Imagination, compassion, and social change

“ARCS of Imagination”: A New Concert of Ideas^™

On December 5, 2003, Creative Leaps International premiered a new Concert of Ideas, ARCS of Imagination, for New York AIDS Related Community Services (ARCS). The event was full of poetry, performance, discussion, and—of course—music. “The music,” declared one participant afterward. “Music has saved my life before. Music can save lives. You all reminded me of that today.”

ARCS of Imagination is founded on the idea that eliciting social change begins first with a personal act of imagination. That we must be capable of imagining and desiring a better world before we are compelled to act, to take up service, to reach out and bring the real world closer to the perfect one in our imagination. That the act of imagination and the act of reaching out—to another human being and to the world at large—are one and the same.

The ARCS participants—social workers, administrators, and executives—were gathered for their semi-annual regional conference in upstate New York. The focus of the day was on renewal and growth, reinforcing the teamwork and sense of community within the organization. ARCS provides life-sustaining work in the community, serving AIDS patients throughout the New York region.