"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest." (Matthew 11:28, Message)
With regard to this contemplative and perceptive blog “On Being Misunderstood and Big Opportunities” I think the author has articulated well how she felt and dealt with being misunderstood by some people. I agree with her realisation that it is not much, if at all, we can do to change other people’s perceptions, including negative perceptions, of us if they choose to see us through the filter of only one part of us. Besides, those who judge us are actually judging themselves because they have most probably have not come to terms with loving and accepting themselves fully, and they end up judging other people and criticising them unfairly and unnecessarily.
Like what the author realised, the best and probably the only and most important thing we can do when we are misunderstood by others is to focus on loving and accepting ourselves more fully because this is something we can control over. We cannot control how others may perceive us just like we cannot control the weather outside, but we can control the climate within ourselves. The interesting thing is that when our inner climate changes, the weather outside is likely to change as well in alignment with our inner consciousness because our thoughts, emotions and attitudes can influence the environment and the weather around us since everything is energy.
“Once I do that, my mission shifts from trying to convince anyone to like me, to this: loving myself for the totality of who I am. It’s not about that person and me anymore; it’s about me and me.”
“We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of Infinity. Life is Eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in Eternity.” ♥
~ Paulo Coelho
Here’s sharing this part of a thanksgiving prayer that I like.
“For today. . . I do my best in all things
For tomorrow . . . I honor and heal the environment
For my life… I work to be a healthy cell in the body of the Universe
I honor the journey of my life with conscious living
and honor the lives of all I meet and those I will never know.”
When we journey through life with conscious living, we may never be fully happy in good times since we are aware of the sufferings of humanity and the degradation of the environment. We can only do what we can to help and heal humanity and the environment, such as spreading awareness and avoiding consumerism wherever we can.
I also like what is said here in this blog about the sacred balance.
“As said before, we live to die. But we live to heal – spiritually – our soul heals and the souls of others heal from us; from our experiences. We share with the next generations the adverse experiences so each year our community strengthens.”
Yes, perhaps the best gift we can give to our next generations is to share the adverse experiences with them so that they may also learn, so that each year our community strengthens. While not every person may heed the lessons in life, others may be ready to help heal humanity and our habitats too. Whether humankind lives to see the next century remains to be seen.
Like what an Australian Aborigine proverb says:
“Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home.”
“The Earth does not belong to man; Man belongs to the Earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” — Chief Seattle
These words of wisdom by Chief Seattle constitute one of my favourite Native American Indian quotes. It reminds me of some thoughts I posted in my blog recently, such as:
Humans need to remember that they do not create or sustain Mother Earth. Mother Earth creates and sustains us.
Instead of seeking to dominate and control Earth, we need to respect and cooperate with Earth and our fellow inhabitants (including animals and plants).
The monetary system and political system have created artificial value and boundaries respectively that discriminate and divide humanity and the environment. Yet in actuality, no one is more important or valuable than another because everyone is created equal. Similarly, no one is an island and no “country” stands alone. What affects a person in one place affects another person elsewhere, and what affects the environment affects us human beings too and vice versa.
So, when we do our part to protect the environment, we are helping ourselves because we will enjoy clean air and water. Similarly, when we help our brothers and sisters in need, we are helping ourselves because we are all one.
Let’s talk about balance. What is balance? For a long time (ever since I was a young boy), the concept of balance has been at the back of my mind. To me, balance is finding that happy medium between pleasure and pain, or enjoyment and suffering.
For example, when we want to travel from one place to another, we can choose to walk, run or take a bus (I am using a very simple example that we all can relate to in our daily lives). When we walk, we will reach the destination in a matter of time. When we run, we will reach there more quickly. When we take a bus, we reach there in the shortest time. So what is the point I am trying to make here?
Simply put, there are advantages and disadvantages (or pros and cons) for each choice. For example, when I walk, I get to exercise a little and it is good for my health. Compared to running, I do not fall down easily, so the risk of injury is very low. I use up less energy when walking, so I also do not tire easily. In addition, compared to taking a bus, walking is a non-pollutive way of travelling. But on the flip side, walking is also the slowest among the three options. If I need to get to my destination quickly, then walking will be the least favourable of these options.
How about running? Running is also a great form of exercise, besides walking. Although running exerts more energy than walking, it boosts my cardiovascular health better and produces more feel-good endorphins. It is also an environmentally friendly mode of travelling. However, I will tire easily after running for some time. Besides, there is a higher risk of injury when running, such as falling down or experiencing leg cramps. So, the faster I run, the greater the risk of injury. But then again, I will also reach my destination more quickly.
