From the editor
On this day, as I sit and write to you, it is February 18 and protesters in Egypt celebrated “Victory Day” in Cairo’s Tahrir Square during the 18th day of the populist uprising, which has led to the exile of President Hosni Mubarak and has spread to neighboring countries where similar anti-government campaigns are underway.
Closer to home, at the Wisconsin state capitol in Madison, a throng of people carry on during the seventh day of protests against a proposed bill that would curtail the right of state workers to negotiate for benefits above base salaries.
Protest, it seems, has gone viral. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that transformation is in the air — manifesting personally and collectively.
It’s been long suggested that this is the age in which paradigms would be busted and rebuilt to reflect the will of the human spirit. The rise of Democracy in the Middle East seems to be a perfect example of that.
A change just as profound is underway here. The outsourcing of American jobs overseas, combined with the rapid collapse of the U.S. housing market — and simultaneous escalation of personal fortune for the wealthiest among us — have resulted in a perfect storm that already has hit our shores. People have lost their jobs and their homes, and states are beginning to cut lifelines to the least among us.
The end result is still ours to determine.
The first step toward the rest of our lives is our commitment to listening to our soul.
Mine tells me to begin to express myself more creatively and become more involved in helping others. By picking up my old brushes and paint with acrylics like I used to years ago. By writing those novels that have been gestating within me. By volunteering regularly.
I hear within that there is nothing to wait for, that there is only now. As a result, my wife and I are close to selling our home in the suburbs. We will be downsizing next month to a townhome on the eastern edge of this magazine’s region, in Madison, where I will paint, write and begin to volunteer regularly.
And I look forward to hearing how your soul’s whispers are leading you through this time of transformation. Submit your story to The Edge so I can share it with our readers. I can’t wait to read it.
