| Evolution of The EDGE: Taking the Next Step Beyond From the Editor | by Tim Miejan ÒCultural Creatives today mustÉconstantly invent and reinvent the basic supports for the way they want to live. It takes up a lot of time and energy, and precisely because many of the issues are new, there is a great deal of confusion and conflict.Ó ø from The Cultural Creatives, by Paul Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson Three years ago, The EDGE published a four-part interview I conducted with Paul Ray, co-author of The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People are Changing the World. Personally, that book and that conversation with its author awakened me to the reality that many of us are sitting on a vast cliff. Below us is our everyday world. Above us is only sky ø and possibility. Our challenge is what to do ø now that we can see things from this new perspective. Do we continue climbing down to our everyday world, participate in it even though our heart may not be in what we are doing, and then climb back up to the precipice when we choose to feel inspired? Or do we, with a calm state of relaxation mixed with the anticipation of something we cannot imagine, decide one day to just leap from the overlook? Come to the edge. We might fall. Come to the edge. ItÕs too high! Come to the edge. And they came, and we pushed, And they flew. So wrote English poet Christopher Logue in 1968, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the death of the french poet Guillaume Apollinaire. He might as well have been speaking to us, here, now. A growing number of people, including many who read The EDGE and similar publications offering messages of hope, feel that anxious sense of anticipation in their being. And they have for years. ÒWhat is next?Ó we ask ourselves. ÒWhat is it that will connect me with others like me and enable me to share in the upliftment and fulfillment of all human beings?Ó Perhaps without voicing it, we all have wondered that inside of ourselves, as we move from one experience to the next, from one job to the next, from one possibility to the next, all the while, knowing that the precipice, that lonely but awesome space, is the place where we ultimately must rest our feet and where we ultimately must place our trust. And now, many of us are standing there. [Some of us are kneeling, like the fledgling angel featured on the artwork on this monthÕs cover. Some of us are sitting in an easy chair some distance from the edge.] It is our challenge whether or not to surrender, to demonstrate complete and utter faith that if we step out into the unknown, we will fly ø back into our communities with renewed purpose and vision. Since last month when I chose to take a month off from writing my column, I have heard the whispers and voices of concern that echoed far and wide. ÒIs The EDGE folding? WhatÕs going to happen?Ó Rather than reacting with fear, letÕs assume a posture of positive expectation: ÒWhat exciting adventure is coming next?Ó The answer is: Edge Life. Edge Life is a new umbrella organization, serving three distinct entities that you already know: ø Edge Life Expo, which returns Nov. 19-21 to Minneapolis Convention Center for the fourth consecutive year. ø Edge Life Events, which will continue to sponsor speakers, presenters and entertainers, just as it has with Sanskrit singers Shanti Shanti and angel workshop leader Sunny Johnston this past spring. ø Edge Life magazine, which will debut in November as the new incarnation of The EDGE newspaper. Since 1992, The EDGE has worked hard to promote and serve a niche community focused on spirituality, metaphysics and healing. While this newspaper is viewed by some as just a new age publication, it has been my goal to transform it into something much more. That is where Edge Life comes in. Simply put, The EDGE is evolving, just as other publications and organizations around us are, to better satisfy personal and organizational inspirations and better serve readers and advertisers. We will be aligned directly with the emerging Cultural Creative movement, and as such, Edge Life magazine will share informative, meaningful and touching articles and news that directly touches the lives of Cultural Creatives [for more, go to www.culturalcreative.org or www.cultural-creatives.net]. We will offer ø and seek contributions ø on a wider array of topics on: ø The Earth ø environmental concerns, ecology, sustainability, nature as sacred, planetary stewardship, buying green, and the promotion of organic and natural foods and products. ø Life øaltruism, the arts, voluntary simplicity, social conscience, optimism, personal finance, creativity and authenticity. ø Community ø conscious business, rebuilding neighborhoods, global networking, progressive politics, diversity and cooperatives. ø Relationships ø family, child care, feminism, menÕs movements, sexual relations, women and childrenÕs issues, and the role of women in politics and society. ø Spirit ø self-actualization, tools for personal growth, cosmic relationships, spiritual psychology, spirituality and metaphysics. All of this will be packaged in a new design, a slightly smaller publication that will be a stapled as a single section. With important interviews, and vital submissions that I know this community will continue to provide, Edge Life will be here to assist you in your evolution, in whatever way that manifests. The staff of Edge Life will bring readers a variety of new resources included in its annual advertising supplements and display advertising published each month, reflecting our broadened focus to support Cultural Creatives. The most obvious change you will notice is in the redesign of The EDGE, from a newspaper to a magazine, but Edge Life will reach into the community in other ways. Edge Life Expos, returning to Minneapolis Convention Center each November will evolve to offer speakers and exhibitions that reflect a full range of values that are important to Cultural Creatives. In addition, Edge Life Events, which produce a variety of shows featuring single speakers, workshops and concerts, also will reflect this change. WeÕve spent a dozen years achieving a reputation for quality and vitality, so much so that we constantly get calls and e-mails from people in other parts of the country and world who yearn for what we offer. Now, we want to reach out to a broader audience and share this same light. This is a natural evolution. It is time. The spiritual and healing nature that youÕve come to expect in The EDGE has become a part of the collective, in so many and unexpected ways. The neighbor down the street now does tÕai chi and your sister has just asked you about Feng Shui. Our community at large is thirsting to explore and uncover meaning in an infinite variety of experiences. We hope to help our entire community awaken to the fact that the unspeakable joy is not just something they can find in Edge Life, but rediscover within themselves. Tim Miejan is editor of The EDGE. Contact him at (651) 578-8969, toll-free 1 (888) 776-5687 or e-mail editor@edgenews.com Copyright © 2004 Tim Miejan. |
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Sept 2004 |
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