One of the best workshops I attended was a soap making course put on by Homesteaders Emporium. It was an evening workshop and it gave me all the confidence (lye can be scary...and I respect it very much) and skills I needed to make my own soap!
This was near the end of 2013 if I remember correctly. Below are photos from my most recent batch (batch #3). This time, I did the cold process, but didn't add anything - just left it as is to harden into mold (see below). It has a bit of a green tint to it and I'm not entirely sure why....perhaps the olive oil since it's yellow-ish but I have not yet looked it up.
Then, I grated it down, re-melted it on a double boiler and added essential oils, and spices for colour! All direct from nature :)
Actually, I first tried to melt without the double boiler, and I added too much water (because I didn't want it to burn/stick) and it was a foamy mess! But, still turned out okay (see below) just a bit more water in it so it will take a while to "set" and be ready for use.
This is a minty bar (though it looks a bit fruity!), peppermint, spearmint, tea tree
...plus ground oatmeal/bran/clove.
I could use it now but...it's soft and would disintegrate within a few uses....so I'd rather wait and prolong its life.
I used old almond milk/hemp milk containers as molds and they worked great! #upcycling and a container I had lying around (made with silicone) - not actually a huge fan of it for food so glad I can use it for soap making!
A few more pictures of the process.
This has rose flowers (which were rescued on their way to landfill)
plus essential oils of jasmine, ylang ylang, and patchouli.
Tumeric is what I used to get this colour!
I added poppy seeds to the yellow one for exfoliant awesomness (they were poppy seeds I rescued from their way to the landfill, so it seemed like a good fit!) The scents in it are tea tree, lemon grass and a bit of patchouli.
I actually had help in making a video while doing the cold process - and at some point I will edit it and perhaps post it online....it was made for my cousin, and is super low key....but maybe will be helpful.
What do you do when you find a perfectly good shelf in the alley, whilst walking home from work?
....And when you've been racking your brain for months on how to have a good system so that people waste less...and give/share more?
Why you implement a SWAP SHELF- that's what!
Found these in the Landfill bin...all still perfectly usable - heart breaking...but it was time to no longer sit by idly as I watch people toss perfectly good stuff! While diverting this..my head was racing.
......found in bin - once destined for landfill
I was a bit weary because I had been burned in the past....I tried to start something similar before, a year or so ago....and was met with a bit of opposition i.e. someone ripped my sign down, still unsure where it went....so perhaps a bit more than a bit of opposition.
This was my first attempt - perhaps a bit too much writing.... and there was never any shelf set up... I had placed the sign on wall, to the right of the landfill bin.
But I figured, it was worth another shot, and I finally reached the point where the pain of not doing it and watching what goes into landfill was now greater than the pain of being shut down when I had tried before.
So I figured, I'd take what I learned, and make it different this time, and hopefully people will use it and benefit from it.
This time I decided to keep it short, and sweet....but with my verbose nature ...it was hard to keep it simple. After a few iterations, I opted for this....a play on "have a penny leave a penny.." that reminds me of my childhood and sharing our cents to make peoples lives easier at the check-out. :)
The sign on the right placed on the door to the "recycle room" (formerly know as "waste room" and renamed (not officially but I refer to it as this)....by yours truly...language is important....many subtleties) - it lets people know if they have stuff - they have THREE options 1) Swap Shelf 2) Location of nearest thrift shop (5 min walk, if that) 3) Diabetes Association - Clothesline Program (offering free pick-ups!)
Minutes after it's set up....the stuff on here is all stuff I found in the bin....but soon enough (same day and day after)...the items change!
Yay!! Someone added their boots!
Some items gone, some more items placed....a beautiful ebb and flow - keeping it out of the landfill low and our hearts full!
If you have any questions or want to chat about starting something like this in your building....I'd be happy to help!
Soon we will have electronics recycling, battery recycling, light bulbs, and soft plastics....can't wait! It's been a looooooooong time coming. But sometimes, things can only work best when the people are ready to have them.... it's a bit of an ebb and flow itself.
I'm feeling super grateful for the positive feedback both verbally from folks in building, including our security staff, and in action (by placing and taking items), I've received.... yes to everyone!
We all get to a point where our shoes have so many rips/holes they simply can no-longer be worn.
But what happens if we're unable to repair it ourselves or with the local repair groups ( here in Vancouver we have....Vancouver Fix It Collective & Repair Matters)? Donating them is of course not an option since they are not really wearable at this point (at least for me). And more often than not, paying to have them repaired costs more than the shoes! What do we do?
I'm a huge fan of fixing....ourselves, but supposing we simply don't have the time or whatever else may be the case.
Are they destined for the landfill???
Nope! (phew!)
If you are close to Vancouver BC, you can take them to the Quick Cobbler - when you walk in you'll see a black round container that says "Shoes for Donation" (Or something like that) on it.
Quick Cobbler Located at 430 W 2nd Ave unceded coast salish territory 604.682.6354
Place them in there, and they will mend them then donate them.
This is a win win because it allows their staff to get practice, and train, it gives shoes a new life - keeping them in circulation for those who want/need them, and it keeps stuff out of landfill.
