FEAR

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Permalink Reply by Denise on March 4, 2008 at 9:39pm

I agree there is a lot 'out there' that is inclined to paralyze us, distract us, take our eyes and minds away from the solutions. I listened to a James Howard Kunstler talk on Radio Ecoshock about the End of Oil (which I celebrate actually) and there are definitely things to be concerned about since we are very separated from our food sources, and we have been programmed and obsessed with consuming and accumulating inane 'ego objects. However, towards the end of Kunstler's frightening talk, he focused on the idea of restoring the deeper concepts of community and culture - and even though he says we are entering into a 'long emergency' (title of his latest book) - we have hope of emerging with much richer relationships and realizations about this life.

The reason I celebrate the Bioneers contribution to the conversations that are 'out there' is because there is HOPE for yet-to-be-discovered ways of living. When we look at the history of the world and human life, these past 100 years or so have been an anomaly - all because of a few turns (internal combustion engines, oil, industrialization). It's all WE may know, but it is but a 'blip' in the reality of the Whole.

Everything IS connected and alive. I think we are going through a process of rapid, collective evolution - and we are on the verge of a breakthrough to an entirely new way of thinking and Being.

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Permalink Reply by Kim Ridley on March 5, 2008 at 7:05am

B: "Stop, Breathe, Think!" would make a great bumpersticker. Your post reminds me of another bumpersticker a friend gave me years ago: "Encourage your hopes, not your fears."

Denise: here's to the collective evolution you describe! Perhaps our ability to move beyond fear manufactured by politicians and marketeers is a key step in this evolution.

Additional interesting reading: anything by Frances Moore Lappe, including You Have the Power: Choosing Courage in a Culture of Fear and Hope's Edge. She also has a new book out that looks great but I've not yet read: Getting A Grip: Clarity, Creativity and Courage in a World Gone Mad. I've heard her speak a few times and she's amazing.

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Permalink Reply by Denise on March 5, 2008 at 7:29am

Agreed, 100%! In fact, I have Frances Moore Lappe's _Hope's Edge_ sitting right here on my table. Just got it from the library yesterday. I've been talking about her influence in my life with another Bioneer friend, just this week. I was explaining how and why I'd moved from vegetariansim to veganism, but how the most important aspect of her _Diet for a Small Planet_ was recognizing the solutions to hunger meant 'shifting' our way of thinking to a more global "small planet" concept, knowing we are all connected.

Yes! Magazine is another great source of hopeful solutions. Lappe' is a regular contributor.

There is an amazing opportunity HERE NOW to be our own heroes, live the change, be the change, spread the hope.

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Permalink Reply by Gingeroo on March 5, 2008 at 9:24am

My favorite acronym: F alse Evidence About Reality

And like I tell all my pessimistic friends, You have to believe there's another way.

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Permalink Reply by Brenda on March 5, 2008 at 11:54am

"Stop, Breath, Think. . . and Go Green." would make a great t-shirt. But getting back to your subject on fear, I haven’t read the book but I do think moving beyond fear is the answer and courageously doing something about it, is what matters most, regardless of what the politicians & business men/women market.

Al Gore’s documentary brought the fear of loosing our earth, to a frightening vision, prompting us all to create a movement, worth positive changes. So fear does work.

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Permalink Reply by Kit - Bioneer on March 6, 2008 at 1:38pm

I used to be a big Michael Chrichton reader. I found that he started to think about writing in terms of movies instead of books (being that so many of his books were eventually turned in to movies). But I've heard very good things about his recent work. He's definitely a very smart man. He went to med school, he ought to be.

I'll look for it. I've been needing a new book.

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