Apparent Chaos as the Indicator of a New System Developing 2 – The stories we tell ourselves.

I was asked to expand on the idea of chaos that I brought up in the last post.  A universal principle is that de-construction occurs before re-construction.  Whether it be a supernova or collapse and rebuilding of a ‘civilization, the old always de-constructs before the new re-constructs.  It doesn’t have to be a devastating event per se, but when a system has moved beyond what is beneficial within the boundaries of that system, torsion begins a process of change.  The chaos we observe as corruption, cultural upheaval, ecosystem failures, and spiritual awakening is part of the torsion that is changing the story we tell ourselves about the world.  As I have said many times, the conditioning no longer makes sense when we look at what is happening.   In a previous post (Adapting to Transformational changes 2 – Who do we want human kind to be?) I introduced the idea of torsion.  What we see happening in the world with the all the apparent chaos is merely the disruptive impetus to begin change to a better world.  yet again repeat a Buckminster Fuller quote, “In order to change an existing paradigm you do not struggle to try and change the problematic model. You create a new model and make the old one obsolete.”   

Merely trying to reform a failing system is like placing a band aid on a gushing wound.  David Orr expresses this insanity as “trying to walk north on a southbound train.”  If this isn’t obvious, think about having the intention to go north to a place from where you are and then turning south and wondering why you are not getting closer to where you wish to be.  Until you consciously stop pursuing action and policy in the wrong direction and turn yourself around, you will not create the change you wish to see.  Torsion is the discomfort you feel from going in the wrong direction and then the energy you use to create a new kind of order from the chaos.        

ESTE stories – we can strive for excellence but we cannot truly control the outcome of anything.  The same if true for a new world of living sustainably.  I am so often asked by people seeing all the chaos in the world and numerous systems failing about a new world.  They want me to guarantee that a bright ordered new world of sustainable living will arise out of the Phoenix of our current system. I don’t say ashes as that implies total ruin, but through recognizing the complete chaos of systems no longer working.   In my SL book, at the end of each chapter I have a short vignette emphasizing the theme of the chapter through a fictional woman called Esperanza (Espe).  She is viewing back at the world of change to sustainability from the perspective of her memories on her one hundredth birthday.  The purpose of these stories is not meant to be a precognitive glimpse of a better world, but a story of how this positive change could happen now through a fictional look back from the future.  Rather than use worse case scenarios my aim was to give a more positive probability grounded in a reasonable expectation for why the changes occurred. 

(The timeline on my Espe vignettes are already in error. For instance, I talk about the great oil shocks of the mid-2010s that obviously never occurred.  However, I still believe that in the not too distant future they will, since we are at Peak Oil (or even slightly beyond), and despite conservation efforts and a whole new set of electric cars, the apparent abundance of world oil is an illusion.  All but two of the world’s major oil fields are in rapid decline.  The giant Saudi Ghawar field (potential recoverable oil data kept secret by the Saudi’s) is demonstratably way down in production.  Recent fracking in the last few years has alleviated the potential demise of oil production, but fracked wells run out fast, and worldwide oil demand has not abated.  When you look at potential recoverable oil reserves, oil demand, and then the exponential function of usage, the picture for continued oil use is not a pretty one.) 

Many spiritual guru’s talk about how we hold ourselves back from change by believing the stories we live subconsciously every moment of every day.  Our conditioning is only that, a story we tell ourselves about how we think things are.  Most of us now live in a society that expects quick fixes for all of our problems with little to no effort on our behalf.  We look at the problems and accept them as inevitable consequences of ‘progress’ without ever discussing what progress really means.  Sadly, the acquisition of money as a source for personal peace, happiness, and contentment and a solution for all our environmental ills still drives our story.  To change the world we need to first change our story and that means recognizing and changes our beliefs about the world.

We need to wake up and start the change to living sustainably NOW, not some convenient time in the future or when everyone else has begun the change for us.  I find it amazing just how many people are ready for this transformation BUT keep pushing it to a future time, and the only reason I can think of is that many people are simply shit-scared of making a decision for change.  It’s as if everything is that good at the moment with chaos running rampant all over the planet.  A first step to making change is to break free of habits that bind us to sameness and the past, and free up our minds to calm the chaos to a new kind of ordered reality of our own choosing.  In another earlier post (VISION – How we focus on what we really Want 4) I covered the concept of Neuroplasticity.  To break free of habits takes conscious effort. 

When an old reality finally starts to fade in relevance, a new reality will take its place.  What is the new reality you want to envision?  We can think and talk about possible futures, but action towards a new future is crucial for manifesting change.  No amount of wishing, affirmations for change, or thinking about change will occur until some action is engaged.  It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing change either, it can be incremental but must be mindfully engaged.  Breaking old habits of mindless consumerism must come with mindful thinking focused on a potential new future.  The barriers to being mindful are many.  The seductions of consumerism are not easily dismissed especially by those in the western world who belief that they still benefiting from the system.   So what is needed?  To Be Continued………..