In the 11th Hour, Let's ask the Deeper Questions Too

We are the Ones We've been Waiting For

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.

Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.

And there are things to be considered:

Where are you living?

What are you doing?

What are your relationships? Are you in right relation?

Where is your water? Know your garden.

It is time to speak your Truth.

Create your community. Be good to each other.

And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

--The Elders Oraibi, Arizona Hopi Nation

Leonardo DiCaprio's The11th Hour is an unflinching cautionary tale about our growing environmental crisis. The film speaks volumes about our disconnection from nature and the resulting tendency to exploit our physical landscape. Rather than seeing our soil, water, food, and energy sources as vital, living components of the greater web of life, we see them as assets to be mined, pumped, harvested and sold. This physical disconnect, especially in our urban and industrial settings, contributes to the radical dysfunction we display toward our habitat and home.

The 11th Hour paints the distressing picture of a house on fire. Yet, despite the film's compelling depiction of the urgency and magnitude of the crisis, I left the San Francisco premier wondering if we weren't missing a key aspect of human psychology in the equation.

As we race to throw water on the burning building (a vitally urgent and necessary act), let's also contemplate the pyromaniacs who set the house on fire in the first place -- us.

Reflection and Action

Our wisdom traditions teach that the physical world is an expression of our individual and collective consciousness, "As the inner, so is the outer." The devastating symptoms of the impending ecological crisis, the gruesome expressions in our physical environment, are direct reflections of our collective inner landscape.

Perhaps if we understood the deeper workings of the human psyche, we might have insight into the root cause of the crisis we face...and a better sense of the path out.

I spoke with environmentalist, entrepreneur, and author, Pawl Hawken, to explore this topic. "The world is a reflection of who we are," commented Hawken, "but I've always felt this alone is a cop out. If someone's hurting, you help them. Peace is an 'inside job', but the act of helping changes who we are inside."

So inner reflection and external action go hand-in-hand. But who among us is doing the inner reflection? What can we do to address the up-close-and-personal aspect of our shared crisis?

The following is a prescription to consider:


1) Get Physically Connected

"Whether it's trees, landmarks, soil, water, blue skies, or the weather itself. We are losing our places," says Hawken.

Our loss of connection with nature not only reflects a fundamental aspect of our crisis, but, ironically, simultaneously diminishes our capacity to solve it. It is imperative to get physically connected again. We need to spend more time outside -- going into our yards, our parks, our forests and walking consciously on the earth. As we make contact with nature, we can acknowledge our need for stability, sustenance and nutrients. As we breathe the air, acknowledge our reliance on each breath that follows. As we put flowers in our homes, acknowledge the fundamental human need for beauty. When our lives are barren of these most fundamental connections to our earth, then our hearts will be barren of empathy and our minds barren of options.

2) Feel the Grief of Being Implicated

No matter what we're doing individually to help the environment, it is not enough. Sit with this for a few moments. Take in this truth -- be fully implicated for everything you've done to contribute to this terrible crisis and everything you haven't done to fix it. Don't move, don't act, don't think. Just feel the truth of it. Heartbreaking and overwhelming? Yes, but do it anyway. Don't skip this step.

"Individuals come to points in their lives when they become depressed or down. Those are the teachable moments," says Hawken. "The transformative moments are not the peak experiences, the joy, the getting the gold medal. The transformative moments are reflective."

Let's use our depression as a teacher.

The unconscious desire to avoid personal implication keeps us ineffective and in denial. We don't like feeling the heartbreak of personal responsibility, but this same heartbreak can be incredibly powerful if we face it consciously. It brings a tenderness that can lead to a spontaneous upwelling of new insight, new possibility. From the ground of an open heart arises the wisdom of the ages, something beyond the individual self that holds the collective in its care. Many Native American elders speak of making decisions on behalf of seven generations of unborn children. When we cultivate an open heart we also cultivate the courage to hold the interest of greater whole within it.

3) Jettison Despair

Being accountable for our past is one thing, despairing over the future is another. Biologist Rene Dubois once said, "Despair is a sin." Despair is a common fear response that moves us back into denial and inaction.

"In despair, we help no one. We fix nothing. We aid nothing. We nurture nothing," says Hawken. "It's too late for heroes and it's time for humans. What we need is to be more human, more humane -- first to ourselves, then to each other, then outward. That involves listening, compassion, kindness, generosity, humility."

Despair constricts the heart and makes us feel powerless. Don't be tricked into giving away your power that easily. We have a full range of available choices and actions in this crisis. "The world has precipitated this situation -- the teaching is before us. The gift is that we are being asked to change who we are."

4) Peer into the Mirror

We can't remain who we are. Something must change, and that something is us.

"In order to solve this problem, everybody has to walk through the looking glass sooner or later...and it's not a pleasant experience," says Hawken. "We are in a linear 'Take-Make-Waste' civilization that is destroying its habitat. All of us are responsible."

