Looking reality in the eye

Facing the truth upfront rather than turning from it will keep your life moving in a forward and positive direction.

Most of us have had the experience of being in possession of a piece of truth that we were afraid to share because we knew it would not be well received. There are also instances in which we ourselves have been unable to handle some truth confronting us…Usually the truth is evident, and we can see it if we choose, but…

We avoid the truth because it scares us…Nevertheless, we can only avoid the truth for so long before it begins to make itself known in ever more forceful ways.

…so the sooner we let down our defenses, the better… At the same time, we can be patient with people around us who have a hard time seeing the truth, because we know how painful it can be. Whatever the truth is, we make a sincere effort not to close our eyes to it, but instead to be grateful that we have access to it.

— Daily Om

Though I believe in the wisdom of these words, I also think they can become a way to reinforce our despair. If you find yourself saying, “The reality is that there’s nothing I can do” then maybe it’s wise to ask if this is your clear perception or something less robust. Maybe it’s safer to say, “pay attention to subjects you are tempted to avoid, and see where that leads.” —JJM

Grass roots politics

In the end, the people’s movement will triumph. We don’t know how long it will take or what will be effective.

Occupy Wall St was quelled for now. But the anti-fracking movement has had substantial success, under-reported in the news, in making this particular environmental travesty less attractive to the profiteers

The growing tide of tar sands resistance—seen in blockades, tree sits, petitions, education efforts and calls to divest—is having a measurable negative impact on the bottom line of the tar sands industry, according to a new report, prompting researchers to declare that “business as usual for tar sands is over.”

from “Tar Sands Resistance Blowing Huge Hole in Oil Industry's Bottom Line. 'Business as usual for Big Oil—particularly in the tar sands—is over.”
— read more at Common Dreams

Economics of sustainable farming

Organic farming is getting smarter. Industrial farming is running up against the consequences of decades of short-term thinking.

Organic is already superior in every way except labor intensivity. Expect a threshold to be crossed in the near future, after which organic will have a clear economic edge.

The latest permaculture methods can deliver much more than just double or triple the yield of conventional farming. I recently came across this article by David Blume chronicling his nine-year permaculture enterprise in California. Running a CSA for 300-450 people on two acres of land, he achieved yields eight times what the Department of Agriculture says is possible per square foot. He didn’t do it by “mining the soil” either – soil fertility increased dramatically over his time there.
— read more from Charles Eisenstein

"There is almost a sensual longing for communion with others who have a large vision. The immense fulfillment of the friendship between those engaged in furthering the evolution of consciousness has a quality impossible to describe.”

— P Teilhard de Chardin

Form

THE BURIED statue through the marble gleams,
Praying for freedom, an unwilling guest,
Yet flooding with the light of her strange dreams
The hard stone folded round her uncarved breast.

Founded in granite, wrapped in serpentine,
Light of all life and heart of every storm,
Doth the uncarven image, the Divine,
Deep in the heart of each man, wait for form.

— Eva Gore Booth

These are times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed.

— Abigail Adams

...that she might have lived to experience the cascade of surprises, crises,
and unexpected marvels that is the 21st Century.             – JJM

Things to do with your feet

1. Catch crabs
2. Shuck peanuts
3. Wash your face
4. Thread a needle

— Demonstration

Wishing you and your loved ones the blackest of Fridays

Look, I’ve got to run right now, no time to explain. But until I can get back to you, please don’t buy anything. Yes, I know it’s a strange request. I’m asking you to trust me. I’ll explain later.

Please don’t buy anything.

— JJM