Thank you for this piece. Reminds me of the book Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein. What we see on the macro level is a reflection of each of our individual insatiability. When we lose the ability to find pleasure and excitement in "ordinary" things, we're driven to heighten the stimuli and making/consuming more supports this drive. Yes, decoupling GDP from quality of life is a concrete measure. But to get there, it takes a fundamental shift in our motivation from "I need more excitement" to an accessible but rarely tapped state of gratitude of "I'm excited to be alive." Indigenous tribes connect deeply with day-to-day experiences and in so doing, they are connected to Life. Until and unless the underlying drive behind consumption transmutes, we will find ourselves hungry even when we are beyond fed.
Can we decouple energy and resource use (and by extension, pollution) from life happiness? Not just relatively, but absolutely? This is the central question of our civilization, but not often talked about. I appreciate all the points you bring up Jamie. Just last week I published an article putting resource use and environmental disruption into a simple equation. My intent is to assist in understanding the three broad factors we have the potential to change in order to use less and degrade less while still thriving, individually and collectively. Of course these three factors are themselves made up of many other factors. The TL;DR is:
environmental disruption = [resource intensity of producing goods] x [consumption of goods per person] x [population]
I like how you phrase the 3 levels of "Conscious Decoupling." Innovation needs to be focused on increasing the efficiency of existing processes or replacing old processes and products with ones that are less resource intensive, rather that making more cool new gadgets we don't necessarily need. I would add to your second point that we need to decouple total resource use and all forms of environmental pollution from GDP, not just CO2.
Your third point on decoupling quality of life from GDP is arguably the most challenging, since it's hard to measure. If it's hard to measure and find patterns, it's hard to change. This is the area I feel your unique way of thinking could help us the most. Your teachings provide ways of doing this. The trick is translating that Homegrown Human blueprint for widespread adoption. It's a fine line to convince a person to live more and consume less without meeting ideological resistance, but you have a unique ability to do so. Thank you for your work Jamie.
Once there was a salesman driving through the alpine districts of West Virginia who was trying to get to Wheeling, but was lost. He came upon an old man by the side of the dirt road. The salesman stopped to ask for directions. “How do I get to Wheeling”” he asked. The old gent replied, “You drive about six miles further, and right after the covered bridge you go to your right, and then left, where you will descend onto the dry creek bed... No, no... you better turn around and drive about ten miles until you see that Miller’s farm, it’s the one with that old, red barn, and when you see that place, you veer to your left and then after a ways you’ll see that giant, dead oak tree, and about a mile after that, you turn left... no, no...” The old man paused, and appeared pensive, before he said, “You know mister, if I was you and I was trying to get to Wheeling, I wouldn’t start from here.”
Again Jamie, you grab my shoulders and neck like a reiki masseuse master, go right to the pain spit, and squeeze. As I come to trust your deeper intuition expressed in words, they dance in the marination of the sacred, becoming sacramental expressions…. Outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace. I trust your devotion to our internal and external state. And the expense of authentic passion you give to share it.
As a former episcopal priest and rogue bishop, both Wendell and Thomas Berry speak to me. Thanks for reconnections. I continue to cultivate and express my heart and my own golden authentic thread of regenerative intimacy to engender hope and a trust that will welcome my own hands and heart to massage the painful places back into a remembered wholeness.
Though I’m really curious why you make such a big fuss about our carbon footprint. Based on my research I believe we are doing a great disservice to climate change when we reduce it to our CO2 emissions.
Thank you for this piece. Reminds me of the book Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein. What we see on the macro level is a reflection of each of our individual insatiability. When we lose the ability to find pleasure and excitement in "ordinary" things, we're driven to heighten the stimuli and making/consuming more supports this drive. Yes, decoupling GDP from quality of life is a concrete measure. But to get there, it takes a fundamental shift in our motivation from "I need more excitement" to an accessible but rarely tapped state of gratitude of "I'm excited to be alive." Indigenous tribes connect deeply with day-to-day experiences and in so doing, they are connected to Life. Until and unless the underlying drive behind consumption transmutes, we will find ourselves hungry even when we are beyond fed.
Can we decouple energy and resource use (and by extension, pollution) from life happiness? Not just relatively, but absolutely? This is the central question of our civilization, but not often talked about. I appreciate all the points you bring up Jamie. Just last week I published an article putting resource use and environmental disruption into a simple equation. My intent is to assist in understanding the three broad factors we have the potential to change in order to use less and degrade less while still thriving, individually and collectively. Of course these three factors are themselves made up of many other factors. The TL;DR is:
environmental disruption = [resource intensity of producing goods] x [consumption of goods per person] x [population]
I like how you phrase the 3 levels of "Conscious Decoupling." Innovation needs to be focused on increasing the efficiency of existing processes or replacing old processes and products with ones that are less resource intensive, rather that making more cool new gadgets we don't necessarily need. I would add to your second point that we need to decouple total resource use and all forms of environmental pollution from GDP, not just CO2.
Your third point on decoupling quality of life from GDP is arguably the most challenging, since it's hard to measure. If it's hard to measure and find patterns, it's hard to change. This is the area I feel your unique way of thinking could help us the most. Your teachings provide ways of doing this. The trick is translating that Homegrown Human blueprint for widespread adoption. It's a fine line to convince a person to live more and consume less without meeting ideological resistance, but you have a unique ability to do so. Thank you for your work Jamie.
Once there was a salesman driving through the alpine districts of West Virginia who was trying to get to Wheeling, but was lost. He came upon an old man by the side of the dirt road. The salesman stopped to ask for directions. “How do I get to Wheeling”” he asked. The old gent replied, “You drive about six miles further, and right after the covered bridge you go to your right, and then left, where you will descend onto the dry creek bed... No, no... you better turn around and drive about ten miles until you see that Miller’s farm, it’s the one with that old, red barn, and when you see that place, you veer to your left and then after a ways you’ll see that giant, dead oak tree, and about a mile after that, you turn left... no, no...” The old man paused, and appeared pensive, before he said, “You know mister, if I was you and I was trying to get to Wheeling, I wouldn’t start from here.”
Again Jamie, you grab my shoulders and neck like a reiki masseuse master, go right to the pain spit, and squeeze. As I come to trust your deeper intuition expressed in words, they dance in the marination of the sacred, becoming sacramental expressions…. Outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace. I trust your devotion to our internal and external state. And the expense of authentic passion you give to share it.
As a former episcopal priest and rogue bishop, both Wendell and Thomas Berry speak to me. Thanks for reconnections. I continue to cultivate and express my heart and my own golden authentic thread of regenerative intimacy to engender hope and a trust that will welcome my own hands and heart to massage the painful places back into a remembered wholeness.
Thanks again Jamie.
Thanks for the article.
Though I’m really curious why you make such a big fuss about our carbon footprint. Based on my research I believe we are doing a great disservice to climate change when we reduce it to our CO2 emissions.
Well said! Thank you!
One of the best writers I know.
I love this balanced point of view. Well thought out and articulated as usual.
Great distinctions in here!
Reminds me of this equation from Arthur Brooks…
Happiness = what you have / what you want
Thank you. This is what my work is about. We can do the uncoupling in Flow. 🌺❤️🔥🌲