Crunchy wholesome career biscuits

A satisfying career is like a good biscuit recipe! 
(An imperfect but potentially useful analogy)

There's something to get your teeth into.

It's nourishing.

There are occasional interesting bits, to provide variety.

You can adapt it to suit you better as your tastes change over time.

You'll occasionally botch it up, but you can always learn from experience.

Sometimes it's worth trying something completely different to see what happens.

What at first appears perfectly acceptable can, on closer inspection, contain faults.

A small tweak can have a huge impact.

A huge change may have no impact.

They can both go stale if they're not looked after well.

Most biscuits and many careers have a use-by date.

Sticking to the recipe rigidly can lead to problems when ingredients aren't available.

Being flexible and open to uncertainty can be empowering.

Sometimes you need the services of someone more experienced to see how to make improvements.

Overindulgence can lead to illness and possibly require the services of a doctor.

There is no perfect biscuit. Many varieties can be enjoyed at different times in your life.


Inspired by this article by Jim Bright, Professor of Career Education and Development ACU, and the following recipe from the Family Circle Biscuits and Slices recipe book.

Cocoa Sesame Biscuits aka Crunchy Wholesome Career Biscuits
3/4 c plain flour
1/4 c cocoa powder
3/4 c rolled oats
1 c sesame seeds
3/4 c caster sugar
100g unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons golden syrup
1 Tablespoon boiling water
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
185 g melted chocolate bits

Oven @ 160C

Flour, cocoa, oats, seeds and sugar go into a bowl.
Melt butter and golden syrup. Add soda to boiling water - dissolve. Add to the butter mix.
Add the wet to the dry ingredients. Stir.
Put teaspoons of mixture onto baking sheet. (The original recipe called for 3 Tablespoons of mixture per biscuit there was only space for one on the tray, and it became the side of a dinner plate - there was clearly something wrong.)
After 6 minutes spin the tray around or they burn. Leave another 6 mins. Ladle melted chocolate on top when they're cool!

Of course I didn't stick to the recipe the first time did I. The sesame seeds only came in mingy bags and I got the last one at the store so I added a few more oats and some chocolate buds. I cooked one giant sized one as per instructions which spread hugely and was unmanageable. Because it lacked pizzaz I chopped up some crystalized ginger and added that to the mixture and adjusted the size to 1 teaspoon per biscuit. As for the chocolate topping, it was ho hum ... so I added bit of chilli chocolate for interest!

As for the second time I made them, experience told me that further small changes could be made to improve the outcome! (A large change of different oats or flour really wouldn't change the taste a lot). A gentle shake of black pepper found its way into the batter along with more generous amounts of crystalized ginger. The topping oozed chilli this time, and the book has been duly marked with the additions.

Next time I might try some rum soaked raisins instead of the ginger!

Whoever would have thought that careers and cooking biscuits could have so much in common!

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The vital topic that's not being discussed this election

For a long time I've been trying to get my head around something that seems completely illogical and so far, I'm simply not getting there. Maybe you can show me where my logic is out of whack?

The role humans play in climate change is accepted in 97% of the world's peer reviewed climate papers, the burning of fossil fuels is a known factor in climate change. The scientists conducting the studies are experts in their field and have devoted their careers to the study of climate, and I accept and respect their expertise.

Health impacts
What is routinely overlooked are the health impacts from the extraction and burning of coal - coal dust makes people ill. Not just an itchy throat kind of ill, but debilitating, health destroying cancers, strokes and lung diseases - extremely unpleasant illnesses to have and all because of exposure to coal dust (also here).

At the moment those health costs are borne by the individual and community while our government subsidises the companies to extract the coal. Seriously, our government pays foreign owned companies to remove part of our country which can never be replaced to sell it overseas. And that's good because some jobs have been created. And any job is a good job. Even if it's slowly poisoning you. So they say.

But if the cost of personal and environmental ill health was factored in, and the generous subsidies removed, how viable would fossil fuels really be? 

"A major Chinese power company is in line to win millions of dollars in federal and state government grant money to develop Victorian brown coal." The Age

Development? How is it development? That implies to improve. I've tried to see where this is good and how we benefit, but try as I might, I'm at a loss. Not only are we paying a foreign company to rip out our coal and poison our communities, but it's also directly contributing to climate issues. That's not particularly smart is it? Or else I've got it all wrong. And so have the doctors, the scientists and every other trustworthy person involved.

