Which of your seven “thought traps” do you see as most significant? I encourage all of us to examine and reshape the stories we tell ourselves and others. “We’ve hit the limits of a finite Earth and greedy consumers that overtax the planet are to blame,” is a thought trap that engenders fear. People then think there isn’t enough to go around, so they have to grab what they can now. This thinking locks our imagination inside an inherited, unecologi- cal worldview that focuses on separateness and lack; that’s precisely the thinking that got us into this mess. Considering the power of frame and language, we can ask ourselves: What is the one piece of my current mental map—my core assumption about life— that limits me? How could I reframe it to free myself? How do I keep my thinking from being mired in the world of separ- ateness and lack? What are other terms I want to start using?
What “thought leap” can move us forward? In some ways, my “thought leaps” all reflect a shift from focusing on limits to that of alignment. We’re in the mess we’re in because our economic rules are perversely unaligned with the laws of nature and with human nature itself; they bring out the worst and keep the best in check. We need the opposite. For example, we now know how to align food production with ecological principles so that there’s enough for all, while regenerating flora and fauna. In this thought leap, we shift from fixating on quantities and focus instead on the qual- ity of ever-changing relationships with all life. We work to replace fear with curios- ity—asking why we are together creating a world that none of us as individuals would choose? We see the nature of life as connection and change—realizing, therefore, that it’s just not possible to know what’s possible. How freeing. When we put our eco-minds into action with the power of connection, we can reach out and spark face-to-face gath- erings with others that are also eager to move from feeling overwhelmed to taking rewarding action. Everyone benefits. Visit
SmallPlanet.org. Linda Sechrist is a senior staff writer for Natural Awakenings magazines.
Birds are indicators of the environment. If they
are in trouble, we know we’ll soon be in trouble.
~Roger Tory Peterson
natural awakenings
April 2012
43
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