I'm a big fan of Win-Wins! :)
Don't live nearby? Call around to your local shoe repairs and see if they might like to implement this awesome initiative!
EDIT: reading The Upcycle completely re-opened my eyes, and reminded me that....we don't need to live under the fear of "not enough" or, we have to "minimize our use", when we are working within systems that are interconnected, and regenerating - think: Permaculture. If the water in the shower is heated by our Sun, and then used multiple times before re-entering the traditional water treatement system (i.e used again in the sink, or toilette, then pipped out into the yard where you have a natural grey water treatement area, and the water can then be filtered and soak into your food forest....well that is a completely different story than single use, and water heated by non-renewables...)...just sayin ;)
I recently had a conversation with someone about give and takes re: the environment, and they mentioned that they just loved to take long showers and they were not going to give that up, it was what they did, they loved them, and it was one area they were not willing to "compromise" in..... but there were other areas they did better in, so, they figured, it all balanced out
I've heard this type of thing more than once, and in fact it tends to be a pretty common thing that comes up. In the moment I've always tended to express gratitude for what they did do, and sort of let the other piece go unsure how to truly handle the comment, feeling uneasy about it but not really sure why, or how to articulate it.
Here are my thoughts......
It makes me think about how disconnected we are and how we still think of these types of things in terms of "compromise", or "giving something up", as seperate than ourselves. That if we want to be turly "enviro", we have to stop the things we enjoy and to stop all of that would be impossible so we must choose a few.
I am definitely pro taking baby steps, changing one thing at a time, then adjusting your lifestyle around that new change, integrating it, then taking the next thing. And, I recognize it can be very daunting to change everything at once....however, I guess I see that as a continual cycle of change - and maybe even something you changed in the beginning, you may get new information and it causes you to change further down the road....this process to me is not static. Yet in the aforementioned conversation ones mind already appears made up.
To me, what's truly going on here is that we are seeing the issue from an outdated paradigm/mindset. In fact, when you truly feel love for someone, it becomes natural to not want to hurt them. Thus, when we truly feel love for our earth, our mother, to hurt her would not feel right.
This is simply what happens when we love someone, and it's actually quite beautiful how it works.
Where you once maybe got enjoyment from an activity, you now don't because in the very depth of your being, you comprehend that it causes harm, and ultimately, that creates a sense of cognitive dissonance inside us - or....in layman's terms, a feeling that doesn't sit quite right. Usually ones behavior is adjusted accordingly, because we have a desire as humans to not feel this sort of uneasy feeling. We naturally want to feel good - makes sense.
And I think we incorrectly assume that we will feel bad, or limited if we cut certain things out because we think of it only from one direction, from one point of view - of what we are "losing", but we don't think about what we gain, and the feeling we feel when we do what's right for what we love. It might seem counter intuitive for now but actually, we feel good once we stop it, not sad that we don't have whatever it is anymore.
When we love someone, we don't make these sorts of calculated responses. "Suppose she goes into anaphalcctic shock, well there is a hospital she can go to right, and what are the chances she would die? I can probably keep peanuts around?" "Well, my mom can't breath properly when I spray this hair spray in the air and it makes her wheeze for days, but I really love this hairspray, nothing makes my hair look as good, and well, I make her breakfast on weekend so, it all balances out right?"
We likely wouldn't even think to this point, our emotions, our feelings, our bodies would speak, they would take over before we started to analyze it because the moment we saw we were hurting someone we loved, we would feel that pain inside, and want to change to remove that pain...and the joy derived from that item, or activity would cease to exist the moment we learned it hurt our loved ones.
When did we lose our deep love for our planet, our mother, our only home, and all our fellow inhabitants - that which gave us life? This very life we're living, The life that allows you to read these words on this page and comprehend.
It's not that I have to tell myself a stern"NO" every moment, that actually, I really want to be doing all these things but I "know" they are wrong and harmful to the environment so I stop myself. It's that I literally do not seek any enjoyment from these things anymore, and in many cases it hurts to do the wrong thing....and not from a place of guilt or shame, but from a place of love.
For example, if I had to throw compost in the garbage (or anything in the garbage) I would feel tense inside. Why? because I know this isn't the place it belongs, and the only reason I'd be doing it is likely because I don't have time to sit down and seek out where it's proper place should be (i.e. search online what to do with random items I have no idea how to recycle, or find an artist who may want this item to incorporate into art....as some examples).....and while time does feel very real and has very real implications in our current society, nature does not function on that same time scale...but I digress, because now this could lead into the philosophical realm and I'm trying to keep this grounded (for now).
People often say "oh just throw it out, it won't hurt...." or "you do so much for this planet already, you can slack a little here" it's getting back to the justification type, wrong or right mentality....but it's not about that, it's not about weighing out the good and the bad - it's about listening to what feels right inside.
