Freeconomy Blog
Sun
13 Mar
Inspiring people, films, books, poems and music
| 53 comments |
Howard Thurman once wrote "Do not ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. For what the world needs right now is people who have come alive." You would think that doing what enthuses and excites us would be the easiest thing in the world, but the economic and societal model - the Machine - that we've all been born into makes it feel incredibly difficult to do so sometimes. Or at least we perceive it to be so.
The Machine has somehow duped us all into believing that life isn't a precious gift afterall, and that it's actually normal behaviour to spend 29% of our awakened lives (that's if you call mindlessly-doing-what-the-Machines-tells-us-to-do as being 'awake') doing work we don't even enjoy - or often agree with - to earn the money we then use to buy the meaningless crap we never used to need, and the 'services' that we used to do for ourselves or each other out of love and a sense of community.
But despite the best efforts of civilisation's puppeteers (though they are just the spot we see, whilst they're really just a symptom of an unhealthy body), many people are out there, right now, inspiring the bejesus out of the rest of us. And that's really what humanity needs right now - inspiration.
What I want to do today is give you a few little examples of the people, films, books, poems and music that are currently uplifting me and making me see the world through a more beautiful lens. Inspiration is often the difference between waking up in the morning and wondering what's the point, and leaping out of the bed wanting to bring as much generosity and kindness to the world as you can that day.
People
There's no need for me to point out the obvious people, such as Gandhi, Aung San Suu Kii, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Vandana Shiva and so on. I want to bring to your attention those whose work many of you don't know about, in the hope that I can in some small way amplify the sweet music they bring to the world.
The first of these is an incredibly inspiring guy called Paradox, whose Art of Meaning workshop has helped turned my life around on both the occasions I've done it. One of the things he says that really sparked my Spring into life this year is this: "We have only one true freedom left in life - the freedom to choose our response to whatever happens to us; our attitude". As Milton said, "the mind can make a hell out of heaven, or a heaven out of hell."
I can't think of anyone who is a greater living example of making an inspiration out of their life (despite having every excuse imaginable to just give up and be miserable) than Nick Vujicic. If you haven't heard anything about him, then I highly recommend watching this little clip of him. And after watching it I dare you to do two things - firstly, to not blubber at the beauty of this man and the light he shines on the world. And secondly, to not go about the rest of your life in a completely new perspective afterwards. Please, watch it and then pass his inspiration on to everyone you meet today.
Films / little clips
If any of you haven't heard of TED, you're missing out on a fantastic resource of some of the most inspiring talks you can imagine. One of my favourite of all-time is a talk by a man called John Francis, whose astounding book Planetwalker I read many years ago. I'm off overland to Porto in two days to do a TED talk, and after watching this again you've no idea how incompetent I feel for it.
I absolutely adore this little clip, called 'Tree' which I think sums up the spirit of a blog I wrote many full moons ago about a little bird called Peti.
In a completely different manner, I find Charlie Brooker's ability to take a potentially serious topic and make you piss yourself laughing at the insanity of it all. He does this best in a series called How TV ruined your Life (here is his episode called 'Aspiration'). Don't say it hasn't, because it has.
Books
I'm currently reading the best book I've ever had the privilege to read, called The Ascent of Humanity by Charles Eisenstein. It really is an incredible work, and the only book I've ever come across where I felt the author hit the nail firmly on the head and got to the root of the problem. If you have to choose between his book and mine, choose his. A mate, Shaun Chamberlin, kindly gave me a copy in November and I'm just finishing it now, as after each page I've had to stop for a moment to actually absorb it. I've passed the tip onto many others and they're saying the same to me - it's the book this generation, and anyone who cares about anything, needs to read.
Fergus Drennan has also just kindly given me a copy of Endgame by Derrick Jensen, and Man's search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, recommended to me by Paradox. I haven't read either of these yet, but they come highly recommended from a number of very trustworthy sources.
But just as inspirational as the books are the two people who have given them to me; they've both helped me come through what has been a winter of discontent in many ways for me. As we all struggle with society's laws and culture, inner demons, weaknesses, questions and doubts, probably the most inspiring thing any of us can do is to help those around us through them.
Poems
Celebrity movie stars aren't renowned for their inspiring poetry, but one exception is Woody Harrelson, a man who puts a lot of effort into various campaigns, and who, if this poem is anything to go by, may strangely be saying much the same thing as I am at the moment. Here is a beautiful poem by him, called Thoughts from Within.
