HumanKindMedia

Now we can...or, after the mole attack

After my uncharacteristic political binge over the past few months, I've been going through a week of elated recovery, enjoying all the news (well, except some of the obvious poisons like talk-radio and Fox). It seems my adverse reaction to the media (which was the whole impetus for starting HumanKind Media) has dissipated. Now, (it's only taken a couple of years) I realize that my search for hope and possibility media, was really a search for hope and possibility, period.

Things have changed. Now, hope and possibility IS (are) the story du jour (or, hopefully, des toujours--all our days). For me, the most amazing part of the US election was the use of the media, particularly the internet, to galvanize, energize, and connect people toward a common goal in a way that hasn't been seen since the 60's. Many of us felt so galvanized and energized that we're now looking for something to do with all that galvanization and energy.

My new president even put up a website already where I can provide ideas, sign up to help, and eventually provide input to my government. People all over the internet, my media, are engaged and inspiring others to engage. (Check out this DailyKos diarist's lessons on the constitution). I'm jazzed. I'm starting to think of ways I can contribute that I never imagined before.

I decided my post-election post would be a "Yes we can" motivational piece, but the day after the election, Linda Bergthold, in the Huffington Post wrote this piece, and a day later Liz, my favorite accomplice, wrote this wonderful essay (below). So, yeah, I meant to say that...but they said it better (and faster).

So, I'll just say this about the mole attack. Yesterday--a beautiful, warm fall day in California--I finally approached my ravaged garden where the mole had had a free-for-all. Plants were uprooted, holes were everywhere, and though we had dis-invited the mole, the place was still a shambles. Once I got started, with my hands in the earth, a few packs of ground cover and some hardy annuals to spread around, I had transformed the devastation to something prettier than it was before, and possibly more easy to sustain in the future. Now, I feel better prepared to prevent moles in the future, and also infinitely satisfied at creating something beautiful out of a mess.

Those few hours of work in the garden made me realize that, though I would have preferred that the past 8 years had not unfolded as they did in the US and the world, I truly believe that we'll see how the devastation and the mess created possibilities we couldn't have envisioned otherwise. These are the stories I'm looking forward to writing about.

Here's Liz:

The 5% possibility shift Obama gave us

On election night, I was in a packed concert hall in Brooklyn, every single one of us nervous and excited, watching a gigantic screen tuned to CNN. When the polls closed on the West Coast, and CNN flashed the words "Barack Obama elected president," the room just exploded. Tupac's "California Love" blasted from the speakers, twenty-somethings jumped on stage and danced like crazy in front of a screenful of talking heads, and the rest of us jumped up and down shouting in absolute jubilation. Then CNN went live to people celebrating in the streets in Times Square, Harlem, Chicago, Kenya, Berlin -- literally, we were all celebrating together.

During Obama's acceptance speech, I wiped tears off my cheeks, but they kept coming. Over the next few days, I heard friends and media asking, Okay, so what happens next? What's Obama going to do for us now that we've elected him? What if he doesn't live up to all his promises?

I see it a little differently: We have a huge promise to live up to. Obama inspired a huge shift in what's possible. He did what we're always talking about here at HumanKind: He talked so much about hope and connection and possibility that almost everyone who heard him started believing in it, and then we all started living like we believe it. And then in the ultimate show of commitment, we elected him president. Not a day goes by now that I don't hear someone saying, with a smile or a laugh, "Yes, we can."

By electing Obama, WE made a promise. While we all have high expectations of Obama, we now also have much higher expectations of ourselves. It's scary to think Obama might falter, or might disappoint us in some way. But I think what's really scaring us is the fear that we might falter in our own promise, in our commitment to hope and change. We're human. We probably will falter. But we will get up faster and with more optimism than ever. That's a change Obama has given us already. And from now on it's not about what he'll do for us next -- it's about what we will do with all the hope and confidence and joy he inspired in us.

Yes, WE can.

Feeling Stuck: 3 things a coach might tell me

You may have noticed, I'm a little stuck. It's been over a week since my last post (and I usually have a rule against that). In fact, I notice I have several rules about blogging, which may be why I'm stuck right now. I don't know what you do when you're in this state, but I have a tendency to spend a lot of time pondering WHY I'm stuck.

I have my reasons. First I had a rule when I started about "themes." We started with blogs about ending poverty, then helping women, peace, and making a world fit for children. Then, sustainable living. Part of me could keep writing about sustainability forever. It's like peace. Once you pull on the string, you realize it's connected to everything else.

