The semantics of the word justice.  Who would have thought that the word justice would have negative connotations…I was in a workshop when one of the participants had a negetive reaction to the word justice. She felt like it was passing judgement.

Especially since very often in working on green and sustainability related topics we are trying to convince people to be more just, are we potentially allienating them because of this word choice?

If she, who was open and interested enough in sustainability to attend a program to talk about this topic, I wonder how others are potentially reacting to the feeling of being judged.

I was at a workshop when one of the leaders, who I was having a good conversation with at the time, mentioned to me that the reason she meditated every day because then she could trust herself. I felt like she was on to something that I’ hadn’t thought of in that way before.

When you meditate you close out and quiet down the noise in the mind so that you can better listen to your body and soul wisdom.  You allow for time to listen.

We all want to be heard, and in conversation we practice listening to others, but how often do we listen to ourselves or our guiding voice?  Really listen, I mean.  For those who are spiritual, prayer is the time to talk to God/dess/ the Universe.  Do they also allow themselves the time to listen in that conversation?  I believe they should.

Coming out of meditation feels like stepping out of a bath, the elation after a long run, or waking up on the right side of the bed.  In that moment and afterwards you are influenced only by your heart. You are listening to you and not the worries in your head or the opinion of others.

And so, yes, meditating has health and a variety of other benefits to it, but also keep in mind that being able to trust yourself is one of those.

One of the rules to improvisational acting is to never say ‘no’ or ‘but.’  Why?  Well ‘no’ stops the flow of creativity.  It stops momentum.  The trick is to say ‘yes, and…’

Just like a good improv, brainstorming is facilitated by always saying yes.  Gathering all the nuggets of information and ideas before determining which is best or suits the situation the best. 

The minute you say no the improv ends.  The minute you say no in a brainstorming or other business meeting the energy leaves.

So think about this as you try to fuel creativity and innovation within you business or life.  Since, you are able to pull more and more potentially good information from people by encouraging them to continue, are you really doing that through your communication?

Are you saying ‘yes, and’ or ‘no, but’ in your life?

While in Haiti doing relief work in March of 2010 I ran into a frustration which I’d like to air. Namely, it was the United Nations (UN) that drove me crazy.I was asked/assigned to be the point person to communicate with the UN on a donation of water filters, desperately needed, for a number of camps.

What the issue comes down to is that the UN is a challenge to work with. I believe they want to do good. I believe that they want to help, but… Argh!

To some extent the challenges they face are due to their need to report back. But the challenges that I faced in getting this offered aid to the people who needed it the most was unacceptable, to me.  Taking time to fill out the appropriate paperwork, counting and then re-counting camp residents, making sure the photographers were available, et cetera; in all it took over two weeks after I began working on the task to get the water filters passed out that they actually made it into the hands of those who needed them.  I started working a month after the earthquake.  A month and a half to clean water?!

While I’m sure the requirements were put into place for good reason (I heard that people were selling tarps for $75 on the blackmarket) it is still frustrating when the need is visible, and immediate.

It seems like while cover their own needs for reporting, the UN is not always thinking or able to think in terms of systems.  Such as how to most efficiently get the job done.

Traditionally the hero/ine was the achetype that comes in and saves the day when something has gone wrong or justice needs to be done.

To me, through the lens of sustainability and environmental justice, a heroine is a support for people who know they need help.   She enables organizations and groups of citizens, through facilitation and training, to create a better world for themselves. A better world which is based on the shared values and culture of the community and not what someone else thinks they should be.

The heroine of now is intelligent, knows when to ask for advice and collaborates as much as possible. She listens, drawing out of people the inner knowledge that they have of self and community. She supports imagination and creativity.

She is available to guide people through the process of negotiating how to get around/through challenges.

She is a quiet, firm leader.

You know that you could use her help. All you have to do is ask. The power to change the world is in your hands.

No gender, income level, or other issue gets in her way. She is the embodiment of hope and the nurturing that our communities need.

While I cannot claim Goddess like perfection, I do seek to become this heroine more and more every day.

Out to dinner with my friend the other night I casually referred to Peak Oil in a discussion. We were talking about topics that might be potential articles on Earth Thrives. As it turns out he didn’t know what Peak Oil was. Hadn’t heard about it and didn’t mention the fact until I had rolled on to another topic.

This friend had spent at least the past two years running a company whose focus sales demographic was the triple bottom line business, and so I assumed that he of all people would know what peak oil was. Turns out I was wrong.

Over the next week I asked another ten colleagues and friends if they knew what Peak oil was. I expected that they would know when I asked and was not prepared to find that all but one of them didn’t.

I shouldn’t have assumed that my friend or anyone else, for that matter, has the same knowledge that I have. This is not to say that I am amazing, but more to show that my foci are unique to my interests. We all have our own interests which lead to what we read, look up and study in depth. The topics that I have spent more time with include (but are certainly not limited to):
Urban gardens, Peak Oil, sustainable communities, organization development; leadership development, GMO’s (genetically modified organisms), socially responsible business, alternative economies, and local living economies.

While I have spent that last two years immersed in the world of green and sustainable while working on my Masters degree from Goddard College in Socially Responsible Business and Sustainable Communities, not everyone else has gone as in depth in the same topics, even industry professionals.

Let’s face it, many people still think of sustainability as a topic that stands on its own, when it is really a lens through which you see the world.

So, don’t assume that if you bring up something like the Andersonville Study in a conversation about why buying local is important that the person you are talking to has a clue to what you just referred. Ask if they have heard about terms, studies, and topics that you otherwise might take for granted that they know. It will help you to educate yourself as well as others and that is what we need to have happen in order to build the breadth and depth of our information.

What a great opportunity we have in our everyday lives to educate others about ‘going green.’ Teachable moments are often given to us several times per day.

I think that sometimes they pass not because we have not taken the opportunity, but because we do not know that there is an opportunity there.

In the words of Joni Mitchell…
“Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till its gone”

Let’s not make that mistake. Let’s work to have discussions with those around us. You can educate without pontificating (instructions to follow.)

I know that I feel totally immersed in the green movement and sometimes when someone asks me ‘what’s new?’ I feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin. This also happens when asked ‘what can I do?’ There is just so much and so many way to answer that. I think that the main difficulty is because it is hard from an open statement like that to judge a person’s level of knowledge and understanding.

My suggestion is instead of waiting to be asked, begin a conversation and listen – really listen – to where a persons interests lie. Ask them questions. Eventually you will find the intersection of your knowledge and their interests and will have a natural opportunity for discussion that is not forced.