“In this age, the mere example of non-conformity, the mere refusal to bend the knee to custom, is itself a service. Precisely because the tyranny of opinion is such as to make eccentricity a reproach, it is desirable, in order to break through that tyranny, that people should be eccentric. Eccentricity has always abounded when and where strength of character has abounded; and the amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigor, and moral courage which it contained. That so few now dare to be eccentric, marks the chief danger of the time” John Stuart Mill.
At the very beginning of this blog in January, 2018, I opened with; “As my first blog post, I will present my simple definition of sustainability as: Living within the limits of nature’s ecosystem services. And to live together in communities that are equitable, regenerative, resilient and adaptive. That opens up a lot of questions before we start and I intend to get there as the blog proceeds. I am not naive and clearly recognize that some big changes are needed before we land in some future Eden (we should not think paradise, although compared to today, it may seem so when we get there). Notice I said ‘get there.’ In all my talks I start out with, ‘I’m often asked: “Will we ever become a Sustainable Society?” I always answer: “Without a doubt.”’ Then I get the wistful smiles waiting for the magic bullet answer. Sorry, there isn’t one, but there are a set of principles that can guide us down that path – or should I say rabbit hole, because we have to get dirty before we can realize the truths that exist all around us that we blatantly ignore. So, if you want to climb down this rabbit hole … let’s begin!”
We will individually and collectively change this world for the better when we recognize our own sovereign power and how that power is amplified with like-minded others who believe that compassion, respect, and unconditional love of oneself and each other are the only things that make sense. Out intentions for these inner powers and our attention to making them manifest, is the key to building a better and sustainable future. Alongside that is the wisdom that we will manifest to use and create technologies that align with our own and our many future communities best interests.
When I have talked at conferences about my ideas, one of the most perplexing questions I have gotten all too often, ‘is how do we get there and what will it look like.’ Do we ever know what the future will actually look like? We have all manner of predictions that rarely ever pan out, but what it will look like isn’t the point. It’s making the effort to do something different that we believe will make things better. Rather than trusting to doing what we can now, and letting the future unfold organically as it needs to with the right focus – a better, more equitable, and fairer future, we put out trust in people (usually corrupt or misguided politicians) with less vision than we ourselves have.
We get all manner of promises about reaching specific goals because that’s how the conditioning works. That’s how business works for quarterly projections, but the simple truth is, that will be living lives where the goal posts will be moving and the path to get to new and better goals will not be straightforward and linear. It’s a new world coming and different than any we have lived (outside of indigenous systems) in the last 5-6 millennia. This graphic puts it more into a true perspective – it’s nothing to be afraid of, but thinking it is going to be linear and simple is a problem. Expectations can be our biggest problem. Not the expectation that we can create a better world, but ‘how’ this better world will be created. Expectations can crush creativity, and building the new and better world will demand that we be creative and listen with intent to everyone.
I know from my own experience that having any naysayers is always a problem when trying to be creative. Some people get so trapped in their expectations that they tend to automatically squash ideas that do not align with what they ‘expect.’ Be absurdly creative and keep open space for everyone to speak in brainstorming with NO judgments. The trap of expected reality versus something new and creative is a process that can be taught (see link).
I know this is scary to many, where we want others (e.g., experts) to do our thinking for us, but living ‘lives of quiet despair’ isn’t any more appealing, except it is a really deep rut we know versus the unknown top of the embankment where we will be able to see more clearly for ourselves where we long to go. It will be a rethinking of everything we do (see graphic). And many times, the experts (see Gus Speth’s quote in last post) just do not know how to do that.
I’ve no doubt there will be challenges, but I’ve also no doubt it will be a wonderful adventure full of joy and promise. The principles of getting to a better world are clear enough – I already laid them out in my ‘Sustainable Living’ book – the journey? That will be the adventure. I once thought we could change the world by reforming it. I now think the chaos and corruption has gone too far to reform. We begin the change individually. We seek our own internal wisdom and recognize the wisdom that others can offer. The wise hermits are all among us and not always in a cave at the top of a hill. The Beatles had a song about the solitary ‘Fool on a Hill’ (see wiki link for lyrics & discussion).
In his ‘If It Can’t Be Reduced’ song, Pete Seeger sang, “If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned or removed from production” Pete Seeger, Singer, Social Activist. His musical activism was about delivering messages of social justice and fostering empathy by everyone engaging in meaningful conversations and committing to positive change in their communities. Seeger calls for a universal effort towards a more inclusive and understanding world. The Great Healing is when we move from living the conditioned expectations of the hierarchy and begin living new and organically changing expectations for ourselves. Practicing and talking about real sustainability within a consumer materialist world can make you seem eccentric, but it is an expression of your core beliefs and an example of better practices others will notice once the ‘shit hits the fan’ so to speak.
In 1974, Irish comedian, Dave Allen, hosted a series that explored eccentrics at play around the UK. These eccentrics were all notable in that they were happy with whatever it was they were doing that completely looked ‘silly’ to regular people. They didn’t care what anyone thought – they loved doing eccentric things and being authentic. To people addicted to structure and ‘normality’ being noticed as an individual can be terrifying. An authentic person doesn’t care. The series lyrics had some unique words, “Individuals … I hope you’re not a dying breed, need you more than ever now, come on individuals take a bow.”
We often admire, and yet call it quirky, shunning them whenever anyone demonstrates an odd behavior, or trait that society deems maladaptive. We call them eccentric, yet these very people break past societal expectations, more often than not showing their genius, intellectual giftedness, or creativity in resolving complex and wicked problems. What makes them unique is that their thinking stems from a mind so original that it does not conform to societal norms. And it is the latter that has us so many people trapped in conformity to a conditioned set of expectations and behaviors.
Philosopher, John Stuart Mill wrote that, “the amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigor, and moral courage which it contained” and mourned a lack of eccentricity as “the chief danger of the time” (1800s, during the height of the industrial revolution). Eccentrics show a unique courage in that they “are entirely unafraid of and uninfluenced by the opinions and vagaries of the crowd.” What we need now are millions of us willing to ‘Walk the Talk’ when it comes to sustainability and to be willing to be examples of individual expressions of what living sustainable can be. We need to believe in ourselves. That renowned individual, Albert Einstein once said, “I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent; curiosity, obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me to my ideas.” And while many may poo-poo true sustainability as a nonsense idea, Arthur C. Clarke commented on believing that ideas of worth pass through three periods: 1) It can’t be done. 2) It probably can be done, but it’s not worth doing. 3) I knew it was a good idea all along!
“The surest defense against Evil is extreme individualism, originality of thinking, whimsicality, even – if you will – eccentricity. That is, something that can’t be feigned, faked, imitated; something even a seasoned imposter couldn’t be happy with” Joseph Brodsky.
To Be Continued ………….
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