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Every other program has a disclaimer “take what you need and leave the rest”. I can “take” all of this! Thank you!
Why I'm Scared
February 08,
2012 - Topics:
Is it just me? Or do others also have some unsettling sense of foreboding? It seems to me that despite the New Age notion that we "create our reality" which has had the effect of increased sales in the area of personal development, success coaching and meditation cushions more than anything else (which I'm not knocking but merely noting), there is a "reality" that continues to knock on our global door for attention: the issue of environmental and economic sustainability. If we don't address it, there simply won't be a world for us to meditate in and be successful in. As Chief Oren Lyons says, "The earth has no mercy."
All too often I hear people say, "D
on't worry it's all good." It's hard for me to buy it though. And because we have been entrusted with this beautiful planet, are we not therefore endebted and responsible to care for it and for each other? I implore people to visit the following links while bearing in mind their children, grandchildren as well as the future of humanity. It's really hard not to think we're in very serious trouble, especially after listening to these very articulate speakers Oren Lyons, Chris Hedges, Derrick Jensen. People might label me a pessimist but what makes me appear pessimistic isn't a lack of faith in the intelligence and know-how of human beings which is nothing short of truly remarkable but rather the way human beings act in the face of things that demand attention (environmental crisis, economic collapse, poverty, injustices, social woes) often turning a blind eye or thinking the government or someone else will take care of it or that God forbid "we're creating our reality". Of course we're creating it! But's it not because we imagined it into being from the lotus position. It's because we haven't been paying attention to the bigger picture in our insatiable appetite for more. Let's roll up our sleeves, turn off our TVs, start living together and feeding each other, start growing food, living with increased awareness and way less stuff.
Our life is shorter than flowers. Then shall we mourn?
No we shall dance, plant gardens, dress in colours and teach our children to make the world more beautiful.
Because our life is shorter than flowers.
~ from the Toltec Culture
Oren Lyons, Native-American Faithkeeper, Human Rights Advocate, Environmental Activist. "The law says if you poison the water, you’ll die. The law says that if you poison the air, you’ll suffer. The law says if you degrade where you live, you’ll suffer… If you don’t learn that, you can only suffer. There’s no discussion with this law."
Chris Hedges spent nearly two decades as a foreign correspondent in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. He has reported from more than fifty countries, and has worked for The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio, The Dallas Morning News, and The New York Times, where he was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years. He is author of several books including Empire of Illusion, Death of the LIberal Class and The World As It Is.
Derrick Jensen, author and environmental activist has published several books questioning and critiquing modern civilization and its values, including A Language Older Than Words, The Culture of Make Believe, and Endgame.
Some historical perspective?
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"Let's roll up our sleeves, turn off our TVs, start living together and feeding each other, start growing food, living with increased awareness and way less stuff."
So, so, SO ready for interdependent community living. SO ready for less stuff. SO ready for community instead of quantity of goods no one needs. SO ready to release my single-family isolation home for a village, less personal space, more shared space, more grown-you-own food, more wealth in the form of warmth and connection.
I am raising four kids and I think a lot about how I can let them know that I know what's happening. Part of it has to do with honesty, some with integrity, some with contribution. I tell the oldest, who is 11, that the way we live will definitely change, change dramatically, and soon. And that the most important thing I want my kids to understand is that there are many ways to meet needs, so if your preferred one goes away, you can mourn and celebrate and then get curious and creative and compassionate...
I do imagine that in 30 years it won't matter what your education or work experience is, it won't matter if you had money in the bank or not. We're all going to be in the same boat, and it's those who understand the mechanics of compassion, peace, acceptance, mourning, celebration, and love that will serve as anchors during those times of great loss.
I don't feel like a pessimist just because I see the Earth getting ready to "resolve" its "human issue." Species come and species go. The energy that is me is eternal, but there may not be a lot of humans to remember me. As far as "we need to change before it's too late," from my perspective, it is already past the point of no return, because the time to start turning the boat around was 30 or 40 years ago, and there is too much "business as usual" today, as we make contact with the iceberg, to make my avoiding jet travel very meaningful.
However I will welcome the limitations that will inevitably and naturally come, limitations on stuff, on square footage, on fuel... to try right in this moment to live in a non-materialistic, self-limiting way seems to limit my experience of community, so going off to live off the grid, though it's appealing as a concept, doesn't get me what I also need to thrive: community.
Rambling on here, but I just watched "Surviving Progress" and it was a great reassurance to me to see that others see what is going on, are making movies about it, are helping raise consciousness. But to what end: to save the world, or simply help us understand how flawed our strategies really have been so we can mourn with compassion as it all comes down around us?
The Earth will go on, with or without us. As I stand in a forest, I think, "There isn't really anything I can do as a 21st century North American to contribute to the sustainability of this forest... unless I just take myself out." I don't say this to mean I am suicidal, but I am aware that even if I do my best to reduce, reuse and recycle, my life in Fairfield still costs the planet way too much to sustain my lifestyle.
So how can I live my values and still have community? It's the question I ask every day. Every day. Honestly, it's the focus of my life right now, to try to have integrity, to live as love, to take action from a place of acceptance in my soul.
Thank you for this soul-full post! I really resonate with your words, as I too, am sad, and scared. I appreciate the wisdom of our Native Elders, whose view of "All My Relations" really speaks to me. Thank you for sharing this.
May you be blessed!
Simonne