Week 16
Ask not what the world needs; rather, ask what makes you come alive and go do that, for what the world needs is people who have come alive. ~ Dr. Howard Thurmond
While we are all born with the capacity to live this way, it is unusual to find people with the self-awareness, clarity, confidence, and faith to really do it. We are products of education, cultural training, and parental expectations that tend to push us in pre-determined directions. This week, ask yourself if you are living this related thought by Frederick Buechner: “The vocation for you is the one in which your deep gladness and the world’s deep need meet — something that not only makes you happy but that the world needs to have done.”
More: Read a bio of Howard Thurmond, raised by his grandmother, who had been a slave.
Read the Weekly Green from Week 15 here.
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Week 15
Everything we love can be saved. ~ Alice Walker
I like to play with how I read this. The obvious way: that there is hope for everything we love. Another way: that our love is a kind of superpower that allows us to save anything. By approaching a problem with love, we step into a stream of grace that makes anything possible. This week, try approaching a problem with love and see what happens.
More: Watch Alice Walker on balance and the earth.
Read the Weekly Green from Week 14 here.
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Week 14
The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. ~ Albert Einstein
How can we avoid adding to the confusion that is our modern world? On one hand, we think we have to work within the system in order to change it. On the other, we see examples of people who have gone outside the system and started over. What if both are the answer? As long as we approach it with equal measures of acceptance and challenge, we have a chance to effect change.
More: Solar Decathlon is a good example of this. Boundless creativity within the bounds of a tightly-defined competition. http://www.solardecathlon.gov/
Read the Weekly Green from Week 13 here.
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Week 13
I am here to be seen. We see you. ~ traditional African greeting
What a tremendous act of trust to step up and be seen – really seen. And what a beautiful act of love to acknowledge someone so elegantly. I love the exchange between the individual and the group here, too. The vulnerability of being one, the gift and power of being part of a larger whole. What can you do to acknowledge others in this way?
More: Watch Wangaari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya and winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, telling a story to answer, “what can we do?”
Watch a 3-minute PBS video about her work.
Read the Weekly Green from Week 12 here.
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Week 12
I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. ~ Thomas Edison, 1931
Every generation has its sages and seers. Imagine what our world would be like if Edison had stuck around for another 20 or 30 years. In the last 70 years, we have made some progress towards harnessing the sun’s energy. If you were Edison today, where would you put your money?
More: Learn about the University Park Solar Co-op, the first of its kind in the U.S. These pioneers are paving the way for distributed energy that builds community and generates income.
Read the Weekly Green from Week 11 here.
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Week 11
Enough is as good as a feast. ~ Mary Poppins
This speaks right to my heart as a North American, so used to getting whatever I want, whenever I want it. Some say that sustainability will only be possible when those of us in developed countries dramatically dial back our consumption. Polls show that, even with all our stuff and wealth, our happiness quotient has dropped steadily since the 1950′s. Humans need so little to be truly happy. This week, notice when you are content.
More: Learn about positive psychology and happiness.
Read the Weekly Green from Week 10 here.
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Week 10
We face a series of great opportunities disguised as insoluble problems. ~ John Gardner
I like the notion that the seeds of solution lie at the very heart of our most intractable problems. The Buddhist practice of Tonglen is “poison as medicine.” Going right into what causes the most suffering and finding the gold within it. This can be applied on a personal level, in a company, a community, even a nation. How can you see the opportunity in a tough problem this week?
More: Listen to a 4-minute talk about Tonglen practice (on MP3)
Read an article about Tonglen
Read the Weekly Green from Week 9 here.
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View the dynamic, moving GOforChange: Greening Baltimore video
