Dear
Questers, Friends,
and Seekers of the
Beloved,
What an electrifying
time. Surely we will
never forget this
autumn of 2008.
America has just
elected its first
African-American
president--and with
more hope and
jubilation among
more diverse kinds
of people than any
election has managed
to effect in a
lifetime.
And, at the same
time, the economy is
entirely out of
whack. Wall Street
has a personality
that reacts moment
by moment to the
fears and hopes of
the people who trade
in it, and every day
the market bounces
up or down in some
wild new way. What
does the financial
situation mean to
us? How are we
adjusting to it--or
not? This newsletter
offers some
fascinating
perspectives on how
people can actually
take advantage of a
stressful situation
to learn and change.
To those who are
receiving this
newsletter for the
first time...
welcome! Here you'll
find news of
upcoming
Vision Arrow
events, reflections,
profiles of
extraordinary
people, and stories
of transformation
that occur when we
accept, in small,
bold, startling ways
the invitations that
the world is always
sending us.
A
FEW PERSPECTIVES ON
THE ECONOMIC CRISIS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I asked a
few friends who
live in
different parts
of the country
and have
different kinds
of life- and
workstyles how
they're
considering the
current
financial
debacle, both
philosophically
and practically.
Here's what five
of them had to
say:
"Since I work in a
bank, I'm surrounded
by fear of financial
insecurity. On a
personal level,
though, I'm not in
high anxiety mode. I
don't watch TV. I
read one financial
magazine a week (The
Economist)
and another once a
month (Money).
I pay attention to
what they say and
take their advice
when it makes sense.
Right now, I'm
sitting tight with
my 401K.
Personally, I'm
doing what I've done
for years: recording
my numbers for what
I spend each day and
trying to get a
spending plan
together. I put
aside money for
future purchases
instead of buying
immediately. I grew
up in Africa and
Indonesia, so I'm
used to not having a
lot of excess. We
grew up with the
idea that things had
to last. The most
radical thing I've
done is that I just
moved into the most
expensive place I've
ever lived in. I
decided I'd rather
be comfortable in
the middle of
convenient public
transportation and
not have the noise
and gas pollution of
commuting by car. I
don't consider
myself super-green,
but I do find that
the more gently I
tread on the earth,
the easier it is to
save money. So right
now I don't have any
long trips planned.
I don't have a car.
The dishwasher gets
run when it's full.
Laundry is done on
Thursdays. When a
lightbulb burns out,
I think twice about
whether I need one
there. I really
believe that
everything I need is
within my reach."
"On the winter
solstice of 2007 I
began an experiment
I call Circling
Home, a year of
living car-free and
traveling no
farther than a
62-mile radius from
my home. This
Circling Home year
has been in response
to my deep
conviction that the
way are living our
lives is not only
not sustainable,
it's suicidal. This
economic crisis has
revealed to me how
illusory our sense
of money and wealth
is, how disembodied
from any ecological
reality and real
wealth in terms of
finding shelter and
food and creating
community around
ourselves. In so
many ways our
financial system has
created the illusion
that we control our
reality and that
wealth has no limit
beyond our capacity
to pull it out of
thin air through the
kind of financial
maneuvering that has
created such
extraordinary wealth
gaps between those
who have and those
who don't.
I believe this
crisis presents
opportunities to
reaffirm and
rediscover what it
means to have a
livelihood that is
grounded in
ecological reality
and local community,
as opposed to
virtual community.
One of the things
I've discovered is
how huge my
immediate geography
is when I approach
it under my own
power, which is what
I've been doing this
year. I've also
discovered how many
people around me are
extraordinary,
gifted, generous
people, and I simply
wasn't available to
them previously
because of being
involved in a
long-distance
community.
One motivation for
my Circling Home
year has been
climate change.
Speaking about the
financial meltdown,
[environmental
writer]
Bill McKibben
has asked, 'What
about the meltdown
meltdown?' It seems
that it's only what
affects us most
immediately as
humans that gets on
the radar of
concern. The
economic meltdown,
as catastrophic as
it may be
personally, is
nothing compared to
the climate
meltdown. These two
meltdowns reinforce
the need for us to
seriously re-engage
our local lives, our
local economy, and
local living. We can
no longer ignore
them, and they offer
huge opportunities
for social
enrichment and
spiritual growth."
MARIANA
GARRETTSON &
JORDAN TAYLOR (&
GRETA)
UNIONDALE, PA
"We live frugally
anyway, so there's
not much we can cut
back on. We did
start buying
groceries with cash
instead of using a
credit card. My job
in academia is
unaffected by what's
happening in the
economy, but Jordan
is a potter. He's
retail-based, and he
feels the difference
in the number of
sales he's had
recently. He's
looking at getting a
part-time job for
the first time since
he became an artist.
Part of the reason
that's become
necessary is that we
just bought property
in North Carolina.
On the up-side,
though, we feel like
we got a really good
deal on the
property, and we
have an adjustable
rate mortgage with
extremely low
interest rates.
Jordan and I both
grew up in Quaker
families, so we've
always believed in
living as simply as
possible. Up until
recently we ran our
car on veggie oil,
but that got to the
point where it was
no longer practical.
We do want to stay a
one-car family, and
we're looking for
opportunities so I
can get to work by
car-pooling. That's
somewhat of a
challenge, since we
live out in the
country. This summer
we put up more food
from our garden than
ever before, and
we're trying to eat
more frugally. When
we move, we'll be
living near dear
friends, and we're
looking forward to
sharing resources
and gardening. These
are goals we've had
for several years,
but economic need
makes achieving them
all the more
pressing."
TONY ROBICHAUD
PINE COVE, CA
"It's terrible how
we've allowed
rampant materialism
to manifest in this
way. I'm very
concerned about our
future--both the
immediate future and
that of my children
and grandchildren. I
see what's happening
as a form of
addiction that's
gotten to the point
where it can't exist
any longer. We're
collectively hitting
bottom with a
philosophy of only
asking for more
instead of being
connected with our
source and getting
comfort and
sustenance from
that. A man got
trampled in a Wal-mart
store the other day!
It's terrible. The
economy is like a
wheel that's
spinning on its
axis, and the only
way it can keep
going is if it goes
faster and faster.
Eventually it starts
to wobble and fly
apart.
This is an
opportunity to come
to some sort of
realistic moral
consciousness about
how we are in the
world. I've been
rereading Theodore
Roszak's
Voice of the Earth
to try to get some
balance. Hopefully
Obama and the
economic advisers
he's chosen will
bring voices of
sanity. Financially
I'm safe right now,
because my money
comes from the
government. On the
other hand, I owe
more on my house
than it's worth. Two
years ago I had a
brush with death, so
I see everything
differently than I
used to. Material
stuff isn't as
important as it used
to be. But I'm
trying to be more
attentive and
centered. I'm
looking more towards
being a steward of
soulship: the trees,
the water,
family--what's
lasting. We have
abused our very
soul. Perhaps this
is a wakeup call, a
chance to raise
these questions and
make us think in a
new way. If we do it
right we'll bring a
meaningful and
purposeful
consciousness into
the world."
"Frankly, I try to
tune it out. The
bank crisis started
happening right at
the time that
Hurricane Ike
struck. I had no
electricity for two
weeks. I used it as
an opportunity to
check out. I didn't
have to be on the
computer and the
phone. It was great.
I haven't even
looked at my 401K. I
feel like the whole
thing is out of my
control, like what
happens in a
hurricane. The
hurricane hits.
Everything is thrown
upside down. But you
get through it.
Everybody I know is
okay. Nobody's out
in the street. I'm
not losing my house.
Besides, I already
went through this
back in 2000 during
the dot-com bust.
That was
devastating. Lots of
my stocks went
bankrupt. I look
back at that time as
Spirit shaking me
out of my old ways.
It took a lot of
work, both inner and
outer, to rebuild my
life and be at peace
with myself. I went
from being a senior
software sales
executive to having
my own small
business selling
handcrafted gas
lanterns.
I've learned to keep
it simple. I've
learned
non-attachment. As
George Harrison
sang, "All things
must pass." It's out
of your control.
It's kind of like
breaking up with
somebody: it's
awful, you have to
grieve for a while,
but you know you'll
get through it."
ON A PERSONAL
NOTE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Black
Friday is the day
after Thanksgiving,
when retail stores
hold big sales and
customers come in
droves to snatch up
bargains. On this
particular Black
Friday, November 29,
a 34-year-old Wal-mart
employee,
Jdimytai Damour, was
trampled to death
by approximately two
thousand people who
surged into the
Valley Stream, NY
store as soon as the
doors opened.
This event is
horrible to
contemplate. A man
was killed by a
stampede of human
beings. These human
beings, moreover,
were in such
desperate haste not
because their lives
were in danger but
simply because they
were greedy. So
intent were they on
grabbing cheap goods
that they apparently
failed to notice
that they were
crushing a man
beneath their feet.
Or, even worse, they
noticed and did not
care enough to stop.
All the people
quoted in this
newsletter speak
about how the
financial crisis has
forced them to
re-examine how they
live, how their
spiritual condition
might shift as a
result, and how
their relationship
to money has
changed. I'd like to
propose one other
response to what's
happening to the
global and the
personal economies:
let's make an effort
every day to find
new, creative, and
compassionate ways
to be generous to
others. Let's do it
in memory of
Jdimytai Damour.
BOOK AND WORKSHOP
NEWS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For
a complete schedule
of
Vision Arrow
events planned for
2009 go to our
website and click on
CALENDAR at the top
of the page. You may
want to note that,
despite the
unpredictability of
the economy, the
Bali trip is already
half full (three of
the possible six
places are taken),
and Sabina Wyss and
I already have
people signed up for
the 2010 Sahara
Vision Quest and
Camel Caravan.
Here's an offer to
take advantage of:
because of the shaky
financial situation,
and also because I'm
really interested in
creating more ways
for people who know
each other to share
in the benefits of
my programs and to
maintain a network
of support
afterwards, I'm
offering a special
discount: 15%
discount off the
cost
of any vision quest
or workshop
if you bring a
friend (this does
not include the
Sahara trip or the
Path of the Lover
workshop at Rowe).
Check with me for
more details.
Call 570 727 4272 or
email me if you have
questions or would
like to talk about
any of these
programs.
Black
Friday is the day
after Thanksgiving,
when retail stores
hold big sales and
customers come in
droves to snatch up
bargains. On this
particular Black
Friday, November 29,
a 34-year-old Wal-mart
employee,
