Abundant Future
Confession of a Hypocrite: No Shame or Guilt for Me
Yes, I’m a hypocrite. We all are. But feeling shame or guilt is beyond me now. I’m good enough…
Our world is screwed. With our industrial way of living, we destroy everything. Our soils, our souls, and our societies.
I try to be a good person and still, I don’t succeed in doing everything right. I cannot completely withdraw from our money-driven economy. None of us can. We have created this mess together. And we have to live in it. No hiding possible.
At times I feel desperate about that. But feeling guilty and shame are beyond me. I improve. I experiment. And do better next time. It’s enough. I’m good enough…
This story is dedicated to Amy Marley. My friend, who’s trying and doing. And struggling and doubting. And failing and succeeding. You’re good enough, Amy!
Aligning the Economy, Ecology and the Human Spirit
People who know my work, know I write about the environment. Gaia is my only client. I write for her sake. I initiate projects to align the economy, ecology, and the human spirit.
Some people find me inspiring. And get confused when they find out that we traveled to Indonesia. By plane. Yes.
They find out that we sometimes eat meat or frozen pizza or chocolate. Yes.
They see me driving around the countryside in my 15-year-old car. Yes.
I’m on a journey. The whole world is on a journey. We are re-inventing ourselves, our connection to others, and our relationship with our home, the planet.
We take steps. And we all define by ourselves what those steps are for us personally. Responsibly. Intelligently. With our hearts beating warmly in our aware bodies.
Being a hypocrite is the price we all pay for wanting a purposeful life. The really good, systemic solutions to live a life within planetary boundaries are often not available in our local communities yet. Or our mind isn’t ready for radical steps (yet).
Aware, awake people are what we need for the transition. And buckets full of loving-kindness…
The Planet is a Living Organism
The worldview described in this article by Paul Kingsnorth is at the heart of all my choices. The planet is a living being. And we, humans, are arrogant to think that we have the right to rape her for our own pleasure and gain.
“That the world is a machine is one story; that the world is alive and aware is another”
— Paul Kingsnorth
Paul Kingsnorth, the writer of this beautiful essay in 2016, has withdrawn from the world. He sounds bitter in recent interviews.
In an interview in De Volkskrant (Dutch language), Paul said:
“Our culture will learn nothing from this virus. Everything she wants is back to normal. And normal is cheap flights, cheap latte. Normal is Chinese girls with armed security sewing our T-shirts. Normal is biblical bushfires and barrels full of oil. Normal is African children who poison their bodies while sorting the plastic we dumped there. Normal is Nitrogen pollution, smoldering tree stumps, and dying oceans.”
But he also tells us that we cannot be the ones to re-invent the world. We are too much set in our ways to do that. The next generations will have to make their own approach. He illustrates this with a mythological story.
In Celtic mythology, Finnegas is an old hermit who has searched all his life for the magic salmon who carries all the wisdom of the world. But in the end, it’s young Finn who catches the fish. Finnegas realizes that it’s not up to him to rise above himself. It’s up to the generation after him. His task is to pave the way.
“We are not Finn. But perhaps, if we’re lucky, we can become Finnegas”
— Paul Kingsnorth
Give a Podium to Indigenous People
And then I read an interview with Kay Sara. She’s an actress and activist from the Amazone. She should have been playing Antigone on the stage of the famous Burgtheater in Vienna, when the virus made it impossible.
She took the stage to speak about the fate of the indigenous tribes in the Amazon instead. In this article (sorry, again Dutch language) she tells us:
The tragedy has become a reality. The heart of the planet is being destroyed and the inhabitants are dying. The problem is that you have become used to these facts. We haven’t.
“Many things are monstrous, but nothing is more monstrous than humans”
— Kay Sara
She says:
“I belong to the third clan of the Tariano indigenous tribe, the Clan of Thunder. I’m a daughter in the bloodline of the Thunder God, the daughter of a king. Just like Antigone. A myth says that we, Tariano, were stone people. But in these modern times we take on a human body, so we can communicate with the people that come to us.”
“Our stories have long been told with the words of the non-indigenous. Now it’s time to tell our own story.”
“Together with the Europeans, the diseases came. Millions of people died. Millions of others died at the hands of soldiers and priests, but these facts have been forgotten and have never been recorded. They killed in the name of this one God and this one culture. In the name of progress and profit.”
“The white people now use chaos to go even deeper into the forest. The trees are being burned. Deforestation has increased. Since the virus came, Bolsonaro instructed his team to ignore the indigenous people. This is so much as an instruction to kill us. Thus, he wants to finalize the genocide on the indigenous people, which has been going on for more than 500 years.”
“The problem is not that you don’t know that our forests burn and our people die. The problem is that you have become used to this fact. But we haven’t.”
“So now it’s time to be silent. It’s time to listen. You need us, the prisoners of your world, to understand yourself. Because it is so simple: there is no profit in this world. There’s only life.”
Here is some English information about Kay Sara:
“There is no profit in this world. There’s only life”
— Kay Sara.
Privileged European Woman
These people are my inspiration. But I’m also a realist.
Yes, I now feel Gaia as a living organism. I worked hard to get there.