We are only ever told that coal mining is good for the country. How is this good? Our taxes are at work to subsidise foreign companies to dig up our coal (which can never be replaced) and ship it away to other countries. We're not stockpiling it for future use, to use within a mix of sustainable technologies. It's gone. Forever. And we're left with the clean up bill. And we're told we don't want these companies to be taxed for polluting our land, our water, our sky, our communities. Really? Why not?

Some people have jobs with the fossil fuel companies. Some people get very ill. So more of our taxes are used to assist them with doctor and hospital visits, medications, nursing, maybe even palliative care. And funding is pulled from hospitals, there are cuts to nursing and beds are closed. What a lucky country!

We're left with the costs of pollution of land and waterways. With the loss of drinkable water. Loss of environment. With the ongoing expensive health impacts, not only for the people who made a conscious decision to work in coal dust, but for the innocent families and children living nearby. And this is good. So they say. But I'm not convinced.

Alternative energy
Then, in Victoria, we have the vilification of alternative energy, and in particular wind power. On health grounds. Some people report getting headaches and not being able to sleep. Really? And in its wisdom, the Victorian Government makes the wind industry jump over all sorts of hurdles that aren't applied with the same enthusiasm when it comes to coal and CSG.

The government listens to a cashed up, vocal minority who are repeatedly discredited and yet NEVER comment on the very real and negative aspects of reliance on coal. It's hard not to be cynical. The vocal minority who don't like wind power and with spurious claims have more clout than those suffering with real, genuine and identifiable diseases. It's as if the people living in and around coal mines and coal fired power stations are expendable. Their lives are of less importance. That seems to be the unspoken message from the government. And this is good. So they say. But it doesn't seem right to me.

Doctors warn of "the costly legacy unfolding for Australia from under-regulation of the pollution caused by many [coal and CSG] resource projects" (link). Yet simultaneously we have over-regulation and rejection of studies in the case of wind power. Who benefits from this inconsistency? ...

"It is clear that State government approvals of coal and coal seam gas projects are often influenced by potential economic gain without thorough assessment of potential harms," said DEA spokesperson, Dr David Shearman.  

"Permitting dangerous pollution is creating a costly legacy for Australia that is being picked up in the healthcare and other sectors."  

"The social and financial costs of this pollution are not being measured or factored in when projects are given the go ahead." (here) 

But 'no worries' says the government, and gives the green light to more and more coal and CSG operations - and people who live along roads and train-lines where the coal is transported continue to get ill. But this is good for the country. So they say.

My apologies. I don't have the source for this graphic.

The end of coal?
And while all this is happening (or not in the case of wind farms) ...

"Goldman Sachs this month produced an explosive report, titled "The window for thermal coal investment is closing." In it, the bank revealed that "thermal coal's current position atop the fuel mix for global power generation will be gradually eroded by the following structural trends:
1) environmental regulations that discourage coal-fired generation
2) strong competition from gas and renewable energy and
3) improvements in energy efficiency." 

and of a statement that should be of great concern to everyone:
"there is little evidence Australian Governments are acting to adjust our economic and social structure to the reality that coal is over: despite knowing this must be the case if we are to avoid dangerous levels of global warming and if emerging economies are to act on the health and water crises precipitated by their too-fast growth of coal power." (here) (my bold)

And so we come to an election where none of this is mentioned. Not climate change. Not our role in it. Nothing about building a resilient country. Nothing at all from the major parties about plans for the inevitable impacts of rising seas, changing and erratic weather patterns and the effect this will have on food production or communities and cities. Nothing about the clash of water requirements for people, farming, agriculture, mining. Nothing to do with the incredible heating of our country. Nothing. Not a hint that with climate change, we are currently facing what has been described as "one of the greatest threats posed to the future of human-kind and the world"- Stephen Hawking.

In the minds of Australian politicians feted by our embarrassingly mediocre media, these issues don't rate a mention, and in the case of Tony Abbott they're shunned. And I'm appalled because our changing climate affects us all whether we like it or not.

To date, glib politicians are showing a marked lack of understanding, wisdom, courage and leadership on climate change. Hiding their heads and continuing to support coal so generously doesn't appear to benefit Australia or the world. (For an Indian perspective on Australian coal being shipped there this is an interesting article.)

And if I'm wrong, could you please explain how. Nicely of course!

Or if you happen to also be uncomfortable about our reliance on fossil fuels, and the dreadful associated health impacts you can do something and encourage your super fund to divest from fossil fuels. (Are you the Vital Few) Because fossil fuel investments are seen as being increasingly risky and you wouldn't want to see your super go down the gurgler would you. (Forbes)

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On the importance of voting thoughtfully: Why vote? Because if you don't vote, someone will speak for you.

