GreenSHIFT- Designing Renewable Lifestyles

GREEN. Enough said.....Then again perhaps not. I’ve been seeing “green” connected to just about everything these days. Are you green? How about your house? Is your company green? What green investments do you recommend? Does that business have green ethics or are their marketing campaigns merely green-wash (attempt to pass off an unsustainable product as eco-friendly)? “Green” is ubiquitous. And before we all acquire green fatigue (not the outfits surgeons wear), let’s consider the meaning of greening.

Since everyone’s understanding is unique, I invite you to join me as I consider my personal greening philosophy. In my view, the current attention to “all things green” presents a unique opportunity to simultaneously bear witness to and participate in a societal shift. This shift covers a lot of ground, so to speak. It can be described as a recognition of a unifying principle, such as honoring life and healthful living. We are shifting from defeating nature to embracing nature. Perhaps it is simply the time to experience biophilia, our inherent kinship with the natural world. Speaking holistically, I believe the opportunity of this GreenSHIFT is to learn how to connect who we are with how we live.

The lifestyles we express are determined by how we assign energy, attention, and value to activities, services, and products. Fundamentally, I believe the GreenSHIFT is moving us toward holistic thinking and living, expressing mutual connectedness in both spiritual and practical ways. This means that while we keep our personal and collective eyes on the horizon, our feet must be firmly planted on the ground. Even Bugs Bunny taught us that every once in a while we need to emerge from our tunnels to see where we are in the larger scheme of things, assess the climate, and change strategy when appropriate.

When we are mindful of both intended outcomes and possible unintended consequences, we can plan for renewability. Metaphorically speaking, we eat some food now, store some for later, and plant seeds for next season’s harvest. I speak of renewal at various scales of experience. Individuals may renew spirit, mind, and body. Organizations may renew purpose, people, and place. Societies may renew community, ecology, and economy. Each triad represents the same sense of holistic renewal at increasingly larger scales. When each triad aligns within itself, it is likely that our personal lifestyles, organizational cultures, or societal customs are expressing our identities consistently. Conversely, misalignments can cause us to feel disconnected from who we believe ourselves, our organizations, or our societies to be – or perhaps that we are living a lie in some way.

At times lifestyles becomes increasingly habitual and self-perpetuating. Our respective habitual experiences may begin to feel comfortable – like we’re in a groove, or uncomfortable – like we’re in a rut. These inner experiences reflect who we are at a given moment in time and presumably something about our values. When we’re in ruts, we’re out of alignment in some way. This may show up as frustration, burn-out, dis-ease, regret, or any number of experiences. GreenSHIFTing our lifestyles is an opportunity to realign healthfully who we are with how we live.

Since our responsive lifestyles express the people we are, I suggest we would all do well to consider ways to ensure that living becomes a celebration of spirit, or who we are at our individual and collective best. In closing, for me “being green” means that I dedicate myself to growing healthfully. I also commit to providing meaningful value to others and receiving meaningful value from others. Finally, this GreenSHIFT inspires me to be my most fulfilled self by connecting first within myself – regardless of external events – and then with the world around me, one ripple at a time.