It’s an exciting time to be alive. Sure, turmoil dogs the human race and may before our time overwhelm us. But despite this and more likely because of it, so much is at our fingertips. It really does feel like pivotal change is at hand, and that each of us in our lifetime may well be pressed into heroic service. Welcome to Beams and Struts, an online project facilitating dynamic ideas, community development and social action.  The site was started by a group of friends as an experiment in collective intelligence. It’s run on a shoe-string budget from the corner of our desks in between work, school, children, life in general. Our North American middle-class privilege aside, we’re an eclectic bunch with ties that go back to childhood in some cases. Most importantly, Beams and Struts exists to provide a space for new thinkers, writers, activists and artists to publish their work, plug into a larger world, initiate discussions and build upon the most fundamental of inquiries: Who are we and what shall we do? We believe that a planetary civilization, in all its complexity, is emerging and crying out for integral expressions. Bridging the divisions is the sacred work of our times. The site presents material in four sections:  Journal - Longer, more complex explorations and overviews. Magazine - Medium length pieces, like you'd find in a...magazine. Blog - summaries, descriptions, presentations, videos we've found, short reviews and other bits and pieces. Podcasts - Audio interviews. Our Journal and Magazine articles are peer-reviewed before publishing. In every section comments are welcomed and responded to by the author. Our goal is to generate dialogue and expand what we all know. You are invited to contribute to this project. You can share thoughts in the comments, post on our FB page, send us a submission, or perhaps participate in ways not yet invented. Seriously. We want you to be part of this. ~~~ To find out more about Beams and Struts' genesis as a project, the process we've developed, the values we espouse and how they relate to the bigger picture, check out this TEDx talk by core Beams creator TJ Dawe: