SHOWING UP
as an Engaged Environmentalist
who is Evolving Spiritually
Becoming an Enlightened Lover
who consciously works at
Coming to Grips with our Global Environmental Emergency
Page 159f - We need bold and decisive innovative action from everyone... NOW. There is a sense of urgency about all of this. The sooner we act, the bigger we act, the more likely it is that we can save some of us from extinction. And by "us" I mean not only we human beings, and all the pieces of Gaia. Everything is up for grabs. The grains of sand along Cape Cod where my family has lived for many years, to the grains of sand in the Sahara Desert, to the grains of sand in the Mojave, to the grains of sand in any hour-glass anywhere in the world. Time is of the essence.
I have a fossilized ammonite siting on the bookshelf in my office. The image below was grabbed off the web. It is different than the one I have, but you get the idea.
I have a fossilized ammonite siting on the bookshelf in my office. The image below was grabbed off the web. It is different than the one I have, but you get the idea.
Ammonites were everywhere on this earth, and they all died off about 66 million years ago, about the same time that the dinosaurs died off. The ammonites were around for about 353 million years, and the dinosaurs were here for about 165 million years. I can't really get my head around those years. The oldest fossilize remains of homosapiens is about 300,000 years old. Being as "bright" as we are, we think we are the crown of this creative process... but frankly, we haven't been here that long as you can see. I should note that the ammonite in my office was purchased at a craft fair from a booth occupied by a couple who clearly identified with a Christian church, and were young earth creationist who believed the earth was created 10,000 to 6,000 years ago. When I questioned him about the incongruence he said, "I just know that God did it."
Page 161 - Yes, I was born in 1948 and right about then is when the 6th Extinction began. Maybe that gives anyone older than me a pass, but it doesn't excuse me or anyone younger than me. We did it. We pushed Mother Earth over the tipping point and in order to preserve herself, she is expelling us like the virus we are.
A persistent and challenging question has dogged me for years. Maybe it has nipped at you as well. Why have we not moved our shared Global Environmental Emergency to the top of the list of priorities? The Kardashians get more news it seems than does the survival of our planet. What is that about? Important question - challenging to answer.
A persistent and challenging question has dogged me for years. Maybe it has nipped at you as well. Why have we not moved our shared Global Environmental Emergency to the top of the list of priorities? The Kardashians get more news it seems than does the survival of our planet. What is that about? Important question - challenging to answer.
Page 162 - "It's over." So concludes Deb Ozarko in her book Beyond Hope. After reading and researching, I've concluded the same. There is much that can be done to regenerate the earth, and many of those actions are being taken by many around the world. But, as a whole, we human beings do not have the collective will to do what needs to be done NOW. Knowing what to do is not the same as having the motivation to do it. Will enough of us do enough of the right actions in a timely way?
How bad will it be and how soon? Sit down for this. Here is a link to the World Climate Clock. As I write this on October 7, 2020, the clock reads: 7 years - 085 days. Look for yourself by clicking here.
Life as we have known it to be, as we have dreamed it to become, will not happen. Now what? What do we do? I use Wilber's Quadrants to think through questions like this.
How bad will it be and how soon? Sit down for this. Here is a link to the World Climate Clock. As I write this on October 7, 2020, the clock reads: 7 years - 085 days. Look for yourself by clicking here.
Life as we have known it to be, as we have dreamed it to become, will not happen. Now what? What do we do? I use Wilber's Quadrants to think through questions like this.
Admittedly, I am short on answers for a lot of this. If you chew on Wilber's Quadrants you can begin to form your own questions. What needs to change in each of the quadrants? I'll be working on this and will add something in a blog post.
Page 163 - Some of us can survive if some of us evolve into Enlightened Lovers who are caretakers of Mother Earth. As Mahatma Gandhi said, we have to become the change we want to see in the world. Talk is cheap. I know this is true because I've done a lot of cheap talking right here. It is action that we need. We have to SHOW UP as spiritually evolved people who love Mother Earth. We have to make change happen in each of the quadrants. If enough of us evolve spiritually, evolve as environmentalists, then we might be able to draw down from the boiling point, the tipping point, so that some of us will survive. That's the goal. Some of us.
Page 164 - I recently read an interview online with Wendell Berry, who wrote the poem on page 29 of LOVING MOTHER EARTH. Berry is a prolific writer, a farmer in Kentucky, and an avid environmentalist. I almost met him in the 80's when left the Hermitage I was visiting. He left in the morning, and I arrive in the afternoon. I'd never heard of him until that day, and regret missing the opportunity to this day. He, too, is advocating for acting locally. We all have to tend the piece of Mother Earth that is right around us. But, we also must SHOW UP politically for the big structural change that is in the lower-right quadrant. Yes, please support community policies that are designed to sustain a place for life itself on planet Earth.