Music
I rarely get to listen to music these days (thankfully I've got an entire chorus of birds in the orchard), but one musician who always uplifts me with spot-on lyrics is Michael Franti, who in one of my favourite tunes reminds us all that we can bomb the world to pieces, but we can't bomb it into peace.
I also love Eddie Vedder's soundtrack to Into the Wild, and in particular his song, Society. And if you ever see anyone who is feeling a bit blue and can't make sense of it all, send them this from Monty Python, or ideally go visit them and sing it from start to finish, whistling included. And when things are getting you down and you've forgotten to take the cover of your perceptual lens, sing it to yourself!
Every single one of you
You all inspire someone. In fact, the fact you're all exploring ways in which we can create a more beautiful way of living inspires me! So lets all start doing what we love to do. Not because we'll get a bunch of inherently valueless notes and coins for it (as part of a big game of musical chairs, where we only get to realise that there's only one chair for every ten people when the music stops) in return. But for no other reason that someone needs help, and we've been unbelievably lucky to have been gifted the ability to be able to help them. The gift of being able to give, unconditionally, to another is the biggest gift we've been given, if only we could awaken ourselves out of the slumber of the illusion of the self for long enough to see it.
At the moment we perceive the world through a lens called 'How much can I get?'. Imagine, for a moment, if we took off that lens and put on one called 'How much can I give?'. Think of the world we could live in just from a change of lens. To wake up every day thinking 'How many people can I make smile today?'. Commit random acts of kindness. Give unconditionally. Pay it forward. Instead of beating each other up for all the little things that can divide us as people, lets focus on bringing each other up.
Happy, content and loving people make terrible consumers. So, go forth and make people happy.
(*If you know of any inspiring people, books, films, poems, songs or articles, please let us all know in the comments section below.)
THE FREECONOMY BLOG is written by Mark Boyle, who has been living for over two years without money, and is the founder of the Freeconomy Community. He is the author of The Moneyless Man
Comment on this Post:
treadlightly comments ...
thankyou mark. ive just read your blog and will take the time later this evening to explore all the links you have put up on here. a few months ago, i was really into the philosophy of giving instead of receiving and living with nature and not consuming.
unfortunately somewhere along the way i got lost and ended up back in the world that has been pulled over our eyes. on a lighter note tho im back and this time i wont make the mistake of drifting back into "society" instead of finding my own path.
thanks again mark, you really help me find my own way.love and respect from mark aka treadlightly
Mark Boyle comments ...
@ treadlightly - I love your name, so what I would suggest is that you tread lightly on yourself too. I lose myself sometimes too, and am really just on the first steps of a journey. So smile and remember how wonderful you are and what an incredible experience it all is. Respect and love to you too.
Sallie Bragg comments ...
is going to enjoy checking out the links you provided that I haven't read or watched already! Frankyl's book is easy to read and heart-breakingly beautiful. I have given a copy to almost all of my kids. It completely changed something in me forever. Read it; you will not be disappointed!
Mark Boyle comments ...
@ Sallie - I'm just off to read it now - for the rest of you it is Viktor Frankl's 'Man's Search for Meaning' - loving it so far.
@ Everyone - feel free to add links or info about all who inspire you too!
treadlightly comments ...
thankyou mark you are as inspirational as the people you write about and i hope they endorse your work where they can too
tommacg comments ...
Wow Mark, a lot of overlaps with what I've been reading/watching/listening to recently!
I have a feeling you'll love Endgame. His Ghandi-bashing might challenge you to some extent but a lot of his reasoning is watertight and his sociological analyses of power, abuse etc. are astounding. It's beautifully written too, he's got a great, accessible style..Would love for you to post a review/response when you get through it.
Ascent of Humanity's next on my reading list, thanks for the tip.
Franti's recent Obama song was embarrassing but the man's generally a genius. If only we could push a button and have every Rihanna-equivalent write lyrics like his! Oh and FYI, as far as I know Vedder's Society is a cover..must track down the original myself.
oceanic comments ...
Thanks Mark.
2 days ago i put on my facebook status: The Alternative New World Order....who would you vote for? hoping for a long list of new inspirational people whos work i could check out. Mostly what i got was a debate about power structures! But the world works in mysterious ways and here is my list!