So how do we pass through the portal? Once we've acknowledged our culpability, we can start to investigate our own interior, especially the parts we have carefully denied. If our planet is a mirror, then it is reflecting internal states of fear, greed, exploitation, waste, manipulation, violence, callousness. Look closely -- where do those qualities exist in you? Be honest. Once we recognize the earth's wounds as our own, we can start the process of healing.

This exploration into the shadow is a necessary exercise that requires courage. Without it, we will continue to expend effort treating the ghastly superficial symptoms but missing the deeper deadly infection. We will scramble madly to throw water on the burning building while the pyromaniacs (us) simultaneously set new rooms ablaze. "The 11th Hour is a shadow film," claims Hawkens. "Once you own your shadow, you become whole."

5) Declare Your Vision for the Future

Once we embrace the whole, we can see with greater clarity how the quality of our consciousness determines the quality of our world and our future.

Our fear and aggression has been a powerful shadow force, but our hopes and desires are an even greater creative force. We have the power to move beyond our fears by exposing the unexpressed desires that underlie them. Through declaring our hopes and desires, we can create a new vision for the future.

As The 11th Hour suggests, we have a stunning opportunity (and obligation) to completely re-conceive virtually every human system. We each have a piece of the overall puzzle -- our job is to discover our piece and live it. "If your idea of being alive is to be full of ease, comfort and illusion, it's probably not a good time for you," says Hawken. "If your idea of being alive is to take part in conceiving a whole new future, this is a stunning time to be alive."

6) Tend to the Details

Of course, a brilliant vision is only meaningful if put into practice. So, tend to the details of your piece of the puzzle. If you are a business person, set a timeline for zero-waste or carbon-neutral. If you are a commuter, go hybrid or use public transportation. If you are a parent, adopt the earth into your family and let your children know it. Just as you would tend to the details of your own child's health and well-being (hygiene, education, nutrition, etc.), tend to the details of your earth's health (power-saving light bulbs, recycling, involvement in remedying local injustices, etc.). Once you've taken the first steps, take the next steps, and then the next.

"On the tactical side, the technological solutions are here," says Hawken. "I'm not saying that stunning new things aren't being invented all the time, but that's not the obstacle. The obstacle, of course, is ourselves."

Perhaps this should be the theme of the next movie? "It should be called Solutions," says Hawken. "It's about who we are, what we're doing, and the extraordinary possibility in all this."

The Hopi Elders might have it right. In the 11th Hour, we are the ones we've been waiting for.

Comments

[Alaska]

Stewardship of our environment is analogous to raising a child. The subject has become extremely politicized and embroiled in the agendas of both the liberal and the conservative camps.

Motivation for resolving crisis depends on whether it is viewed as a threat to our immediate survival. Until the Reaper has one foot in the door, motivation comes from what's perceived as profitable. Whether it's capitalism, greed, or simply an intense desire for a better condition, it really doesn't seem to matter. The result is a dichotomy of reckless consumption and surprising innovation. The challenge is shifting the balance in favor of innovation. The solution is likely right where you put it, in a deeper understanding of the human psyche.

We are wired as toddlers to appreciate beauty. You called it "the fundamental human need for beauty". Well put. It's imperative we get physically connected to nature. I don't feel we've lost that connection, but opportunities to connect are diminishing. I have an intense connection every time I see a sunrise. Ironically, the more pollution the better the sunrise. The ephemeral rising and setting of the sun preserves my connection.

Decreasing opportunities to connect with nature facilitate an increase in our capacity to make that connection. When dying of thirst, a decrease in the frequency of water increases our capacity to find the stuff. Now our society is feeling thirsty, and we"re now witnessing a collective crankiness.

Down times make a person more teachable (my drill sergeant thought so). However, it is the up times that make one the most teachable. Down times facilitate learning through grief and necessity, while up times do it through pure desire or fascination. This is when synergy is most effective and hastens rapid positive change. Stagnation and apathy are the true enemies. I remember the contagious excitement the first day of school; everyone was eager and ready for something better and new.

I like how later in the article you associate personal accountability
with a move toward an individual's positive vision of the future.

Great article Stacey, looking forward to the next.

[Purple Girl]

AMEN !!
I'm in the age between the Baby Boomers and the "ME" generation. My older siblings failed to stay focused on the real goals. Therefore since I'm sandwiched in between I suggest wee change the context in which we use the term "Me" generation.
Who is responsible for the mess- ME
Who can contribute to cleaning it up- ME
Baby sister realizing there is no shame in looking in the mirror as long as true introspection occurs.

[Nommo]

I remember reading articles some 30 years ago, during the first gas crisis, about solutions that were then current for then and the future. The flip side was the realization that the oil companies were not going to adopt any solutions because of the costs.
In the years that transpired the solutions became more elegant and simple but the response of the oil/utilities/auto companies has remained the same, too expensive/impractical.
I did not see any bees this summer, not even the bees that hang around garbage cans. No mosquitos either. Weird.
There are a lot of people on the planet now it seems that all resources are stretched to the point where we will all be at war over what is left.
That is, of course, if we haven't blown it all up.