I have told people, when asked, that I don't think I would enjoy attending large music festivals anymore because I'd bare witness to all the carelessness, wastefullness, litter and general disregard, and this would quite literally, break my heart. And I should add that large music festivals are things that used to bring me a lot of joy (or so I thought). I went to Sasquatch music festival a few years in a row back when I was younger and loved it so much...but I've changed....the joy doesn't come anymore, because what is in the forefront is the pain I feel. And what's different is it's internal now, not just external. Whereas before I noticed the garbage and thought about it...I now feel it. To me this makes sense, we're all deeply interconnected, and when we hurt the one we love, we hurt too. Now, some would look at that and say "wow, she is really missing out on life, because she's too intense, just relax, be casual about it"... but to me, I don't see it that way.
How do I see it?
While it's true, I don't derive the same enjoyment out of activities and items that I once used to, this is only unfortunate if we stop right there. When you take it a step further you see that while I may not have "fun" like the mainstream world has fun right now, I have ventured down a path that brings me many joyful moments, and honestly they feel more full of joy because I don't have to deny any part of myself while doing them (the part that would know deep down this is wasteful, or wrong, or harmful to mother nature)....it's pure bliss.
So what I wonder is..... where did the love go and how do we get it again? How does love form?
Coming home from Groundswell, I came in through the alley as
I needed access to our compost since I had brought home our collective food
scraps for the week on my bike. If you know me, you know that I can’t be by recycle/garbage receptacles
without taking a gander inside…I just can’t.
I found….some binders, a fan that is in incredible
condition, some cords (internet, electrical etc), and a hanger…this was in the
garbage. Fun to find, but ultimately sad…sad that people throw this away, especially when it’s in perfect working
condition. Anyone need any binders/cables? I think I already found a home for the fan ;).
In the recycling blue bin I rescued two bottles which had maybe a
quarter of their product still inside – i.e. soap. One was a pump bottle for
liquid soap which I was excited about and took since I wanted a bottle to add the bulk liquid soap I
got refilled at the Soap Dispensary – I was pretty excited to find this as I
really didn't want to buy a soap I didn't really want, and accumulate more plastic, just to get the bottle! So…that’s
good.
The other one I just rinsed out a bit and then put it back, since I figured the city would deem
it as “contaminated” and into the garbage it would go.
On that note, I wonder how much we all know about what goes
into recycling and what ends up actually being recycled. While we feel good
about putting x,y,z in our blue boxes – if it’s not actually an item the city
accepts, it will ultimately end up in the landfill.
So – a recap of what the city of Vancouver accepts (I
specify Vancouver since this is where I am and it differs quite drastically depending
on which area you’re located in!) Also, this should be noted too that this is only
if you get City pick-up if it’s a private recycler (i.e. you're in a business, or condo complex, apartment etc) then what is accepted can be slightly different too. I
was going to do my own bulleted list but then this is forever changing, as
facilities become better able to accept more items (yay!) so…a link shall
suffice
What goes in the GREEN bin (see the link!) --> basically, anything that was living, grew from soil, or would decompose if
left sort of unattended, outside of the fridge, outside. I like to project into the future and imagine, if it got wet – would it ultimately
mold and decay? Like…a t-shirt - the answer is yes, because it’s cotton (cotton being a plant), and I can visualize a sort of moldy t-shirt. But
would plastic? Nope..the water would bead on it but it wouldn’t penetrate. So
yes… I like that sort of visual for helping me navigate the potentially muddy
waters…or composted soil?
In terms of what is or is not excepted, just want to draw attention to the image of soil/rocks. At first glance I was thinking to my self - "WHAT…that is clearly organic matter"…and then I realized – OH…it’s
because you can dump that outside on the grass/soil/plant bed…etc..and if you
live in a condo – well actually, if you live in a condo you probably are not
having city pick-up it’s likely a private recycler so you’d want to check with
them assuming it's of a similar vein, I’d just sneak it in there anyway…OR …bring it down and add it to your
landscaped areas around your building, or share it with a friend ;) there are always ways….always. :) And, it's fun to exercise our creativity and find them!
I digress, my actual point of wanting to write was to note
the horrific chemicals in our traditional soaps and body products and I will
use this one soap I found as an example. However since this is already incredibly long....let's take it to a ...second blog post!
Consumers have the POWER! - just as an FYI...not to be the bearer of bad-GMO news BUT... as we all likely suspected, theatre popcorn (at least at the hollywood-type theatres or however one calls them - I guess ALL Cineplex's), is GMO... SO let's all email them and let them know we'd like it to not be GMO..and then eventually we can buy their popcorn again and eat it knowing we're not confusing our body, and participating in an unknown science experiment! Below is the email I received back from them. And, here is her email Kelly.Armstrong@cineplex.com, so you can tell them too! :) Woot! Consumers have the POWER!
//Dear Jocelynn,
Thank you for contacting Cineplex Entertainment. We apologise for the delay in response as we have been experiencing a higher than average volume of contacts.
Unfortunately, our popcorn is not GMO free. The popping oil used contains canola oil which is extracted from genetically modified hybrids of rapeseed.
We apologise for any inconvenience. Your feedback regarding GMO free popcorn is greatly appreciated. We will be sharing your comments with the appropriate department for their review and consideration.
