For many of us 2012 is a year that holds a mountain of hopes and fears. As the end of the Mayan long count calendar approaches we are already living in a time that was foretold by many as a time of massive change, by some as the end and by a few as a new beginning.
We certainly cannot deny that many things in our world are unusual at the moment, whether natural things like the Japanese tsunami, the Icelandic volcano ash, arctic ice melt or global species extinction levels, or human things like national debts, global unrest and protest, mass starvation and spiralling obesity problems. Seeing these things as purely negative might bring you to a point where you feel burdened by the troubles of the world or even foster a desire to forget those troubles in some hedonistic pastime.
Each of these events has within it many positive facets as well as negative ones and it is these positive aspects that can give us the hope and direction we need to move and change our world. For me the most important thing to come out of all that is happening is to realise that everything that is uncomfortable, difficult or shocking opens a space for change to happen if we only take up the opportunity we are offered and do something different.
Consider the global economic situation at the moment. All the apparently wealthy countries are struggling with debt problems to such a degree that if they were classed as businesses we would question their viability. At this time of writing the national debt of the UK has recently passed £1 trillion – over £14,000 for every man, woman and child in the country, more than the minimum wage and fast approaching the average wage. Now consider the actions that are being taken by politicians and other ‘National’ leaders to try and resolve this problem – reduce spending slightly but keep its high level compared to production or borrow more. These measures are the very ones that created the debt problem in the first place!
Years ago I heard a definition of madness that I found both amusing and amazingly helpful in my life: Madness is continuing to do the same thing as you have always done but expecting something different to happen. Like a bird repeatedly flying at a closed window to try and escape we become exhausted through our own efforts and can even die from our exertions when in reality what we are doing could never work. So where does that leave us? Do we just give up? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
Now is the time for a paradigm shift – what some people call magical thinking. As Albert Einstein famously declared “The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” Those of you who are able to think outside the box are needed more than ever before; we need to recreate our world for ourselves from a totally different structural base. That means we need to be willing to take risks, to be different, to speak out and to take actions based on what we really believe in. In the world of money and economics there are some wonderful examples of this already: the ZOPA peer to peer lending system is one example, have a look too at Bank to the Future, Positive Money, Triodos Bank and EF Schumacher’s book Small is Beautiful.
We need to step out of the narrow confines of the system we have created during the industrial time of our economies and dream into being new ways of trading, new structures for counting and holding value and ultimately we need a new set of rules for how we relate to one another in the course of our working interactions. Stef Kling’s excellent website MoneythatWorks.org gives an insight into the mass of people who are already applying themselves to the cause of speaking out for the truth of what they see in the world of money and most importantly working to envision a new way of trading together. We do not need to tear down what exists, if we create a better way of doing things then the old way will simply become obsolete and those clinging to it will find themselves isolated and irrelevant in a world that has moved on without them. Just as happened to the British motor industry!
Not just in economics and money do we need to place our dreaming and creative energy, but with nature and agriculture, social structure and community and relationships, the use and development of technology, the balance of law and justice and morality, health and wellbeing and into the development and application of wisdom and spiritual insight. In other words, every aspect of the experience of being human.
Often when I contemplate an image of this astoundingly beautiful planet that we live on, I am overwhelmed by a sense of how fragile our hold on existence really is – one tiny planet spinning through a truly immense universe, a minute spec that seen in the universal context could wink out of existence in the blink of an eye. What gives me hope and sends a thrill of excitement right through me is that the very nature that makes us vulnerable is the core of our strength. The earth is an ecosystem, a single whole organism – every part of it dependent on every other. We are it and it is us, we cannot stand outside of it and say “the earth is in crisis” and think it doesn’t affect us. For the whole system to be healthy every part must be nurtured and supported, nourished and balanced. Even the parts we think we do not like.
Seven generations from now I dream that we have learned the value of tolerance and seek to love those who have strayed from the path, seduced by fear or greed, until they find their way back to their own happiness again. That one person could accumulate a personal wealth of $60 billion while on their doorstep others cannot feed their children is a very sad statement of what we have come to think of as normal and a strong indication of how we think that we can stand outside of the world in some way and be separate. One of the super rich creating a foundation of millions of dollars for the good of others is no different an action than we take when we try to suppress our sense of guilt by giving a little to charity while riding in our comfortable car, struggle with our weight and worry if our clothes are fashionable or cool enough to impress others. The real issue is that in truth we imagine we can be separate and the world will not affect us.
In truth if we saw ourselves as one with the world we live in, our every action and intention would be to make the world a better place to feed the collective while we benefit ourselves. Yes to technology, comfort, energy, challenge, plenty, time and even luxury but all also in service of the benefit of the whole.
Some people I have met do live this way and I notice that they are some of the most deeply happy people that I have met. They are not martyrs nor have they given up their lives for the betterment of others, rather they have discovered a vital secret – That we are one people, a tribe and one planet and that we can create for ourselves and still benefit everyone else at the same time. What would happen if you thought that this was normal?
To do this we have to make a step into an unknown space that from the outside we view with fear but when we step in is a place of the heart, of creativity, belonging and fulfilment. This space is trust, trust of our own goodness and the goodness of others, trust that our planet can support us without manipulation and coercion and trust that everything is right with the world because ‘now’ is our starting place, the right place to start and from here we can create what we truly want.
Every one of us makes a difference; in fact WE are the very leaders we seek, the creators of change in our world. Reading Tim (Mac) Macartney’s thought provoking book ‘Finding Earth Finding Soul’ it struck me that we are the leaders in our society. Our politicians are reactive, seeking only the votes they need to stay in power, while businesses are dependent on selling their products and so are focused on providing what we want. This means that we need to ask ourselves: What do we really want? What do we want our children to inherit? And how do we want the world to be seven generations from now when the people of the earth will reap what we are now sowing? We are not just playing a game, risking money or even our health, we are taking the ultimate risk for humanity at the moment, playing with the foundations of our existence using GM, monoculture, climate change, atmospheric imbalance, toxic chemicals, intolerance and population explosion – and that’s probably just in your own home. It’s time to create change. To quote Mac “We are in effect, bent upon an act of mass suicide – and we’ll succeed – unless we find the courage to truly look at what we have so far ignored, jettison our ingrained conformist acceptance of those in ‘authority’, and insist, demand, lead, change.
Some will step into the global arena and make visible changes that affect thousands or even millions. Some of us can start with just our own lives, knowing that every thought, every action, every comment affects those around us and so sends a ripple of intention out through the web of life to touch, nurture and inspire others. Simple acts, like buying fair-trade, stopping to talk and listen, speaking out for what is right, being conscious of our ‘footprint’ on the planet, taking time to play with our children, nurturing ourselves so we are nicer to be with all touch the edge of the web and send ripples into the world that others can feel.
So whatever you do today, do it with love – for yourself and for others – and know that by doing this you are leading, you are creating change and affecting others. At the same time know too that you are part of the web of life and that all over the planet there are others who have your wellbeing in their hearts as they take the loving actions that will touch you, maybe through your food, or the energy you use or maybe through a chain of many others – we are after all one people, one world, together as we spin through space.
Go well and enjoy today. With love. Ben
Dragonwords 