I know and love some of these already but there are some i look forward to investigating.
Everything you say about The Ascent of Humanity is spot on. I bought a copy about a month ago, on your recommendation, and it completely hits the spot. Seriously good stuff.
I would like to add:
Tim Macartney who set up Embercombe, see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JchSac-VP0
Paul Stamets, a genuine scientist...he's developing mushroom based technology. See 6 ways mushrooms can save the world: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI5frPV58tY
Marshal Rosenberg who developed NVC (non violent communication) a way of teaching people to get out of their programmed ways of communicating and resolve conflict cooperatively and with compassion. Books "Non Violent Communication: A language of Life and 'Speak Peace in a World of Conflict'
G*man*mike comments ...
Hi all! I have come to make my daily income as a street-musician - coins in my hat. It´s the most successful work I have ever experienced.
I hitch a hike to the next larger town around - lay down my guitar-case with a hat in front of me and start making music and sing. Already when hitchhiking I meet great people and have very inspiring talks on the way. Quite often in fact people park their car where they drop me off to carry on the conversation with me some more. Each of those inspires me and I do my best to share of what I have learned.
When playing my guitar in the streets I enjoy each smile I get from people walking by and almost all kids want to stand there and listen to my music for a while. I am always ready to stop playing and lend people an open ear and heart who feel the need to talk.
My 5-year old daughter really wants to go with me some time when I go out to make music but her mother is very much afraid of the "laws" and what people may think or say. If anyone has an idea on what to do about that please let me know!
I help people by accepting the money they want to give me because money is debt and it gives people a good feeling to have given some of what they have - their "noble deed" for the day...
Although I´ve spend many years of my life in the official education-system - gone to University - learned different professions - worked with suit and tie from 9 to 5 or the like - I am quite content with what I´m doing right now. I don´t have anything saved up or securities or insurances or any values to give me a false sense of safety - but it has made me very confident and helped me grow like nothing before.
Thank you for this lovely blog!
Thank you for all you playing your part in this game!
Thank you for all of life!
*m
Elena Nicoleta comments ...
We should take your example! It is needed a lot more than we want to accept!
Lisa Inti comments ...
Lovely inspiring post! It's great to see what inspires people. Victor Frankl's book is excellent. One of my favourite quotes is from him: "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's at...titude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way" (Viktor Frankl).
Endgame is also worth a read if what you need are some hard-hitting truths about just how damaging civilisation is. I didn't think book 2- resistance part- was so good tho'.
Inez Aponte comments ...
So inspiring. Made me think of a poem by Hafiz:
With That Moon Language
Admit something:
...Everyone you see, you say to them, "Love me."
Of course you do not do this out loud, otherwise someone would call the cops.
Still, though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect.
Why not become the one who lives with a full moon in each eye
that is always saying,
with that sweet moon language,
what every other eye in this world is dying to hear?
Much love to you Mark and good luck in Porto. You'll be fab!
xxx
Mark Boyle comments ...
@ Lisa - Yeah I'm just reading Frankl, and funny you said about Endgame - Fergus, the guy who gave me Man's Search for Meaning gave me Endgame at the same time. I'd highly recommend The Ascent of Humanity by Charles Eisenstein, most incredible book I've ever read and I think from the little I know of you that you'll love it also.
@ Inez - beautiful :)
@ Everyone - How many people can you make smile today?
Sallie Bragg comments ...
How about Peter Jenkins in his 'Walk Across America?'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Walk_Across_America
From the summary I just read on this link, it fails to mention that he did his walk solely on the kindness of strangers and WITHOUT money...!
Daniela Othieno comments ...
Thank you Mark, the links are great! Another book you might like, if you have not read it already, is "The Spell of the Sensuous" by David Abram, talking with so many beautiful examples about how the whole world and all creatures in it are alive and speaking, and how we humans (especially in this culture) have managed to rip ourselves out of that conversation. I'll send you a copy if you want to read it, get in touch.
Sallie Bragg comments ...
I'll stop here for now. ;)
http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/walden/
Part of the summary on Walden from NPR:
...
"Dismayed that so many of his neighbors had stopped growing crops or making their own clothes in favor of buying less expensive products from out of town, he built himself a cabin in the woods, next to Walden Pond. He moved in on July 4, 1845 -- his own personal Independence Day.