Even the word itself, "re" - "cover" .... cover it back up again. Don't let that out, once it's out you can't go back ;), do you even want to?
A conversation with a friend had me saying .... "I'd really like to go to LNE Victoria, but I'm not sure my brain is ready for more, I haven't yet recovered from LNE Vancouver". The word "recover" struck a cord with me.
What does that even mean, to recover? Is this actually something I should be aiming for?
As I thought more about it....I realized that, actually, recovery is going backwards. It makes sense that perhaps a desire for such a recovery is likely to emerge after having a paradigm shifting week of events.
However, upon further reflection, this is really the old world trying to hang on, to grasp at what it can. It would seem as though recovery keeps us stuck, and brings us back to the business-as-usual world. We are used to going back so it becomes second nature to want to take time to chill and "recover". But really, recovery is only relevant when you are looking to return. And, as appealing as it is to cling on to what we know, and where we find comfort, I realize that these are merely constructs of our limited understanding of our existence, and ultimately, of the universe.
And that is not to say that actually stepping back to take a break, to let these new ideas, and understandings ripple through you and find an even deeper meaning is a bad thing, because it most certainly is not, but it was just interesting for me to notice the language that I spoke, and tune into it on a deeper level. I was able to notice it, and use it as a sort of "warning sign".. "ah ha!, Old World trickery!" ...so, instead of going that route, I've mindfully chosen to carry on. To just be. Be in the new, which can encompass, at times, uncomfortable, and overwhelming sensations, but, you see, these feelings are, indeed, the fuel to manifestation of the connected, aware, and more beautiful world we strive to live within. Therefore, upon all this reflection, I'm embracing where I'm at, the complete unknown, full of possibilities, erupting with potential. I have let go of my desire to recover, and am moving forward rolling with all of it. And, I will be attending LNE Victoria. Here we go.
Living the New Economy Victoria starts tomorrow, the third one of its kind! I've been meaning to digest, verbally, in blog form, my feelings from the first session and, I figure now is the time...before my mind gets blown, round two, in Victoria.
I was also only at the evening sessions, and then weekend, so I really can't speak for the wonders that happened during the day ...but I know they were fantastical.
The opening night, October 15, 2013.
Really set the stage for the week of wonder to follow.
An amazing spoken word by one of the organizers, Tammy Lea Meyer entitledI Am touched on absolutely every piece necessary. My re-cap, quite honestly, will not be able to express how profound her words were. It was coming from a place of love, and connection, and it was beautiful to be apart of that.
Please, have a listen and let the words run through you.
Hard to pick a favourite part because honestly it's all phenomenal but what struck me so much, such that I had to pick up my notebook and scribble a bit was:
"Rationale is to the life force as a picture of a tree is to a tree."
I am so thankful for this whole piece. It's curious how, any one of these words, individually, may or may not evoke something on their own. Yet strewn together in this remarkable, thoughtful, fashion, has a profound and lasting effect on the listener.
Easily taken for granted, certainly I do, it's fascinating how language works and how we communicate to share beliefs, ideas, and understandings.
After that, I was awakened to this beautiful short clip, as included above, which compares our current economic/ecological crisis to the life of a caterpillar pre-butterfly, provided a perfect context for where we are, what stage we're in, and the beauty that is to come. Re-connecting us even further. In addition, it defined a word for what it is all of us amazing (arguably a different word would be selected by those in the "business as usual" phase) people are ...immaginal cells. Beautiful.
That followed by an amazing conversation between Mark Lakeman (story-teller, City Repair - Portland), and Ian Mackenzie (love-infused filmmaker). . . Suffice it to say, after that first night - my mind was blown, and I knew I was never headed back from where I came. Here is that beauty of a conversation on soundcloud! :) Well worth the listen!
One of my favourite moments in the conversation between Mark and Ian was when Ian spoke of how we ought to be "Manufacturers of events that don't fit into others' world view". A light bulb went off in my head, and I'm sure many others around me, too. The empowering realization that every, single, moment, I have a choice - a choice to act in a way that shows compassion, love, kindness and openness, in whatever I am doing. That my interactions with everyone are an opportunity, an opportunity to shift our conciousness towards love, understanding, connection, and inter-being. What an empowering understanding.
I mean, I want to say I was doing this already, and certainly I was to some extent - i.e. considering how I react to a situation, considering how what I say impacts others, and vice versa, remembering that usually when people say hurtful things it is their own self wounded coming out, versus an actual direct hit to me - but when Ian articulated those key words "Manufacturers of events that don't fit into other's world-view" it was the perfect piece of the puzzle I didn't realize I was missing until he said it, to mobilize me into further actions, and conversations to create beauty. And, to that, I am so grateful.
I was always of the belief that every interaction had an opportunity for learning, but never had I framed it from the receiver side. An opportunity for learning is really only from my perspective, if I'm talking about myself learning something, though the other learns too, if they were open to it, but I had not focused on that aspect. Now...I see the two-way interaction/exchange that can lead to a deep, lasting, profound experience.
