Self sufficiency has been such a common aspiration for so long now, that I believe we have all come to think of it as the end game. Our parents taught us to stand on our own, take responsibility for our actions, and to take care of those we love and are responsible for regardless of cost or sacrifice.

These are admirable goals to attain in life. They derive and are derived from the personal development of integrity which becomes en grained in our souls.

Many ancient societies fostered this via the mechanism of mentoring. Before the induction of the industrial age the nature of small communities and the close proximity within which community members lived and worked lent itself naturally to this. Older, wiser members of the community spent the majority of their lives in close proximity to one another and to younger less experienced members of the community.

Without computers and phones, conversations were more public and could very naturally include all within hearing distance. Tid bits of information, shared experiences, lessons learned could be shared openly and publicly as a normal course of conversation. All benefited, both older and wise, and younger and less experienced.

Enter the industrial age and the commute to work. Starting with Fathers who left home now and reported to remote locations to earn their living, and eventually to more inclusive opportunities that also encompassed the mothers, families began to become more cellular and less nuclear. The younger members of society were left to learn many lessons on their own as there was less time spent in proximity of their more experienced elders.

The industrial age brought mass media, first in the form of low cost print, then the rapid adoption of broadcast technologies (both inherently one way communication) and we entered the age of the propagation of knowledge. Common members of societies now have access to vast amounts of information to glean knowledge and expertise from in almost all areas of human discipline.

Somewhere along the way we lost the natural mentoring that smaller, less educated and more closed societies contained. Although still a factor in everyone's life, the opportunities have been reduced and we now have a large section of our society that need mentors, friends and social interaction that leads to the acquisition of wisdom (as apposed to knowledge).

This problem seems to be accelerating as more forms of new media emerge.

But a glimmer of change is starting to emerge. With the rapid adoption of the internet and the aligning of communities of interest from very large cross sections of society, new opportunities are emerging to restart the transfer of wisdom.

Internet communities of interest are not bound by common income levels, social circumstances, social standing or even common belief structures. Participation tends to be broad and span all aspects of each of these properties.

Mentors are re-emerging, and mentoring as a cross pollination principle (not just a top down flow) is beginning to take hold. I see it in many places, and now seem to have found the most aggressive approach to this newly emerging phenomenon right here at Peoplejam. What a fantastic idea.

NOTICE: Mentors wanted. I have much to share gleaned from the experiences of my life and I know you do too. I am looking forward to learning more and sharing what I have learned.

Thank you Peoplejam, this is a great place. I just had to tell the founders how excited I am to find someone doing this.

Now to get that goal list out .....