Do This:

For many years, I kept numerous journals about life in general and in particular.  Now, there are no writings to hand down to my kids, as they were lost.  This morning, I was trying to form a simple guiding statement for my children to understand, and remembered a passage from the preface of Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman.  My writings may not have been as good or poignant as any famous writer, but there was truth in them.  It is this resonating truth, yearning to reveal itself further, that forces me to seek out the writings of others to point my children in its direction.
The following is adapted from that Walt Whitman passage, and it is simplified here - as they get older and can fathom more intense vocabulary, I hope they acknowledge the philosophies and poems of our greatest thinkers...


Do This:

Love the Earth, the Sun and the Animals.
Disregard money and its false power.
Give to every one that asks.
Stand up for the less fortunate.
Give your income and labor for others.
Ignore tyrants.
Argue not about God.
Have patience and indulgence toward everyone.
Keep your sovereignty.
Do not follow others.
Do not follow even what you think you know, or do not know. 
Go freely with the competent, with the young, and with the mothers of families.
Remember this in every season of every year of your life.
Re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book.
Dismiss whatever does not feel right, and you will Be the great poem of life.
You will then have elegance and ability, not only in your words, but in your very being.

The 'Job' Myth

This is for those who do not spend the majority their days feeling fulfilled at work… I’ve been there, and I may be there again someday, so this is a minder as well as a reminder. ..

It is not your job’s fault that you’re unfulfilled. 
Don’t blame your job. 

Why don’t you work for or at something you love?  Answer that.

Do you work for or at something you love in your “free time”, when you’re not working at the “job” you have to have in order to pay your bills?  Does time off work feel free?  Or is that time taken up by doing all the things that should have been done while you were working?  Or are you paying other people to do those things with the money you make at the job you don’t like?  Or are you ignoring the things that should be done outside of work because you just want to relax from your job?

If you could make a choice right now that could lead you to an overall feeling of happiness or contentment, what would you choose to do?  Why?

These questions need to be answered fully, so you can begin to free yourself from working at a job you don’t like.  It starts with staying at your job.  I know, it doesn’t sound good, but you need to do some things before you quit your job, because it’s not your job’s fault.  First, Be At your Work – There’s a reason you’re there. It’s paying your bills, your rent… and it’s forcing you to do or be something that you won’t do or be by yourself: Ask yourself what that is.  Second, Be At your Play – Take a good look at how you spend your time when you’re not at work.

Further, as a society, we need citizens to be fulfilled in their livelihoods – When people feel fulfilled, it follows that they aid and support others toward fulfillment.  Our society is wrapped around people being required to work for money to pay for things and services; so, if you don’t “work”, you don’t get money, so you don’t get “things” and “services”.  Most of us just get some job to fit in society, but that leads to being unfulfilled. Depression and stress are key indications of being unfulfilled. Criminal behaviour, Addiction, Suicide, Homicide… all happen when we’re so unfulfilled that we can’t even cope.  Why are we continually serving and making toxic and breakable things that we don’t actually need? It is a vicious and unnecessary circle that's hard to cope with indeed. This way of life is not working (pun intended)!  A society made up of fulfilled individuals would be a great society.  It starts with You.

It is true that not everyone wants to be an artist, or a nurse, or a fashion designer, or a farmer, or a scientist, or a sport professional… some people actually want to do things you don’t want to do.  Some people enjoy cleaning for a wage, because it doesn’t take too much skill or time, they make money at it, and are then freed up to do the things they love (e.g.  John the janitor loves hiking in the woods, but hiking doesn’t generate an income, so he joyfully cleans up the places of people who are busy doing other jobs, or things they love to do, so he can hike a few days a week) - However, if John the janitor wants to hike most days of the week, he needs to find a way to generate income from it.  He needs to get very proficient at long hikes in various terrain every chance he gets outside of his cleaning job, and then go out and find fulfilling work as a guide on hiking expeditions.  So, as Zen as it sounds:  When you’re cleaning, Clean… don’t get bogged down with mental and emotional crap about other things you’d rather be doing while you’re cleaning. 

   

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” 

– Steve Jobs. 

 “Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart.”

 –Rumi.   

These kinds of quotes on doing what you love by remarkable people are nice sentiments, and true too… but, really, you have a mortgage, taxes, energy bills, and kids who need things… So, you don’t Get It yet.

Oh, and to Get It, in the meantime, while you’re breaking free, you will be unhappy and frustrated and scared and hopeless – but, these things are Important to Feel – they are  Master Guides, and need to be respected for showing you what’s going on inside…  most people prefer to ignore or stifle them, but that will not benefit anything.  These negative feelings are there for you to look at, ask questions about. Look at them. Answer those questions. And then ask what do you want to do with your time here?  Those negative feelings will be with you while you transition out of fear and attachment to things that hold you where you are.  Realistically, you’ve already made choices that you are now paying for… Suck it up and take a chance on turning around.  

What do you have to lose?   
This life?   
You’re going to lose it anyway.

A Night to Remember - A Nightmare not to Forget

I met Maude Barlow last night in North Bay.  She, along with other intelligent, heartfelt folks, discussed the Energy East Pipeline development, with a large crowd of concerned citizens.  It is not just North Bay clamouring for this development to stop.  There are many pipelines in the works going from the Tar Sands in Alberta across Canada to the Coasts, and down throughout the U.S.  The plan is to use existing pipelines (aging, and originally designed to move natural gas or light crude) to move Bitumen, a very heavy sludge of crude, through these lines to refineries that will then ship the oil to China and Europe. Bitumen on it's own cannot be moved easily, therefore it would require a load of toxic chemicals added to make it easier to move.  In Canada, these lines go under and around hundreds of watersheds, fresh water lakes and rivers.  It is unacceptable.  Big Minds and Big Money need to be poured into establishing alternate energies to run Industry. And Industry needs to immediately rethink what it is doing to People and the Planet.  

There is no "clean-up".  There is no "alternative".  Did you know that the money awarded to the communities and people affected by the Exxon Valdez spill at Prince William Sound in the 80's still has not been paid? Most of the people from that time and area have died. On top of that, the spill is not cleaned up...

"The sound's coastal ecosystem is permanently damaged. Thousands of gallons of Exxon Valdez oil still pollute the beaches; this oil is still toxic and still hurting the ecosystem near the shore." (- http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/23/opinion/holleman-exxon-valdez-anniversary/)

"Job creation" is a condescension by the Harper Government to Canadians - the jobs are measly and short term... and the decision for the pipeline development lies solely with this Government, who does not hear what hundreds of Communities across Canada are now pleading.  This Government, who committed fraud with RoboCalls in the 2011 election, telling voters that their voting stations had changed, needs to go.  Why did we get up in arms about the fraudulent election in the U.S. by Bush's Government - but don't seem to care what's going on in our own backyards?

Maude's new book is the last in a trilogy about the coming global water crisis. She is an inspiration, standing up for all of us.  We need to stand with her.

Btw: it takes about 3.1 barrels of Water to produce 1 barrel of Bitumen... (!)

Water is Life.  There is no way around it.