Yes, I’m motivated to tell Gaia’s stories. To initiate life-changing projects. To nudge. To speak my truth. And to contribute.
But still, I’ve been born as a privileged European woman. My feet are standing in the footsteps of industrialism, colonialism, and dogmatic religion. It’s no use denying that.
So, what can we do for real? Here are some of the steps I’m taking.
Experimenting with Luxury and Comfort Zones
I’m all for an abundant future. Allowing for the abundance of nature again. And unleashing the abundance of our own souls with love, connections, and experiences.
For me abundant doesn’t mean luxury. Our luxury is killing the world. So for me, sustainability starts with simplifying my life.
And to do that, I experiment.
Get out of my comfort zones and experiment some more.
After my divorce and becoming a freelancer more than 6 years ago, I made ‘time and space’ my new companions. Exit stuff, enter a clear head.
My living conditions took me far out of my comfort zone, but here I am. Used to it now. Cold, moist, fragile. No central heating. No television. But living in the woods gives me clarity and connection to nature.
When we were living for three months in Indonesia, I found out that I don’t need a warm shower in the tropics. A ‘kamar mandi’ (washbasin with cold water) is good enough for me there. But I must honestly confess that in our Dutch temperate climate I can’t do without a hot shower.
Sometimes, it’s ironic. I work on projects to stimulate and innovate healthy buildings, and regenerative building processes. At the same time I’m far from being able to ever afford a healthy house. Which is good. Because it makes me stand up for equal rights.
Better living conditions for everyone, whatever the size of their wallet.
The bottom line is that getting out of my comfort zone helps me gain perspective. However, I’m not saying everyone should step out of society and live on the fringes.
We can just find our own edges. Step over them. And talk with others about the experience.
Here’s a story by George J. Ziogas about ways to challenge yourself out of your comfort zone.
Curiosity
The virtue that is going to change the world for real is curiosity. The world would be a cold, hard place if everyone stays in their own mental ruts.
But getting out of our ruts is hard work.
We first have to recognize we have them. And then have the courage to step out of them. Feel the discomfort. Deal with that.
When we are in the phase of enjoying our new explorations, curiosity gets fed. And then it gets interesting. It gives me the best conversations. The deepest connections with people completely different. The world colors vibrantly and beautifully!
The world would be boring if I stick in my own comfortable world of like-minded people. Unfortunately, social media don’t help here. Knowing my preferences, they give me more of the same.
Boring!
Listening Deeply
The skill I really love the most is deep listening. I wasn’t very good at it for a long time in my life. I had a very busy head and was always listening with an urge to reply.
It’s still a pitfall for me.
Years ago, my life coach taught me that pitfalls will never go away completely. They stay with us. We can just learn to handle them better.
Next time, we will notice that we’ve fallen into the gap again.
Later, we will see the gap opening before us and maybe not fall in.
It’s not a linear process, though. We’ll fall back into old habits and need to remain alert.
That’s me and deep listening.
But I’ve trained myself and now I love it. The thoughts in my own head I already know. So I love listening to others and gaining a new perspective. A new look on life.
That might be the kind of listening Kay Sara means. And yes, it’s a mighty important skill to train.
Questioning My Own Choices
The problem with sustainability is that the more we study and gain knowledge of the problems of our time, the more desperate we get.
We’ve really made a mess of the world!
And everything I do personally has consequences.
My old car pollutes. The supermarket I go to allows for the exploitation of farmers. Peanut butter, cookies, chocolate, they’re all made with palm oil that destroys the rainforest.
So I weigh my choices. All of them. Every day. And I’m conscious that comfort is always trying to win.
Mostly, I make the right choices.
And sometimes, I let comfort win. Sorry…
Spirituality
Tuning in is the last step I want to tell you about.
We’re spiritual beings. We’re aware. We’re awake.
So I tune in on Gaia, or on a specific part like the rainforest, to give her strength and help her heal.
One way of doing that I will share here. It’s rather practical. And beautiful. It’s initiated by the Tree Sisters.
Clare Dubois leads me through the process in this April 2020 call. To be found on their website and Soundcloud channel.
No One Above the Law
To be very clear: this story is not meant as a call to be hypocrites.
I detest the leaders who make laws and then think they are above it. If John and Jane Doe get fines for overstepping boundaries, our leaders should get bigger fines if they’re not giving the right example!
I think we should lead by example. All of us.
Doing is more important than talking.
But I do hope you and I will trust each other in the process. We are all on the same path. We are all re-inventing ourselves. Our societies. Our economies. Our lives.
So let’s support each other. Listen to struggles and failures and successes. Laugh, share, celebrate.
I love this story by Keno Ogbo. The universe says it. We’re good enough.
Happy transitioning!
I would certainly like to hear the experiences of Livia Dabs, Trista Ainsworth, Amy Marley, George J. Ziogas, Lets Save Earth, Daniel Clark, Tabitha Whiting, Sean Youra, Kathryn A. LeRoy, Ph.D., Ksenia Sein, and Keno Ogbo.
If you want to connect, you can find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Or somewhere listening deeply to Gaia…
Thank you, Mike, for adding your wise energy to my words.
