No more tree hugging-How about Tree let going!

“In a world of disconcerting change, when large and complex forces threaten familiar and comfortable guideposts, the natural impulse is to grab hold of the tree trunk that seems to have the deepest roots and hold on for dear life and never question the possibility that it’s not going to be the source of your salvation.”

Al Gore New Yorker September 2004

It's funny how society needs to label things.
Is it comforting?
Does it transfer a sense of power?
Does it feed the ego?
I'd say yes to all of the above.
How many environmentalists out there have been labelled a "Tree Hugger"?
We have all been there when at a dinner party you let your guard down and confess to feel something for the planet. Is it the pelican that is being covered by BP's oil? Is it the rainforest that's being cut down to grow soya beans?
As quickly as your concern is verbalised, given a reality outside of the safety of your soul, bang! Some clever person needs to feel secure, needs to take the upper hand and label, "Tree Hugger".

I am inspired by the Al Gore quote mentioned above. I have a Tree Hugger sticker on my guitar case! But maybe it's better to let go of what we know. Maybe it's better to show our love for the planet by disconnecting from our old ways?
That's why I love quantum theory. It gives you the permission to delve into the realm of infinite possibility. Mix a bit of Chaos theory and quantum theory and you get a whole new sha-bang-a-bang of creativity. If the old ways of commerce, politicking, making stuff, and living are causing so much grief, pain and poison around the world, would it not be better to let go of the tree, let go of those Deep rooted 'Same old, same olds', and try something new, think something new, be something new, create something new?
Just a thought!

Quote Link:
THE WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN
Al Gore lives on a street in Nashville.
by David Remnick
Read more from the quoted article: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/09/13/040913fa_fact?currentPage=all#ixzz0uT98GQyj

The Eco-cell project proposal

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

The Eco-cell project proposal

View more presentations from Ragnar Haabjoern.

The Proposal-I do!

Hello,
well in a attempt to get more involved with this blog I am currently trying to clear up a few barriers in my life to get myself underway for my true goal. So how does the story go...
So from completing my Masters degree I was bitten by the ambitious bug of continuing my study and pursuing a PhD in Deep Ecology and the opportunities this ecological philosophy could offer education for sustainability initiatives.
Over the space of about three years I have had to submit 3 research proposals and then was asked to submit a fourth. As you can imagine this took its toll on my confidence and my yearning to be creative for the planet’s sake. I think often about the quote from Albert Einstein,
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
I love nature. I love beautiful ecosystems, clean water, etc... But I feel as though that the way society is operating and the choices that many of us are making are placing a great deal of stress onto the planet and ultimately ourselves. My belief is that education for sustainability initiatives and their current implementation are merely scratching the surface, they are ‘light green’. That’s why I favour going deep. Changing thinking, changing behaviour, changing ideas of what our place on this planet is and what our purpose is. Through my research I have found many links between sustainability, philosophy, systems theory, chaos theory and Buddhism. I cannot deny the discovered emergent patterns between this literature and through presentations from some of the proponents of these ideas.
A PhD is a sizable endeavour and when deciding to put energy into it, your own self-belief needed must be strong. I lost it. I really thought the PhD was about bringing something new to the world. I respected the process of using credible previous research but was increasingly getting frustrated with having to justify my claims only through modern journal articles. Journal articles that seemed so clinical, so sterilized that the opportunity for something new to emerge was stifled by multiple revisions.
I had to trust my heart. I had to trust that what I was discovering, the heuristic journey that I was on, was right, was worthy of further investigation and presentation. That is why recently I canceled my enrolment at the university and decided to pursue this research, this uncovering in the realm of cyberspace.
Thought, Word, Action. A trinity, a model that gives me strength to continue thinking, writing and hopefully applying this knowledge to the outside world. Action is super important, especially when the planets clock of hope ticks away. I had until 2015 to complete my PhD. Who knows what further damage,will be done to the planet in that time. So the action is needed now. My research I believe is needed now. I am giving it a life…now.
So feel free to check out my proposal, what I endeavoured to do. In this blog I will present my insights and ideas of how deeply going into sustainability can help with personal growth and the health of the planet.
Who knows what this journey will look like and what it will uncover? Maybe it will culminate in a book, a lecture series, a workshop? Regardless of its manifestation I hope it helps you and your own green thinking.

My PhD proposal can be located at http://www.scribd.com/doc/34200970/The-Ecocell-Project-120710