What did you do once you knew?
What did you do once you knew?
For me, it started with changing my habits.
Changing my diet was first. I’d been a vegetarian for years, and despite growing up on a dairy farm, I found becoming vegan extraordinarily easy. Buying local wholefoods was just a natural next step.
I stopped buying ‘stuff’, stopped buying new things and learned to re-use, upcycle, mend, swap. I haven’t bought new clothes in over a decade and very rarely go into shops, other than food and DIY shops. I don't miss any of it.
I stopped travelling to far flung corners of the world and started to explore the wild beauty of local landscapes.
But it was the wider changes that I found myself having to really figure out. The more I learned, the more I started to unravel so many of the stories I’d been told about what it means to be successful, what this ‘civilisation’ is all about and how life works. I realised – for the first time in my life – that everything I’d built my life and meaning around were simply stories. They were just one version of how to live here on this planet. And - most devastatingly - a version that was known to be doing excruciating harm to ourselves, to each other and to the rest of the natural world. A story that had to stop.
It was here that I began to change my mindset.
The more I learned, the angrier I became that this story was so loud, so pervasive, so unstoppable and was being spread rapidly into every corner of the globe.
I remember back in 2012 spending over a year reading everything I could get my hands on: books, studies, stories from every culture, mindset, discipline I could find, to immerse myself in learning about where this pervasive story had come from, whilst also learning about all of the other ways to be human – ways that were not harmful to the world and that were living in balance and harmony.
I changed my job and started working in a space fully aligned to my values. There was no choice in following the work I’m doing at ThoughtBox, it is like a calling; something deep within me driving me on each day. It’s not been an easy journey by far – giving up a salary, community, a vocation I loved to spend years without income and with no idea what I’m doing. And yet the choice was never mine to make.
I changed my own story of success. I stopped believing that houses, cars, careers, partners, 'stuff' were symbols of doing well in the world. I’ve got none of those things and am as fulfilled and happy as I could ever imagine being. I have a livelihood that satisfies my mind, heart, body and soul. That is as successful as I can imagine becoming.
Over the years, as my awareness has grown, so has my courage; so has my voice, my strength, my compassion, my care. I’ve grown slower, deeper, more connected to life around me. The more I’ve let go of the stories which are harming this extraordinary place we call home, the more stories I’ve discovered of other ways to live well on this planet.
Change is hard, they say. Change takes time, they say.
I disagree.
When you know – when you allow yourself to really see what is happening right now, and understand the perilousness of this moment, you recognise that change is the only constancy we have and is all we need.
Yet change is not the motivation I choose to live my life by. It is love. I have such a fierce love for this world. It is a love that burns ever-stronger whenever I read news of extreme weather, biodiversity collapse, wildfires, floods; when I see the stories of disconnection around me. Fierce love for nature, for all life is such a powerful driver in all that I do and is all the motivation that I need.
So what about you? What did you do when you knew?
#wakingup #timetoact #changethestory #thinkoutsidethebox