Good morning, Netizens...

As I slip quietly through the Virtual Garden just before dawn, all the Garden Gnomes are still sleeping in their covert caverns scattered here and there throughout the garden, and the morning mist is just beginning to lift. It is so silent at this hour you can hear the far-off cry of the mourning doves near the river, and in the pearly half-light before dawn, for a time even I, a mere mortal, take on the vaguely-defined outline of one of the ghosts in the Virtual Ballroom.

Striding across the Virtual Ballroom and sitting down at my favorite bar stool, our barrista of the day, Andromeda, a brilliant wraith sparkles at me as she delicately pushes a cup of the day's virtual espresso blend my way.

“It is called the “Virtual Premise” she comments, adding in a sibilant whisper, “It is supposed to make you capable of dreaming of new vistas, and capable of visualizing new concepts.”

As I take my first tentative sip of the daily virtual espresso, I am suddenly mindful of today's quotation, that the only admirable imagination is that which creates new realities, and is capable of making things happen. With all the social, moral and financial malignancies spreading across the face of the planet, I ponder in this, my most-private moment whether now more than ever before, we as a culture need to use that other 90% of our brains to imagine a world crafted only by our imaginations.

What if we could create a new world consisting of our imaginations alone? Would we regenerate the same old world with all its inherent weaknesses and turmoil, or would we make the conscious decision to make the world over again, with an eye toward humanity and grace? Could we accept that the world, at least as we know it today, is in desperate need of an overhaul, and then have the conviction in our beliefs to create something more fair and gentle than the world in which we live?

Are we capable of true change, where our values and mores coupled with our innate imaginations will guide or alter our future?

Maybe the ghosts should have named today's Virtual Espresso “Altruism”. On the other hand, we can dream, can't we?

Welcome to Wednesday, July 16, 2008. You can get into fathomless philosophical waters and perhaps even drown therein, or you can simply come to live for a time in the Virtual Ballroom where beliefs and your own imaginations are the only guideposts to a less-heartbreaking reality.

Dave

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