[mommadona]

Well......"Fire 101"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq3PVHVn0kE

[TucsonEd]

For those you who care, may I suggest you read "The Hopi Survival Kit"

[MrJoyboy]

You fail to take into consideration that a large portion of the human race enjoys destroying the environment and will fight you to the death if you try to stop them.

[alipes]

ms. lawson, if you get a chance, please check these two sites: http://www.articlev.org

http://www.foavc.org

[hopeless277]

I have to agree with Darcy. Humans are merely a virus on the planet and we have given the Earth a fever. Just like our own bodies, the Earth is trying to burn us out so it can heal itself. We have a choice to make. Will we live WITH the Earth sybiotically or will we live AGAINST the Earth as a disease. My belief is that we have started something that we cannot halt. As the saying goes: Migrate, Mutate, Adapt, or Die.

[Henry]

Birds and plants are the harmony of a well sung existence. Everyone could mow their own yard and use an old fashioned circular blade cycle mower. More effort but better harmony.

[GenericBlogger]

You probably mean the manual push reel mowers. They are effective and provide good exercise. The only emissions are sweat and body heat.

For those who aren't physically able to use them, robotic mowers are a good alternative. They are expensive but their price will come down as they gain popularity.

[maddogbitesback]

On the first Earth Day I took dwon two pickets from my fence and went with my four year old, and my baby and my neighbor to demonstrate on the sidewalk of the village I lived near. I thought people just need to be educated that they do not need to use all the chemicals that are destroying the earth. Over population was the big problem. Since then the population has doubled. Consumption of all these people soars and that makes money. Now there are wars for resources we don't need and that are destroying us. I worked locally and joined a fight to save a natural park that was a world heritage site. After fifty years the land developers won. It is destroyed for the benefit of one land developer and the ruination of hundreds of thousands.

The power is in the message. The message is that some small object will make you hapy and successful. Everyday I pick up litter - pop cans which didn't exist on the first earth day. Plastic bags, a petroleum product. They didn't exist where I lived until after the first earth day.

To be an environmentalist you have to realize a baby's first smile is something amazing. It is not evoked by a pair of cute pyjamas or a bedroom full of stuff. Love and a pleasure in love creates the first smile. It can never be bought. Between that first smile and the first birthday, children are taught - buy more - get more and you will be happier and more important. The fallacy is taught like religion and like religion it sticks to the child til death. How to undo this is the problem.

[GenericBlogger]

This is an interesting take on the ecological issues facing us. Individually we can all do more to curb our consumption of eco hostile materials. However the article is too abstract and short on tangible solutions.

After the feel good, 60s hippie style and spiritual advice on how to relate to the environment around us, we need tangible and working solutions in a how-to format that most can apply. Carbon neutrality is an ambiguous concept that is yet to be accurately quantified. We need convincing facts, procedures and numbers.

[darcy]

There are two things that will save our environment and weather system, and individuals cannot achieve them no matter how hard they try. The first is for governments throughout the world to initiate programs that educate people about the dangers of human overpopulation and the importance of practicing birth control. The second is to close down polluting industries.

Neither of these things will happen for two reasons: religion and greed.

We're screwed, and we're galloping toward our destiny of self-destruction.

[GenericBlogger]

Greed isn't the only motive or reason for industry. Much of industry is beneficial to us. Some of it can be curtailed if we curtail our materialistic tendencies.

[Buddhabelli]

Nice article, thanks for bringing Paul Hawkens thoughts to the dialogue. He is a person of wisdom whose voice needs to be heard.
My takeaway is despair means apathy and things get worse.

[Neuromancer13]

The ancient Greeks called the teachable moment catharsis: an emotional crisis that led to self-knowledge and revitalization (paraphrased from Wikipedia).

Sometimes I look at our society and wonder (obsess about) where the heck we're going with all of this - environment, politics, religion. I think I've experienced some of what you describe. I'm not claiming perfection, but I have decided to try to make a difference: replace incandescents with compact fluorescents and LEDs, don't produce frost on the windows in August, write my Congressman, still don't go to church.

All this is good, but it's not enough. How do we make enough people realize the enormity of the situation? To know that we have to fix it because, as you say, "we are the ones we've been waiting for".

BTW that's a great phrase. I'm going to remember that one.

[gardengoddess]

Ms. Lawson, you're correct of course. The problem is, too many Americans are going to disagree with you, because it makes them too uncomfortable in their own skin otherwise.

Not only are we the ones we've been waiting for, we're our own worst enemy, we're our brother's keeper, and we're the caregiver of our own souls. Americans have pretty much failed at every one of those jobs. We've become a nation which makes decisions based on our wallets instead of our consciences.

If we're not personally affected, we just don't seem to care that much. How do we change?