"New York" By Trey Ratcliffe http://www.StuckInCustoms.com
The world’s population has or is reaching 7 billion.
It is a very large number, the kind of number that is perhaps best imagined by using the techniques of lyrics such as “9 million bicycles in Beijing”.
What does such a number mean to the individual?
How does the individual secure sustainability within such a massive number?
What is possible ... and what is not?
We all should dream ... but we should do so wisely, so that our dreams intersect with reality.
For example, what are the statistical chances for an individual to become famous in say the 'beautiful game' i.e. soccer?
For easy calculation let us assume there are about 200 nations in the world.
For each nation there is a soccer squad of say 35 potential FIFA World Cup (male) players.
That makes it a total of about 7000 elite soccer players.
They are precisely 1 in a million.
We could be more analytical and remove the females from the population, the too young and too old among the males.
That would change the odds somewhat … but 1 in a Million is a useful colloquial way to think about it.
So look around you and out of a million you might find one elite soccer player.
Most urban citizens live in cities that are less than a million … and these cities will therefore statistically not have a representative!
That is sobering … so what now?
There is a young online writer that has featured articles that we have found interesting who is walking a minimalist path (by default sustainability promoting), experimenting and measuring his personal journey towards this.
So whilst he does not do this as a specific sustainability or green exercise ... the efficiency and effectiveness he achieves gets his lifestyle right sized = sustainable.
His experiences provide food for thought.
He travels deliberately homeless with his entire belongings in a backpack (about 30 items or so), fully immersed in the Internet, continuously evaluating his right sizing, by default his sustainability.
The new age we are in provides all sorts of opportunities to right size and make oneself sustainable in the global economic chaos that is upon us.
His nomadic lifestyle has reduced his costs to a minimum, and he earns his income through the Web, applying his mind to how best to grow and communicate with his audience.
Okay, not everyone is in his cycle of life but there are others right-sizing for sustainable lives as families, and/or other more ‘complicating’ lifestyle aspects.
But in the context of the soccer example, the all important wisdom that stands out is that you need to identify which of your passions you can perform effortlessly, like water flowing downhill or leaves falling off trees?
Which of your passions can you perform in the almost effortless way, in a wu-wei way?
Then of these passions, which can you translate into income generation?
If you cannot sing, embrace this, and do not aspire to be a giant music star.
Even if you have deft feet and can do wonderful tricks with soccer balls that impress your peers, you still need to be a 1 in a Million to really make it.
So a sober mind, a realistic one is needed here …
But there will no doubt be other characteristics within you that can almost effortlessly provide the sustainability you need.
However, messages such as “you can be anything you choose to be” can be harmful as they may distract you from being what you can truly be.
Not everyone is like Drew or Josh on the X Factor.
Listen to Josh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLCCsr8mbYU&feature=related
… this is art, a cover in its own Soulful way perhaps as great as that of the original singer!?
It happens – if I was Mick Jagger or Keith Richards listening to the Sundays’ rendition of "Wild Horses” I would feel honoured.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9lEd5bIbbQ
Harriet’s crystal clear vocals and the minimalist and pure lead guitar perform sheer synergistic magic.
In the vocals of a Josh or a Harriet is the symbolic (and vulnerable) greatness of Human Kind …
For those who might not have been moved by this then perhaps try Drew’s contribution:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MqSXmVcEi4&feature=related
From a small town in Arizona, from nowhere, out of the blue …
If you are still not moved then you definitely need therapy.
The point is that you can only be that which your passion and your ability (with some hard work included) will ultimately allow.
We are not all Joshes and Drews and Harriets and the Sundays’ lead guitarist with his unpronounceable French name (Harriet’s husband by the way).
One of the most important wisdoms to acquire is the recognition of what you can spin into your own individual sustainability from your DNA Lucky Packet.
Among the things that I would not be able to physically pack into my life backpack will regrettably be my bass guitar.
Yes, I will store it somewhere forever, as a memory of a passion that maybe, just maybe I might have translated into a musical career – but for many reasons I did not.
Certainly, I would have had to be a vocally silent bass guitarist as there is no voice in this DNA package at all!
Set Theory however was always easy for me, and holistic, synergistic connections between data within an enterprise come easy to me … I have no idea why as I cannot even change a power plug without fire spitting from the wall when I plug in.
Data mining, information delivery and business intelligence generating is thus what my DNA Lucky Packet can do in a wu-wei way.
In a world of 7 billion plus, we each need to find our own sustainability in the combination of our passions, our abilities, and the opportunities that the new age of cyberspace that we live in offers.
If most of us are able to do this, the Sustainability flows upwards into community, enterprise, nation … and the Planet itself.
