All the challenges we now face are surmountable, but only if we meet them head on in a sincere attempt to solve them. And that is exactly what is not happening among the "powers that be." Instead, those powers are shouting louder and louder, proclaiming to have the answers while actually just enacting, and perpetuating, the crisis.

They've taken the space we all share, but it doesn't belong to them. In order for love to triumph, we need to take it back.

The word "occupy," in this context means precisely that - to take back space. That's why the Occupy Movement is providing us all with a singular opportunity, and a priceless gift. To sit, camp, and march are all ways of claiming the necessary space for a different way of life to emerge. It's not the whole process, of course, but it is the crucial beginning.

Stay tuned for how this relates to you, personally. As for the world at large, let's dispense with the idea that the Occupy Movement is hampered by not having a clear message. It's message is totally clear - this space belongs to us, all of us, and it's our collective right and responsibility to decide how we shall live in it together.

We were all taught to change the system from within, to write letters to the editor and elect leaders who share our convictions. But in the space that the movement is taking back it's easier than ever to see that this is currently impossible. Our system of government has been overrun as well. It works mostly against us, and on behalf of the most powerful.

Out there in the encampments, and in the arduous consensus building sessions that determine the movement's actions, participants are experimenting with real democracy, incredibly messy but also deeply invigorating compared to the stranglehold we all witness in our nation's capital.

They're also doing a familiar dance with the police, in which attention gets diverted to who did what to whom, and who's the most significant public threat. While issues of police brutality are real, as are concerns of a possible federal crackdown on the right of assembly for non-violent citizens, it's important that we don't divert our energy or attention from the heart of the matter: the protesters are out there to allow us renewed breathing room, to restore the space necessary for us to create real, positive change.

But here's the thing. That change won't likely come from the protesters. Nor, as we've so painfully seen, will it come from a well-meaning leader at the top of a corrupt pyramid of power.

Truth is, the answers we're seeking to create a sustainable, humane world already exist. They've been clear to many for a long time.

At the top of the list, we need to reform our political process so that elections can't be bought.

We need to recognize that corporations do amazing things, but also amazingly horrible things. That's because they exist to make money and are legally obligated to pursue no other goal. Therefore, we need to strip their rights as people, one way or another, and grant them freedom to operate only to the degree that they enrich the common good.

We need to recognize that the financial services industry has come to serve itself, mostly, and one way or another needs to be reshaped and redirected.

We need to renounce the idea of empire, and in so doing reduce our enormous global military footprint.

We need to direct vast resources from the military, no longer needed for empire, toward rebuilding services and infrastructure that put people and the environment first.

Though the list goes on, let's leave it with one last critical item. We need to stop proclaiming how much we love our children while simultaneously, through our policies and endless budget cuts, demonstrating how little we care for them. We need to invest in schools, and enrichment of all kinds, to foster the development of children into healthy, creative, resilient beings.

Did you notice how close that list came to sounding like a political platform? Have you heard parts of it many times before? That's both a testament to the fact that the answers are already out there, and also to the near-impossibility of turning them into a reality.

Which leads us back to the Occupy Movement. Another way to describe the essential purpose of the movement is to generate the conditions in which meaningful change could, once again, be possible. And in order for change to be possible, we have to actually believe that it's possible.

With each new protest, and with each new protester joining up to help take back our space, it becomes that much easier to believe we have the power to create the world we envision.

But how? Honestly? The American system of government is not going to be overthrown any time soon, nor do most Occupy protesters want to take part in the daily grind of governing. We're starting to believe that real fairness can actually be restored in our society, but we have no idea how to do it.

We do know what not to do - and that's go the way of the Tea Party. While it's true that much genuine upset and concern about our world was given voice by the Tea Party, it was soon coopted by the Republicans.

Now, it's unintended role in government is to protect the rich. You can see that especially in the way that many associated with the Tea Party attempt to demonize the Occupy protesters, calling them "un-American," demanding that they "get a job" and "take a bath."

So the Occupy movement sees that peril and refuses to be coopted by the Democrats. Excellent. By taking that stance, however, the movement risks having achieved the climate in which change can happen, while at the same time making sure that change doesn't happen.

In other words, those who benefit from the status quo are watching the struggles in the street and rubbing their hands together with glee. "Go ahead," they're thinking. "Keep opting out of our broken system and we'll happily remain in charge of it. The louder you chant 'Another world is possible,' the more easily we'll be able to keep pulling the strings behind the scenes."

In the words of Robert Frost, "The way out is always through." Here, that means bringing all our newly reclaimed space back into the system, rolling up our sleeves and re-entering the electoral process.

Step one, occupy the Democratic Party. And the Republican Party, too, for that matter. On our own terms. Right now, too, since every single member of congress is up for reelection in less than one year. Specifically, it means running and funding a slate of candidates who aren't beholden to the power elites and who support a fair and humane agenda.

If that doesn't work, step two is to create a new party that's whole reason for being is to promote such an agenda.

Step three -- there is no step three. Change is possible, but only in the halls of power where decisions are made. In some countries it's possible to storm those halls of power by force, or to change the way they operate by taking to the streets, but not here. Not now under the current circumstances. To occupy the halls of power, we must be willing to work within them. Long and hard. Tirelessly.

And that's the way it is, too, with each of us as individuals. An uplifitng book, or workshop, or TED talk takes back the space, temporarily, from the great, fearful "No!" inside us. Within that reclaimed space, suddenly personal transformation seems possible. Which is exactly when the real work begins.