Archive for May, 2009

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Maybe you’ve already listened to Steve Jobs’ talk at the Stanford graduation in 2005. I had heard of it but didn’t get around to watching it till this week. I really like how he talks about not seeing till afterwords some of the benefits of things we’ve done. In his case, that included dropping out of college and later getting fired from Apple, which he had been a founder of.

So I had this in mind to blog about, and just now I wandered over to my husband’s desk and said, “Whatcha doing?” He was reading a really good commencement address by Paul Hawken, given earlier this month at the University of Portland. You Are Brilliant, and the Earth is Hiring is the title of his talk, on the organicconsumers.org website, which is well worth a browse, or many browses.

Here’s a bit of it:

When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse. What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world.

You join a multitude of caring people. No one knows how many groups and organizations are working on the most salient issues of our day: climate change, poverty, deforestation, peace, water, hunger, conservation, human rights, and more. This is the largest movement the world has ever seen.

Rather than control, it seeks connection…

When my dentist told me that my gums were a little inflamed and that I should use a mouthwash, I thought of those foul-tasting, vile-colored things you get at most stores. As I’m in Mexico at present, my choice of natural mouthwash products from a health food store was probably nonexistent.

I asked my dentist if there was something more natural I could use, perhaps involving salt. Generally, Mexican medical specialists know more about herbs, homeopathy, and natural remedies than their North American counterparts, and this dentist was no exception.

“Certainly,” he said. “Make a strong manzanilla tea — how do you say that in English?”

“Chamomile,” I said.

“Ah yes.  Make about a liter and add a coffee spoon of salt.”

I tried to think what a coffee spoon would be. “Oh, a teaspoon?”

“Yes, thank you.  Use it 3 times a day till your gums are better, then use it whenever you want.”

So I mixed up a quart of this Mexican natural mouthwash, and it is helping. And it tastes okay.

I’ve had a serious bout of futility this week.

No matter how much I do for simple living or green causes, I can’t help but think of all the wasteful living that is going on everywhere, of people suffering from extreme lack of adequate facilities,  of the human propensity to have wars, of… of… of… I could go on without stopping with a list of at least 50 items. I bet you could too.

So I was seriously discouraged. I don’t know what set off this particular spell, and I am not sure it matters. I did my Qigong, I swam, I prayed, but I stayed stuck in a sense of futility. I mentioned it to a good friend in an email, and he wrote back: Read the rest of this entry »