“I don’t want to protect the environment; I want to create a world where the environment doesn’t need protecting. The Earth is not a platform for human life. It’s a living being. We’re not on it, but part of it. Its health is our health” Thomas Moore.
In the last post I talked a little about the physical basic needs we need every day. These do not include the physical wants, which for the main part are a consequence of our material-consumer lifestyle. While material comforts are what gives life a pleasanter aspect, it is the basic psychological needs I also mentioned that give life the ‘spice’ that makes us feel secure, happy, and more fulfilled. To recap, they are Certainty, Variety, Significance, Love and Connection, Growth, and Contribution.
We all need to feel safe and secure, but I’m sure that war, social instability, and food insecurity is certainly not the right path to achieve that aim. If we truly want to have control of our future, then we have to create it for ourselves and stop putting it in the hands of sociopathy (even psychopathic) leaders. These leaders control us through the mass media, and in particular through the entertainment media that springs from our needs for variety. Our need to have significance, love and connection has been commandeered by social media and the mass media with the result that we now have an exponentially expanding isolation and separation from those we should be connecting with. We have become a ‘me’ society instead of an ‘us’ society that increasingly is more and more divorced from the natural world. “Healing yourself is connected with healing others” Yoko Ono. Nothing new here since I have talked at length about this throughout this blog.
The solution, as I have also talked about is a spiritual revolution. Our growth and healing will come when we recognize our true power and sovereignty, and walk away from the hierarchical structure (see cartoon). “You know you are healing when you are tired of being okay with things you are actually not okay with” Unknown. Our growth and healing as a species needs us to say we are ready for a new world that addresses our need for physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual development. An old Cherokee saying says, ‘If it isn’t good for everyone, it isn’t good” and the highest truth is always demonstrated in the most Loving actions.
Heaven (or utopia) is not a place, but a state of being. Our intentions will focus our attention on what kind of future we will create. If we want a sustainable world, we have to intend it. The way forward, if we desire freedom and sovereignty, we need to be detached and unemotionally connected to all that is not right in the world. Being emotionally attached to all the problems merely keeps you accepting what is really not acceptable. So, what is our way back from the proverbial precipice of ecological collapse of the world as we know it? It really comes down to a simple question, ‘what is going to sustain life and ground us in love and compassion?’
“Unless we are willing to encourage our children [and ourselves] to reconnect with and appreciate the natural world, we can’t expect anyone to help protect and care for it” David Suzuki. We need a world of creativity where people can openly express their ideas and discuss them in public forums without any censorship. We need to ‘listen’ to the natura world – it has a lot to teach us. I have talked about ‘Biomimicry’ and the unique innovations of natural systems to problems we face today (e.g., see link).
Spirituality is about the inner experience of the human being. Mindfulness (see links 1 ,2 and 3) literally means seeing from the heart. The heart has a capacity to know more than the thinking mind – we often call it intuition. Biochemically and energetically, the heart sends much more info to the brain than vice versa. From a flow dynamics perspective, the healthy heart is a vortex system, and as it diseases it becomes a globular device, i.e., blood doesn’t flow like water in a pipe, but has a unique spiral nature to it that reduces resistance along the artery walls and arteries. Electrochemically it is more active than the brain with an electromagnetic field that extends for several feet beyond the body. The heart is possible one of the most misunderstood parts of a body, serving a much greater purpose than as a simple ‘pump.’
When we become more mindful and heartfelt we can change how we think and how we work within the world. It is already happening all over the world as people are starting to demand Integrity, Honesty, Transparency of each other and their leaders. I find it fascinating that so many people are now talking about these new words as expectations to describe new leadership.
Technologically, we are asking hard questions about technology that would have been unlikely 20 years ago. While global corporations stay stuck in old mindsets of business for profit, many smaller businesses are challenging global markets with a new way of thinking that engages communities and considers business beyond profit only thinking. Pioneering mindsets like Mcdonough & Partners (see link) have been changing the paradigm for more than 20 years, but are now influencing businesses around the world to adopt what singer Pete Seeger has talked about for years. “If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled, or composted, then it should be redesigned or removed from production” Pete Seeger.
When we are inclusive of everyone as a sovereign entity that has value we begin to change how we work together. I came across an an interesting way of describing inclusion using a book as a metaphor. Equality is that everyone gets the same book. Diversity is when everyone gets a different type of book. Equity is that everyone gets the book that is right for them. Acceptance is that understanding that everyone reads different kinds of books. Belonging is reading any book you want without fear of being judged. Justice is fighting to ensue that everyone has access to books. Just remember that books can be hardcopy or online, but having free access to everyone’s ideas is crucial if we are to thrive.
We need to encourage people to challenge social norms and create a more diverse way of looking at the world. That can take courage and a willingness to shun old ideas that no longer fit society. An interesting story that exemplifies this is of two young women in America in “In June 1922, who did something women were not expected to do – be adventurous together without disregard for social conventions.
“Viola LaLonde and Elizabeth Van Tuyl, stood proudly beside their Ford automobile, ready to embark on an extraordinary journey. Their plan? A cross-country drive from Washington, DC, to San Francisco—a daring feat at a time when the conveniences of modern travel were still decades away. With no GPS to guide them, no expansive freeways to speed their way, and only the most basic roadmaps in hand, Viola and Elizabeth set out on what promised to be a wild adventure. The roads they traveled were often rough and unpaved, stretching through vast, uncharted landscapes where gas stations were few and far between, and the comforts of modern convenience were scarce.
As they posed beside their trusty Ford, the excitement in their eyes hinted at the unknown challenges and exhilarating discoveries that lay ahead. They knew this journey would test their endurance and resourcefulness. Every mile would be earned through determination, and every stop would be a welcome respite.
Driving through small towns, vast plains, and mountain passes, Viola and Elizabeth experienced the heart of America in a way few had before. They were pioneers in their own right, breaking free from the conventions of their time and proving that adventure belonged to anyone brave enough to chase it.
Their journey was more than just a road trip; it was a bold statement of independence, courage, and the spirit of exploration. Viola LaLonde and Elizabeth Van Tuyl’s cross-country drive stands as a testament to their fearless pursuit of the open road, at a time when such an endeavor was truly an odyssey.” Women’s History Uncovered.
Is the daily grind and finding hedonistic pleasures as an escape really all that humanity is about? Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek might be on to something profound that goes beyond simple entertainment. Can we find that courage ‘to boldly go where no one has gone before’ and create a new future? Working together to discover new and uncharted territory or to do something that no one has done before.
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