Three Fingers Back At You

Australia's decade long drought has caused food shortages in a first world nation who is now required to ship in bottled water to support some of its major municipalities. Global warming is an accepted, irrefutable fact. Acceptance of this fact was difficult to come by, and maintaining clarity long enough to do something about it is proving to be even more difficult. Those who benefit from our collective indifference use fear to manipulate us into resisting the change that is required to pull us off this unsustainable path of consumption, excess, and destruction. Technology, blame, and the economy are all used as justification to stay the course.

Technology may someday provide some answers to address our current pollution intensity but it will not provide a solution to our current consumption intensity. We've already reached the limit on many of our resources - technology cannot reverse that.

It is easy to fall into a state of blame-fuelled apathy. The bigger the target, the easier it is to slough off the blame. China, India, the USA, Walmart, McDonald's, and Exxon are all easy targets. Yet would China and India's thirst for industrialization be where it is if the West hadn't defined the standard of living that everyone has come to expect? Would Walmart, McDonald's, or Exxon even exist if we didn't provide the overwhelming demand for their products?

I am told that any plan to address global warming and other environmental issues must take the economy into account. The irony of putting our consumption-based economy's continuous growth ahead of the long term needs of the planet whose resources are required to fuel this growth should not be lost on anyone. Yet here we are and there we go.

“Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Linguistic Framing

I’ve been following some of the work by linguistic expert George Lakoff. Something that fascinates me is what he calls “framing”, which is the manner in which politicians position issues to fit their respective moral world views. Framing allows a political party to define themselves as a green party that supports the environment even though they are really attacking the environment in the name of the economy. You just have to frame your strategy by calling it the “Clean Air Act” and use phrases like “reducing emission intensity” while you are allowing overall pollution levels to rise to unprecedented proportions.

Linguistic framing is a strategy that works. It manipulates underprivileged people to vote for a party that exhorts “tax reform” which implies reducing taxes but in reality is really about cutting social services so that corporate taxes can be kept minimal.

Linguistic framing is not all about manipulation and deception. The more we understand the power of the language we use, the easier it is to properly communicate our ideas. Linguistic framing can help people open their minds and become more receptive to new ideas while breaking down their existing paradigms. From my perspective, linguistic framing is a definitive strategy that is going to have to be applied if we ever want the western world to make the environment and long term future of our species THE priority.

"Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about." - Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897 - 1941)

Transformation

I practice an art where discipline reigns king. In anything worth achieving in life the difference between a person who succeeds and a person who fails comes down to discipline. If you discipline yourself to do what needs to be done to realize your goals, anything is possible.

The real value of the Ultimate Black Belt Test comes from the process one develops after a year long immersion in a self imposed life of discipline and yes, sacrifice. Nothing is ever for free so everything worth achieving will involve sacrifice. The ability to discipline myself to stay the course comes down to the value of the goal and its place in my priority queue. It is much easier to sacrifice when the successful outcome of the sacrifice is a high priority for me.

The value of the UBBT process is that it will stay with me for the rest of my life, if I so choose. I am not sure how much value there is in temporary acts of discipline and self sacrifice. As long as I continue to approach everything I do mindfully, the positive aspects of my lifestyle continue to be priorities for me and become permanent changes as I continue to evolve.

“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” - Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)

Why I Journal

A photograph captures a moment in time. It can show every physical thing about a person in that particular moment but it cannot show what is in the heart. What you were doing, where, and with whom is forever recorded but what you were thinking while you were experiencing that moment can only be accurately recalled through journalling.

Mastery is a process in transformation. Once the transformation is complete, a different person emerges out of the journey. That person has a new way of thinking and the confidence that comes from accomplishment. Mastery is a process, not a destination. The path is different and unique for everyone. If one wishes to help others along their own path to mastery, or if one wishes to be able to repeat and improve the process, recording the journey is critical.

Journalling is the breadcrumbs one leaves behind so that their path to mastery is defined and thus repeatable. The greater the distance between the breadcrumbs the more difficult it is to derive the path one took. There is a reason why those who journal consistently find more value in journalling than those who do not.

“After the writer's death, reading his journal is like receiving a long letter.” - Jean Cocteau (1889 - 1963)