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Making The Best Of The Worst Of Times Edition #114 — January 11, 2009 Last summer I wrote a poem while waiting for my dental appointment. I woke up too early that day and was still tired. Little did I know that I would create something positive from that otherwise negative experience. And though it may not win any awards, it does help to set up the topic of my first newsletter of 2009. Tired - A Poem Everything feels heavier My body wants to curl up I noticed a lot of tired-looking people that day. There seemed to be an epidemic of dazed, droopy faces. Ironically, this was during the boon times, months before our economic ship officially ran aground. This was how the average person looked during the best of times. I think it's a crime against humanity that people are worn down physically out of fear of losing their jobs. How will depleting our bodies of nourishing sleep and vitality help to maintain the joy of our very existence? How long before life becomes a burden? Greetings From The Edge Lucky me, I can't be fired. Not the way many people have and will be during this economic recession. I'm fortunate to have created an existence on the margins of civilization. My overhead is low and my income, though at times a bit sluggish, can come from anyone, anywhere and at any time for a variety of services. My eggs aren't all in one basket like many people I know. These are dangerous times for the gainfully employed. There is an irony in recessions in that it brings many down to the same minimalist life that most artists accept as normal. Long ago I realized that I wasn't cut out for a "normal" life because I valued my freedom too much. And as I've learned, my art and joy depend upon that freedom to shuttle between many sources of inspiration and self expression. Artists often trade their security and materialistic inclinations to indulge in their passions, and for better or worse, I have too. Artists live in a bubble that protects them from the influence of reality. But then again, we all live in that kind of a bubble. Bursting Bubbles Lately, members of the mainstream work force are having their faces pressed against the outer limits of their own reality bubble. Many people are about to lose their jobs, houses, marriages and all the social circumstances that they define themselves by. Once this process occurs, they are left with something quite unfamiliar to them: nothing but themselves, and time. Time and self reflection can be distressing to some people. Many of us would rather fill our time with distractions than take a deeper look into ourselves, our dreams, our ideals and our very life's purpose. Maybe we eat constantly instead, watch television, play video games, or worse — drink, take drugs or gamble. Our addictive behaviours helps us avoid an unpleasant collision with our true selves, and perhaps our inner sadness and despair. After all, even in the best of times there is no guarantee that what we are doing is making us happy. Ultimately, once we have food in our bellies and a warm, dry place to sleep, then all we are left with is how we define happiness and whether we allow fear and circumstances to keep us from achieving our goals in life. No matter what happens in 2009, let us use the opportunity to become more familiar with our definition of happiness. Let us not retreat from adversity if we know that it may lead us to joy. After all, was it working out for us when we were going in the opposite direction? Be honest. And if you do get fired this year, make sure to sleep in the next day. Try to remember what it feels like not to be on a chain. I think that it is sad that we are punished for doing something so fundamentally healthy for human life, which is to sleep until we are fully rested and replenished. But what good is a society of sleepy heads that can't wake up to realize that they're spending money that doesn't exist on assets that have no value. Hey, it happened. Don't blame me. I'm just an artist. A Time To Reflect It's January and it's cold here in Canada, as it is in many parts of the world. Economic prospects are bleak but money is being thrown around like bags of sand before a tidal wave. Everyone's talking like they know something, but the absolute truth is that had they known something to begin with the world wouldn't be teetering on the brink of economic and political collapse. Remember also that politicians don't actually create jobs. They are lucky to have a job themselves. Furthermore, this is not a problem that exists in 2009. This is a historic problem about the meaning of success and knowing when enough is enough. We just haven't learned our lesson yet. And maybe now is the time. Our economic wounds won't heal until entrepreneurs and business leaders take the time to look inward and redefine their own path to joy. A full recovery requires us to seek a kind of success that exists not just on paper but as a symptom of strength and resilience within our world communities. We cannot control hurricanes and earthquakes, but surely we can guard against greed and the needless fears that arise from not being able to trust the people around us. No More Pirates! To capitalize on a current topic, the Somalian pirates are an apt metaphor for the times we live in. They are also the product of lawlessness and poor leadership. In western countries we are also becoming like pirates of the economic seas. As with offshore drilling in Florida, there are people who would willingly endanger or even destroy the ocean for a source of energy that we all know is killing us economically, environmentally and politically, as with the US invasion of Iraq. Worse even, a recent Toronto Star article revealed many people now working in positions of trust whose higher education degree was purchased online for $3000. And don't get me started on the sorry state of customer service. There is a growing rift in the relationship between people and the integrity of their work. Once we used to work to strengthen our community because the community protected us from adversity. Today our communities are the adversity that we need to be protected from. Many of us work for a paycheck with little or no emphasis on loyalty to our "tribe." Meanwhile, CEOs and Corporations move like nomadic parasites feeding on the world until it has been bled dry of all value to shareholders, and nature. When business leaders are without loyalty to their tribe and community, and without a clear goal or definition of happiness, then they move aimlessly from one conquest or failure to another. The effect is that rather than nourishing themslves and their world, they leave a trail of collapsing communities and desperate lives, all simply to appease stockholders. Eight years into the future, we can see that this is exactly what George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and countless others have done with the United States of America. And now we're all paying for it. Yet can anyone make sense of their definition of happiness? What is success to them? Out Of The Dark, Into The Light In 1945, much of Germany was a pile of rubble. Yet because of this, they could get a fresh start. There is much to be said for leaving everything behind since we won't have to make room for it in our new lives. Today, once war-torn and conflicted Germany stands strong within the European community. It is my hope that if we, as humankind, are now running the global economy and perhaps the planet itself into the ground, it is for the sake of a rebirth, not suicide. Change has never been easy but once we put away our tired old games of conquest, hoarding and status, then we are sure to see a lot more winners arriving in our future. And if you should find yourself with a little spare time before then, please consider using it to clear your own path to a more humane and compassionate future for all. Until next time, Subscribe to free newsletter
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