a counter-revolution within the Internet

the collaborative self

what motivates us--
to choose?
to work?
to apply the gifts of ourselves
to be just what the world has been wanting?

perhaps competition?
competition defined as being better than another?
selfishness?
the self as individual and its desire the mundane
of what feels rich and good at the moment?

I think, though, we sell ourselves short
when we stop at the zero-sum of games,
when we equate worth with wealth,
prestige with product,

I am intrigued by a counter-revolution within the Internet
where people work & create & freely share sections of enabling code,
tools created and offered in a corporate search for what works,
shared footholds for the climb up
where somehow being best as individuals
can enable us to be best together,
as many hands lighten the lifting
and we can feel good as part of a whole
moving forward and upward
without stopping it all to say “me.”


by Henry H. Walker
December 24, ’08