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Some of the articles used in the above spray:
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/not-much-climate-change-doubt-science-says-20130515-2jmup.html

https://theconversation.com/our-carbon-black-hole-the-real-budget-shortfall-17282

http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/leadership-us-insurance-companies-climate-change

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/24/arctic-methane-climate-change_n_3643917.html

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/living-in-the-dusty-shadow-of-coal-mining/story-e6frg6z6-1226255705308

http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/01/08/get-fact-has-rupert-got-it-right-on-climate-change/?wpmp_switcher=mobile

http://dea.org.au/images/general/DEAtheHealthFactorV2_2013.pdf

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/note-to-australia-thermal-coal-is-over-65519

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/15/tony-abbott-climate-plan-maths

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-14/doctors-fear-coal-dust-health-impacts-going/4572022

http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2013/02/04/558676_latest-news.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalworker's_pneumoconiosis

http://climatecommission.gov.au/report/the-critical-decade-2013/

Australia’s legendarily irresponsible mining industry has a new plan: while the planet faces catastrophic climate change, build the world’s largest coal mining complex, and then build a shipping lane to that port straight through the greatest ecological treasure we have - the Great Barrier Reef! 
http://www.avaaz.org/en/australian_coal_disaster_global_rb/?pv=43&rc=fb

http://aweablog.org/blog/post/wind-turbine-syndrome-farm-hosts-tell-very-different-story
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Blogged by Sue Travers

Valuing values.

I've just read The best career advice you'll never hear at a graduation speech by William MacAskill and found it particularly interesting given some of the well publicised sayings that will supposedly lead you to the job of your dreams.

Follow your dreams

Do what you love

Set goals and stick to them

Have a five year plan

The world is your oyster

Dream big and success will come your way

You could do anything you want

So much advice, yet so much of it is confusing and often conflicting. And what of the people who simply don't have goals, don't know where to start, don't know what interests them at all? They chop and change, feeling inadequate and unsettled as if they're deliberately being difficult by rudely flouting received wisdom. After all everyone else seems to know what they're on about, they've set GOALS, have made beautiful dream boards - in fact they have a PLAN.

In reality, not everyone is going to make it big, no matter how many wishes they make, no matter how bright and colourful their dream boards. Some of those who do "make it" will find they're still empty inside, but don't know what they're seeking.

MacAskill talks about doing something meaningful or valuable:

What it does mean is that you should start finding out what’s valuable, and get help working out the ways in which your career can make for a better world.

In my experience, not everyone is interested in, or able to focus on making the world a better place - it's too big to comprehend. There's so much to do, but you don't do anything because it's overwhelming and you have no idea where to start. However, when we focus on what we value and what we can do in our own little corner of the world it becomes more achievable.

Some years ago, I worked with John the accountant. John was in great distress as he told me he hated his job. There was nothing for it but to retrain, but how would he do this with a mortgage and family to support? He wanted to work in medicine. He dreamed of helping people and supporting them through their illness, but instead felt doomed to an unfulfilled life with periods of being bitterly unhappy. He was completely demoralised and felt his family was suffering as a result of his misery.

After a while it became evident that it wasn't accounting he hated with such passion, but the company where he worked. He was privvy to some of their ways which didn't sit well with him.  The company didn't act ethically or in the best interests of its clients or the community in which it was located. He valued honesty and integrity. He wanted to be proud of the company he worked for. He valued his family and wanted more balance in his week rather than working long hours and being on call 7 days a week.

We talked around his core values and needs (there's more about values here) as well as his skills. Discussions like this can sometimes feel unsettling; we're not used to talking about what's deeply important to us, so we're hesitant and unsure. We feel the way cautiously. It can also seem like you're circling round the issue and as if it's not really related to your career - but it is! Making career decisions based firmly on your values is life affirming - the outcome doesn't have to be grandiose or world changing to be of value in your corner of the world.

Career exploration based on values is not what the "received wisdom" at the top of this post supports. You're not starting with wishes, or dreams or goals. You're starting with self knowledge, and an understanding of your unique blend of values and skills. You're starting with you, and what's important to you as an individual. It's not the quick fix mix and match: "if you are good at xyz, then this career will suit you".

Once John stopped focusing on his anger and the distress he experienced at being expected to act unethically and being unable to change the situation, he was able to see that he genuinely enjoyed accounting. Allowing space and time for the negative feelings to rise and be accepted without fighting them was an important step in the process. That negativity was clouding his judgement and colouring his attitude towards his profession.