Page 165 - Love the part of Mother Earth that is right around you, and support community policies
that create sustainability.
that create sustainability.
166 - There are always action you can take. However, the coordinated actions your community takes will make a bigger impact. The more of us that LOVE MOTHER EARTH, the better. When we all insist on reduced carbon, INSIST ON IT, then something will happen. When we all SHOW UP it simply has more of an impact. So yes, changing the world is a collective project. All of us must SHOW UP.
I just have to direct you to this powerful three minute video on creating a movement. WATCH IT. Leadership Lessons from the Shirtless Dancing Guy. Watch it and then apply it.
I just have to direct you to this powerful three minute video on creating a movement. WATCH IT. Leadership Lessons from the Shirtless Dancing Guy. Watch it and then apply it.
Page 167 - A list of 8 guiding principles for becoming an Enlightened Lover. The more spiritually awake you are, the better will be your choices with regard to the care of Mother Earth.
Spiritually shuttered souls don't give a hoot about caring for the environment. I have people like that around me at our place in the forest. Supper annoying. They have the legal right, but the moral and ethical right? They abuse Mother Earth with their wonton destruction of the forest, tearing around in their huge trucks and All Terrain Vehicles. They have the right to do so, and I have the right to object. Unfortunately, my objections mean nothing. It is very painful for me, and our whole family. Momentary pleasure at the expense of sustainability.
So here are the 8 guiding principles for becoming an Enlightened Lover.
Spiritually shuttered souls don't give a hoot about caring for the environment. I have people like that around me at our place in the forest. Supper annoying. They have the legal right, but the moral and ethical right? They abuse Mother Earth with their wonton destruction of the forest, tearing around in their huge trucks and All Terrain Vehicles. They have the right to do so, and I have the right to object. Unfortunately, my objections mean nothing. It is very painful for me, and our whole family. Momentary pleasure at the expense of sustainability.
So here are the 8 guiding principles for becoming an Enlightened Lover.
Page 167 - The more you WAKE UP, the more you will be able to mindfully observe and witness your own self, as you make choices about how to live in the world. One of the hallmarks of being a mature adult, an evolving adult, is that you take responsibility for your life. Cultivating your Mindful Observing Witness is critically important.
In my office hangs a whiteboard upon which I sketch out the various issues going on in my client's lives. I use color markers. In fact (yes, in fact) I just turned and snapped a picture of my whiteboard. You will see that I was just talking with a client yesterday morning about her Mindful Observing Witness. But putting it on the board, I put it "out there" were we can observe it. I've added another picture from early yesterday. Mindfully Observe and Witness "what's what".
In my office hangs a whiteboard upon which I sketch out the various issues going on in my client's lives. I use color markers. In fact (yes, in fact) I just turned and snapped a picture of my whiteboard. You will see that I was just talking with a client yesterday morning about her Mindful Observing Witness. But putting it on the board, I put it "out there" were we can observe it. I've added another picture from early yesterday. Mindfully Observe and Witness "what's what".
Journaling is another tool for putting it out there where it can be observed. Here is a peak into my soul. In the image below you will see a page from my yellow notebook. I keep all my to-dos and process thoughts in my yellow notebook. This page is me organizing my thinking as I deal with the 1,2,3,4 and 5 items on the lower left. I'm not done processing, as this is an unfolding effort. As something pops into my awareness, I add it to the page. This is but a technique for helping me to observe my own process; the more of this I do, the more self-aware I become.
Page 167 - The 2nd aspirational principle: GROW UP beyond the Adult level of development toward being an Enlightened Lover and you will live with more Reverence for Life. This is the Virtuous Cycle of which I have spoken. Yes, I'm a huge fan of developmental theory. I so wish something like Spiral Dynamics was taught in the school system. If you are interested in doing some more work on SDi, "Spiral Dynamics Integral," then CLICK HERE. The goal is to GROW UP into an Enlightened Lover... or to get as far as you can on the journey. And remember the basic message of this book - the more Enlightened you are, the more you will be an environmentalist, and vice versa.
Page 168 - OPEN UP to the new. This 3rd guiding principle is about stretching to grow. There is, after all, more to know and experience than what you already know and have experienced. Don't be afraid of Mother Earth. But, don't be reckless, either. Here is a great line from Mark Twain. "Twenty yeas form now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." The sentiment comes right from the Outlaw Worldview. Break free! OPEN UP and do something different, especially if what you are doing now isn't working.
