Embers of hope that save you?
There has been a fire burning within us for the the last ten thousand years that has kept us warm and moving forwards, not the Olympic flame or a hidden one in a secret tomb fuelled by the souls of the sinner or saints, rather it is our internal and inherent flame of hope that burns in our hearts that gets us out of our bed in the morning, that allowed us to go out hunting for the hundredth day in a barren landscape, it is the guide light that leads us out of grief and sadness, into a better place. Without this hope what we would just giving up, lay down for the forever and stop trying in the face of failure, we would never learn, create new solutions, there would just be a slide into entropy and a collapse into a heat death of unrealised dreams. I can not even blame people for succumbing to the temptation of giving up on the effort of even pretending that it can get better, that hope is possible in the face of the current overwhelming number of dead ends, mistakes and sheer bloodymindedness of human to do the exactly wrong thing in the wrong situation to make thing worse, is a gift that we undervalue and yet would be lost without.
There are always going to be people for whom the embers of hope whither within themselves, they get hit by the double decker bus of life and then never recover from it, there are those who are just surviving, playing a defence by the numbers and find that they are only falling back, further away from their hope, ambitions, that have lost their connection to the sense of purpose that gives their lives meaning and joy, though imagine how much worse it would be for them without even a slither of hope, even if it just a lottery ticket, that is hope in action even in defiance of logic. We can suffer and endure anything as long as it serves a purpose greater than ourselves, that is why people can go down a dangerous mine for eighty hours per week, it is not for their own delight and pleasure, there are easier ways to make less money and be happy, we can only suffer like that because of our duty to make the lives of our family better, and that is enough purpose to drive someone through the gate of hell, let alone do a little digging.
It is when we are cut off from purpose that we stop even trying to make our lives better, and crucially if we believe that world is never going to get better, that is it can only get worse. That we are cursed and boxed in by the greater powers (be that gods, capitalism, aliens, historic events, technological failures, AI) set on a destructive path that is both inevitable, and the natural death throws of a civilisation or ecosystem, it can be easy to yield to the conclusion that it can only get worse, that is when people give up and even embrace the end with a massive hedonistic spurge, a party to celebrate the ending of all times. This is the narrative that is being pumped into our minds through the News and we witness in it's raw sewage state as social media, we can not be surprised as that is what the purpose of media is, to drive engagement, people are drawn and addicted to doom porn, like a volcano erupting the first instinct is to freeze and watch (fight or flight comes later). We need an alternative, we can only act when there is a path to follow, we can only fight the enemies that are in front of us, we are crying out for a good star to follow.
That is the secret of doom scrolling, it distracts us with our own worse instincts, and we are dealing with a basic human reaction to watch what is beyond our power to effect. That is why when faced with the logic that unregulated human actions we will destroy our environment and that one easy solution is to cut the amount of carbon we each individually use, we fail to take the necessary action to change as we know through our media, the narrative that is implanted in our minds, that someone else will not do so and take the easy route of self-indulgence and we do not want to miss out. We do not want to waste the last years of liveable time on our planet by being the sucker who tried, we think that because of what the media tells us and we embrace it as a logical reason to justify our denial of our responsibility. We are willing to take actions that change the world, but only if our actions is the deciding factor, if we can come up with an internal narrative that what we do matter, it takes internalised social responsibility, we only queue, have manners, say our pleases and thank you, because we can observe their effects, if we use manner, we are repaid with manners, we notice them, we judge those that fail to maintain standards, it only matters because we believe our actions change ourselves and the behaviour of others, and we get to see the real world effects of those actions and get to decide they are good and we want a part of that.
Whereas, there is no witnessing, no feed back for carbon cutting, just because you do not own a car, or take just one flight per years, that has no effect on the behaviour of others, there is no way of measuring the difference that you are making, the effect are just too small, we are fighting over a degree or two of average temperature over the long term average. It takes decades for the collective mismanagement of the entire economy of the world for the negative effects to become obvious, and make no mistake that the over use of resources kills population, there use to be a simulation game where rabbit and foxes populations were tracked over time with the only variable being the weather, and making small changes in the weather caused wild swings in rabbit populations which in turn caused even worse swings in the foxes populations (as they eat the rabbits), and guess who the top fox is in the world, if that game taught we anything it is that small changes are important and that we are at their mercy.
Combing the tiny effect that we can have compared to the macro actions of governments and industry, with the fact that small changes cause wild effects, that leaves the average person with the feeling that their action and indeed by our inability to see the result of those actions, that we just give up, hope needs to have it's foothold in reality otherwise it is only a delusion, and we just do not buy into delusion, we can not, it is not in our genes to do so. We have this amazing mind, it is capable of changing the world with just thought, the cry for liberty, fairness and the freedom from the will of others, those ideas have changed the world, these stories are important not just for ourselves but the well being of the whole of our society.
That is where my hope lies, we also have the ability to change that story, whilst a poor story traps you, a good one can liberate you from repression and your own foolishness, the butterfly effect is a story that tells you a greater truth about the world, that the small things really do matter, a butterfly can nudge the pattern of the world weather patterns, that is a beautiful story that science confirms is absolutely true, it reveals a deeper, hidden reality that is wonderful, it gives hope. Though I must admit that it does not quite connect with real change, we need different nudges to change our own behaviour, it might even need many stories that realign us with the actions that both save the planet and our happiness, because that is what I believe, that having a healthy and happy life automatically leads to happy and health relationships with others and ultimately the whole world is made up of every single individual relationship on this planet.
