Overcoming Environmental Despair

Dylan’s keys for overcoming environmental despair

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Living in the world today, it’s hard to get away from that fact that society has its back against the wall. I’m sure I’m not the only person who has questioned how livable the planet will be one hundred years from now, and I know I’m not the only person who has questioned the systems that brought us here. 

If you're reading this, I'm sure you're aware of the environmental and economic disasters the human race (especially our fossil-burning culture) is responsible for. The world may seem like a hard place to live, and looking at what’s going on, you may find yourself in the grips of Environmental Despair. It’s that depressing feeling you get when you dwell on the fact that society may never “get it right”; that you’re too small to make a difference; and that it’s already too late.



Well it seems to me that the better part of my life is about figuring out how to overcome ED (I know what you’re thinking) and inspiring others to join me! Here are 5 easy things to do that will help you keep an optimistic perspective on working towards solving society's biggest problems and making the world a better place to live:



1) Relax. Don’t take the world on your shoulders. Baby-steps. Make plans, but be flexible, work with others and find out how you can help them, and together you will meet your goals.



2) Take some time to yourself. Do something you enjoy: go outside, listen to music, eat your favorite [healthy/eco-friendly] food, or have some good old-fashioned lovemaking. Hell, combine all 4 of those things! But seriously, focus on positive activities that make you feel whole.



3) Don’t get hung up on the “hopeless cynics” in the world. It doesn’t matter if you can get people to see your point of view; what matters is understanding our common needs and working together to meet them. Keep the faith. Not everybody will want to cooperate, but an overwhelming majority of people out there want to help out but don’t know where to start.



4) Little things DO matter! If you can get someone to smile at a glance during the course of your day, you already made the world a better place. Don't get bogged down with big problems when you can spend your time accomplishing smaller but achievable goals. With that outlook, making an impact is ALWAYS within reach.

Best-for-last 

5) You have the power to choose for yourself! Living your life the way that feels truly right to you genuinely helps your self and the world at the same time. I know “Still Life with Woodpecker” by Tom Robbins offers refreshing perspective on this. 



Finally, I have found loads of these little goodies in my life, all of which give me overwhelming strength of spirit. I would like to share 2 of them here because they’ve been helping me for years to defeat the symptoms of ED and to feel great doing it: 



1) The Serenity Prayer – “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”


2) Any song from the Grateful Dead or Jerry Garcia; "Ship of Fools" especially captures the essence of a person experiencing environmental despair and offers keen advice for those of us willing to rock the boat: “Though I could not caution all, I still might warn a few/Don’t lend your hand to raise no flag atop no ship of fools.” (video embedded)

http://artsites.ucsc.edu/GDead/agdl/ship.html - The annotated “Ship of Fools”