Business as usual is over and we dare not ignore the fact that an epic transformation is underway. The ailing natural world, war, political & social upheaval, rabid extremism, conflict of every stripe, diminishing resources, economic crisis, an expanding global population, demands for freedom and greater equality, they are issues at the very core of our new reality.nWe know in the midst of chaos there is also progress.

There is a growing solidarity and empathy among us all, our human family transcends national, ethnic, religious and cultural barrier as never before through the miracle of modern communication. There is the hope and tangible evidence of our global tribe’s desire to build, to renew and reinvent and to harness the very genius of human creativity to ever-greater heights. nn

The human spirit continues to astonish us with its capacity for artistic expression, with its intrinsic need for joy, the gift of laughter, its continual questioning and exploration of our existence, its natural propensity to beauty. We don’t reject the pleasures of life and we wholeheartedly engage in showcasing the finer things, because civilization is also food, clothes, architecture, travel and sport. But, we shudder at easy clichés.