Greetings from
The Publisher . . .
Longevity; & Doing things right can get overwhelming
Quite by accident I noticed that we have a longevity issue this month, both personal longevity and planetary longevity.
Medical intuitive Caroline Sutherland, who prefers to call it “Vibrant Aging,” returns to San Diego from the North West this month to produce and host her “Forever Ageless” conference on aging and longevity.
In September she brings several presenters with her and also draws on local experts. One of them is San Diego doctor, Joe Filbeck, M.D., who Suzanne Somers has written about.
Our planetary longevity—which is obviously not far removed from our personal longevity—is the focus of the new film— The 11 th Hour , produced and co-written by actor, environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio.
I was able to see it twice, and there is so much information there that I recommend it—and taking friends. Seeing it the second time helped me realize just how interrelated many of our problems are.
Many of our problems start with the fact that our society does not have a widespread sense of spiritual or personal satisfaction. We focus on material goods that we often tire of before they physically need to be discarded. When we produce goods, we also produce an enormous amount of waste in the process and almost everything we produce requires oil to make. There is little we do that is sustainable so we borrow that oil/money, while making more of a negative environmental impact than any country in the world. We are bankrupting ourselves while burying ourselves in waste—which also means breathing and ingesting poisons—so our health and the planet's health suffer. While what we are doing to the planet is catastrophic, we'll be the first to go. We are the weak link, obviously, in numerous ways.
It's not a pretty picture, which is why it was valuable for me to see the film again. The second time I started to hear the solutions. And the good news is that they are there. The bad news is that there are those keeping the system in place that think they have too much to lose. More than a planet with an eco-system that supports our living on it? Apparently so.
The challenge and opportunity is that just about every way we currently operate needs to be changed. The good news is that many people have already been evaluating the way our society runs and produces goods.
It's not new territory, but it is an area that requires more leadership. Governmental leadership could mobilize us and make changes happen quickly. Former CIA director pointed out in The 11 th Hour that we retooled for WWII in three years—with the leadership of Washington.
With the current leadership vacuum in DC it will be several more years before that changes. At the 11 th hour, that's not really an option. That means, once again, that it's up to us to change US.
What's good also is that the more local government is, the more responsive it is to environmental changes and action right now.
And as you have most likely read many times in The Light Connection (TLC) , we can vote every day when we buy our food, products and services, and that does make a difference. Businesses look for that edge that will bring them success.
Many of the people who appear in The 11 th Hour are Bioneers, a group founded by Kenny Ausubel in 1990. The Bioneers are really on the cutting edge of presenting sustainable solutions. About 30 Bioneers and Bioneer presenters appeared in The 11 th Hour film. Their annual gathering is in October in Marin County and the plenary sessions are broadcast to other cities. See www.bioneers.org .
Shifting gears a little bit, I've really thought lately about how many “right” choices we have to make these days. I mean, take a look. We aren't just buying a chocolate bar anymore. There are planetary consequences. Where did it come from? How was it made? What are the ingredients? Was a fair wage paid? How dark is it? How many grams of sugar?
Doesn't it get a little overwhelming? Having a few more restrictions on what is sold—to weed out the more obviously harmful products—could give us a few less headaches when buying—but who decides? There are some things we seem to agree on—like labeling—but the last thing we want is to create The Chocolate Police. We want our choices! And sometimes we just want to veg out.
It seems whichever way we turn we are being told the best way to choose. While I'd never do that here in this column, of course, I have noticed others do it. Our society has enough have-to's and ought-to's as it is—but then we naturally add our personal requirements. It's not just what we do or eat, it's how—our attitude and gratitude—and what we combine it with, when we take it in, and where the moon is. The food rules—the vitamins, minerals, supplements—or not to—and times when everything has to be done just so barely seem compatible with the goal of making ourselves healthy and happy.
But discovering what works for me—my body—takes experimentation. And I think the worst is hearing that what works for you is supposed to work for me.
I have found, however, a couple of small things that work for me while contemplating the perfect plan. One is that I never “quit” forever—just for a month. The other is to identify what I don't want and then don't contribute to that, whether it's wasting water or feeling the effects of too much sugar, or living in an inhumane society. I don't know the best plan to ensure those things, but I can avoid contributing to what I don't want. It's a little easier than having the perfect answers.
Today's challenges seem to be forcing us to work with people we might have ignored in the past. It's time to join and discover what we can agree on. That's not bad—it's a community.
Have a great month,
Steve
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