Thoreau called the move an experiment, to test the transcendentalist idea that divinity was present in nature and the human soul. In order to get closer to nature, he stripped his life down to the barest of essentials. He grew his own beans, wore only the simplest of clothes and generally tried to seclude himself from the rapidly industrialized world growing up around him."
Marie Dunnion comments ...
I agree - Viktor Frankl's book is very inspiring. In a similar vein, I have recently read "An Evil Cradling" which also shows how the power of the mind can be used to overcome the horror of an almost unbearable situation. Brian Keenan tells his personal story of being taken hostage in Beirut and sharing his cell with John McCarthy. What amazes me is the compassion and forgiveness which he shows towards his captors. x
Linda Emslie comments ...
the more the merrier lets also look for everyday people in our lives and neighbourhoods whose acts and inspiration is no less..... just less seen xxx
The Ubuntu Girl comments ...
WONDERFUL thank you for sharing. There are so many people 'being the difference', inspiring in the process ♥
Sagey comments ...
Eh up, Mark.
Sorry to hear you've had a low time over winter, and thanks for being honest about it, too - and for sharing your vulnerability.
Just reacting a little to a comment made about 'meaningless crap' - How can the food that people spend money on be termed 'meaningless crap'?
Anyway, happy journeying to Porto, fella.
Good Health.
Mark Boyle comments ...
@ Sagey - thanks. Yes I was speaking more about other-than-the-basic-necessities-of-life stuff, but I guess they would even possess a lot more meaning in them if they were used by those who produce them. Much appreciated.
Chrissy Holl comments ...
looks like I have my reading sorted for the next year! So many inspiring people, one I have to add, great inspriation for me, "The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved: Inside America's Underground Food Movements" by Katz, fanastic story of how he tackled the waste going on in his country and how it affects our planet and our health. Also gives ways and tps for dealing with this in everyday life.
Oceanic comments ...
Oh, i forgot to mention:
What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire (www.whatawaytogomovie.com)
Powerful and moving wake-up call. Sets you up nicely for The Ascent of Humanity.
S.N.Goenka
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S0AObjQfas
or
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2923960/speech_by_s_n_goenka_in_u_n_peace_summit/
Vipassana meditation: www.dipa.dhamma.org
The Dhamma Brothers: Docu about vipassana meditation in a maximum security prison in Alabama. Also book 'Letters from the Dhamma Brothers'.
These guy really inspire me, i've done several vipassana courses, i know how hard they are, how difficult it is to face yourself and how difficult it is to keep up the practice. That they are doing this in the worst possible environment with the worst possible things to face up to...absolutely staggers and humbles me.
Thomas Berry, 'The Great Work' (book and docu, amoungst others)
"The Universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWdo2vpr-Rs
Paul Fleischman, 'Cultivating Inner Peace'
Talking in Hereford on May 9th, Town Hall, 7.30-9pm.
I could go on....:)
Fergus comments ...
So many inspiring people with so many wonderful insights! Sometimes though, one comes across souces of such deep and well articulated insight that to not stop and reflect deeply on them again and again and again before moving on to the next inspiration can devalue them. Currently the writings of Derick Jensen (Endgame) and Charles Eisenstein's Ascent of Humanity, combined with vipassana meditation provide infinite inspiration.
In fact, some of the authors mentioned by others are interviewed in a great book by Derick Jenson: How Shall I Live My Life? On Liberating The Earth From Civilization (Thomas Berry, David Abram).
I've also found Don Miguel Ruiz's books quite useful.
Of course, none of the above make any sense at all without directly engaging in the beautiful world of nature around us and the friends or friends not yet met who inhabit this world - not nearly as easy as it might sound..........
Lovely post!
Hugs x Fergus
Shaun Chamberlin comments ...
Cheers bro - have a great trip! Look forward to hearing what you make of Endgame, see you soon xx
Shaun Chamberlin comments ...
Oh, and by the way, speaking of inspiring things, just after we met at the Dark Mountain Festival, I did a post on art and music that ties in with our global predicament - had some great contributions:
http://is.gd/EjF61A
comments ...
......oh.... and Brigit Strawbridge makes me happy just for being herself and tirelessly making known more inspiring people and events through her facebook links.
Derick Jensen and Aric McBay's book What We Leave Behind is a really good read. Mark, you'll love their initial discussion of shit!
