Navigating the Mazeway: Fulfilling Our Best Possibilities As Individuals and As a Society

In his youth, author Anthony J. Parrotto believed that those in charge of schools, the city, the nation, and other major institutions "always knew what they were doing and always had our best interests in mind." His later recognition that this was not necessarily the case disturbed him greatly. "I changed from an ordinary young person struggling to adapt to the world as it was into someone compelled to learn how the world worked, or ought to work, and how I might consciously model my life based on my own sensibilities, rather than leaving it to others to prescribe." This realization and goal were the earliest inklings of what would become Navigating the Mazeway: Fulfilling Our Best Possibilities As Individuals and As a Society.Parrotto defines the mazeway as: "you, me, and everyone else, functioning within the social process of this planet, situated in the riddle of the universe - a puzzle within a puzzle within a puzzle." He believes there are many dead-ends in the mazeway that stop us from fulfilling our best possibilities as individuals and as a society. Without a coherent set of premises to illuminate our journey through the mazeway, we will continue the cycle of misadventures, destruction, and despair that has afflicted humankind from time immemorial.The author challenges us to question our assumptions, extend our horizon, and fulfill our best possibilities as individuals and as a society. He outlines the process of Life Mapping, which enables us to gain an overall sense of who we are and how we may orchestrate an authentic, satisfying life. He also outlines the process of Social Mapping, which suggests how we can work together to build vibrant and sustainable institutions and communities that reflect a heightened awareness of ourselves and of the great issues of our time.