Consuming Thoughts O

O is for Observing How We All Live. Happy Rhodes: Every step I take, I am life. I am life. Or, as John Muir wrote: “When we try to pick out anything by itself we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe.” The Value Web is one very powerful tool for understanding how we inter-connect, inter-depend and inter-relate. Another beautiful process called the Muir Web was developed by Eric Sanderson for the Mannahatta project. If we were to focus on beavers, the two essential questions of the Muir Web are, “What does a beaver need?” and “What needs a beaver?” Both of these tools point us toward understanding how we relate and can sustain that which is around us and how that which is around us is related to and sustains us. Understand this and you will change what and how you consume. Trust me.

Tags: Eric Sanderson, Happy Rhodes, John Muir, Mannahatta, Muir Web, the Value Web

Consuming Thoughts N

N is for Now and That’s All There Is. Morrisey: You say it’s going to happen now-but when exactly do you mean? Buddhism calls rampant consumerism the world of hungry ghosts. Forever wanting, forever hungry we wander around samsara seeking happiness in things. In the Bible, the book of Matthew states: “You cannot serve both God and Mammon.” Mammon is typified as avarice and greed. Again, choosing wealth and stuff as a path to wholeness and contentment. As consumers we are frequently guided by desire and appetite. We want something so we buy it. We hunger so we consume. In this cycle there is temporary, fleeting comfort-instant and brief happiness. In this cycle we are not fully present. We are led by desire. There is no Now, there is a never-ending future, always just out of reach. We grasp at that next thing and, somehow, happiness still eludes us. Now, welcome to Now. Comfort and happiness are here-Now-in You-in God-in the Present. Continuous, constantly unfolding Now. Take a breath. Let it out slow. Check it out-Now.

Tags: Buddhism, hungry ghosts, mammon, Morissey, samsara, the book of Matthew

Consuming Thoughts M

M is for Measurement and What it Reflects. Andy Partridge: Tryin’ to take this all in and I’ve got 1-2-3-4-5 senses working overtime. We measure what matters and what we think matters we measure. Attention breeds intention and intention directs attention. Trying to make sense of it all is like trying to count sand. Want to get a grip on consumption? Start measuring.

Measure waste. How much stuff is going to the landfill? How much of that stuff is plastic? How much are you paying to have someone come and pick up unneeded and unnecessary crap?

Measure your waist. How much of what you consume is ending up around your middle or on your thighs? Is that cost effective, efficient or healthy? What can you do to reduce this accumulation? How will you know you’re having success? And, by the way, what on Earth are you saving it for? The world is getting warmer after all.

Measure your impact. How much of what you spend is benefitting your community? Your city? Local businesses and merchants? How much of that comes back to you? Figure it out. Draw your own Value Web and start connecting the dots.

By focusing on these three simple areas we direct our attention, build intention and create a path for our energy and intelligence to follow. What you learn will change your life.

Consuming Thoughts: JKL

J is for Jewels in Indra’s Jeweled Net. Roger Waters: Come on you raver, you seer of visions, come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine! What’s really cool (and can really suck) about being a living open system enmeshed within living open systems is that the health of the systems around us (political, economic, ecological) are directly reflected within us. Our individual and collective health also affects and influences these systems. Think about neighborhoods. Healthy neighborhoods are generally populated with people who regularly interact with and support each other. People spend more time, money and energy in the neighborhood. Unhealthy neighborhoods are typified by rising or rampant crime, disconnection and fear. People spend more time, money and energy protecting themselves. What’s the cause? We and the systems we create and effect are. If, as consumers and members of communities, we can find a way for more and more of us to shine, all of Indra’s Jeweled Net will radiate with our joy.

K is for Kindness and What it Begets. Jimmy Buffett: Were you born an asshole, or did you work at it your whole life? At a spoken-word performance back in the day, Henry Rollins told a story about living in New York and how it takes just one asshole to touch off a chain reaction of negativity and acrimony throughout the city. Now, turn it around. Well-targeted or even random acts of kindness and compassion can have the same effect. And, just to set the record straight, I’m not talking about some illusory feel-good bliss binge. I’m talking about a simple everyday practice of just being decent to each other, producing and buying that which does no or little harm, and creating opportunities for each of us feel valued and add value as we go about living our lives.

L is for Love that Binds and Connects. Morihei Ueshiba: A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind. I have learned more about love getting beat up in the martial arts than in anything else I have done. Love is connection. The deeper the connection, the deeper the love. And that love can be pretty tough. Scarcity, fear, unbridled anger, distrust all arise from negative reactions to changes around us – off balance – insatiable hunger, addiction, desire to consume more and more stuff come from a search for connection. Our capacity for love is bounded by our understanding of our selves. Our ability to love depends on our stance and posture as we face and engage with the world. Being grounded, centered, aligned and aware allows us to connect first with our selves and then with others. Extending love is enabled through practice, discipline. It’s not easy and it’s not free. Just ask the folks at Burgerville. Their mission is “to serve with love.” Realizing that calls for a culture of constant reflection and improvement. But when it works, you get some darn good burgers and some really good shakes.

Tags: Burgerville, Henry Rollins, Indra's Jeweled Net, Jimmy Buffett, Morihei Ueshiba, Roger Waters, to serve with love

Consuming Thoughts: I

I is for Inter-relations and What It All Means: John Lydon: Swimming in the slurry, burning in the heat, wind blown is the weather, I eat what you secrete. Nice thought that-and true. Breathe in, breathe out. You’ve just contributed to global warming. We are butterflies individually and collectively creating chaotic change with each flap of our bright, store bought wings. That means that literally everything we eat, drink, acquire and otherwise consume comes with a complex history of relationships, costs of production often hidden and externalized (The Story of Stuff is a delightfully depressing ode to this process.)

Things stay with us for a brief present (sometimes less than a minute of use)  and then can persist in some degraded form for hundreds of years. Take a look: take 10 minutes and start making a list of all the various relationships in which you became enmeshed through the last bottle of water you consumed. I doubt you’ll uncover them all, but please, don’t let me stop you. Imagine going through this process with everything single thing you buy. Not going to happen, is it?

So, as concerned but time-pressed consumers how can we take control of this complexity? Here’s a high impact start:

1. Buy local. Less complexity, more direct effect through shorter value chains.
2. Practice all 6 R’s: Reduce consumption. Reuse whatever possible. Recycle diligently. Repair what can be fixed. Refuse what you don’t need. Redesign how you live to accomplish the other five.
3. Rethink plastic: It tastes terrible, over 80% of it isn’t actually recycled, a staggering amount of it is unnecessary.
4. Create community: share stuff instead of buying what already exists in the neighborhood. Grow and share food. Share knowledge & experience. Share time.
5. Consider creating smaller families: The effects of over-population are not pleasant. Think famine, increased conflict and suffering, increased pressure on dwindling resources leading to large amounts of general unhappiness.

Yoda: Do or do not. There is no try.

Tags: buy local, chaos theory, Community, Do or do not. There is no try, John Lydon, recycle, reduce, refuse, repair, reuse, The Story of Stuff, Yoda