mini consumerist/current fear mindset rant of sorts
This should have posted.... so, sorry if it's out there twice...
I hear that the US national average personal income is $40,000. According to Wikipedia as a full time working woman (although with my hodgepodge of jobs I know I'm not the average full time worker, but I get 40 hours in a week) it's even higher.
I have *never* made that much money. Cut that in half and you're a bit closer to what I live on. And for at least 2 if not 3 of my years since getting my BFA I've been officially in poverty.
Yet somehow, I'm able to buy organic, support the arts and travel, spend time with my friends, dance, take yoga classes, get massage, create ritual, enjoy almost all the things I love.
Have I had food stamps? Yep. And I felt guilty about using them too, not because I was buying organic - Organic Consumers have some wonderful things to say and political actions on this front - I was. But I felt guilty, because there are sooo many other people out there who need the help more than I do.
And yet, technically I'm "impoverished." I might have to get back on to those food stamps too. Who knows.
But I'm not impoverished. Because I don't believe and I don't feel that I am.
I believe that I am lucky, loved, walking my path, doing my best, sharing what I can (feeling a little guilty when I can't), Divine, loving, hopeful, creative and imaginative.
I think that *more* depressing than the thousands of people losing their jobs and worrying about how they're going to support their kids (which of course change matters dramatically, and the numbers quoted here are purposely for individuals, not families), are the millions of people not imagining and creating something different.
I don't care what you do for a living. Every day, every one of us is a Creator. We create ideas, e-mails, patterns on the streets we walk or drive or run or bike. We create voice, breath, movement, no matter what your ability level. So every day, every moment we have the choice to create our world.
I just finished Alan Moore's Promethea series. And the HUGE idea that really resonated for me - something I've known but needed to revisit - is how we imagine everything that is in our world. It had to be thought before it was created, invented, birthed. Our perceptions create reality.
"Using language, imagination and will, we create reality, moment by moment, weaving concepts and sensations, light and sound, on the loom of our consciousness..." (Alan Moore, Promethea #32)
NPR's had a great segment on recently, where people share what they're doing in these "tough" times. And you know what? Most of what I heard was *positive*. Sure, there were the "don't have much money to spend" but to me that's ok! I feel the idea that buying stuff is more important than spending time with people or doing activities we enjoy (although this may involved money or not) is AWFUL. There was one man who's business was really slow, but it meant he had time to be with his dying mother and was able to be with his first grandchild from birth to now and help out his family, which he wouldn't have been able to do. And I heard such thankfulness in his voice. Did I just want to hear thankfulness? Maybe. There was also a group of people moving onto land which had been bought to be sold to developers and now they're thinking of living communally with some friends, growing their own, maybe buying a milk cow...
I've been couch surfing a lot to save my per deim, supporting as many small local shops and grocers (since I can't garden on the road) as I can and listening to a lot of people's stories, sharing food, cooking. Also had a really fun canning afternoon with friends making TONS of apple sauce that we kept and shared. Almost everything was gotten for free from freecycle. We added our love, time and fun.
I know I was raised privileged and I know my skin color keeps me mostly privileged, poverty level or not. That I've had opportunities that many people have not and that my story is unique.
However, if we imagine our world, maybe I've manifest these opportunities because I dream them possible. And don't care that other's call me out of touch with reality and a cock-eyed optimist. It's been working so far. :)
Thankfully, what I've seen and experienced is different from what I hear some media tout. I see people reaching out to help each other, I see generosity, I see hope and work and hear harp and ukulele playing. I have friends moving in with family and looking forward to the time it will give them with each other ( and nervousness at having to be in such close proximity w/ the 'rents as newly weds... that one may be a bit sticky). I'm reading about how the free newspapers like the NW Inlander, are seeing their readers increase, their ad sales increase, who knows, maybe their job offerings will also increase. And I also have friends who have lost their jobs and aren't sure how they're going to pay for their last semester of college.
There's a world (many of you are already a part of) full of people eager to be stewards of the earth, lovers of each other and creative imaginative souls that are creating a different world. Birth pangs and death are always difficult, but we're here to welcome you with open arms full of fun and imagination.