I also really loved Mark's story about the butterfly. Specifically because it points to our disconnect with nature. But it's empowering in the sense that, we all have this innate ability to interact in a meaningful way with our surroundings. That despite having travelled on this long journey of "Seperation", wherein our worldview is largely around competition, and power, the desire to connect with others, and interact with nature is still within us, where it always was. For some easier to access than others, but it's still there inside each and every one of us - and that to me is hopeful.
This also exemplifies the beauty and effect of story. Mark had this experience himself, but now he comes back and tells it to many people, and while we are not experiencing it first-hand, his story is compelling in a way that goes deeper than an analyzing mind. We not only hear his words, we feel them, as if we were him, in that moment. His story is one that, at least for me and I would argue for others too, resonates on the inside, on a level that transcends thought. It stirs emotion up in us, and that is a story that will have a lasting effect, and will imprint itself on our psyche for the better. Whether we notice it immediately or not, it's now added into our layers of what it means to be a human, and exist in this world. And to me, that's amazing.
And of course, an amazing quote bomb gets dropped by Mark - couldn't have said it better! "Not just to save the world, but to savour the world".
What also really resonated with me was when Ian started talking about mumuration, and swam theory, and said something along the lines of "when you surrender yourself to the organism, a higher power emerges". Partially because I am absolutely taken away into a different space and context when I look up and see birds (usually in the downtown case, pigeons), fly in their beautiful patterns, exemplifying community, co-creation, and love in all that they are doing. But for him to make that link between the "letting go, and letting be" and applying that in our current context as humans, it really took on a whole new meaning.
As I navigate these new waters, uncertain of what lies ahead of me, easily able to go into a state of panic or confusion as the "old world" would typically have me do, I find myself not going there. It is feeling obsolete. I can feel my brain/ego toying with that, luring me in, wanting me to go there so it can be fed. But instead of feeding, I remain a step back, as an observer, witnessing this inner game. My trust expands, I remain calm, excited, full of potential, realizing the opportunity that exists before me, and yet not getting too far ahead of myself either. Just being. Present. In the moment. Surrendering my beliefs and my understandings of the world. Letting it all unravel as it must, to propel me into a deeper layer, meaning, context, and yet a shallow (in a new world context, not heavy with the connotations the old world provides) layer too, the space where both make sense, deep and shallow, ebb and flow, weaving a beautiful pattern of what it means to be human.
Another thing I loved was - "We need to know it, and feel it, and believe it...it's inevitable, and we need all of you." Ian explaining what he calls "Eiseinstein's Paradox, from Charle's Eiseinsteins new book The More Beautiful World our Hearts Know Is Possible "...this dynamic tension between these two polarities, is where the immaginal cells emerge, and where we find that maybe the world we are trying to create is not as far away as we think" - well put Ian, well put! 57.20 ish.
Lastly I love the whole notion that, we are all in this together, and that everyone, no matter what "side" they seem to be on, we are all fundamentally on the same side. It's such a relief, and provides the space for meaningful connection. It's about finding ways to connect, that that specific person may respond to, and about finding those shared values and beliefs, no matter how many layers they may be under.
At the end of the day, how freeing is it that it doesn't have to be this sort of, frantic, mad dash to "save the planet"..... we've tried that for a long time now, and look where we are. As I believe Mark mentions in the chat, it's time we start having fun, building relationships, and creating beauty. People are social creatures and want to join in where the fun is - so start having some!
I feel the quote by Buckminster Fuller emulates this perfectly:
Wednesday, October 16th
What I once thought to be just a good way of raising money for a project, turned into a whole new understanding.
Crowdfunding.
Allowing those who care, and want to contribute, do so. How it allows for access to otherwise difficult to obtain capital, and how it allows a different kind of transaction to emerge. One that has more meaning - where the people who are helping to fund what it is you're doing, are moved by your work, and want to contribute because they believe in it. And now there is the ability to connect on a whole new level. And that is beautiful.
This is a great TED Talk on the concept, and how the format of how we do business is surely going to be changing more and more.
And then came the film by Ian Mackenzie - Reactor. I think it was this night that I became more aware and in awe with Buddhism. Ian spoke of the Bodhisattva, and my memory of it, in combination with my nots, tells me that it is a being who has finished the cycle of reincarnation, but has specifically come back, to stay for the liberation of others.If all things are not free, then no-one is free".
"If we are all deeply connected, then if somebody else is suffering, the forests are suffering, if our parents are suffering, if our children our suffering, then we feel that suffering. In other words, I can't be free, unless others are free". Michael Stone
I came home in a flurry of curiosity, and profound emotions - luckily my roommate is Buddhist so I was thankful to chat with her more about it all, and she told me the beautiful story of Siddhartha, and it resonated with me, deeply.
"Our economy and our lifestyles are driven by stories we have, about what a meaningful life is. Those stories seem so fixed, but yet, it's also fleeting, and it's also transient" - Michael Stone -
Here is the trailer.
"What is the story that wants to be told? " Many profound questions are asked in this film which provoke the mind to new levels. I do recommend giving it a watch, and supporting this amazing film maker, Ian. You can rent it, or buy it online, here.
