Comedian George Carlin once suggested an interesting way to end war: Simply introduce everyone on the planet to everyone else. While this is going on, there’s no time to fight…and after the introductions are complete, there’s no desire to fight. Everyone would be friends.

To carry things a step further: What if, by introducing everyone on the planet to everyone else we also somehow manage to focus our collective attention on something of greater value than our own frenzied, hamster-in-the-wheel existence? Maybe it would be a starting point for global transformation. By reaching out with the goal of connecting with brothers and sisters around the planet, maybe we could even manage to set a good example for our kids.

If you have the uncomfortable feeling that time may be running out and we’d better begin the introductions soon, you’re not alone. Without wanting to sound pessimistic, I often wonder why we humans behave as if we’re below decks on some planetary version of the Titanic, maniacally shoveling coal into the boilers. Do we really want to be going at maximum speed when we meet the iceberg?

Whatever your view of this analogy, it does seem to me that we’re all on the same boat. Certainly, there’s something to be said for the act of coming together in peace and brotherhood: Together, maybe we can figure out how to reverse the engines, miss the iceberg, and make our next port of call.

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By coming together, our hearts will be filled with courage and hope for renewal. More importantly, our wills shall be singularly focused on acts of power and beauty that will be good for the whole of life.

---THE CIRCLE IS SACRED
by Scout Cloud Lee, Ed.D.

Stillwater, Oklahoma is home to Oklahoma State University. It’s also the birthplace of Eskimo Joe’s, a thriving business that began life as a hole-in-the-wall campus bar twenty years ago, but has since grown to be one of the largest mail-order novelty clothing companies in the world. You’ve probably seen college kids wearing Eskimo Joe’s T-shirts, with the picture of a grinning Eskimo boy and his dog. Stillwater is a nice place, but if all it had to offer was OSU and Joe’s, you might not want to linger.

So let me tell you about Stillwater’s hidden treasure, because this has everything to do with our mission to come together in global friendship.

West of Stillwater you’ll find a certain car dealership; this is your landmark. Turn north here; the asphalt road eventually changes to gravel, then dirt. Drive down this road for a couple of miles past the country homes, the grazing cows, the peaceful meadows. Along the way you’ll spot Hawk Friends circling in search of food. Then, finally, one last intersection. There, take note of two signs. One says DEAD END (particularly ironic in view of the broader reality of the place we’re headed for), and the other one says THE RANCH: A Gift to the Seventh Generation. Home of The Challenge of Excellence, The Magical Child Foundation, and Vision US, Inc.

Another couple of hundred yards, and you’re there. This is The Ranch, where good medicine and powerful ideas abide. Open the big gate, drive in, then close the gate behind you—you don’t want the horses or llamas getting out.

Drive straight ahead slowly. There, see the sign? It says CAUTION--Future local and world leaders at work and play. Please remember the part about play, because it will form the basis of our exploration into World Change.

Just beyond the sign is an octagonal cabin…the Eagle’s Nest. This home (actually more of an altar, like everything else here) was built by the woman whose vision transformed these forty acres. This land--originally her homestead--has evolved into a center for entertainment, personal and organizational training, sacred ceremony, and fun.

And now it has become the epicenter of something very, very big.

Scout Cloud Lee is one of the most remarkable women you’ll ever encounter, and her path is a fascinating one. She and her twin sister were born about fifty years ago in Florida. Young Cloud enjoyed the company of her part-Seminole grandfather, who taught her many of the ways of her people. Off to college in Georgia, she obtained her Ph.D. in education, then began a career as a college professor, first at the University of Illinois, then at Oklahoma State.

Remember the part about play? As Cloud explains it, "When I was at the University of Illinois I started an organization called The International Society of Leisure Therapists. I helped start the profession of Leisure Counseling.

"At the U of I and here at Oklahoma State University I was head of the Leisure Counseling and Therapeutic Recreation Programs in the Department of Leisure Sciences. We’ve known for a long time that the way people play is a very good indicator of their health, wealth, and their lifestyle in general. People very often work at play; they buy their homes based upon their leisure activities…those things that are fun for them.

"So, understanding that our highest principle is that we really, truly enjoy our lives and should play together, I started this profession and ended up training a lot of doctors and psychiatrists and psychologists around the planet."

The author of many books, she was immersed in academia, but then something happened. "I was training the Canadian Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association, doctors who were very interested in looking at some of the ways of healing people through play. That grew to the point that I had to make a choice whether I was going to stay at the university teaching and writing research articles and doing research, or if I was going to get out there and really lead the way. I ultimately left the university, which was quite a decision--I was fully tenured."

Cloud is a woman of vision. What some might call "goals" or "dreams" are visions to her, things she sees and feels deeply. Explaining this to me during one of my Ranch visits, she said, "I had a vision of writing a book; I’ve written eleven. I had a vision of earning a doctorate; got that at twenty-five." And so on. These visions come to Cloud, and then come to pass. She is a powerful woman.

"I’ve known since I was four years old that I was here to travel the planet. I had a visitation when I was four--which, to a four year old is very clear--that by the time I was forty I would really understand the logistics of my journey. Sure enough, that actually happened.

