Friday, September 18, 2009

Cautious People Wanted


“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each one of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."
~Robert Kennedy

"Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputations ... can never effect a reform."
~Susan B. Anthony "

Robert Kennedy’s words were born of the 1960’s, a pivotal era which began to shed light on the damage being done to the planet and its inhabitants through the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, global warming, endangered species and all manner of planetary degradation. It’s now 40 years later… and we are in far deeper shit. The planet’s population has more than doubled since 1969, the widespread use of genetically modified seeds, cross pollinating with our heartier heirloom varieties bred over millennia, is rendering major grain sources mutant and useless.

When the Permaculture map of whole systems made of whole elements it blown up to encompass the planet it runs squarely into the Gaia theory, as suggested by visionary scientist James Lovelock, that the planet is a single, complex, interrelated organism finding itself infected with an out of control virus called mankind. Just as you and I when we need to kill off a virus, she is raising her temperature a few degrees to kill it back. Lovelock has calculated that the climate disruptions ahead will shrink the planet’s population down from 6.6 billion to 500 million. That’s pretty drastic even if he is off by half…

According to the Gaia theory’ as we quibble over the ethics of abortion on our personal and political levels, the planet herself is moving towards a near do-over with mankind….How does it feel to be labeled a parasite, an out of control virus, a mutant species to be aborted?

I do believe in the ingenuity of people. More and more each day are willing to think, (an almost dying art) and dialog, (a potentially rich source of mental evolution when activated). Where do we start?
Do we control our population numbers?
Do we switch to clean technology?
Would we stop mindlessly abusing our planet’s resources, poisoning our finite soil, air and water?
The answer is: All of the above and more.
What can you do today?
What can be done every precious day we each have left on the planet?

“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each one of us can work to change a small portion of events”,… What if careful cautious people could preserve their reputations … and effect reform? I think when it comes to doing the right thing, even the cautious person will want to participate. We can each change a small portion of events by,… planting a garden, supporting a farmers market, using natural cleaning products and pest control, buying organic food, and learning how to grow through shared dialog.
…., “and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation."
~Robert Kennedy

Friday, September 11, 2009

Six impossible things...


Why sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast” –The Queen/ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland… Then….“Sustainable development is a compelling moral and humanitarian issue.” Collin Powell…
I have nothing but respect for Mr. Powell, but morality alone does not carry the potency to dream us to a sustainable future. For that we are going to need to believe in a great many impossible things.
How many? I do not know. Maybe that’s the fun.
Sometimes it’s as much about disbelieving. I’m certain that it’s one’s sacred duty to disbelieve the collective humans who exercise chronic critical lack the vision, especially when that vision conflicts with the truth in your gut. Given the time, impossible tends to make itself manifest. So, we could argue the impossible or (my favorite) discuss which potential realities we might be willing to energetically back into form.
What is a vision you would die for?
Look around, who would stand beside you?
If the vision lives in you then at some level, it is already real. Note: what others say is impossible is an argument for their own lack of vision, and not a barometer of possibility.
Personally, I made a point to marry a simpatico spouse with impeccable vision, and have been blessed with some close family and friends who can fathom as possible- realities yet unacknowledged by the collective. Together we have created life-altering experiences and rich fields-of-play. Some are even gaining practical application…
September 11, 2009, the application for A Bee Organic LLC, was signed and sent out to the USDA. A Bee Organic was born out of the bramble and sink-holes of Organic Certification into which my partner Sarah and I were hired and trained. Daily I’d wonder- What would organic certification look like when viewed as a whole system of supportive elements? Obviously it would be forthright, verifiable, compliant, and humane, but that was not the industry we were being asked to support. Various certification agencies all told us the same thing; that the status quo (different in each) was the only way, and how it must be… And, neither Sarah nor I believed that to be true. Not believing what you can see is the flipside of believing the impossible… Together we have untangled a lot of brambles, filled in the sink-holes, created maps and sculpted healthy containers. We think we rock….nothing impossible about it!
If we want a sustainable future we must begin to believe impossibilities to be possibilities inviting our care. We must learn to support each others possibilities and practice emulating the system we aspire to become. That may seem like a lot of impossible things to believe before breakfast, until it dawns… how possible it all is.
Believing the impossible is vital to finding creative solutions. If I imagine very clearly, with great detail a destination, (impossible or not) then stand at that point of arrival and look back… from there, it’s not hard to map home.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Where ever two or more are sutainably gathered...


Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world, indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. ~Margaret Mead


It has, with great pain, begun to dawn on me that the masses do not like or want change. As a matter of fact there are a remarkable number who have yet to digest the basics of their own evolution. Recently, I’ve begun to wonder if what passes for our News should institute an opposable-thumb-check policy prior to letting people share their views. I’m not saying that they should not be allowed to speak, but there should be a warning on the tape at the bottom of the screen, (the person you are hearing lacks opposable thumbs, and frontal lobe may not be properly activated.) Politicians should not be excluded. At a time when we should be having real dialog, and making hard global changes, humanity as a collective finds itself staring blankly down the corridor of extinction and finds itself thinking… “Do I want fries with that???” And I think, well if they’re organic and vegan, maybe…

Thank you Margaret.

I’d forgotten my history and somehow thought that we could all wake up together. Not a chance, as the masses are none too quick to assimilate new ideas. It’s been a while since Jesus said “judge not,” even his followers can’t seem to live that rule. The constitution is over 200 years old, and while the right to bear arms seems to have captured the imagination of many… other amendments like the right to the pursuit of happiness got radically stomped, (think paying for sex, recreational drugs, and gay marriage) they got all prissified and judged off to no-no zone. When bedrock concepts like non-judgment (different than discernment) and the right to pursue happiness provide such cultural and individual challenges…integrated sustainable?

The planet and our children can’t wait for those busy arguing for their limitations, and according to Margaret they are not even necessary for change, ( happy thought). The rule in evolution is; embody the change, own the ground, and find a way to replicate. If you’re the first lizard to get wings, you don’t wait for everyone to get them before taking flight.

And that is being done. Everyday, in every corner of the globe someone is waking up and finding a way to live, love and create in a sustainable field of play.

Hence, the small dedicated group is my soul’s joy and a point of personal recalibration, because there is definitely a small and growing group of thoughtful committed citizens dedicated to changing the world. There are astounding scientists, entrepreneurs, social activists, sustainable organic growers and producers, community gardeners, recyclers, green builders and consumers, zero-scape gardeners, teachers, comedians, citizens, bloggers, and politicians dedicated to making their slice of the system integrated and sustainable and from their personal wholeness.

I just have to show up, own my ground, my consciousness…and welcome those who show up to take their place.

Welcome reader!