The Big Possibilities of Small Change

I am reading a book right now that was recommended to me by Michael Batty, who is the author of "Cities and Complexity" (2005).  As I read, I am trying simultaneously to keep in mind the wisdom of our neighborkids, including that of our neighbor-babies, like one-month-old Onna. 

Here is a quote that resonates with me:

“In order to do something big … one starts with something small and one starts where it counts.  …[It] is about making the ordinary special and the special more widely accessible – expanding the boundaries of understanding and possibility with vision and common sense.  It is about building densely interconnected networks, crafting linkages between unlikely partners and organizations, and making plans without the usual preponderance of planning.  It is about getting it right for now and at the same time being tactical and strategic about later.  This is not about forecasting, nor about making decisions about the future.  But it is about the long range, about making sure that one plus one equals two or even three, about being politically connected and grounded, and about disturbing the order of things in the interests of change."

Nabeel Hamdi, 2004

Small Change: The Art of Practice and the Limits of Planning in Cities


This has got me wondering:  What new possibilities might come into focus if we combine the wisdom of our neighborkids with the wisdom of writers like Mr. Hamdi with the wisdom of all of us, every day?  


How might paying attention here in Central-Cocoanut to what Onna and Logan and Chunk Chunk and Cassi and Daree and Naya and Toby and Holly and Amorie and Semaj and James and Quan and Da’Sean and Dushun and Alex and Ray Ray are experiencing with us right now, as neighbors and fellow community members, help us all to realize our potential in the long range?


I truly believe that this is where it’s at…