Retraining wasn't necessary! John brightened up considerably as he realised that working as an accountant for a doctor, a medical testing laboratory, or in a hospital would support his values and make use of his original training.

And whilst job hunting, cold calling, writing letters of application and making your resume sing aren't always the most beguiling of pass-times, when they're conducted with a view to supporting your core values it feels like your time is well spent and your decision will be based on a solid foundation.

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What is career development and coaching?

I received the following question last week and thought that my response (extended for this post) could be interesting for those whose experience of career counselling is a ten minute appointment with someone at school when they were in year 10 discussing work experience, or during year 12 when they were granted a few rushed minutes to discuss "life" plans and their post-school options.

The question:
What would you advise an ex cop, local government councillor and youth worker who wants to be in the social and environmental development industry?

My answer:
This sounds like a magic wand request!

What happens during a career development session is generally quite different and no crystal balls or magical wands are involved! It's a lot more complex than some of the ads you might have seen make it appear, and more complex than some people are prepared for.  It takes time, and the ability to self reflect to get the most from the investment.

Values
Generally, my work with clients is firmly based on values, so we begin with an exercise to help them clarify what's important to them as an individual and to help them think and see their life from a different perspective.

Many of us bumble along, fall into our first job without thinking too much about what's important to us, and stumble haphazardly from one thing to the next with no particular idea what we're searching for.

The values exercise is, for most people, surprising and grounding. They often say, "I'd never thought about it like this before." It helps them see where their values may be at odds with their employer and vice versa. When values aren't compatible, or worse, completely at odds with your employer, it's no wonder you're unhappy. (The mini documentary Green Generation introduces a young man whose values led him from an arguably desirable job where his values weren't met by the company to completely new challenges. There's a bit about it here)

Working within the reality of your situation
Sometimes bitterly unhappy people know what the issues are, but for financial or other reasons are unable to change careers or workplaces. We then work within the reality of that situation and look at ways to support, and possible expand on, the positive things that are happening in their lives so than an unhappy work situation doesn't overwhelm them.

This might include support in more effective communication strategies, assertiveness training, or tactics to deflect the undermining aspects of bullying. It could be looking at spending more time on significant relationships outside work, finding new hobbies, getting more exercise or eating with a mindful attitude. There is no "one size fits all" quick fix response.

Simultaneously, we could be looking at a 5+ year plan, working towards a career theme (not a specific job) supporting your values, skills and interests, which will be more fulfilling while meeting current family and financial commitments. 

Then of course, there are the challenges of location. It's not always possible to work locally, and this can be an uncomfortable issue when an hour plus commute through heavy traffic is at odds with valuing environmental responsibility. For that one, there are no easy answers.

I hope this doesn't sound like a cop-out response. Any superficial reply would be ultimately unhelpful, and doesn't allow for the nuances, contradictions and complexities of a real person.

I do so wish I had that magic wand, I'd have made a fortune by now!

A quick fix is less satisfying than deep reflection
... But, just thinking on that, I doubt my clients would be better off if I waved a magic wand. Whilst the journey of looking deeply into their values isn't for everyone, and can sometimes be challenging and confronting, most people are grateful for the experience, and they are enriched by the process.

While none of us have the ability to see into the future, our values stay with us for life. The people I work with want to live with integrity, and when decisions are made thoughtfully and based on the solid foundation of values, they have much more chance of living a rich, full and meaningful life, no matter where they end up working.

As you can see,  what you might have experienced at school will be quite different to what I've described here. Career Development is often a life-long process, evolving as our interests and needs change, and in response to economic conditions and environmental factors. It's something most of us will revisit time and time again as we respond and adapt to real events in our lives right through to retirement.

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Addiction & fossil fuels.

Edit - I wrote this in 2012 - 8 years ago. We're now experiencing the result of decades of deliberate lies, denial and obstruction by fossil fuel companies, media, the Australian Liberal National Coalition and others.

If these are not premeditated acts of terror, what is?
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In the past, I looked at the manic search for, and voracious lust over new finds of fossil fuels as if the companies were drug dealers, eager to feed our addiction and with cynical disregard for the consequences. Unfussed whether the prey lives or dies, the pusher is disdainful, contemptuous about the addict's weakness – there’ll always be new markets to feed.

Company as addict?
However this morning I idly wondered what happens if you look at fossil fuel companies as the drug addict, as well as the dealer/pusher. Locked into a spiral of habit and dependence, and not having the will, nor the need to change.

