Have you wondered why so many people in this culture are unhappy? Since more than 70% of people are not happy with what they are about, there is a good chance you are in this number. Why? This is the question that began IMAGO. As social workers, we worked with a lot of people and really did not have an answer for their unhappiness, nor for our own.
We began a search, and after a number of years, came to the following theory:
- The values of this culture (namely having and consuming more and more things) do not make us happy.
- Very little meaning is given by this culture to such things as family and friends, spirituality, and the value of work except for its earning power.
- When we realize all this and think about changing there aren’t many models.
One of the stories Eileen and I tell relates to the time we went to a workshop with Adam Finnerty at Grailville, back in 1977. One of the emphases at this workshop was the impact our consumption of beef in this country has on Third World Countries. They take their very best land to grow beef for us, leaving their own people starving. We came home with new ideas and a determination to change our eating patterns. What we realized was, we had no idea how to prepare a meal without meat. Not long after this, a friend invited us to a vegetarian meal, and we went with trepidation.
This is the season of rebirth. For us, this was the beginning of an awareness that we needed to live differently, that we needed to envision the Earth in a whole different way; as Thomas Berry said, we need a new story.
It was this type of dilemma and awareness that led to the beginning of IMAGO. The first years of IMAGO were much like a sabbatical; time to study, think, and try a few things related to what we learned (including the fact that most meals eaten in the world are vegetarian, and there are thousands and thousands of recipes). After reading volumes, our first activity under the name IMAGO was a Passive Solar Workshop, in April 1980. Out of this, eventually came a hands-on-workshop when we built the solar greenhouse at 553 Enright Avenue.
Our workshops through the years have fluctuated between looking at more meaningful values, and how we would live if we believed in these values. Workshop presenters and workshop participants have both shared, and through this sharing have stretched our vision.
With all the input we have received, and reflecting on the symbol of this season, the egg, we might be reaching the point of pecking at the egg from within, beginning the process of rebirth, of transformation. Workshops continue to be an important part of IMAGO, as a way to keep us thinking and learning. We keep looking for help and support in breaking out of this cultural egg that encourages us to destroy this sacred Earth of which we are a part.
Out of all this, we do not anticipate developing a model that people can look at to “see how to do it.” As Eileen has said, we don’t want to call IMAGO and what we are doing a model, models imply doing things right, no mistakes. We look at the idea of developing a demonstration around ways we might live with a different value system. Demonstration implies mistakes and imperfections, and we have lots of them to show. Hopefully, our demonstration will encourage others to work on their own demonstration in their own life settings. The impetus might just be the awareness that they can surely do as well, if not better, than we are.
IMAGO continues to offer workshops, and invites you to come and think with us, act with us, and maybe take a few pecks at the egg. Happy rebirth.
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