Expo 2025: Planet Earth - Alive and Well

I wrote this as a follow up. https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/cannibalism-capitalism-consuming-its-own-tony-chapman?trk=prof-post

From my sister Anna ... Hi Tony, During a walk today I found myself (in my imagination) seeing people enjoying your Expo 2025. This was purely my imagination but it had me thinking about the importance of celebrations in our lives; how such occasions become vortexes that stir up and magnetize all manner of energy in positive ways. Everything from Christmas, to milestone events for individuals and/or organizations to community events such as Expos. It is typical that many people express negativity at the mention of a community event such as an Expo with a main concern being the cost. But once the visionaries are able to bring people on board, the event takes on a life of its own . The planning of such an event brings a lot of energy to the surface in terms of the exchange of ideas, inventions and projects of all kinds. Ultimately when the doors are opened, most people in the community come to share in the event and feel blessed as a result. And the business people make a lot of money. When people are putting on a big party it is a very natural experience to treat the occasion as an incentive to attend to household improvements. When a community is putting on an Expo or Olympics it is just as natural to treat the occasion as an incentive to attend to community improvements. Suddenly, all manner of motivation and money comes to the fore to create, develop and transform infrastructure as in the case of the subway in Montreal in l967 and its further development ten years later at the time of the Montreal Olympics. On occasions of this kind, people dream up ideas that were not even imagined until that time. The impossible suddenly seems possible. When Henry Cole came up with the idea of the Great Exhibit in London in the mid 1800s he was able to bring Prince Albert on board because Prince Albert was a practical idealistic. Prince Albert was an individual who identified problems and potential solutions everywhere he looked and he saw the Great Exhibit as a way to bring together all of the ideas, inventions and solutions that were improving and modernizing life in Europe and England at the time. He wanted to showcase these ideas and inventions and he wanted to showcase England as the leader of the pack in terms of modernization. When Henry Cole and Prince Albert first brought the idea to the public they were met with negative criticisms of all kinds. But they persevered and the Great Exhibit occurred, as a great success. The London of the 1800s (as is the London of today) was overwhelmed with problems and poverty. But the Great Exhibit of 1851 was a shining light of celebration and hope that uplifted the energies of the time in ways that counter balanced the energies of doom and gloom. On concrete levels the Exhibit lasted for six months, but on energetic levels the impacts persisted far beyond. As a result of the unleashing of spiritual and creative energy that occurred, the memory of that event lives on today as one of the turning points of history at the time. One cannot measure the impact of events of that kind but to use the example of Expo 67, the Montreal that existed afterwards seemed to be a different Montreal than the one that had existed before that event. Since Montreal was the heart of Canada at the time this impact had a ripple effect throughout the country. As well Montreal and Canada were suddenly on the global radar in a new way. The organizers of Expo 67 could have said - there are too many problems in Canada and the world right now to indulge in the planning of a six month celebration of good and hope in the world. But these individuals persisted and created just that. Also without people thinking about this at the time - the energy of this event in Canada may have been a force on positive levels that counteracted the tension that was building up in the US at the time. So this is what I would say to people who responded to your idea by saying "we have more serious issues to attend to in Toronto than an Expo in 2025. Perhaps the world needs these occasions of celebration wherever they are created as a result of visionaries of different kinds as a counter balance to the tendency of human nature to sink to states of apathy and violence. If we waited until the problems of the world were solved to create oasis of hope and positivity within the world and to showcase the best in the world in terms of idea and inventions - we would be waiting forever. You may have been simply throwing out an idea and you have moved on to other interests, but I wanted to say that your idea sparked a chord of interest within me. After thinking about what you said I was left with the memory of that phrase from "Field of Dreams" - "If you build it they will come." And I believe one of your FB friends expressed something similar. Having said all of this I realize that Canada is facing an economic recession - and the world is in chaos on economic and political levels. How this will unfold in the next decade remains to be seen. At the same time, it is the ideas and actions of countless individuals and groups who will ultimately determine how life take shape in the next decade. People plant seeds in terms of ideas and actions and developments and these take shape as the present and the future. It doesn't just happen - either in the negative or the positive. People make it happen. So hopefully there will be enough people planting and building on positive ideas and dreams during the next decade to counteract the negativity and apathy. xoxo Anna

thanks for sharing.

Let me know how I can help, Tony!

Wow!