Being Mindful Is Not Materialistic

There is a bright future ahead of us...

Mindfulness and Capitalism are not the best of bed-fellows.
 When it comes to learning and understanding the power of being mindful, it leans you away from the idea that love, success and purpose is conditional on wealth. Practicing mindfulness on a regular basis is a wonderful way to discover who YOU really are, and to maintain a happy and healthy relationship with your emotions and moods.

 Yet, companies are using mindfulness to boost profits and increase productivity, which seems to be a Western ideal on an Eastern philosophy.

The question is, is it right for the Western world to take an ancient and powerful source and then to bastardise it for its own benefit? Or, should it leave well alone?

 The Western world is beginning to me to appear like an old wheezing man running out of ideas and trying to hold on to what it once had. The capitalist model is cracking and more and more people are wising up to other ideologies. This will only increase the richer those at the top of the tree get, and the gap between the rich and the not-so rich is getting wider by the hour.

 As more people turn to mindful techniques it becomes fashionable, and once it starts to hit the magazines and those sharks see profits rising it becomes a watchword; once it enters the psyche of business then it becomes a technique which can be adapted and utilised to boost the companies profile, meaning more profits and happier shareholders.

The trick is in the marketing, and those clever people lay back on the tried and trusted model of telling you that this is what you want, and how much it will help you. It's all about you, while behind the curtain those execs are watching the share prices rise.

 Of course, this is the same for anything; for diet pills, or organic foods or new shoes.

 I question their motives, and I do feel that this is an old world way and a new world is on the horizon. But we are stuck with these dinosaurs for the time being, those same people who voted for the UK to leave the EU or who turn a blind eye to racism and discrimination because, well, they've never seen anything! 

Yet while mindfulness is all about you; it is not about companies profits and it is certainly not about lining the pockets of people who earn a fortune with self-help books and the like. Mindfulness and meditation is not about material reward, it is simply about your own happiness and health.

Now I know that we need to earn money in order to survive in this world, and everyone wants to be comfortable. What I don't understand is people practicing mindfulness and then acting like Gordon Gekko, buying up properties and living a lavish lifestyle.

The true reward is inside you, and anything the universe provides for you is a bonus. It is when that lifestyle becomes harmful to people connected to you that it moves away from the spiritual and back into the ego. That brings fear, and that leads to greed. Mindfulness does not deal with fear and greed, but it can help you overcome and deal with your ego.

 Things do change and ideas move on. That is part of a healthy and adaptable world and society.

Plastic Wars - Episode 1

Let's Talk About Plastic,

We are fast becoming plastic in the Western world. I think that Westworld, that dystopian future of theme parks, is becoming a reality. The more we cover ourselves in plastic, the more we insert plastic into our bodies, the more plastic we produce and the more blasé we get about it.

So why are we doing this to ourselves? Let's delve into the past, even though I hate that saying of things were better in the old days, when it comes to the use of plastic things were far better for us and for the environment, in terms of plastic use anyway.

Ok, let's get the old days out of the way; we produced a lot of fossil fuels and sent a lot of toxic fumes into the atmosphere. That's true, and that is on the way out, we have learnt and moved on with the help of science and technology. Yet, we are not stopping the use of plastic, how do I know, because I see it every day in every shop that I go into.

Here's some of the things that I have bought in the last week.

Cauliflower - plastic bag.
Broccoli - wrapped in cellophane
Blu-Ray - in a plastic case and then wrapped in cellophane
Carrots - plastic bag

I remember back in the early 80's having paper bags for vegetables. I remember when things like videos and cd's came in a case that was not wrapped in cellophane. I do not remember there being any public outcry about this or any concern that the product would be contaminated.

This idea of having everything in plastic has been created solely by industry and forced onto the consumer, therefore this idea that it cannot be undone is entirely false.

Every type of goods are getting in on the act. If you go into a charity shop there are little items in plastic bags; if you go to buy an boiled egg (a type of food already in a protective case), it comes in a plastic box; if you want a sandwich, it comes in a cardboard box with a plastic sleeve. It seems that everywhere you go you are invited to buy plastic.

What's wrong with a paper bag? Actually, what's wrong with buying an apple and letting it hang like an apple with its own protective skin, you know, let it be an apple? 

A Way Out

There is only one way out of this mess that has been entirely fashioned by industry and that is to stop accepting that this is ok. You can do things to send a clear message that this behaviour is not good enough. You can stop buying those products, which is an extreme measure but then sometimes you need to be harsh to get the point across; otherwise you choose something better, why not send the excess packaging that you feel is not appropriate back to the seller or manufacturer. In the case of cellophane wrapped dvd's, cd's or blu-ray's, send it back, drop it in to HMV, do something to send a clear signal that we did not ask for this crap, we don't need this crap, and you need to stop sending us this crap.

If we unite and do this as one, the message will filter through. If we pause to think about the damage all of this plastic is doing to our health, the health of other animals, and the health of this planet that we call home, then the only answer is to choose another way.

There are other ways to clean your ears. There are other ways to clean your teeth. There are ways to recycle goods that once lasted 20 or so years and now amaze you by lasting 5. Think of all the waste generated by new tv's, new laptops, new phones, where does all of that go, and what happens to the plastic?

We need to be wiser and think better. We can have all the luxuries and technology and still be environmentally aware. We don't need to go back to a simpler life, we just need industry to take responsibility and finally do something about it. It is their creation, therefore it is their problem to solve.

Please take a moment to see what you can do. The adage that is being fed to us that one person does not make a difference is a pile of crap to stop a movement asking for something to be done.

ASK FOR SOMETHING TO BE DONE. DEMAND CHANGE. KNOW THAT YOU HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE SOMETHING BETTER.

You can find me on Twitter  - @28thraves. Let's go...