When it comes to the more-and-more evident reality of increasingly rapid and devastating climate change, I can’t seem to find the conversation that Im looking for so have decided to have it here.
Over my many years in the program room with women, I have often said: If you don’t like the conversation you’re in, change it! Become more adept at hijacking the conversation and taking it where you want it/need it to go. The polite alternative is to leave it and, in doing so, make no difference. The deadly alternative is to numb yourself and stay in a meaningless-to-you conversation to the bitter end, waiting for someone/something to give you permission to exhale. For that, you have to be willing to surrender your own evolution. That is a big price to pay for remaining invisible.
I do not write this for those who need or want convincing. I write for those who have long left that behind and hunger for a new, more compelling and potent conversation in exploration of the living of their own lives. A conversation that takes us beyond observing and reporting on what we see outside of ourselves… and one that reclaims that which emerges from us as we recognize and reclaim our own creation; and what it takes from within, for us to be able to do so.
That observing and reporting is directed at people, things, events ‘out there’ and can take many forms. This particular time, the observing and reporting in question speaks to climate change.
We are in rapid and increasingly accelerating climate change: check
We have all the information/evidence that is required to demonstrate that: check
We are past the point of hand-wringing, wailing and quivering at our own insanity: check
So, now what?
I can rail at the world, in general; at the corporate insanity and frenzied consumption that brought us here; at the unfettered greed and avarice that have fuelled the entire process. But to what end? I choose instead, to focus on my life and its expression from this moment forward…. fully in the recognition and ownership that we are indeed, a species on the edge of inevitable extinction. It is not ‘if’ – it is now, when.
Manifesto for Meaningful Moments:
- I choose the moment I’m in. For that, I must live in that ever-unfolding moment and not lose myself to the past (coulda/shoulda/woulda) or long for a future that does not yet exist. Only in the moment I am in, am I able to receive the intelligence that can guide me to shape and define a powerful choice for my own wellbeing.
- I choose to own what I can do rather than lament what I cannot. Consumption has lost its appeal, resulting in my significant reduction in participation with the long list of suspects grabbing at my wallet. That includes the little things (like another pair of shoes) to the bigger things (like trips to Hawaii and holidays abroad). I have made peace with my choosing to find joy in my neighbourhood.
- I choose to act in my own small and seemingly insignificant way rather than seek to convince others to act. I continue to believe: if we stop buying it, they will stop making it. In a consumption-driven society fuelled by debt, it won’t stop until we do.
- I choose to live from this mantra: think globally, act locally. In that, I watch for patterns and make choices for my personal experience in recognition of those larger patterns. Looking up is making looking down far more potent.
- I choose delight! Every day, I catch myself in a moment of loving my life! The way the clouds move. The colour of the sky. The life-giving breeze, following days of oppressive heat. A visit with my precious grandson. Sharing a meal with my sons and daughters-in-law. Conversation with my dearest friends. Every day, my life makes me smile!
- I choose grace in the face of my own mortality. It’s not like it’s a surprise! I’ve known for a long time that this body – this device that permits the Force of ‘me’ to move through space/time in this reality – is on loan. Its inevitable demise was a given from the moment of my birth. Rather than choose to direct my efforts at extending this corporeal journey, I choose to recognize imminent departure with grace: with acceptance, appreciation and a sense of delight at the next leg of my journey. It will be as I anticipate, given the Force of creation that I know mySelf to be.
- I choose silence. I choose to slow down; to breathe deeply and frequently into the base of my spine. I choose to stop… look up… and watch the world around and above me, rather than seek to look elsewhere to avoid tripping over the impediments I may have placed in my own path.
- I choose the truth of my own experience. In the moment that I’m living. Not good/bad, right/wrong – it just ‘is’ as a legitimate and compelling platform from which I choose my life.
- I choose the solemn and sovereign journey of my unique existence. I cherish the precious moments shared with others for whom a deep connection resonates… and I also cherish the deep and great undulations of my own ‘oneness’. That there is no one here with me in this moment in no way diminishes or denigrates the majesty of my own Presence. Although I have been ’trained’ to be a creature of pack-thinking, I have discovered that it is not the essence of my Being… as I have been lead to believe. The only way I can intimately know that – in the very cells of my being – is to live it.
What a great way to start my day, and YES to all of that. I have been auditing to our dire planetary situation since 2015 when I saw wildfire smoke block the sunrise for the first time as ash rained down like snow. I began a painful exploration into the kind of looming climate disaster that was unfolding rapidly around me. I woke up from my “the future is predictable because it looks like the past” slumber.
Since then I have moved through so much. I have walked through old growth forests sobbing and apologizing to Gaia for what we’ve done, and on other days, I have marveled at the beauty of nature as tears of awe streamed down my cheeks. I have grabbed on and let go countless times. And, eventually I found the grace to “honour what is”.
Today as the world appears to be rapidly awakening to the ugly reality of what we’ve done with our collective choices I am continuing to fine tune mine. I no longer want to change anyone, or anything, it’s just not my business. Instead I continue to make choices that respect the trees, the wind, the animals we share the planet with, and my fellow earthlings. That is enough for me.
Recently I moved with my Partner and furry kids from the west coast to the east coast and then to the Ottawa area. Our choice to be in Ottawa is not because it feels safer (especially after 6 tornadoes touched down around is within a week of getting here), not because it offers some unparalleled natural beauty or opportunity I could not get on the west or east coast but because those who I need to be with as Gaia completes her final exhale of humans from this planet reside here. It’s time to be “home”.
After years of discovery and despair at knowing what so many refused to see, my days are now filled with laughter, with love, with a deep peace. I know we are not long for this place, and I am good with that. Anything else would be fighting against the perfection of it all.
Hi Deb!
As always, your thoughts are both welcomed and appreciated. Perhaps you, more than many, know the experience of being in the thick of it, as Gaia begins to shake off that which seeks to bind her to the will of another. We all know: there will be none of that!
Like you, it has become impossible for me to not see what now, so intensely, calls to my attention. In a world of ‘business as usual’, I turn to those deeply meaningful moments in my life that have become all that is both relevant and imperative. The inner cues strengthen as the outer ones compel.
And, the other thing we both know: nothing makes it all better like breakfast at Alice’s! In your good company, I know I travel well along this path.
I needed to read this, as I get ready for another day of wanting to create change for others, I’m finding it challenging to find meaningful conversations.
Thank you, Louise
Hi Ray, I know it can be a challenge to find those meaningful conversations, for yourself. You know the ones I mean: the ones that refuse to allow you to hide the immensity of your own potential, as you so generously become that invitation to those around you. A gentle reminder: I am never any further than a Skype call. 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to connect and leave your thoughts.