Finally, taking a bus is perhaps the most comfortable mode of travelling compared to walking or running. It is also the fastest. However, a bus pollutes the air because of the smoke emitted from the exhaust pipe. (This means that we enjoy the benefit of travelling quickly at the expense of our health and the environment.) Besides, a bus may break down along the way (although the chances of this happening are usually very low for well-maintained buses). Also, travelling by bus does not allow the opportunity for exercising.
So, there we have it. Three different scenarios to illustrate how we can find a balance, in terms of travelling and considering the various factors involved. This principle applies to other aspects of life too, such as eating, working on a project, and so on.
Example of finding a balance in using energy resources
According to The Venus Project website about a resource-based economy:
“Many people believe that there is too much technology in the world today, and that technology is the major cause of our environmental pollution. This is not the case. It is the abuse and misuse of technology that should be our major concern. In a more humane civilization, instead of machines displacing people they would shorten the workday, increase the availability of goods and services, and lengthen vacation time. If we utilize new technology to raise the standard of living for all people, then the infusion of machine technology would no longer be a threat.”
I was thinking to myself: If technology has been abused and misused, why did it happen then? The answer I came up with is that companies chose to misuse technology, such as using fuel resources (oil, coal and natural gas) for short-term gains at the expense of people and the environment. After all, these fuel resources are easily available (before they run out in a few decades’ time), so the profit-oriented companies prefer to use them to produce electricity and manufacture products, since they are cheaper to use compared to solar energy or geothermal energy. The result is that they make profits in the short run, but stand to lose in the long run (in terms of their health and quality of their living environment due to pollutive by-products such as smoke, acid rain and oil spills). So people will need to find a balance in using energy resources wisely and sensibly, in order to benefit one another and the environment while minimising any side effects.
Conclusion
How do we find a balance in life? I think each of us will have to find our own answers, and consider how we can make choices in life that will benefit not only ourselves but also others and the environment, for the greatest good.
Everything we need for our journey of life lies within us ~♥~ debs “Strand of Pearls: One Woman’s Journey to Light and Peace”
The Venus Project Simplified: We simply want a world that isn’t restricted by politics, money and elitism and doesn’t destroy the earth for profit, we want to ensure through our existing technological capability that every human being is fed, clothed, housed and has access to clean renewable energy and a relevant education without having to “Earn It”.
Like what the video shared, it will be expensive in the long run to keep repairing outmoded cities, and therefore new cost-efficient and self-sufficient cities need to be built from ground up. I think modern societies can consider implementing such cities, or at least plan for a transition for old cities to evolve to newer cities that use clean, non-fuel-based and renewable energy resources and technologies.
I like the idea of having indoor and outdoor agriculture – I was thinking to myself recently that people can be allowed and encouraged to cultivate fruit and vegetables in public areas so that everyone can share in harvesting the crops. Currently, in my country, it seems that it is illegal (or forbidden) to plant crops in public – what a waste of space. It is mainly the fault of the profit-oriented monetary system that discourages such practices of public sharing of common goods. If we were to do away with the monetary system (or the current self-serving concept of it), we all can make better use of the common space we have in order to create abundant food supply for everyone in the community. I also look forward to seeing the vision presented in the video come into fruition more and more, whereby science and technology is wisely and sensibly used for the betterment of humanity and the environment.
“Our economic system is premised on the notion of endless growth. Its unintentional manifestations include global warming, dwindling resources, proliferating pollution, the accelerating extinction of species, water and food shortages, all set against the backdrop of a burgeoning global population.”
Like what the article says, degrowth is not a new model to replace the current ailing and unsustainable economic model but rather “more a tool for opening up a discussion on the failures of and alternatives to the status quo.” More than just a philosophical idea, it is a practical mindset that helps people to rethink about what is truly sustainable and how to provide goods and services that will benefit people and the environment instead of exploiting them at their expense. It is about realising each of us is in this together and has a part to play to overcome the illusion of status and work towards a better future through reclaiming our human rights and restoring the environment we live in.
In this video, Peter Joseph summarised the main problems of the current monetary-based socioeconomic system. From my understanding of the presentation, the monetary system has played a role in facilitating the industrial revolution, resulting in the use of technology in the agricultural, manufacturing and service sectors, which gradually replaces human labour in these sectors, starting from agriculture and mining. The flaw of the monetary system is that it is used by corporations to create artificial scarcity and value of resources, which is meant to perpetuate continual or cyclical consumption in order for the corporations to continue to make profits. This resulted in deliberate inefficient use of resources to manufacture goods of less than optimal quality and durability so as to keep consumers buying new goods to replace worn-out ones.
