Afternow: When We Cannot See the Future Where Do We Begin? - Softcover

Stilger, Bob, Ph.d.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1545609748 ISBN 13: 9781545609743

Publisher: McP Books, 2017

Synopsis

On March 11, 2011, overwhelming and incomprehensible disaster struck the northeast coast of Japan. Life for those in the region would never be the same. This book is about the awakening that follows disaster. About the minutes and months and years that come after now. It is about what happens when we're smacked on the side of the head and open our eyes, startled out of the trance in which we have been living our days. It is about the opportunities always present, often invisible, to create the lives we want, now. AfterNow chronicles the author's journey with the Japanese people over 6 years -- his own story of awakening after plunging into this disaster and the stories from people who found where to take their first step, and the next. It offers the tools and processes and worldview people discovered to create what comes after now. It is built around two big ideas. The first is that after disaster, we find our way forward, together. We come awake, together. Disaster obliterates the past, plunges the present into chaos and cocoons the future. We need each other to see and build the new. The second idea is that we don't have to wait for the tragedy of disaster to make the communities and lives we want. We can engage each other with respect, curiosity and generosity and begin to co-create what we want, now. We live in a period of precipitous, unpredictable change. The book is for those who want to make this time more livable and less insane. In Japan and all over the world, we are living in the messy middle where old forms are falling apart and new possibilities are in early stages. The ground is pulled out from under us on a regular basis. Our work right now is to learn to coexist with the messiness. We need to keep trying things, to keep learning. We need to remain focused on our purpose and follow the braided strand of intention and surrender as we find our way forward. embracing radical uncertainty, showing up as fully as we can each moment, each breath.

About this title

From the Author

In 2017 we saw a record year for natural disasters. In the United States alone, 16 separate events cost over $1 billion each (bit.ly/Climate-2017), not including the costs of social and emotional trauma. Remember devastating hurricanes in Houston, Florida and Puerto Rico, earthquakes in Mexico and fires in Northern and Southern California We're also in a time of social disasters -- the racial, income and gender inequities that lead to homelessness, unemployment and underemployment, untreated physical and mental health challenges. On top of all of that we have the terror of mass murders, endemic opioid addictions, fears of nuclear war and economic uncertainty. This is our "NOW NORMAL." How do we live well in these times?

We're alive in a time when we must learn how to live well with the unexpected -- be it extreme weather, forest fires, earthquakes, mass murders or sudden shifts in governmental policies. In this time when stress and trauma are widespread, we need to prepare the communities in which we live to be better able to work with whatever comes.
Being prepared for disasters, recovering from them, and building healthy and resilient communities are no longer separable - they are interwoven threads. Connected communities, where people feel they belong and are included, is the foundation for resilience, health and prosperity. This foundation also supports the personal and social preparation needed to act quickly when disaster hits and to care for those injured and those who lose their homes or jobs or both.

We live in potent times. AfterNow offers guidance as we find our way forward together.

About the Author

Bob Stilger, PhD, is an activist-scholar who explores social change, leadership and community building. In the mid-seventies, he founded one of the early community development corporations in the Northwest and served as Executive Director for 25 years. Northwest Regional Facilitators was recognized for the excellent work it did to help people live better lives, but Bob was troubled by how the number of people needing help just kept growing. What made enough of a difference, he wondered, to actually make a difference? That question propelled him into a PhD program in Learning and Change in Human Systems at CIIS in the mid-nineties and by 2000 he had stepped outside of NRF to found New Stories and to join the leadership of The Berkana Institute. For 10 years his work was mostly with people in the Global South -- India, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico -- to learn about the leadership and practices needed to create healthy and resilient communities. In 2010 he was invited to bring this work to Japan -- a cultural and spiritual home since his year as a student in 1970-71. A year later when the Triple Disasters struck on March 11, 2017, Bob was called into deep service to the people of Japan. The popular Japanese edition of When We Cannot See the Future, Where Do We Begin was published by Tokyo's Fiji Press in June, 2015.AUTHOR HOME: Spokane, WA

About this edition

• Publisher: McP Books
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1545609748
• ISBN 13: 9781545609743
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 312