Some of my take-aways from the film, and my paraphrased scribbles as I watched and transformed
It's not enough to simple be enlightened, poor people don't care what mantra you're saying. We need to act.
How do I express [in action] what I experience in stillness
It's not necessarily obvious to know what to do with the complexity of the world we created. It isn't a simply x, y, z, we recognize change as it unfolds, each finds their own way to contribute
...and other such notes in my book - as part of the Q&A and epic commentary by Ian after the film, they are paraphrased from discussions had, and comments said
We all do our own thing, together we create real change - so many seeds have been, and are being, planted.
There is no difference - when you put yourself in service to something meaningful, whatever that is, it benefits everyone
What the culture does not provide, we try to entertain/replace the void with things, what used to be filled in us ,and didn't cost money, free by community, is now monetized
We need to re-weave a culture to lower our energy needs, but increase our connection, and happiness
There is a bias within the system itself, to monetize whatever it is you are in service to, e.g. spiritual teachers and their wisdom - the concept of charging money for it, those who have chosen to not do so and the implications therein
What is community and how do we allow it to flourish?
There is no specific formula, as long as you connect with that side of you that wants to be in service, which is connecting and life-affirming, that will be your answer
You're here, and that's enough to know you should be
Your journey will change too, and that is ok. Only you are the one who will know what you can, and should occupy
All in all, my major take-away is ....to weave the emerging paradigm into your everything, and to be your artist you feel called to be.
Actually, in getting the trailer, above, I found this beautiful commentary on what it means to be present, and felt compelled to include it here, too. :) Enjoy.
...An amazing concept, organization, ecosystem, emerging wonder - I suggest checking them out and getting involved however that may look like. Check them out! A helpful way to think about it "an alternative MBA" but certainly there is so much more to it than that. They are in their first year of classes and so far, so good.
From their website:
Groundswell is a new project that tackles head-on the economic insecurity, social disconnection and precarity so many young people are facing today.
In a nutshell, "We need to pluralize the measurement system, and stop teaching people to compete" re: school! Amazing! "Education is a journey, we need to help people find their flow". Their main components are
Personalize Education - starting with the gap inside of YOU
Community - what is livelihood in the community, what is it you want? Business is not separate from community, we need to start treating it as such, we need to bring community logic into business
Alternative Business Structures and systems to help foster/facilitate the above, and beyond. Opening up dialogue around new economic logic - empathy, cooperation!
And interesting words were spoken regarding entitlement, and what that means. While we often think of it as a negative thing, and has certainly been thrown around these days as such, a new lens was opened up, which I thought was pretty neat.
Entitlement as a driver of progress - the right to participate in everyday actions - which can be incredibly empowering, versus the way we typically think about it say, the right to buy new stuff, and own, acquire, dominate nature - so it can certainly have a very different effect. The speaker used the example of Rosa Parks, and had she not felt entitled to a seat anywhere on the bus, or women standing up for the right to vote, as they felt entitled to that. Makes perfect sense to me! Entitlement can fuel change for the better if it's directed in a positive way.
And, one of the best part about Groundswell - they will be opening up a Cafe, next to their class studio, that will be very community oriented and function as a space to incubate amazing ideas, help people collaborate, and all around, engage in open discussions and dialogue. Creating that space, I feel, is so important. So I'm very excited to see how this will all progress.
October 19 - Day 5
The day started out with a discussion, from Tam Lundy, from Communities that Can! Institute, on generative change, versus the two that precede it, in order, being technical, and adaptive. This was a more theoretical session, and it was great to get our heads out of the proverbial box, and start thinking about what that really means to be part of generative change.
The definition provided was "purposeful, emergent, fosters health and well being, and healthy development in self, and society, now and in future generations, nudging system to higher level of complexity"
Tam also pointed out that it is important to remember that adaptive challenges, are not technical problems, and that generative challenges are not adaptive problems. So we must understand the situation we are faced with, and apply the appropriate mind-set to determine our solution.
The feel was very co-creative, and bridging our understanding of how we function in the world, and how can we expand our reality and our concept of how we solve problems. Pretty neat.
A new paradigm of human capacity, to meet a new era of human existence - rad!
Something interesting too, which I had never really thought about, we are the only mammal whose still developing outside of the womb - certainly interesting to consider - how important it is for us to be in a loving, safe, accepting space.
A nice visual, that I now only have it words, but you can use your imagination. As the four quadrants fall into collective versus individuality, interior versus exterior --> Psychological and Spiritual, Cultural, Physical and Behavioural, Social and Ecological Health - we need it all. Which category do you spend most of you time in? Which category do you feel businesses, organizations, communities are focusing on primarily?
....well, if you're still reading, that is only up to Saturday morning - and this is getting LONG....so...to be continued! ;)
We are all interconnected. This, is a fundamental truth of our day, and this truth, when fully embraced, will facilitate positive and lasting change. We.all.are.
I was recently having a chat with my
Aunt about genetically modified organisms (GMO). She knows someone who works at
Monsanto, and I am always curious to know what goes on inside the head of
someone who works there. In light of the recent March against Monsanto, and the
energy building - I thought I'd ask her if any of it was getting through to
them, and what it all meant from their perspective.
