Ready, (mind)Set, (let) Go!

A group of friends/acquaintances have been having a series of consciousness discussions at Visible Voice Books in Tremont. I am planning to attend on August 6th at 7:30pm. Before each discussion, participants are encouraged to read a set of articles on a chosen topic. Next week's focus is evolution beyond the conflict of Darwinism vs. Creationism.

I was alternately annoyed and intrigued to read views on evolution that I don't ascribe to and so typically ignore. I found most interesting the nuggets about evolution as it relates to social consciousness and the causes of sweeping changes in global mindset.

An excerpt from Daniel Pinchbeck's book, 2012: The Return Of Quetzalcoatl is included.

The Stone Age lasted many thousands of years, the Bronze Age lasted a few thousand years, the Industrial Age took three hundred years, the Chemical Age or Plastic Age began a little more than a century ago, the Information Age began thirty years ago, the Biotechnology Age geared up in the last decade. By this calculus, it is conceivable that the Nanotechnology Age could last all of eight minutes. At that point, human intelligence might have complete control of the planetary environment, on a cellular and molecular level. This could lead to utopian creativity or dystopian insanity--perhaps both would arrive at the same moment.

I also learned a new word: Metanoia. The word has a few meanings: a spiritual conversion or awakening, a fundamental change of character or an attempt of a conflicted psyche to heal itself through breakdown and change.

I have come across a similarly clinical way to think about changing one's mindset in How everyday products make people sick : toxins at home and in the workplace. Author Paul D.Blanc compares the grudgingly slow change of industry and individual mindset about global warming to the stages of grief. He believes that as our fossil fueled convictions begin to grieve their own demise we can expect to experience:

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance.

Looks as if the United States is currently hovering between Bargaining (carbon trading) and (economic) Depression. It seems we grieve the death of attitudes and ideas, perhaps more than the death of people. Maybe this is because we expect to lose people, but not our convictions. Looking forward to finding out which of my core beliefs will be challenged on Wednesday.

On July 10th, The Plain Dealer reported "More people left Cleveland last year than any other major city in America". There are 438,000 people living in a city that was once home to 914,000. Cleveland has lost half its body weight and we are looking rather lean these days. What are we going to do with this skeleton?

In Iyengar yoga, teachers often emphasize "squeezing the muscles towards the bone". This drawing in supports the body when it is in challenging positions. The yogi/ni contracts inward to provide a lithe stability instead of building showy, useless bulk by pooching the muscles out thoughtlessly.

I am concerned about the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's announcement today of rate increases and route cuts. Mass transit is the connective tissue of our community. I will be writing my representatives and encouraging them on a state and federal level to increase funding for public transportation. Cutting RTA isn't trimming the fat; it's removing the heart.

Enchanted

Yesterday, I tried to approach Independence Day without weariness. Nobody says it, but I know it’s gauche to be patriotic among my social circles. The accepted attitude among progressives in my age bracket is a cynical regard for country and a jaded global perspective accompanied by some fatalist notions.

I watched the puff-pop, fizzle-drip, sparkle-drift of Cleveland’s firework display from a vantage west of the Cuyahoga, through telephone wires and above a freeway bridge.

I refused to fret over fireworks’ symbolism as wartime rockets red glare. I didn’t reflect on the current unsound war. I tuned out the auditory violence of explosions. I simply opened my eyes and took it in—enchanted.