But, another part of me is having trouble deciding which of all the millions of other topics and ideas out there that are changing the world and trying to fit them into themes and connections, and threads, and what, I wonder do you, my audience, want to see?...You see, here I go spinning again.

If I had a coach right now... but wait, I am a coach. I think it's a common misconception that coaches, counselors, psychologists, and other life helpers can get themselves out of sticky spots more easily. I'm a human (a member of a global citizenry, remember) and for some reason, I can't help but get stuck sometimes, even though I should know what to do.

If I were my coach right now, I'd move me off of the "why, "what if", "oh, no" merry-go-round and I'd focus on 3 things:

1. Tell the truth about "what is". When in a breakdown, the first step is to notice you're in a breakdown. For me "what is" would look something like this: I really want to keep telling stories about all the cool organizations, people, and ideas that are changing the world and I feel overwhelmed at the writing, the publicizing, the trying to build community, and the possibility of failure, (which as a coach, I don't really believe in, but am still programmed to worry about), and I don't know what to do next. Whew. What a relief to get that out!

2. Ask what can be done now? Once I get this far, I'm usually okay again. There's always something that can be done now. The impossible takes a little longer, but it's still just a series of steps. For today, what can be done now is already done. I have stopped wondering why I was stuck and just wrote about being stuck. Also, one of the "things that can be done now" in any stuck place is to LET GO. This is my favorite possibility in the "what can be done now" category. Today, I am officially letting go of the themes.

3. Look for support, ask for help!. Asking for help is usually the step most of us don't like to take in the 3-part breakdown fix. But, sometimes just thinking about who could help, asking one person do to something small, or even asking the universe to come in and straighten things out can have a magical ability to help me take a few steps. Sometimes just having someone listen (or read, in my case) is enough.

But since you're here, if you'd like to help me, there are a few things I would ask for. Drop me a note in the comments or e-mail me and let me know: Do you know a story that would be perfect for 10 % more media about possibility? Would you like to suggest or write a story as a guest? What would you like to see more of (now that we're letting go of themes, we can go nuts)? I admit that I have the "small blog" envy of the big blogs who get lots of comments every day. I'm sure someday I won't be able to handle all the comments, but in the meantime just write and say "Hi". Please.

On the HumanKind action front, if you know anyone in Chicago, I'm still working on ways to work out my Wish for Will and welcome your ideas. And, soon, I hope you regular readers will help design HumanKind Challenge #4, for a BigCarrot submission. Okay, now I feel more excited than stuck.

WE FEEL FINE!
And, now that I'm feeling a little more free and excited, and a little less bound by self-imposed constraints, I can tell you about something cool that happened when I posted this blog. Jonathan Harris, artist/genius and speaker at Pangea Day, with Sepandar Kamvar, has been capturing feelings on the web since 2005 at We Feel Fine. So if you had been watching within a few hours of publication of this post, my feelings of stuck-ness, overwhelm, envy, free, and excited showed up on little dots and murmurs on We Feel Fine. Check it out.

After a minute or two watching the Madness or reading the Murmurs, I feel like I'm okay again. I was just having some feelings ;-). You can read more about We feel Fine here. I loved Jonathan's short explanation of We Feel Fine at Pangea Day here.

Here is what Jonathan and Spandar say about their cool project: "We Feel Fine is an artwork authored by everyone. It will grow and change as we grow and change, reflecting what's on our blogs, what's in our hearts, what's in our minds. We hope it makes the world seem a little smaller, and we hope it helps people see beauty in the everyday ups and downs of life."

Ups and downs--I can relate to that. Thanks for listening.

Guest blog: Terry Selucky introduces us to John Picard

We've been exploring the meaning of sustainability lately through everything from the freeconomy and online scrabble to educating future generations and sharing homemade soup. Our friend, writer Terry Selucky, recently got to hear John Picard, a noted sustainability expert, discuss his own moment of truth regarding sustainability, and has graciously offered to share her experience here. Our thanks to Terry for this post.

Sitting in a hotel ballroom at a sales conference in Florida a few weeks ago, ready to fall into the “attentive posture, wandering mind” practice that I reserve specifically for guest speakers, my ears perked up at a compelling observation.

“We make a habit of using energy to cancel out our energy use,” said John Picard, sustainability expert, efficiency pioneer, and speaker of the day. “The lamps above us are giving off more heat than light, and that, plus the heat from the people in this room, requires us to cool the space with air conditioning.”

