About+Futuring

= Thinking in Future Tense ~ Imagining the Future NOW =
 * //My interest is in the future because I'm going to spend the rest of my life there.// ~Charles Kettering
 * //You are sowing the flowers of tomorrow in the seeds of today//. ~Unknown
 * //Tomorrow is our permanent address//. ~E. E. Cummings
 * //The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day//. ~Gloria Steinem
 * //The best way to predict the future is to invent it//. ~ Alan Kay



Bernajean, trained by Marvin Weisbord and influenced by Margaret Wheatley, has facilitated //**Future Searches**// for over 15 years for schools, communities and organizations. Her recent //**I-imagine**// project for students continues the magic!

Excerpt from //DigiTales: The Art of Digital Stories// by Bernajean Porter

Building shared visions begins with individual visions. Having a personal power dream of what you want for your own life is deeply satisfying and fulfilling. I highly encourage kids of all ages to imagine making a difference for good in the world - shining your light, activating your talents and using your unique strengths in the world by creating the life you want to give yourself and the community around you. See the I-imagine Project launched this winter to inspire educators to inspire our youth in developing a personal vision of living their BEST life.

The same process of personal visions FIRST with organizational and community members begins the vision field of possibilities. And then. . . the power of aligning these individual visions within organizations creates a vibrant and influencial experience that collectively shapes everyone' possibilities. Visioning is NOT an activity - it a powerful, mighty and potent process that focuses and energizes individuals and groups on the desired outcomes of their best hopes.

Consider co-creating a common vision by holding town-meetings, future searches, or other large group gatherings to identify future directions together. Purposefully engage significant numbers of students working along side adults. I have personally facilitated numerous events that developed scenarios as a way of inventing the future. This intensive process of involving large groups making future vision stories takes considerably more time than many visioning processes, but it also increases the speed and depth of moving visions into actual practice.

The more people involved, the faster the gap between the vision and today's reality is closed according to the experiences of Robert Jacobs, author of //Real-time Strategic Change//. Groups who use digital storytelling to create sensory future-vision videos will quickly fill their personal and organization's energy fields with clarity, commitment and urgency to make "IT" real.