"Our relationship - both personal and collective- with shit, and more broadly with our waste products, reveals much about our relationship with the land - with our habitat- and much about why and how this culture is killing the planet. In the case of shit, this culture has turned what was a gift from us to our habitat - a gift of fertile soil, given in response to the nourishment our habitat gives us - into something toxic, something harmful. Something shameful. And that is a terrible shame."
When I feel really low some of the stories in Walk in The Light and Twenty-Three Tales, Leo Tolstoy can be really up lifting.
Wishing you TED inspiration!!!
x
Fergus comments ...
That last comment was by me also. Mustn't for get to add the writing of Sephen Harod Buhner and..... and... and....so much more!
Fergus x
oceanic comments ...
Ok, this is the last one from me (promise):
The Education of Little Tree by Forest Carter (even with the weird controversy over the author)
The Moon Appears When the Water is Still by Ian McCrorie...a collection of beautiful story poems:
"In India i came upon a beggar woman
covered in dust and grime
seated at the side of the road.
Someone had given her a plate of food
which had attracted a mangy and growling mad dog.
He too was hungry
And without hesitation she shared
her only food with him.
He ate and then lay down at her feet.
Locked in their respective kammas
their was still room for kindness.
And if i could speak her language
(I spoke unilingual afflunence
and she all the dialects of abject poverty)
I would beg her to tell me
how her heart can shine so brightly
beneath the dust of her life.
Bruno Milch comments ...
Soo inspiring Mark Your the Best Love ya Lots xxxxx Can't wait for Your next blog !
come unity institute bristol comments ...
thanks for another good blog , I always suggest people read your blogs. here is a video wich I think is good http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5665703498481091153#
VictoriaWest comments ...
Who inspires me...
Cody Lundin: Founder of the Aboriginal Living Skills School and Arizona Centre for Environmental Sustainability (ACES), and a minimalist. I find him inspiring simply because he lives what he teaches. Look him up at www.codylundin.com and also on facebook.
Someone has already mentioned Paul Stamets, but two more mycologists are Gary Lincoff and Larry Evans, both featured in the film "Know Your Mushrooms". I love how they show that just because something isn't mainstream, doesn't mean it isn't fun and vitally important to the planet like fungi are. Both are on Facebook and watch Know Your Mushrooms too. I wish I could remember their website addresses.
Yourself Mark, for showing it is not material goods that make happiness but by how we choose to live our lives, the bonds we forge with others and that giving unselfishly of ourselves (and generously) isn't a dead art.
And last but not least, I'm inspired by anyone who has the balls to stand up and think for themselves, that lives with honour, acts with integrity, and manages to piss off those who maniacally follow the status quo because they hate seeing that you don't need to follow the herd to be happy.
Rachel from Brisbane comments ...
Hi Mark,
At the risk of sounding like a total dag (a very unflattering Aussie term!), my current answer is YOU. I have been reading your blog for a few months now (I just finished the whole archive) while lying on the bed feeding my newborn. This kept me busy for the few weeks it took for your book to arrive from the UK after I saw it reviewed in our state newspaper, The Courier Mail. I finished it a few weeks ago now (in just 2 days!), then made my old hippy husband read it. (PS. I have just ordered 8 copies online to give as birthday presents throughout 2011!). I have been inspired by the other posters on here too who have shared ways to reconnect with ourselves and our natural world, reduce reliance on money and live more selflessly. It is through this blog that I have discovered Freecycle (and have given away so much stuff and got to know my own city a bit better!), Zeitgeist and Earthlings and other mind-blowing realities and ideas. My life has been changed. I have cried a lot, and gone through the usual emotions of anger and resentment towards the ignorant and selfish, occasional panic and sadness.
I thought I was somewhat enlightened after having read lots of Buddhism and attending many silent retreats over the last 8 years. The bit I was missing was the socio-political, a more critical awareness of Western culture, of the current economic model and how it affects us all and our environment. Actually, I guess I already knew much of it at some level, but I felt powerless, alone. Now I see that what I CAN do is to carry my truth around with me every day by living the change I want to see... (and it really is a MUCH better recipe for happiness/meaning).
