We’re Not Screwed (and why)

- revolutions (like office politics, relationship fights, and traffic jams) always seem more eternal and momentous when you’re right in the middle of them.  Movements that you think are absolutely, unquestionably changing the entire world order are most often seen, with a few years distance, to be nothing more than nudges on your own cultural sliderule. Thinking that you and your friends are changing the world is a great motivator and good way to get people committed. But actually changing yourself is the worthwhile endeavor.

- the promise in the 60′s was the *dawning* of the age of Aquarius.There’s massive disagreement among astrologers about whether astrological ages should be measured in 12 equal parts, or based on the actual size of the constellations, so there’s no consensus on whether Aquarius began a few hundred years ago or if it will begin a few hundred years into the future.  Either way, dawn means the commingling of the light of the new day with the nightfall of the old, and there’s no question that we are just beginning to see the effects of humanizing, philanthropic, idealistic and honest Aquarius.

- Martin Luther King Jr’s dream, and John Kennedy’s dream, and the dream of all the people who may not have been great orators but felt in their hearts the same burning kernel of humanity and rightness that these men did – MLK’s dreams were not for his audience, not for their time. They were dreams and visions of another time – perhaps now.  The first time I became aware of this idea was when I was shooting a documentary with the prophetic hip-hop artist KRS-One, who looked at me through my camera’s glass and said of MLK and JFK and Malcolm X:

“those cats were using technology as a time machine. they knew what technology meant and they were sending a message to the future.”

- all trees require seeds, fertilizer and water.  Your parents (or you) may have let your hair down and smoked dope in Central Park, ready to change *everything*,  and then ten years later found themselves with a mortgage, credit card debt, and a wife (or husband) they didn’t really know. That Central Park, hippie stuff – that’s a seed.  The next thirty years of oppressive, oil-soaked, consumer capitalism? That’s fertilizer. And your undirected frustration, low-grade anger at it all, and gnawing sense that though you have everything you still deserve something else – that’s water.  It’s not that the social movement of the 60′s wrote a check it couldn’t cash – on the contrary, it wrote a check, put it in the bank in a federally insured savings account, and is just waiting to cash out the juicy dividends.

- because here’s the thing.  You and all your friends – even the ones working on Wall Street and in corporate America – grew up with a profound distrust of the system that created these institutions.  You realize this is all an illusion, a particular version of the board game called society, that we’ve all agreed to play within.  There’s no one who says that capitalism has to be set up this way, or that laws have to be this way, it’s just what we’ve all agreed to agree to, and it changes every day. That’s great news, because whether your cynically punching the clock in a system you don’t believe in, or working as outside the system as you can on your terms, you know that giving and compassion are what really matters, and your ready on some level (maybe really deep level) to begin living a life in line with these values.

- and then there’s this. all those baby boomers – the ones who did, or didn’t, buy into the whole sixties thing – are retiring and guess what most of them want to do ? they want to do things to help other people!  teaching, building schools, coaching little league, planting trees, volunteering in hospitals, helping raise the grandkids – THEY are ready to cash the “giving check” at exactly the same time a massive generation of 20 and 30 year olds are figuring out how to be in this world but not play by the rules of inhumanity.  thanks Moms and Dads, we always knew you’d come around!

- living a life of humanity - which might also be called a life of giving (because what separates us from the animal is our ability to visualize a different future then give it to our community through action) – doesn’t mean a society of people who are all teachers, nurses, and farmers.  Living life as human means you can do ANYTHING if you do it with the right attitude, if you do it from a place of abundance rather than “mine”, a place of allowing rather than “wanting”, a place of humor and lightness rather than “fear”.  There are practices like meditation that just make it a little easier for you to make those choices, if you choose to.  That’s all it’s about.  You don’t have to give up your job in the investment firm, cheese factory, or indie band to live a life of giving. It’s all about how you do whatever you do.

- and why is this the coming of the age of humanity? Because despite knowing the game was rigged, the seeds still got patented and the earth, sea, sky, and air auctioned off to the highest bidders.  And now the kids are grown and Mom and Dad are thinking about re-starting their own spiritual monkey-wrench gang, and us kids are in our prime and we know where each other lives.com, without calling it a revolution or movement or dropping out.

- we’re all dropping IN and the combined force of all this great human potential landing at once on the system is what is making things feel so unstable right now, because the systems and processes and mechanics that are in place for us to land on (with deep deep cement pillars and a hundred stories concrete stories stretching into the sky) are all set up to factorize an idea that very few of us still believe in.  Because the system is a relic and is literally not set up to act as a foundation for what you are doing energetically right now, you are going to feel scared some(a lot of)times and like you are making a mistake, and sometimes you’ll find a footing that someone else left for you and you’ll feel strong and a million miles high, and there’s no way to know when or why or which and you just have to accept that great joy and great doubt are two sides of the same mobius strip. Even if the ground gets pulled out from under you, its still under you somewhere.

- notice your physical space start to mirror our collective inner desires, and our collective desire for a more human world begin to affect these physical processes directly, and this may not always be pretty, but change is unavoidable in the coming of the age of humanity. Weather report 2011: look for gaps in the solidity, rainbows where there’s supposed to be anything but rainbows, and hawks nodding their wings in approval of their allies.

Recommended Blog Reading if you’re on this path or want to be, see if any of these really inspiring people vibe with what you need to help you advance on your path – every one of them offers amazing “free” energy and articles to help you succeed, and all also more in depth coaching or books if you want to support them with a few dollars.

Jonathan Mead – living and working on your own terms; tons of great advice and his free pdf’s rock.

Josh Millburn - minimalist living

Karol Gadja – adventure living, awesome writer

Ev’Yan Nasman – creative and sexual liberation for self-discovery

Corbett Barr – advice for adventerous entrepeneurs

Dave Ursillo - improving your world and the life of others

Chase Night  – creativity from a young dude figuring it out as he goes. intimate, thoughtful stuff.

Mars Dorian - bullshit free business advice

Justine Musk - one of the three best writing/creativity advice sites online. she’s amazing.

Tyler Tervooren - the beauty of taking risks

Johnny B Truant - good advice on how to be a seriously rad motherfucker. seriously. big focus on online entrepreneurship.

Jacob Schere - photography and writing from an inspirational artist in Tokyo

Sam Spurlin – creative coach and writer with a particular focus on “life after school”. great stuff.