Global March Against Monsanto
Vancouver Art Gallery Steps - Oct 12, 2013
She told me they see their job as an extremely important one. Ultimately, to save humanity - which is a pretty intense responsibility, no question. But is it true? And, is it really up to one group of people to save all of humanity? Can that even be possible? Does it even need "saving"? It's, of course, all in how it's framed, and our underlying context of how we see the world, and how we fit into it that would attempt to answer these questions.
She mentioned, and not surprisingly, that the underlying belief of those at Monsanto was, more often than not, "if
we do not learn to modify seeds to create higher yield crops - we will never be
able to feed the billions of hungry people on our planet." Ah yes - that old point.
That lead me to this massive email
response, largely because it is a very important issue, but also because I
type fast....but I decided it would be good to blog about it, too, so as to
spread the message as far as it can go - that GMO's have got to go.
We need to stop perpetrating the
myths that these large companies want to feed us. Like the
genetically modified high fructose corn syrup that they are putting in our
every product, it’s sickening.
Each and every one of us needs to become educated so we can
start taking a stand, and start saying YES to products we know we want, those
which are GMO-free. Sadly, gone are the days (for now!) where we could walk into the grocery story and trust that the food on the shelves was good, wholesome, nutritious food. The system has evolved, for better or for worse, and so must our interactions with it.
It seems the main
reason/argument for GMO's that I've got in talking to people is, "not
being able to feed the billions of hungry people", and
not coincidentally this is probably the biggest myth that Monsanto,
and the other GE companies are perpetrating, and it's a dangerous one at
that.
Let's dig a bit
deeper, on why that might be so.
I think what is tremendously hurtful and
disrespectful is that these large companies play on a very natural human
tendency - to feel compassion for others, to want to help and do the right
thing.
Of course if you say to someone
"what, you don't want to feed the world? you want billions to go
hungry?" they will say no, they will feel awful, guilty, and likely stop
debating the subject, because now it’s called their own morality into question,
and who wants to be a direct cause of people dying of hunger. It’s manipulative
to pull on someone’s heart strings like that, especially when it’s not even
true. It reminds me of the chat between Kevin O'Leary and the Rachel
Parent - he
certainly took that angle, among a few other nasty ones.
The bottom line - what we face is
absolutely not a food shortage.
What we face is a massive distribution problem. This is a fundamental
understanding, and with this understanding, the whole problem shifts.
[There's actually a movie in the works Food
Waste Movie, really looking
forward to it, it's by same people as Clean Bin Project, so we know it will be
fantastic.]
At the end of the day, GM
foods do not increase yields, and in fact they become perpetually more energy
intensive to maintain.
Nature adapts, what she is best at, to the conventional methods, creating new, super-pests to rise to the occasion, which then puts Monsanto and other companies back to the labs to cook up the next generation of toxic seeds and sludge that they can flush into existence. And, of course, getting all "scientific" like that costs money, someone's got to pay that cost. Farmers having to
pay for increased quantities of toxins, and increased intensities of that toxic
chemical soup, but not only from a monetary perspective, there are, of course, tremendous health costs associated with this too. And it's not just those directly involved having to pay - you and I pay, indirectly, because we breath the same air, and drink the same water - we are all connected. There's that fundamental truth again.
A business model that runs on the need to perpetually create and frantically sell the "next generation" has those working in these companies laughing. But, perhaps the laughter is to cover up the fear. I mean, unlimited sales, and ever-increasing growth? It sounds awkwardly similar to apple (well, actually, a lot of business models, that are starting to become extinct) and their desire to continually pump out new versions of products to keep sales high. This makes sense only in a world that values money over life, and thankfully that is changing.
From an economic perspective alone, as oil prices rise, we can see that a system heavily dependent on fossil fuels is a system asking for trouble. Sure - it makes good business sense, for a few at the top - have farmers forever indebted to us, patent food, and own the worlds food supply. But really, when you think about it - what is good business sense. Should it really just be about profit? Is that really even good for "those at the top"? I would argue it isn't good for them either. It must be lonely up there, trying to control a system that cannot be controlled, and trying to find refuge in your bottom line. Let the money numb the pain, fill the void. It doesn't sound good for anyone involved. And, again I go back to - what we do to others, we do to ourselves. We can only be as strong as our weakest link. It's time we see that interconnection, before it's too late.
This old method becomes a never ending cycle of increased energy requirements - a frantic rat race. Which feels oddly similar to how most of us feel right now in our lives.
There has got to be another way. Thankfully there is - polycultures, composting, naturally replenishing the soil, working with nature, instead of against. Indeed the publication, found for free, atEarth Open Source, debunks all these myths - and thank goodness for that. Please read it, and please share, especially with those touting GMO's as the "only way of the future". That is simply bad science!
"[GMO's] Cannot solve the problem of world hunger but distract from its
real causes – poverty, lack of access to food and, increasingly, lack of access
to land to grow it on.