I have started the journey now from veggie to vegan (it will be slow convincing 3 kids who eat meat/diary at other parents' houses, but we persevere) by having a couple of vegan days each week. I have become more content with less - indeed happier with less and with 'making do' with what I've got - and started questioning where everything comes from that I eat and touch; wondering who else has touched it, who might have suffered. I talk to my kids about this stuff. I have joined the Freeconomy and plan to contact other Freeconomists in Brisbane (Nick Vujicic's home town!!) to see if I can organise a get-together to meet each other and hopefully start skill-sharing. I am looking at what I can plant on my tiny inner-city block. The organic farmers markets on Sunday have now become our church!
I am telling everyone I know about my inner and outer changes. So, you can see how just one person - you - has changed someone's life on the other side of the planet. It's really true what my Zen teacher says; that simply by living your truth you influence others. You don't have to strain or be pushy to change other peoples' minds; just by living your life, speaking YOUR truth, you cause ripples of inspiration. And you never know where those ripples end up!!
Other people who have inspired me include Marshall Rosenberg (as a psychologist I do a lot of training/coaching using NVC). Earlier influences have included Charlotte Joko Beck who wrote "Everyday Zen: Love and Work" and "Nothing Special" and who founded the Ordinary Mind School of meditation. Her books hit you like a brick - they are easy to read and so insightful, applied to normal life. I still learn something every time I pick up her books. One quote for you:
"Enlightenment is not something you achieve. It is the absence of something. All your life you have been going forward after something, pursuing some goal. Enlightenment is dropping all that."
In the West, we have to "drop" our addiction to consumption - to having the latest, the shiniest, the best. Identity is important to us all, so we have to show people new ways to create identities based on beauty, art, nature instead of 'owning' the meaningless crap. In the end, of course, we can drop our identities too and become part of the whole. (Wow, now I really sound like a hippy, yeh!!)
I am so grateful to you and the others on here for continuing to inspire me, so I can inspire others. Thanks for all the links - I should have plenty to keep me busy for a while now while I feed my bubba on the bed!
Love and hugs from the other side of the globe! :)
chrissy comments ...
hanks Ocaenic for the info on the DVD What a WAy to Go, got the dvd and watched it myself then with a group of friends, need to watch it again! reminded me so much about why I woke in the first place, how much more I need to wake and that I need to keep on with it.
The dvd was not a horror shock this is terrible and this is the way to put it right stuff, it gave honest information in a way that I could understand what I can do to make my own peace with the earth.
And stuff I cannot change, I felt there wer eno guilty pulls in the film, no blaming, just the facts and truth.
Well worth watching.
comments ...
"The first of these is an incredibly inspiring guy called Paradox, whose Art of Meaning workshop has helped turned my life around on both the occasions I've done it"
So, you're exactly where you were before you started?
Oceanic comments ...
@ Chrissy,
my pleasure :)
I've shown the film to an audience of about 30, through my local transition group. powerful and moving experience.
I've been in touch with the film makers, Tim and Sally, who are absolutely lovely. They're on a mission to show it to everyone in America!
They have given me permission to use the 'public performance' license to show the film 3 times (instead of just once). I'm chatting with someone in Glastonbury about a showing there and i'd like to show it in Bristol at some point.
We may also have persuaded the Courtyard Theatre in Hereford to run the film as part of a season of environmental films (fingers crossed on that one).
I'd highly recommend approaching your local transition group (or something similar) and suggesting they show it. It's a great experience to share it with lots of people :)
truewonder comments ...
John O'Donohue, beautiful soul- inspiring writer:
Beauty-The Invisible Embrace
(I read his books one page at a time...profound.)
A wondrous film-
Encounters At The End Of The World
And Mumford & Sons speak well to me musically these days.
Always be kinder than necessary...
People that need loving the most, deserve it the least.
Think for your self, act accordingly and your neighbors will be deeply suspect you- at first. Eventually- they'll look at you wide eyed and with wonder- there's the ticket for turning people on.
So many have forgotten who what when and how- all they know is "How much?"
I'm sending on your book to my son, I had ordered it for him but wanted to include cookies with his mail...I've been reading it, absorbing it.
Such a good man you are. Keep being who you are, feeling what you feel- be your own man and live your life accordingly.
Love to you, take care-
Lila comments ...
