Consuming Thoughts: W

W is for Me, Becoming We. John Lennon: Instant Karma’s gonna get you, gonna knock you off your feet. Better recognize your brothers, ev’ryone you meet. Why in the world are we here – surely not to live in pain and fear. Why on earth are you there – when you’re ev’rywhere, Come and get your share.

I wonder if these were the words dancing through Obama’s mind and the collective consciousness of other heads of state as they watched, helpless, as China systematically eviscerated the Copenhagen accord. China played a key role in wrecking Copenhagen because they are still firmly rooted in a scarcity mindset – our scarcity mindset.

In a growing number of commodities and products including grains, meat, coal and steel China and the Chinese are the largest consumers in the world. And, to paraphrase the Carpenters, they’ve only just begun…China is also one of the largest producers of consumer goods in the world, a growing number of which are being consumed domestically.

In Copenhagen China, and to a lesser degree, India demonstrated that they do not intend to let limits on CO2 emissions hobble their rapid economic ascensions. The problem is their rise is linked to models of straight line consumer spending and growth. To clothe, feed and outfit the burgeoning consumer class of China and India in the “Western” tradition of the last 100 years, requires more resources than we have on this planet. Is this an argument against abundance? No. It is a demand for true abundance-oriented thinking and action.

China is adapting a model development pioneered and perfected by us. At Copenhagen they flatly and consistently refused to deviate from this model. There are other models available. Look at what was accomplished at Kalundborg. Look at how companies like Burgerville are reinventing the business of fast food. Look at what plants like hemp can do to disrupt and reorient agriculture, energy, nutrition, building and manufacturing. Look at how you can go from one can of trash a week, to one can a month, and maybe, to putting out only one can a year.

“Me” becoming “We” is not about putting on birkenstocks, joining hands and dancing in fairy circles in a pollyanna world of ponies and rainbows. It is about self-interest. Self-interest in which our sense of “self” includes and transcends the ways of doing and seeing and being that brought a disingenuous China to the Copenhagen summit.

How dare they deign to beat us at own game? How dare we become passively complicit to a future of scarcity and suffering for our children?

The words of Larry Gopnick the Job-like protaganist of A Serious Man come to mind here: “I’ve done nothing”, he says in limp resistance to the calamities that befall him. And, when he does move in a desperate act of scarcity-minded self-interest, the phone rings with ominous news from the doctor and black, funnel-shaped clouds appear on the horizon.

Instant karma, baby. Instant karma.

Tags: A Serious Man, abundance, Burgerville, China, CO2 limits, Copenhagen, hemp, India, instant karma, John Lennon, Kalundborg, Larry Gopnick, obama, scarcity mindset, The Carpenters

Consuming Thoughts: V

V is for Vision and What We Can See. Perry Farrell: We saw shadows of the morning light, shadows of the evening sun, till the shadows and the light were one. We act within the limits of our vision: what we perceive. From attention emerges intention, intention framing and directing attention. From Council Crest, a mountain top near our house I can see the valley where we do our shopping, downtown Portland, Mt. St. Helens, Rainier and Adams. I’ve seen the sun setting over the Coast Range and moon rising over Mt. Hood, shadow and light becoming one. From where I sit in my house, now, I see the Winter sun thawing the frost from the rhododendrons and hummingbirds hovering over their feeders. Mountains, valleys, sun and moon are mostly hidden from view. Yet, still they are here. Around me, in me, a part of me, in mind.

Deciding what, when and how to consume is a matter of vision. What do we perceive as our needs? What do we choose to see? To what are we blind? What is in our line of sight that we choose to ignore? From Council Crest some of us see mountains, some see the glittering lights of downtown Portland, some see power lines. For some people a home is family, for some shelter, for others – a prison.

If our vision is limited to “me”, my backyard, my needs then we act and consume accordingly. The world, essentially is perceived as a place that meets or threatens our well being. We take what we want. If, in seeking the larger view, we begin to include the people, plants, animals, environment and energy flow that create our community we will act and consume differently. Seeing the larger view, brings the world into mind.

Where we choose to direct our gaze depends on where we’re standing. Are you looking out a window? Staring at a wall? Commanding a view from Council Crest? Inspecting the bottom of your shoes?

Tags: Community, Council Crest, hummingbirds, Mt. Adams, Mt. Ranier, Mt. St. Helens, Perry Farrell, Portland, the Coast Range, Vision

Consuming Thoughts: U

U is for use and what we give back. Bono: And you give, and you give, and you give yourself away. 40% of all food produced in the US ends up in the trash. 32% of all municipal waste in the US is packaging. The percentage is nearly 50% in Japan. We consume for many reasons and most of what we consume we don’t use. Mazlow’s hierarchy of needs provides a tidy summary of these reasons. At the bottom of the pyramid is survival. At the top is self-fullfillment. In between there are things like status, belonging, recognition and reward. Nearly all of what we consume is tied to our sense of self, our identity. Like caddis fly larvae we accrete bits and pieces of the world around us to create a protective, self-gratifying shell. Except, then we do something funny. We throw away something like 80% of what we buy.

This Christmas pay attention to which pile is larger: the piles of paper and packaging or the presents. We are “recycling” more – which is good – except that most of what is “recycled” is actually down-cycled where it is used one more time and then discarded. We are throwing, wasting our selves away.

Instead of perpetuating this crazy samsara loop what can we do to give more of our selves back? Can we consume in a way that, rather than creating waste, actually adds value? Rather than consuming “stuff” can we spend our time and money in a way that not only enriches us but directly benefits our communities without all of the waste?

Tags: Bono, caddis fly larvae, food waste, Mazlow's hierarchy of needs, municipal waste, recycling, samsara

Consuming Thoughts: T

T is for Trust That We Now Sorely Lack. Peter Gabriel: You can blow out a candle but you can’t blow out a fire. Alone, and many of us feel more alone than we care to admit, no matter how brightly we burn we are still a single flame, an isolated candle. I love Ignite Portland, an event where an unpredictable array of individuals assaults, entertains and inspires us with a non-stop onslaught of 5 minute presentations. It’s brilliant. It truly shines. Thank you Raven for making it so. Yet, it is a collection of bright spots, a series of separate flames, a parade of fireflies.

Most of us in our work, often even in our home lives, remain disconnected. Work has demanding deadlines and we sacrifice the human quality of our teamwork to function mechanically. We sacrifice “trust” for “alignment.” I’ve been in a number of meetings where the detente of alignment censors discussion of deeper, later very destructive issues. At home the distractions of PS3, computers, smart phones, cable TV-technologies that are supposed to connect us-actually make us experts at remaining apart.

One of the catalysts for our over-consumptive ways is a lack of connection. We substitute stuff for substantial relationships. The foundation of strong, healthy relationships is trust. The source of Abundance in our lives is trust. Trust in our selves, trust in relationships with others, trust in the power of community, trust in the wisdom of the systems that support and sustain us.

Trust demands an openness, an intermingling of mutual vulnerability. Somatically, energetically it is supported by a strong core of self-awareness and feels and acts a lot like love. Ask people who were part of high-performing teams. The adjectives and descriptions they use to describe their experience could easily describe a good marriage. High-performing teams emerge from deep and enduring trust. Strong communities are sustained through webs of relationships woven with threads of trust. Together, we burn brilliantly, much brighter, than a collection of disconnected  individuals.

Tags: alignment, cable TV, fireflies, healthy relationships, high-performing teams, Ignite Portland, Peter Gabriel, PS3, Raven Zachary, smart phones, trust