“Our problems are in our consciousness, and not in our world.”

While reading these words of Krishnamurti I began to wonder if all the problems we see in the environment are simply metaphors for the state within us that we are projecting onto the planet. Listening to our words about planetary health could be rephrased to describe ourselves: We are in crisis. We are polluted with the poisons of our past notions and actions, we are damaged beyond repair. We lack the ability to heal ourselves. There are holes in our (atmospheric) boundaries. Many of our gifts are now extinct and more are being wasted everyday. We are running out of energy. There are not enough resources.  We are not fully valued and respected.  We act counter to our best interests to satisfy an immediate craving.  It’s almost too late.

Sound familiar?

This is not to say we are not truthfully seeing crisis on our planet; we cannot deny what we see and experience.  But what we SEE doesn’t necessarily MEAN what we assume.  If we are out of balance, then we will of course experience unbalance on our planet, as we are one organism with it.  Jacquelyn Small says it this way: “We cannot just go out and save the world; we must first save the psyche who images the world!” The awareness of our connectedness with Earth and owning our power and responsibility regarding this relationship, and to ourselves are what matters.  The choices that spring from this knowingness are inevitably balanced ones.

Whether consciously or not, we are co-creating everything that we experience in our lives.  We live in a consensual reality. We are not only in league with other humans, but with the natural beings of the planet and the forces of the Universe.  Claiming the power of choice and choosing with awareness are absolutely vital for us as humans.  It is owning our role as creator.  When fully operating from this state, we see everything else around us doing the same thing—Creating!

We have some big changes to make in our lives and in our world as many of us are not pleased with what we’ve created in the past.  It is tempting to feel powerless to change the huge structures that exist—the ways our food is grown and marketed, the business of producing our clothing, how we live and keep ourselves healthy, our building and transportation systems. Just learning which choices we prefer is daunting! Being informed is a big task.  We’ve believed our choices are black, white or none because that’s the way they’ve shown up on our breakfast tray.

Even if we could feel confident that one choice is best for all concerned, what difference would just one alternative choice make to influence change in the greater whole? By seeing our part in this consensual reality and withdrawing our participation in that which we no longer wish to see, we are free to make an informed alternative choice.  This is choosing with awareness! This alternative choice-making has a cumulative effect.  Obama’s online fundraising campaign, which was enormously successful by harnessing small donations from large numbers of ordinary citizens, is a great example of this principle.

If you still question your influence, as one person exercising your role as creator, ask yourself what are the consequences of refusing your power of choice? Yeah, that’s right. Look around. The consequences reverberate from the personal to the planetary and right back again. 

In the coming months I’ll be exploring some everyday issues that directly affect the larger environment, with the hope of making more informed choices.  Please join me and don’t forget to write in to share how you are exercising your creator muscles.

Meanwhile, feel free to use these mantras to keep yourself motivated and supported in your quest for more informed choices:

Start small but make some steady progress, refuse to be overwhelmed. Being overwhelmed  prevents me from staying awake to the options.

I refuse to self-judge about past choices, keep trying. Self-judgment prevents me from staying awake.

I don’t have to know everything about every choice.  I make the best choices I can with what I know right now.  I intend to stay open to and to seek more information so that I may choose even more wisely next time.

Lisa Morris is a landscape architect, shamanic healer, land whisperer, and mother of two cool sons. Through her ongoing studies of Katasee, an ancient Peruvian shamanic tradition, Lisa helps others reclaim awareness and cooperation with the wise voices of the Earth.

Lisa’s email is: lymorris@rcn.com