay Branch supported my going to the North American Class Holders’ Conference in Spring Valley, NY. On the way home, after already having spent a night in Salt Lake City because of a cancelled flight, I took the opportunity to be “bumped” and spend an extra couple of hours in the Salt Lake City airport in exchange for a travel voucher on Delta Airlines. I have had this voucher since last March and, when I suddenly realized it will run out this March 23rd, rather like Rudolf Steiner’s value-decreasing money, I decided to check in with Matthew Temple, former student and close friend, founder of NetworkM, now President of the Board of WeStrive. I thought WeStrive might be able to use the voucher—and sure enough, Matthew was very excited when I told him my idea. If you don’t know WeStrive, please take a look at www.westrive.org and discover what this community network is doing to support social renewal. Read more »