Editorial

by Éric Lemoine

A famous quote attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson says that “nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm”.

Then, judging by the amount of enthusiasm that went into the making of this first issue of Wisp, we can say that all requirements are met hands down to fulfill that promise of greatness.
Because, even more than just enthusiasm, what fuels Wisp, is foremost the sheer imagination, genuineness and talent of its contributors, coming from all parts of the glove (fingers of a hand, one might say).

Collaborative work like this e-zine can be immensely rewarding, as much as it can be demanding. Nearly everyone of us, by the very nature of our society is more or less well versed in all sorts of projects of a collaborative nature. Yet, it does not mean that all of these feel fulfilling.
On another hand, lots of people seem to have advice or counseling to provide to make projects work, and there are innumerable books written on the subject with all sorts of methods with all the more barbaric sounding acronyms to backup the theories.
But mostly, what these methods are about is primarily control. Control of the deadlines, control of the budget, control of the task force etc. None of these methods will start by telling you to simply be playful and to cultivate that feeling of elation you had when you awoke from that dream where you had that brilliant idea, and it felt oh so vivid and near, and all you want to do is come back to that state of being.
In many a way, this e-zine started just like this sort of dream. A dream of seeing all kinds of great contributions put together like little wisps of light, and each shining its own particular vibration to give a sense of a natural mosaic of beings, where each is doing her or his part, that very part one knows best how to play.

One of the main tenets in Chinese taoism is that the perfect ruler will allow the natural flow of things, and exert the least amount of control as necessary, or in classical terms, be practising “not doing”. One of the stanzas of the Dao De Jing in fact goes so far as to say “The best of all rulers is but a shadowy presence…” As we are witnessing a shift in our society towards more feminine qualities, such a relinquishing of control over things seems not such an unreachable line. And it is not just about control in the rules of our societies, it applies to every possible layer of one’s reality. In acts as simple as teaching a child, or taking a few minutes to smell the flowers.

By allowing these wisps of light to shine through these pages, we hope the reader will also find that sense of fitting into a greater flow leading to exciting new realms.