It starts small and then emerges as a characteristic of the whole of society, the British are polite because the majority of it individuals have decided to be polite, the French are elegant because each person acts with that in mind, which leads to the question what if everyone decide to maximum their healthy and happiness in their relationships with themselves and others? What does that mean on the micro level, does it look like buying as much as possible and using the maximum amount of resources in the most inefficient way. Would commuting two hours a day by plane from the south of France to London city really be the thing that makes you happier, than someone who walks to work in twenty minutes, in many ways the commuter has a worse life, the time suck, cost, relative unreliability (feet rarely fail us, whereas a dust cloud can defeat a plane). However we could argue that the dual lifestyle is more exciting, but to make it really interesting you could say that the commuter earns ten times as much, would you take the higher pay for more hassle.
Well, the answer to that lies in the question, what makes you happy and health? If the walker has enough money to make themselves happy, why would they deliberately make more money to upgrade to a lifestyle that does not make them happier, it is a falsity to say that more money makes you happier, it gives you more options but that does not make them better options. It is true to say that if nothing else changes more money is better even if it just to give away to charity, only a fool turns down free money, but it never is, they always want something in return from you, another little piece of your soul and time. We are just trying to change the story to a better one, where that happiness is the priority, where you honestly take notice and observe what happens in reality, we have all had that pay rise that was suppose to make life easier, just to find out that nothing change and you are still running out of money by the next pay check.
It is never the things that we pay for that really make us happier, it is everything else, the quality of the relationship that we have, our health, the walk we take, the coffee that we have time for, the moment wasted on watching a sunset, the book that we are reading, the food that we cook with passion and care, these little moment in a busy day full of purpose and meaning. When we just pursue money, we think that it is the money that causes happiness or reduces our fears of scarcity, however there is never enough money to solve every problem.
I asked a friend if he had a thousand pounds a day guaranteed how would be spend the day, and his first answer was “I would save half it”, it is a natural and normal answer, he would seek security, and there nothing wrong with that. However it was contained in the question, the income was guaranteed, no questions asked, no risk, and yet he was so trapped in that fear mindset, that he need money for security, that his actions were still dictated by that fear, he could not move past it without a further ten minutes of answering his question about how it would be secure, how guaranteed it actually was, would his mortgage be paid off, what sort of investment would it come from, even as a thought experiment it was hard to concentrate on the what next part, and once he accepted the premise, he did not have an answer apart from a few toys, holidays and cars. Which are all things that give a momentary thrill, but all new cars are old within a day, holidays are fun, something to plan and look forward to and a change of pace, but they are not a permanent solution to our everyday search for happiness, they do not have inherent purpose (unless you are a travel writer).
That is where real happiness is, in the process of realising your goals and enjoying the small moment of joy that is within normal current of daily life, especially when they are a contrast to everything else you are doing, sitting down is so much better after a long walk, there is no comparison to someone who sits down all day, not just per minute but overall. However what is important is that the things that really bring us joy do not cost a lot of money or resources, we can see that in a micro form on Christmas day, the present are wrapped one minute and forgotten the next (apart from teenagers, who are very self-absorbed and probably should not be your role models as an adult), it is the way you spend the day that matter, the food, company and relaxed feeling of having nothing to do.
The same is true for most of life, the things we spend money and how much, bears no relationship to our happiness, it is the non-money aspects that are crucial and require the thought and care that we give to pursuit of money. Notice how none of this mentions the climate, but the natural outcome of behaviour that focuses on our happiness is a healthier and happier environment as we use less resources to get better results in our own life, it stops being political or a choice between money and the destruction of the planet, instead they become aligned, when you walk everyday in natural, you really start caring about the state of the world, especially locally, you notice that it is warmer than last years, more rainy, you notice how much clearer you lungs are when you walk in the park rather than a busy road with smoke pumping out of every car that just has a single people sitting in it and the traffic, you realise that you would prefer to be on your bike in the park.
Stuff is always only stuff, it what you do with it that matter, what you can not buy is a better society and environment, those are shared, non-ownable and yet of more value than anything you could buy. Clean air on a pleasant day is the most wonderful thing in the world, have a body that is capable of enjoying it, is a blessing, a mind that is open and listening to the direct experience of such a day is a miracle, and having the wisdom to pay attention to how it makes you feel is worth the hard work of meditation and mindfulness. These are external costs and benefits that are not measured by money or gross national products, and it only by turning away from the lies that the money gods have told you and actually listening to the information that your own wisdom, body and mind is giving you that you are able to become a happier person, which by a fortunate accident (or divine wisdom, dealer's choice) aligns with what is better for our society and world.
This is true for virtually everyone once they stop being blinded by their immature ego and who wake up to their noble being, whilst everyone is suffers in their own unique way there is only path to liberation, and that is to truly pay attention to your own direct experience, rather than believe the adverts, media and influencers, they all want your money. It is only you that wants to be happy, so trust yourself first and last (maybe listen to those who judgement you personally trust in-between). At least this is what I trust and hope to make better decisions for me, and by listening to what makes me actually happy, incidentally I have a life that is better for others as well, however it was purely by accident, it all just aligned, almost like someone planned it that way, and had planted that hope within me that kept me going until I got to a better place, whether that is source, emptiness or God does not really matters. What is important is that it was not me, I was not responsible, I just followed the path that the pursuit of happiness took me on, it was hard, difficult and worth every moment, hope kept me going and I hope you have it too.
