If I had £20 billion in which I could use to help make the world a better place, I think that today, I would focus on creating a Trust for compassion, empathy and love. Whilst I know that there are organisations out there, I don’t actually believe that you can have too much of these good things in the world. If anything we need a lot more of it.
I love the concept of The Elders an amazing group of independent world leaders which was set up by Peter Gabriel and Richard Branson in July 2007.
From the Elders website ….
The Elders share a common commitment to peace and universal human rights, but they also bring with them a wealth of diverse expertise and experience:
- The peace makers, with decades of experience mediating and resolving conflicts around the world.
- The peace builders who have helped post-conflict societies to heal wounds and rebuild.
- The social revolutionaries who transformed their own countries – whether by reducing poverty, improving the status of women, or championing nonviolent struggle.
- The pioneering women who have governed their countries, led international institutions and spearheaded movements to empower women.
An Elder is also a changemaker – someone who can lead by example, creating positive social change and inspiring others to do the same.
Of course being the totally logical being that I am, it has to be set up in a sustainable way so that it may live on beyond those of us who get it going. Just like the Elders, I’d like to maintain political neutrality ensuring that the work that it does upholds the best of our humanitarian values. If however, I was able to be a part of The Elders, I’d be delighted to embrace the journey of working with some incredible people who already know what they are doing.
This of course leads me to how I envisage anything like this happening. A part of the process would be to employ the top experts, obviously and ask them what is needed, what can be done and how they could see we could make a difference so that we could define some amazingly ambitious objectives. After all, if we are to do this then we might as well go all out to really make an impact.
Personally I feel that to give any such an organisation the power to grow and reach the parts of the world where it is needed most, we’d need to have a network of life leaders. People seeking to connect with others who share the same ideals and goals to provide support, inspiration, knowledge and resources to facilitate incredible changes. it is through their interconnectedness that the best outcome for all concerned can be achieved.
Those are my thoughts for today. Tomorrow it will no doubt be different. This is just a beginning and although I am aware that this is a very crude outline of possibility compared to what might emerge later, my thinking is that we all have to start somewhere.
As a student of art soon discovers, the drawing of an egg at first seems easy and the idea of drawing it a hundred times over overwhelmingly boring. The reality is that as he persists with the exercise so his drawings depict a journey of enlightenment as he fine tunes his observational skills and creative expression. By the time the hundredth egg has been drawn, it has developed a maturity, elegance and sophistication that would have previously remained unseen to the untrained eye. it takes practice to think big and whilst I have a long way to go, I am willing to keep walking so that I get better.