So Mote It Be.
I hear that the US national average personal income is $40,000. According to Wikipedia as a full time working woman (although with my hodgepodge of jobs I know I'm not the average full time worker, but I get 40 hours in a week) it's even higher.
I have *never* made that much money. Cut that in half and you're a bit closer to what I live on. And for at least 2 if not 3 of my years since getting my BFA I've been officially in poverty.
Yet somehow, I'm able to buy organic, support the arts and travel, spend time with my friends, dance, take yoga classes, get massage, create ritual, enjoy almost all the things I love.
Have I had food stamps? Yep. And I felt guilty about using them too, not because I was buying organic - Organic Consumers have some wonderful things to say and political actions on this front - I was. But I felt guilty, because there are sooo many other people out there who need the help more than I do.
And yet, technically I'm "impoverished." I might have to get back on to those food stamps too. Who knows.
But I'm not impoverished. Because I don't believe and I don't feel that I am.
I believe that I am lucky, loved, walking my path, doing my best, sharing what I can (feeling a little guilty when I can't), Divine, loving, hopeful, creative and imaginative.
I think that *more* depressing than the thousands of people losing their jobs and worrying about how they're going to support their kids (which of course change matters dramatically, and the numbers quoted here are purposely for individuals, not families), are the millions of people not imagining and creating something different.
I don't care what you do for a living. Every day, every one of us is a Creator. We create ideas, e-mails, patterns on the streets we walk or drive or run or bike. We create voice, breath, movement, no matter what your ability level. So every day, every moment we have the choice to create our world.
I just finished Alan Moore's Promethea series. And the HUGE idea that really resonated for me - something I've known but needed to revisit - is how we imagine everything that is in our world. It had to be thought before it was created, invented, birthed. Our perceptions create reality.
"Using language, imagination and will, we create reality, moment by moment, weaving concepts and sensations, light and sound, on the loom of our consciousness..." (Alan Moore, Promethea #32)
NPR's had a great segment on recently, where people share what they're doing in these "tough" times. And you know what? Most of what I heard was *positive*. Sure, there were the "don't have much money to spend" but to me that's ok! I feel the idea that buying stuff is more important than spending time with people or doing activities we enjoy (although this may involved money or not) is AWFUL. There was one man who's business was really slow, but it meant he had time to be with his dying mother and was able to be with his first grandchild from birth to now and help out his family, which he wouldn't have been able to do. And I heard such thankfulness in his voice. Did I just want to hear thankfulness? Maybe. There was also a group of people moving onto land which had been bought to be sold to developers and now they're thinking of living communally with some friends, growing their own, maybe buying a milk cow...
I've been couch surfing a lot to save my per deim, supporting as many small local shops and grocers (since I can't garden on the road) as I can and listening to a lot of people's stories, sharing food, cooking. Also had a really fun canning afternoon with friends making TONS of apple sauce that we kept and shared. Almost everything was gotten for free from freecycle. We added our love, time and fun.
I know I was raised privileged and I know my skin color keeps me mostly privileged, poverty level or not. That I've had opportunities that many people have not and that my story is unique.
However, if we imagine our world, maybe I've manifest these opportunities because I dream them possible. And don't care that other's call me out of touch with reality and a cock-eyed optimist. It's been working so far. :)
Thankfully, what I've seen and experienced is different from what I hear some media tout. I see people reaching out to help each other, I see generosity, I see hope and work and hear harp and ukulele playing. I have friends moving in with family and looking forward to the time it will give them with each other ( and nervousness at having to be in such close proximity w/ the 'rents as newly weds... that one may be a bit sticky). I'm reading about how the free newspapers like the NW Inlander, are seeing their readers increase, their ad sales increase, who knows, maybe their job offerings will also increase. And I also have friends who have lost their jobs and aren't sure how they're going to pay for their last semester of college.
There's a world (many of you are already a part of) full of people eager to be stewards of the earth, lovers of each other and creative imaginative souls that are creating a different world. Birth pangs and death are always difficult, but we're here to welcome you with open arms full of fun and imagination.
So Mote It Be.