Mr. Boyle-firstly I'd like to say that I don't know quite what sort of come-ons you had received in reference to your Guardian feature when you responded in part that you "weren't exactly a catch" (I have observed that a large number seem to behave as if the internet were a giant singles bar) but I would like to politely correct you. You are in fact, almost the perfect catch by my standards. The way we think, our chosen lifestyles & outlooks, the books we've read, the world we envision-so astonishingly similar-the things we could teach each other! I fully comprehend your occasional feelings isolation, of "otherness", a microminority. But thankfully you are surrounded by a handful of likeminded others who see the tremendous value & necessity of your vision. What I wouldn't give to spend an afternoon with someone who thought or lived like me! If geography weren't standing firmly in the way, I think perhaps I would let you chase me until I caught you-but I digress. Please trust in synchronicity when I share with you that you & your team most assuredly need to read The Ringing Cedars Series by Vladimir Megre. I trust that same synchronicity will bring these books to you now that I have completed my task of placing them into your awareness. And, unlike your online "suitors", I will leave contact information (elila40@yahoo.com). Maybe we can gently love one another into ourSelves from a distance. PS-please use your lovely wry sense of humor more often-such a powerful tool for drawing people in!
Lila comments ...
To all the wonderful tribe members visiting this space, please go to YouTube & watch the movie "The Green Beautiful" for free.
the borrowers comments ...
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I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.
Mark Boyle comments ...
@ Lila - that's very sweet of you!
@ the borrowers - nice quote!
@ Rachel from Brisbane - thank you for a beautiful quote, and for gifting the book to people for their birthday. It sounds like we have a lot in common - I love NVC too! Would be great if you could get Nick to do something for a local Freeconomy gathering there in Brisbane, the guy is a legend.
@ Everyone else - I will try to reply at first chance, but thank you for sharing all that, some very inspiring links.
blevi1986 comments ...
Mr. Boyle I have been aware for sometime now of many things that are wrong with not the world but its inhabitants. I have just recently however found your website, and I must say It's a blessing to know that some are trudging forward against the societal norm that is so intrentched in the masses (very disheartening) but nay, because you are a light in the dark for many, me being one of them now! So thankyou and please keep just doing what your doing! Much respect and love to you sir!
*Dick* comments ...
Your Blog is a pain in the arse! I work everyday in a job I detest, for a large soul-less corporation. I so desperately want to escape, but continually find reasons why staying is the responsible and 'right thing to do'. Your blog is a constant reminder that there IS another way, and I find you an uncomfortable inspiration. Fear and conditioning keeps people tethered to their lives within this monster of a system. The example you set by living the way you do, is a challenge to the system and to the conditioning we are all victims of. You and your blog are a huge inspiration, and I thank you deeply..... *R*
Aldas comments ...
Really good links, thanks a lot.
I've read lots of books but Anastasia made the biggest impact on me so far:
http://www.ringingcedars.com/
Had really strange heart vibrations while reading and eventually got in to Astral. Prior that was doing lots of exercises but never succeeded.
Found this lately:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1cUa4yWQp4
Sandie comments ...
http://www.des4rev.org.uk/mollisondes4rev.htm
To let people arrange their own food, energy, and shelter is to lose economic and political control over them - Bill Mollison
power2thehavenots comments ...
Love the influences Mark - gona check them all out! Love the fight club quote too borrowers! Cant believe no one has mentioned Daniel Quinns Ishamel trilogy! Those books left me reeling - his detailed analysis on the state of humanity is staggering - he was the one who opened my eyes and made me look around properly for the first time! The first book seems to be all on youtube - maybe he's just too "mainstream"? Heres a link of him explaining totalitarian agriculture http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPRJQpWhE0o
power2thehavenots comments ...
Oh yeah the eddie vedder song society is a cover of Jerry Hannan - in case anyone wanted to know - great song!
Piper comments ...
I am incredibly unhappy. I also do not like people. I find inspiration in the words here, but I cannot put the ideas into action.
I want so much to change my life and be like you but it is hard to give things up. I fear giving up the tenuous hold I have on earning enough money to survive as an old lady someday. I fear giving up my life partner who would never in a million years move away from a typical corporate work slave life toward a life like you all have. I feel sad that I have enslaved some parrots who live with me, and the responsibility I have toward them now that they cannot live in nature enslaves me as well.
I go back and forth. I know this philosophy on this blog is right and true. I've touched it in bits and pieces during my life and those moments were the happiest I've ever been. But the things I can't let go of and the requirement to love and be kind to people hold me back.
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