I also learnt from the presentation that the current socioeconomic system has reached a stage where it can no longer sustain itself much longer because technology in the form of automation has mainly replaced human labour in agriculture, manufacturing and increasingly in the service sector. As a result, jobs are becoming increasingly scarce, and without jobs, people will not be able to afford to buy many of the goods, and hence the question was posed: “Should the focus of society be to create and preserve jobs or should the focus of society be to maximize production and create abundance? It is either one direction or the other. You can’t have both. Sadly, what you are seeing in the world today is the deliberate withholding of social efficiency for the sake of preserving the status quo.”
Like what Peter Joseph shared here, the world needs to embrace a new paradigm that will ensure everyone receives the benefits of peak production and abundance equally without the constraints and discrimination imposed by the limiting self-serving monetary system that is becoming obsolete by the day. The challenge is for people to let go of this obsolete system and forget about their status quo and embrace a better and more equitable system that will meet everyone’s needs and remove the problems of war, poverty, environmental degradation and so on, as mentioned in the video:
“While money has indeed served a positive role overall on the course of our social evolution, adaptation and change and improvement is still unstoppable. The fact is, most of the original problems, which required the development of the economic system we see today, are no longer pressing due to the dramatic advancement of science and technology. We now have the means to move in to a new paradigm one where the negative by-products of our current social establishment such as perpetual war, human exploitation, poverty and environmental destruction are no longer tolerable. What is advocated here is merely a next step in our social evolution as dictated not by a person or group’s opinion but by statistics, trends, basic inference and extrapolation all deduced by the scientific method.”
Interestingly, towards the end of the video, Peter Joseph also shared his observation that historically, humans living in indigenous societies are egalitarian and non-hierarchical in their social structures, which shows that humans are not inherently greedy.
“Before the agricultural or neolithic revolution which occurred about 10,000 years ago, hunter-gatherer societies actually had a non-hierarchical, egalitarian social structure. The social values were based essentially on equality altruism, sharing and literally forbid upstartism, dominance, aggression and egoism.”
May we all around the world move towards a new culture based on equality and sustainability and create an environment that cultivates our innate kindness and altruism.
All in all, I think the presentation summarises the problems of the current system well, which provide a strong impetus for people to seriously consider, prepare for and embrace a better and more equitable and sustainable system that will benefit not just themselves but also others.
I like the community culture called “Ubuntu”, as shared in this blog. According to the book MeWe, “Ubuntu is an African ideology which roughly translates as ‘humanity towards others’ and emanates from the belief that a universal bond connects all humanity.”
I believe the modern societies can adopt this ancient yet timeless culture in which everyone matters, and everyone is equal. There will be minimal conflicts or competition, as everyone is encouraged to value themselves and others equally. Money will become obsolete, and instead people will live and interact with one another based on sharing and gift giving in a new economy.
This culture has been practised in the bushman societies, which have been preserved for thousands of years, so it means human beings originally were meant to live in egalitarian societies, and were not ruled by greed but rather kindness and generosity.
“The emphasis on modesty enforces the egalitarian nature of Kung society, so that no achievements in hunting or other aspects cause differentiation between people based on class. The lack of social stratification is key for their adaptive strategy because it provides for a cooperative atmosphere where gift-giving and reciprocal altruism can be necessary for survival. The community organization is based on gift-giving, though there is no emphasis on material culture in terms of accumulation of wealth. Material culture is seen as objects to be shared or given to others in order to form alliances, such as between families before, during, and after a wedding.”
“Since the !Kung are such a small group of people, there really isn’t any form of social organization. They do not have social order nor do they really have people who are ‘higher’ or ‘lower’ in social status than the next. The !Kung are an egalitarian society with no leaders. The !Kung do not have laws or rules, everything is just known within the tribe and passed down through the generations. In the !Kung society, everyone knows what is accepted and what is not. They are people who live in a world without crime or punishment and for the most part, live in harmony.”
I would say the bushman society is very close to my ideal kind of society that I have always wanted to live in (which is my childhood dream), since they live in close connection with Nature, and are mainly in harmony with one another. I suppose the challenge for modern societies is to learn to live harmoniously and peacefully with one another and with the environment, like the bushman society, without having to depend on money, social class, hierarchical structures or any other controlling structures. Civilisation starts from the heart and is reflected in the way people treat one another and the environment, like what my favourite Native American Indian quote says.
I do not think the measure of a civilization
is how tall its buildings of concrete are,
But rather how well its people have learned to relate
to their environment and fellow man. ~ Sun Bear of the Chippewa Tribe ~
Real Rest is the Best 