Bottom line - GM foods do not
increase yields, they may deceive us in the beginning, making us think they do,
but after a short while, we need more and more energy (specifically, $ and oil used
in the fertilizers and chemicals that need to be used on these products).
The food grown in these conventional systems is so void of those key micro-nutrients that we don't get when the soil is essentially dirt, no longer rich in nutrients, it lies depleted of its micro-organisms and as a result, these industrial farmers are left spoon-feeding a chemical juice mix in the dire hopes that it will give them what they need to repay their debts to these large companies. It sounds extreme but this is happening.
Nature does not require any of this when we work with her. What a concept!
Nature will always find a way to
adapt, because she’s pretty spectacular like that, and so we will continually be required to exert more and more energy, to combat her, to grow monocultures where she wants
polycultures, to pump toxins where, if we just let her, she would provide her
own pest-resistant pheromones, among other wonders.
Why do we want to fight, when we can love and be even more successful. We got into this mess from a fighting mind-set, but we can get out of it with love. We need to change the story of how we exist in this world. It is not one of power and combat, it's one of interconnection, and interbeing. As Charles Eisenstein says, more for you, is more for me too.
Genetic diversity, crop diversity -
these are key things to the survival of all humans and when we homogenize a
system, we give that all up. Are we really ready to do that? Do we really think
we’re smarter than nature and can control everything?
It makes me sad that the dominant
story is the one told by these large companies, who have profit as their bottom
line, who have not yet stepped into the new way of living, in harmony, and in love.
If it was really about caring for the people of the world (as they say, not lettings
billions go hungry) it would not be met with such strife.
At the end of the day, I feel we need
to respect that this is all very very new science, and we are all still learning in an incredible system that is ever-changing, and remarkably complex - that, we ought not to forget, we are a part of, too. If we want to try, we
darn well better test it out first, before wrecking our whole life source. And,
let's actually test it, independently, not let those who stand to gain from the profits, do the
testing. And in the meantime, let me know what's in my food, so I can decide for myself if I want
to be part of a science experiment or not. What happened to the precautionary
principle? Where have all our values gone, Canada, humans of this earth?
At the end of the day I believe we have to let our old understandings go. Nature is not there for us to control. She is there for us to learn from, interact with, and become better people because of her. She is there with open arms and we don't need to keep fighting her. What you love, you do not control.
Sigh...it's sheer insanity but the
truth always survives...and the truth is coming out strong and loud, with a
unified voice, for all to hear. I just hope that it isn't too late when we
finally kick this GMO habit to the curb - i.e., that enough crop diversity is
maintained and that the GM seeds have not contaminated the rest of our healthy
plants.
What we do to others, and everything
else - we do to ourselves. We are all interconnected. We all are.
What can YOU do?
1) Read the ingredient list
Anything that has a corn derivative (maltodextrin, dextrin, corn starch, high-fructose corn syrup, fructose etc) or soy, is likely GMO unless specifically says non, because majority of corn and soy crops have been infected with the GMO strain.
2) Look for products with “Non GMO Project" logo
This is a great initiative that helps consumers know what products are verified GMO free (until producers are actually required to label it). They have their verified non-gmo products all listed on their site too - so you can plan in advance, and figure out which stores have these products.
You can even submit a request for a product that you wish to see verified if it's not yet - see here
Their website, in general, is a great start. It provides a plethora of tools on how to navigate the GMO and non GMO realm.
3) Contact everyone and engage in dialogue!
Producers: email or call them to ask if their products
are GMO free, the more they see consumers caring about this, the more willing
they will be to change. After all – we have the last say as we vote with our
dollar. I recently did this with a few companies – an example is below – no more
Miss Vicky’s for me (which I realize they are not a good choice in the first
place but sometimes we have cravings that are leftover as our bodies transition
into this new era) and luckily we have this brand that is verified GMO free
Regulating Bodies: contact your local city councillors, federal, or provincial regulatory members. A bit of searching online, or calling the city (311 in Vancouver) and asking some questions, will point you in the right direction. You can take direct action here and they also have their own 8 things you can do! which is super helpful. Here is some info for Canada. A quick internet search will give you a lot to work with!
Friends and family: talk about it, bring it into conversation and get it into your dialogue - the more people hear and know about it, the better we will be. This is an important issue that affects us all
Here is an email I sent. I gathered they did use GMO but I wanted to find out for certain, and also let them know this was something their "consumers" were worried about. The answer is clear - I won't be eating these chips again.
So, as you see it's quite the subject and I've really only hit on a few aspects here. There is lots of great information out there, but by the same token there is also a lot of media from those who stand to gain from GMO production - so know what you're reading, and if the source is credible. At the end of the day - ask your self what you feel comfortable with. Gambling with our life or playing it safe? I'm going to go with playing it safe.
If someone gives me a tremendously thoughtful gift, say, I accept it with gratitude and love it. The value is derived in who it came from, and the thought put into it - I do not modify it because that would discount its meaning and purpose. Nature has provided us amazing gifts, we ought not to modify those gifts.
When issues of the day overwhelm me, I like to remember that together we
can, and together we already are.