"I was in Canada, completing an 18-day training program with the Canadian Psychiatric Association, and I had what the elders would call a Loan of Power. Literally, my consciousness was so elevated--not with drugs or fatigue or what have you--that I could see clearly into the future. I could do that walking down the street, and it lasted for 15 days. For 15 days I didn’t eat, sleep, or drink anything. My brain shifted from side to side. On a tape recorder I recorded as much of it as I could, and at the end of that period of time my life was changed forever. I had to quit the university, I had to begin traveling and begin doing what I saw there."

These days Cloud travels the world training corporate and government agencies in team building, leadership, visioning, and personal empowerment. Also, she conducts Sacred Circle camps for men, women and youth. At The Ranch there are drumming circles, healing ceremonies, rituals of passage, games, and opportunities to "do a sweat;" that is, to use one of the four sweat lodges in the Village of the Stronghearts, which is a collection of Native American structures surrounding a large fire circle.

Another feature of The Ranch is a 29-element challenge ropes course. Exercises performed on this series of tall poles and cables give participants a chance to access their inner fire and courage.

Last year Cloud and company constructed a gigantic covered wooden stage, beneath which is a huge pit. This unique design turns the stage into a massive drum, with rather astounding acoustical properties. Who uses the stage? Michael Martin Murphy was headliner at a big concert held at The Ranch last October. And Cloud herself is a hell of a singer-songwriter and performer; she seems most alive when she performs. It’s when she’s having the most fun!

The Ranch is ever under construction. It is a work in progress. Cloud has plans to expand the facilities; negotiations are underway to acquire neighboring land. I was shown plans for a 1400-acre facility that will provide a lot more room for play and learning and re-connecting with the Earth. Changes to structures or to the land itself are made in such a way that they will have minimum impact on the land or on the animals that live there. Cloud is very respectful of Mother Earth.

I first learned of this place from my sweetheart Constance, who’d spent many a day at The Ranch. When we began dating, she’d speak from time to time about the magic of the land, and how evident it was that it was a sacred place. It sounded intriguing, to say the least.

My first visit was last year, during the Summer Solstice. The atmosphere, the ambiance of the place, moved my spirit, and I got a first-hand look at what women of vision can accomplish. Strolling around the property--through the cottonwood grove, past the pond, across the prairie grass--you’re overwhelmed by a sense of quiet power, the power of Mom Nature. On that occasion I didn’t have a chance to meet Cloud. She was off somewhere, training people.

But I knew I wanted to talk to her. Personal transformation and reinvention of the Self have always been topics of fascination to me. So early this year I arranged a series of meetings, with the idea of talking to Cloud mainly about her work, and that’s where we began. However, during the course of our first conversation she shared with me an idea so far-reaching in scope that everything else faded into the background.

You see, Cloud is going to throw a party for the entire world. And yes, you’re invited.

We were running errands in Stillwater, Cloud behind the wheel. We visited the music store, the mechanic, the bank, and various other places. While Cloud propelled her car through town I sat next to her, tape recorder in hand, asking questions and getting some interesting answers. She’s a vivacious woman who smiles frequently and laughs a lot. Cloud touches you frequently when talking, and she likes to stand or sit close by, creating a sense of friendly intimacy. She’s soft-spoken but passionate in her words, and possesses the quiet energy of someone who knows what she’s about. Call it confidence, or call it a sense of quiet calm; whatever you call it, she’s a wonderful conversationalist and very easy to listen to.

It was during this casual visit that she told me of an astounding vision, one that’s been with her more than a decade now: She saw the world coming together in a huge celebration of play and greeting, linked together via television and satellite hook-ups. A 24-hour party, a time when people did not work but instead gathered together in love with the idea of elevating consciousness and coming together in peace.

The date and time? January 1, 2000. The place? Wherever you happen to be…after all, it will be a worldwide event.

Explaining her vision, Cloud told me, "I actually saw that there would be a time of the planet coming together, that there would be at least a 24-hour period in which there’d be a great global family reunion, a world celebration, a party that was choreographed via satellite. We were able to look up on big screens with twelve splits on the screen and go to twelve different sites at once and one by one, pull each one out."

"These might be computer screens and we’re up on the Web together, or perhaps on a big television screen. As I watch the Web and the means of communication evolve, I see the possibility. This is twelve years I’ve been on this journey…traveling around to different networks. I’ve been in LA, Jerusalem, England, Australia, to get the word out about a global satellite link-up. In my vision it looked like about five minutes of every hour for 24 hours that we went up on satellite together and performed simultaneous global events. We toasted together, we lit candles together, we made prayers together, we drummed together and sounded the trumpets together, we did the Uplink Dance together, we held hands together…simple things that we could all do. I saw the sun coming up in New Zealand--the first place the sun hits on a new day--and it would be December 31st here, but January 1st there. And for that 24-hour period we’d be ready to stay together for a day. Via satellite we see the sun rising, we see the Maori people begin with a blast of their native wind instruments, with us on our conches, brass or woodwind instruments. It would be a global hello.

"The next hour the sun moves to Australia and ultimately, around the planet. For five minutes at the top of every hour we’d say hello to our brothers and sisters around the world. There would be concerts and good deeds and potlatches and giveaways…"

She stopped in mid-thought. "You know, the thing I see is that no matter what we’re doing, we HAVE to come together."