I started on the Neutron Trail by following the scent of a question my maternal grandfather Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) asked us to consider. How will we humans mature enough to use nuclear technology, and indeed all technology we have created, safely and beneficially? I delved into the choices we made in the past and what values motivated those choices, to discover new possibilities for our future.
Neutrons are the neutrally charged particles Enrico used to penetrate the secrets of the atom and for which he won a Nobel Prize in Physics (1938). The Neutron Trail invites us to use an inclusive neutrality rather than either/or logic to penetrate the pressing problems putting humanity’s future in peril.
The Trail moves through uncharted and ever changing spaces that don’t exist on a normal map. These spaces offer potentials for learning: across time, place and most importantly of our various worldviews. Sometimes spotting the Trail is easy. Often the way is not straightforward. On the Neutron Trail we can travel back in time to make sense of, and heal past wrongs, to help us in finding new ways forward.
What do we need to do individually and collectively to grow up and mature as a species? How can we evolve our cultural beliefs to live in harmony with the natural world? How might we learn to respect ourselves and our environment in ways that support all life?
As the pressure to adapt to an ever more quickly changing world increases, where do we go and how do we move? We can migrate from one place to another, in search of a better life. But we’re running out of physical space.
The root meaning of immigrate is to move into. What new realms, beyond geography, are we moving into? The Neutron Trail reveals the collective growth of our species as an immigration story — not just from physical place to place, but also from one evolving value system into the next.
“Olivia Fermi’s presentation was surprising and profoundly moving. My interest was piqued because I was familiar with the name Fermi. As Olivia started speaking, I realized I generally try and hold myself apart from the topic because it touches on something in me that evokes a visceral and fearful response.
However, here was someone who was trying to turn not only her own personal history on its head in a fascinating and creative manner, but also putting it into the context of how all of us have a choice to confront a fundamentally frightful thing, and find beauty and a positive way forward.
Her examples of how she and other artists from around the globe have worked through their own dark stirrings about growing up and living in a nuclear age, into a reflective choreography of rage and joy, despair and hope, bitterness and even humor, was both unexpected and life affirming. I’m so grateful to be on the receiving end of that, and as the project gains increasing profile (as it should), I look forward to hearing about it as a social movement of great import!” — Shannon Lythgoe, Writer & Artist
Traversing the Neutron Trail, in community, has opened my heart and helped me to grow profoundly in ways I could not have imagined. I am grateful to my family and the many supporters and fellow Trail walkers I’ve met and continue to meet. You motivate me with your penetrating questions. You inspire me with your stories about challenging the world to grow in new ways on the Neutron Trail.
Toshiko Tanaka, atomic bomb survivor, and I sharing stories about our lives; thoughts on art, action and healing. Hiroshima, Japan. Photo: © Noriko Nasu Tidball 2014.
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