I remember talking once with a friend of our family, a man who was the coordinator of all scientific research at Arizona State University. He said that amidst all the information that had been generated by thousands of laboratories around the country investigating cancer, there probably was a cure for the disease. The problem was the lack of interdisciplinary communication, a lack of people trained to make connections between previously separated areas of knowledge and research. In an industrial economy, it may make sense to be protective and competitive with one's goods or services. In an information economy, such an attitude only decreases the potential wealth.
Information grows and is enriched through sharing.
In such a context, abundance does not mean how much one has, nor even how much one knows, but the richness and openness of one's connections, which can generate new insights. It is a measure of one's capacity to be part of, and to contribute to, a system of mutual empowerment. We live in a finite world but in contact with an infinite spirit of creativity and potential. We often limit this contact by putting our own restrictions upon it. However, many men and women have found their most creative and empowering moments during times of severest physical limitation, such as being in prison.