Lately, I’ve encountered more and more people who believe our culture is living the wrong story.
The old cultural story is this: we need things to be happy, and we definitely need more money.  Abundance is limited.  We must fight for our share of a decreasing pie. Earth is here for humans to use (or use up).  
What is in the way of creating a New Story? It is this…

Fear.

For example, one result of the old, dysfunctional story is this: most people who have “enough” are afraid they soon won’t.  They resent anyone who needs more, even if it’s just to survive. Those who do not have enough are afraid too–desperate even–that they won’t have what they need to survive.

There are plenty of dystopian Hollywood movies from Mad Max to The Day After  to Idiocracy that show us how a this story like this ends:  it’s a story of death and dying.  In all of these unhappy endings, Earth is trashed for the sake of human needs or conflict.  The vulnerable are exploited. Our children and grandchildren inherit less beauty, less life and greater struggles than the generation before.

This is insane.  And we know it…

So let’s change the ending of this story.  Let’s change the dysfunctional dream of the Western World.  The only thing stopping us (really) is fear and hard work, everything else is an excuse.

Blogging for Sanity started in 2004, though I basically stopped blogging 2008 for awhile when economic collapse was upon us and I felt called to serve my local community as an elected official.  During the Obama Years, I focused on change in our local community and attempted to bring about a new approach to government.  Mostly I wanted to increase awareness of how sacred Earth is.

During that time, I learned that people are basically good, but the more they watch TV the angrier they are.  My goal was to get them outside… helping.  I found permaculture is a way to apply new paradigm thinking to anything and bring about hope in people of all ages.  I also learned that public leadership is limited by what the majority believes, and that fear and anger are dominating many people’s beliefs right now.  This was so apparent to me while in public office

I’ve never lost faith in the good in people, nor humanity’s potential.

The solutions to our current challenges might seem impossible at times, but imagine what will happen when all of humanity awakens to a New Story and starts to live it.

Imagine a story where everything is connected, where happiness and stability are based on relationships with ourselves, other people and the natural world.  Imagine a story where we stand together for what matters: all life, Imagine unlimited abundance we create in partnership with the natural world.
Imagine what it will be like when the most noble work is restoring humanity’s relationship with the natural world and with each other.

Imagine justice flowing like a river.

I used to feel alone in this seemingly impossible quest.  Now more and more, I believe it is possible.   It won’t be an easy road… but honestly, what is the alternative?

We need to change the collective trance.  We need a New Story that activates all to their full potential.

I’ll share what I discover along the way.