“Hnyuh,” I said out loud, earning a look from the woman next to me. This was a bit startling. I’ve been in so many warehouse-sized conference spaces over the last few years, and rarely have I thought about how counterintuitive business practices are. I’ve always just accepted it as “the way it is.”

I looked around the room and saw even more examples of waste: plastic cups piling up on tables, speakers that bounced sound off distant walls, and two 20-foot screens that projected video images on either side of a stage from which I was a mere 30 feet away.

All this energy use—for what? So we could sit in the impeccably controlled, sterile environment of this indoor pavilion, steps from the beach? Outside, the Gulf breeze tempered a blazing Florida sun, and an adjacent courtyard offered ideal acoustics for public speaking. I realized that all our needs would have been met perfectly, with little trouble, had we used our energy to pick up our chairs and gather outside.

Leave it to John Picard, former member of Bill Clinton’s Green White House task force, to open my eyes and ask me to reconsider how we use our resources.

Picard wasn’t always so progressive. In the 1980s, he was designing some of the most elaborate homes in the U.S., speeding around the country in sports cars (I have fun picturing him in full "Miami Vice" pastels), trying to “fill a void” that persisted despite his grand success.

On one particular private jet trip, Picard and crew spiked 52,000 feet into the air, allowing a glimpse at the smooth, gleaming curvature of the Earth. Picard’s life view shifted. Seeing the world as a vulnerable, living organism that needed to be taken care of—a “low bid,” as he puts it—he became a spokesperson for environmentally sound building practices, imparting his knowledge to organizations, corporations and design professionals, and eventually founding E2, Environmental Enterprises.

One of the most inspiring things about Picard’s vision is that he takes his philosophy a step beyond green practices and sustainability, to regenerative and restorative design. He believes that “the next new economy is a natural systems economy,” and that large corporations will begin to compete with each other to rectify negative impacts on the environment in order to earn consumer respect.

It’s fascinating to imagine corporations that aren’t just carbon-neutral, but that actually cultivate a healthy environment. Even more remarkable, the consumer is where the conversation for sustainability and regeneration all started. We’ve spoken, and many businesses are listening.

Knowing this, I consider it my opportunity to take another step forward toward being part of a regenerative society that works with nature as it is. It’s more than just intelligence—it’s intuition. Opening a window is easier for me than turning on the a/c, and ditching plastic water bottles is a huge cut to the garbage I create. They aren’t always huge actions, but they add up.

In the meantime, I (and perhaps, we) need to have faith that the little things make an impact. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way,” said Picard. “But I kept following my heart and my conscience and that’s what brought me here, to a place where I am a complete person.”

Surely, our desires to “fill the void” will lead us to live inspired, complete lives of our own.

Watch an interview with Picard here.

Terry Selucky enjoys filling the void by working as a freelance writer. As a playwright, her work has been seen in New York City, Chicago, and Portland; she also writes about food, travel and other fun things for publications like Time Out New York, nymag.com, and Not for Tourists books. She is Development Director for the awesome Girls Write Now.

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A blog from Chris Coppola: a world fit for kids

At about the same time Liz and I began writing about creating a world fit for kids back in January, Liz stumbled upon Chris Coppola, a US military surgeon blogging in Iraq. Chris's posts were an engaging, realistic look at one individual's experience in the face of impossibility, and a mesmerizing portrayal of showing up, one day at a time, to do what's possible. (So engaging, in fact, that he and his wife got a book of his posts published; they donate the proceeds to Fisher House, a non-profit that provides support and housing for the families of injured troops.)

We wrote and told him we were fans and asked if he'd ever consider a guest blog for HumanKind, and oh, by the way, we're writing about creating a world fit for children. As a father, a pediatric surgeon, and someone who was seeing many Iraqi children casualties, he was extremely qualified to write about the topic.

Fast forward a month, and Chris is home again with his wife and children, back at his old hospital, and still blogging -- about pediatrics and Iraq, but also about sushi and choices of operating room music. We hadn't forgotten about him, but we hadn't exactly remembered him, either, when surprise! He sent us a wonderful blog about creating a world fit for children. Today, we are so pleased to bring it to you; click on "Continue reading" below this post for Chris's blog. To our readers, we hope you enjoy this post as much as we did. To our friend Chris Coppola, a million thanks for this offering and for the work you're doing in the world.