Look at me. I've been on a spiritual quest my whole adult life. Consciously. In the last few years I've become so very concerned with the environmental emergency facing us that I've put time and energy into reading, research, writing... and here I am. Here we are. I've OPENED UP a bunch in order to be and do more as one who seeks to affirm my mission in life: to explore, map, and guide people to the Kin-dom of God.
What, where, and how should you OPEN UP?
Look at me. I've been on a spiritual quest my whole adult life. Consciously. In the last few years I've become so very concerned with the environmental emergency facing us that I've put time and energy into reading, research, writing... and here I am. Here we are. I've OPENED UP a bunch in order to be and do more as one who seeks to affirm my mission in life: to explore, map, and guide people to the Kin-dom of God.
What, where, and how should you OPEN UP?
Page 168 - The 4th principle is CLEANING UP. Each of us has to do our work, but we don't have years of time for years of therapy. I sat with a wonderful woman, in her 50's, who since she was a child has felt profoundly inadequate. She is not, of course, inadequate. Let me be more honest about that. She is inadequate in some things, as am I. She is rather adequate in some other things, as am I. No one is completely adequate at everything, but we all have our gifts. Her sense of her inadequacy is a totally relative concept produced by her conditioned mind. I understand that. But we just may not have time for her to unhook from the trauma of the past. Metanoia. Turn your mind around. Act boldly and you will begin to feel bold. So do your work. CLEAN UP what you can. Accept what you can't. Then move on and LOVE MOTHER EARTH.
Page 168 - And the 5th - SHOW UP by playing to your strengths. Do what you are talented at doing. I am better at writing than walking door-to-door. Although, I did canvas 240 homes on foot a couple of years ago to stop gerrymandering. In 2020, my wife and I have written 250 letters through the Sierra Club in support of the get-out-the-vote movement. And I have personally phoned 164 politicians in Michigan. Do what you can, please. You have some strengths that you can bring to bear on this challenge. Subscribe to something, and follow through.
Page 169 - Politics. I don't like politics, but it is how stuff gets done. The 6th principle is about SHOWING UP politically. If we do not confront and change the rules of our game, we will keep loosing. We have the right and responsibility to change the rules, so let's do it! As I wrote, "We all need to encourage our communities to put policies in place that will effectively demonstrate Love for Mother Earth."
And 7th, take a look at how you consume. My son does not like being called a "consumer" and he has made that clear. He is a minimalist in many ways. I'm getting a new set of tires on my 13 year old truck, and they should get me to 300,000 miles. Ask yourself is you NEED it, or want it? Let it go.
Another little thing (that keeps adding up). At home and at our office, my wife and I have signed up with Arcadia Energy through whom we get clean energy. You should check them out. If you do sign up, we get a little referral fee and you get the satisfaction of knowing that you are doing something good for Mother Earth. If you sign up, and generate referrals, you too will get a small fee in return!
And 7th, take a look at how you consume. My son does not like being called a "consumer" and he has made that clear. He is a minimalist in many ways. I'm getting a new set of tires on my 13 year old truck, and they should get me to 300,000 miles. Ask yourself is you NEED it, or want it? Let it go.
Another little thing (that keeps adding up). At home and at our office, my wife and I have signed up with Arcadia Energy through whom we get clean energy. You should check them out. If you do sign up, we get a little referral fee and you get the satisfaction of knowing that you are doing something good for Mother Earth. If you sign up, and generate referrals, you too will get a small fee in return!
Page 170 - Become an Enlightened Lover and encourage others to get on the path. We must spread the word! We have to coach and challenge each other to move our Global Environmental Emergency to the front of the list. It needs to be a topic that we are comfortable raising with family and friends, colleagues at work, and fellow citizens. I'm hoping to get you, my dear reader, to share some of the experiences you have had around "How to talk with your friends about our Global Environmental Emergency?" There is (or will be) a blog post aimed right at this topic. How do we talk with others about a subject that is so big, and so frightening? I'm hoping that the two doors I'm presenting, Environmentalism and Spirituality, will provide points of entry.
Look to the tab at the top on REVIEWS AND RESOURCES for a growing list of strategies and tactical actions you and your neighbors can take to address our Emergency.
Look to the tab at the top on REVIEWS AND RESOURCES for a growing list of strategies and tactical actions you and your neighbors can take to address our Emergency.
171 - A wrap up and summary call to action! Inching along toward being an Enlightened Lover is something we all can embrace. What would any of us lose, no matter the outcome environmentally, by becoming an Enlightened Lover? Another good blog post topic, huh?