Somewhere in all of this is the fundamental requirement of Harmony, which requires major doses of Compassion and Tolerance.
It is a very large number, the kind of number that is perhaps best imagined by using the techniques of lyrics such as “9 million bicycles in Beijing”.
What does such a number mean to the individual?
How does the individual secure sustainability within such a massive number?
What is possible ... and what is not?
We all should dream ... but we should do so wisely, so that our dreams intersect with reality.
For example, what are the statistical chances for an individual to become famous in say the 'beautiful game' i.e. soccer?
For easy calculation let us assume there are about 200 nations in the world.
For each nation there is a soccer squad of say 35 potential FIFA World Cup (male) players.
That makes it a total of about 7000 elite soccer players.
They are precisely 1 in a million.
We could be more analytical and remove the females from the population, the too young and too old among the males.
That would change the odds somewhat … but 1 in a Million is a useful colloquial way to think about it.
So look around you and out of a million you might find one elite soccer player.
Most urban citizens live in cities that are less than a million … and these cities will therefore statistically not have a representative!
That is sobering … so what now?
There is a young online writer that has featured articles that we have found interesting who is walking a minimalist path (by default sustainability promoting), experimenting and measuring his personal journey towards this.
So whilst he does not do this as a specific sustainability or green exercise ... the efficiency and effectiveness he achieves gets his lifestyle right sized = sustainable.
His experiences provide food for thought.
He travels deliberately homeless with his entire belongings in a backpack (about 30 items or so), fully immersed in the Internet, continuously evaluating his right sizing, by default his sustainability.
The new age we are in provides all sorts of opportunities to right size and make oneself sustainable in the global economic chaos that is upon us.
His nomadic lifestyle has reduced his costs to a minimum, and he earns his income through the Web, applying his mind to how best to grow and communicate with his audience.
Okay, not everyone is in his cycle of life but there are others right-sizing for sustainable lives as families, and/or other more ‘complicating’ lifestyle aspects.
But in the context of the soccer example, the all important wisdom that stands out is that you need to identify which of your passions you can perform effortlessly, like water flowing downhill or leaves falling off trees?
Which of your passions can you perform in the almost effortless way, in a wu-wei way?
Then of these passions, which can you translate into income generation?
If you cannot sing, embrace this, and do not aspire to be a giant music star.
Even if you have deft feet and can do wonderful tricks with soccer balls that impress your peers, you still need to be a 1 in a Million to really make it.
So a sober mind, a realistic one is needed here …
But there will no doubt be other characteristics within you that can almost effortlessly provide the sustainability you need.
However, messages such as “you can be anything you choose to be” can be harmful as they may distract you from being what you can truly be.
Not everyone is like Drew or Josh on the X Factor.
Listen to Josh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLCCsr8mbYU&feature=related
… this is art, a cover in its own Soulful way perhaps as great as that of the original singer!?
It happens – if I was Mick Jagger or Keith Richards listening to the Sundays’ rendition of "Wild Horses” I would feel honoured.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9lEd5bIbbQ
Harriet’s crystal clear vocals and the minimalist and pure lead guitar perform sheer synergistic magic.
In the vocals of a Josh or a Harriet is the symbolic (and vulnerable) greatness of Human Kind …
For those who might not have been moved by this then perhaps try Drew’s contribution:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MqSXmVcEi4&feature=related
From a small town in Arizona, from nowhere, out of the blue …
If you are still not moved then you definitely need therapy.
The point is that you can only be that which your passion and your ability (with some hard work included) will ultimately allow.
We are not all Joshes and Drews and Harriets and the Sundays’ lead guitarist with his unpronounceable French name (Harriet’s husband by the way).
One of the most important wisdoms to acquire is the recognition of what you can spin into your own individual sustainability from your DNA Lucky Packet.
Among the things that I would not be able to physically pack into my life backpack will regrettably be my bass guitar.
Yes, I will store it somewhere forever, as a memory of a passion that maybe, just maybe I might have translated into a musical career – but for many reasons I did not.
Certainly, I would have had to be a vocally silent bass guitarist as there is no voice in this DNA package at all!
Set Theory however was always easy for me, and holistic, synergistic connections between data within an enterprise come easy to me … I have no idea why as I cannot even change a power plug without fire spitting from the wall when I plug in.
Data mining, information delivery and business intelligence generating is thus what my DNA Lucky Packet can do in a wu-wei way.
In a world of 7 billion plus, we each need to find our own sustainability in the combination of our passions, our abilities, and the opportunities that the new age of cyberspace that we live in offers.
If most of us are able to do this, the Sustainability flows upwards into community, enterprise, nation … and the Planet itself.
Somewhere in all of this is the fundamental requirement of Harmony, which requires major doses of Compassion and Tolerance.
