I tried an experiment recently.
Rather than just create a blog post as a statement, I decided to post it as a question on Facebook.
What I found fascinated me! I got 28 comments and started a fun conversation.
Well – here is the original post I was going to write:
The consciousness revolution is a necessary precursor to the sustainability revolution.
Why?
Because “Problems cannot be solved by the level of awareness that created them.” (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Albert_Einstein)
The finger-wagging, guilt-trip inducing environmentalist, and the depressed and jaded deep green ecologist will not deliver the sustainability revolution. From that consciousness, their actions stimulate an equal and opposite reaction, keeping us all stuck.
Of course there is a chicken-and-egg element to consciousness and sustainability, each spurring the other.
And they are both, visibly, happening simultaneously.
But until we get the center of gravity of humanity’s consciousness to a higher level, we will not be able to get sustainability to stick.
Hi there Alan, great comment – I’m very interested in how you think we can get the center of gravity of humanity’s consciousness to a higher level, so then we will not be able to get sustainability to stick. Is it one to one communication with a ‘1000 monkey shift’? Or is there a way to ‘move the masses’?
Thanks Claire (from rural New Zealand)
Hi Claire!
I love the nature of your inquiry.
I think it will need to be a “both/and” approach.
“The work needs to happen on all levels simultaneously” — or something like that.
We need to work intra-personally, inter-personally, culturally, AND systemically.
There are certainly examples of systems and structures that help people “do the right thing” (so to speak).
An example of the type of thing I’m talking about is here: http://www.thefuntheory.com/
Can we do this with governance, education, medicine, business, etc.? I sure hope so.
The one-on-one conversations are also crucial.
Especially when those of us with big hearts and big visions approach those who operate within and protect the structures of power and resource distribution. Whether there are ten thousand or ten trillion one-on-one conversations that need to happen, they still need to happen.
My goal is to spread the consciousness and the skills as effectively as I can, so that all those conversations are as constructive as possible, especially among the people most poised to make a difference.
I’d love to hear what my response stimulates for you.
Thank you for taking the time to comment.