I have seen a future where ACEs is history. Allow me to back up two years to explain.
As the last election was “called”, I made an oath then and there: my addiction to hourly updates from my media news sources would end. My so-called morning ritual of coffee and keeping abreast of the topical events—as viewed through the lens of media producers and publishers—was over.
Keeping Up Versus Feeding Purpose
When I told my friends about my decision there were concerns and I was asked, “But how will you know what’s going on?” and “How will you keep up?”
Replying I said, “I spend my days working to push policies that will make survival services available to our most vulnerable children and families in the US. I devote my days to preventing an epidemic of childhood trauma. Every day I have access to data on the availability of food, shelter, medical care, behavioral health care, and parent supports. I know what percentage of our children endure adverse childhood experiences.”
I am far from out of touch with “what’s going on in this troubled society.”
As a matter of fact, when it comes to issues that truly matter (like ensuring our children survive the night and our students have a quality education to give them a chance at success), I could be considered the go-to guy for updates.
Media Fasting to a Better Future
I share this tale not to lament on the quality of journalism to adequately inform or on the corruption of corporate-fed media. Instead, I am wanting to share the benefit of taking a media fast.
Through such a fast, I gained something increasingly valuable with age, time and space. I developed the capacity to remember the future and, equally important, work toward it.
I realize a term like “remember the future” will lose a lot of readers, at least those not familiar with a few episodes of Star Trek. Let me explain.
Up until the election my waking hours were plugged in—with all my screens (desktop, iPad, iPhone, MacBook) streaming non-stop information. And try as I might to keep the flow filled with quality content, garbage snuck in. A lot.
After the election, I was off all social media, blogs, and website unless directly related to public health, education and child welfare research and data. Outside of an occasional diversion on Netflix or an Amazon order, I was off commercial sites. I also did my best to avoid non-profits and governments sites failing my sniff test (Did they utilize real data to support their actions and findings?).
Despite being a web-based cyber junkie for decades, withdrawal from the cyberworld of commercialism was far easier than I imagined. Eliminating the media inflow left me with a lot of brain space to do more worthwhile things rather than processing crappy, packaged information. It felt a bit like taking the blue pill in the movie, The Matrix—where reality became very different. My blissful ignorance of illusion was gone, and a profound sense of purpose knocked me off my feet.
This is when I started the process called “remembering the future.” I would find myself seeing scenes in my mind—as clear as any memory, except it was me in the near or far-flung future. And far from living in a Mad Max zombie apocalypse, the future I saw was becoming, more and more, sane.
My Trip Forward
With respect to my work and mission, I began foreseeing, a decade or more forward, how the American states (as opposed to the federal government) were starting to pass laws that guaranteed access to medical and mental health care—a Medicare for all program.
I saw states evolve into caring societies like Sweden (where I had attended a grad school program) where all the basics are part of being a tax-paying resident. I saw labels like democrats, republicans, conservative and liberal fade away, replaced by folks who thought of themselves as radically pragmatic problem-solvers. The pacing of change was facilitated wisely by artificial intelligence who prized social justice and fairness above all. The future I was able to visit was the opposite of the dystopian worlds of Terminator films.
My visits to the future were instructive. I could see myself walking into public schools, in once-tough neighborhoods, transformed. Classrooms where once an overworked teacher and thirty students—many in a state of emotional trauma—were becoming learning environments equal to the best of private schools. Teachers are now supported. Schools had wellness clinics with medical, dental and behavioral health care. A parent center was state-of-the-art with web-based learning programs and a full-time navigator to support parents accessing all types of services.
I saw a future when governments commit resources to strengthen all families and trauma-informed behavioral health care is in every school and community.
Additionally, I saw future elections where lying candidates were called out and sane ones with real solutions were voted in—with large voter participation. It did help that tech was invented to identify lying and voting was done on our mobile devices.
I can’t say that I saw far enough ahead to see flying cars, but self-driving ones were the norm. Each city I visited was robust and well-resourced. I do believe folks were hanging out with hologram-friends in parks. Others were conducting business across the globe with colleagues—linked through voice-activated wearable technology.
Remembering Together
I’ve seen the future—well, at least a future.
One could ask, “How do you know it was seeing a future versus your optimistic dreaming?”
Fair enough. It doesn’t really matter.
What matters is I have a powerful feeling a far fairer and kinder future exists in the U.S.— one which can be realized if we declutter our environments and our minds. Here, “present” focus on solutions to problems can be our ticket to a tomorrow we truly want to live in. Trust me.
Many great-hearted and strategic folks are working right now to end every social ill you can imagine. They are following their own internal vision of the future. This future is unfolding because of their focused energies! They’re not spending hours dwelling on the daily breaking news and its paralyzing storm of draining emotion.
I sure feel gifted by this clarity of vision which guides my activities every day. With age, I also feel fortunate to have this clarity with a much larger toolbox to realize the future I see—along with the urgency of time to solve.
If you can’t imagine having such a gift of remembering the future I describe, try freeing up some room in your mind’s hard drive and heart. Turn off the clutter for a month and discover what an amazing future awaits.
Dominic Cappello is a man on a mission, advocating for collaboration, data, and technology to solve social challenges considered unsolvable—which includes the prevention of ACEs. He is the co-author of Anna, Age Eight: The data-driven prevention of childhood trauma and maltreatment--which can be downloaded free-of-charge here: www.AnnaAgeEight.org. He’s been a bestselling author, Oprah Winfrey guest, and volunteer for Big Brothers/Big Sisters. You can explore and join his advocacy work here: www.ResilienceLeaders.org
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