As much as we all prefer not to resort to clichés when trying to describe things, there really is no better or more appropriate way to characterize these strange days we find ourselves in than to let it ride and remark, “Oh the times…they are a-changin’.” We are truly in a period of profound global change not seen in generations. Our angry planet is asserting itself in heretofore unseen ways, the Grand Chessboard of geopolitics seems stuck in a speed match, and the people writ large are growing more informed, and as such, more and more fed up. As they begin to wake up en masse the natural response is to seek out new ways to change both the world around them and the world within.
This means us too! You have no doubt seen the dramatic aesthetic transformation we have undergone recently, and from what I hear about it, you seem to like it. Equally you have expressed excitement, hesitation, concern and even dislike for the new direction of our editorial content. That is understandable. Conscious Choice (and we’re very proud to be able to say this now with all conviction) is a bona fide Chicago institution, the very first of its kind in this fair city of ours, which has grown into one of the most solid environmental journals around. People have expectations of us, and the last thing we want to do is disappoint our devoted readers.
Well, let me be the first to say that the spirit of agitation lives on! But we’ve also grown up. With our new direction, we’ve decided to round out our message with not only the profound eco-consciousness we are known for, but also equal components of progressive politics, healthy and natural living, and spirituality, in all its many wayfaring shapes and sizes. In these days of “inconvenient truths” it’s important not only to be aware of the problems, but to offer possible solutions in the truest Gandhian sense of being the change you want to see in the world. Call it full-cost holistic consciousness, we feel, like the popular recovery saying goes, that “faith without works” is a losing proposition. As author David Korten writes in his incredible new book, The Great Turning, it takes both the cultural and spiritual consciousness to defeat the dangers of the imperial consciousness. Or in simpler terms, to change the world, we need to change ourselves too.
It is my great honor to take over the helm of Conscious Choice, and I look forward to bringing you unique and engrossing stories from across the consciousness divide. There is a whole new energy at Conscious Choice corresponding to the whole new energy and revolutionary change going on in Chicago. This is not the city I grew up in, nor the city I returned to after college almost 15 years ago. This is a whole new city, and we want to harness that élan vital and pass it on to you. Tap in, and join the culturally conscious Earth community we are building here. Stretch both mind and body.
I want to hear from you… what works, what doesn’t, what you’d like to see, what you wouldn’t. My door, or inbox as the case may be, is always open. Let’s just remember that change is always a bit uncomfortable at first, but everything tends to balance out in the end. I promise I won’t let you down.
— Charles Shaw