When we feel guilty about our behaviour (even if only in a very small way), or if we're demonised, we become defensive, aggressive and lash out at any critics. We justify the unjustifiable. We see this with addicts. It also seems to fit the behaviour of these companies.

If it's too good to be true, it's too good to be true
Imagine for a moment that the fossil fuel companies and their entablers have unleashed a destructive genie from a bottle. A terrorist in fact.

After a 100 or so years, they’ve discovered that what appeared at first to be an extraordinarily welcome product, of the “WOW, look what we can do with this, it’s too good to be true!” variety, has now been found to literally be too good to be true. This wonder product is part of a package that has morphed into something truly sinister and frightening.

They say they didn't know, and their actions now show they deliberately concealed evidence that the amazing wonder product unleashes terror. They resist change with venom, lies, conspiracy theories and use confusion as a weapon. 

(Imagine if they'd been sensible & became broad based energy companies years ago, rather than relying ONLY on fossil fuels.) 

Profit with no responsibility for waste
With profits of $375 Million per day, it'd be reassuring to know these companies are paying a fair price to dump their waste. "Alone among businesses, the fossil-fuel industry is allowed to dump its main waste, carbon dioxide, for free. Nobody else gets that break - if you own a restaurant, you have to pay someone to cart away your trash, since piling it in the street would breed rats." (Global Warming's Terrifying New Math)

Fossil fuel companies are shifty, arrogant, brutish, uncaring and aggressive when presented with the destructive results of their product. Unlike the child who is called to account for poor behaviour, or the drug addict who realises their life will come to an abrupt end if they continue their chosen path, they've collectively and consistently avoided responsibility - and got away with it. They don't know any other reality.

To get an idea of where the profits go, Climate Progress is a good place to start. "The entire oil and gas industry spent on average $400,000 each day lobbying senators and representatives to weaken public health safeguards and keep big oil tax breaks, totaling nearly $150 million." (my bold)

A community response?
Perhaps we, as individuals and communities, have a collective interest in supporting change, because no one else seems willing to take up the challenge. I find it impossible to imagine that all fossil fuel companies and their hundreds of thousands of individual employees, their families, friends and communities are proud of what they’ve unleashed. But they haven't spoken out. When will they?

(Edit 2020: we're waiting for any decent employees of the murdoch media to speak out)

Employees should feel uncomfortable with the outcome of repeated "carelessness"; oil spills, unbelievable environmental damage, cruel disregard for native populations. At what stage will these people say “No more”? At what stage will subscribers to superannuation and other funds, both individually and collectively, demand their fund managers act with integrity and invest the funds with a view to a sustainable future?

As Bill McKibben says in Global Warming's Terrifying New Math

international moral outrage and pressure might just help begin a new movement to force change on an industry unwilling to change itself. Movements rarely have predictable outcomes. But any campaign that weakens the fossil-fuel industry's political standing clearly increases the chances of retiring its special breaks. Consider President Obama's signal achievement in the climate fight, the large increase he won in mileage requirements for cars. Scientists, environmentalists and engineers had advocated such policies for decades, but until Detroit came under severe financial pressure, it was politically powerful enough to fend them off. If people come to understand the cold, mathematical truth – that the fossil-fuel industry is systematically undermining the planet's physical systems – it might weaken it enough to matter politically. Exxon and their ilk might drop their opposition to a fee-and-dividend solution; they might even decide to become true energy companies, this time for real. 

Photos D.Abbott. SA

Let's hope change happens soon, because the alternative isn't encouraging.



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A cycle of dependence ... or freedom?

If I'd asked when we had our first oil crisis, what would you have answered? I didn't have a clue. In fact the continued sloppy safety and extraction standards and massive spills would make you think there wasn't a looming shortage. (Some information about Peak Oil here and Fracking and Fossil Fuels here.)

It turns out the first oil crisis was in the 1970's, less than a hundred years after oil had begun to be widely used as a source of energy for cars. It's interesting to learn that the Netherlands used this shortage and an accompanying economic crisis as an opportunity to challenge the growing assumption that the car was the ideal mode of transport.

In the years since the second world war, cycling had become marginalised and the car had become King, with the demands for ever increasing roads, parking lots and infrastructure. Traffic deaths, including those of cyclists had increased massively and cities were becoming choked with traffic.

Does the above sound familiar?

And yet, the Government of the Netherlands and local communities were proactive and turned a negative into a positive.

They were keenly aware of the costs associated with increasing motor traffic: that it kills people, the cities and the environment and that continued dependence was unhealthy. They encouraged people to enjoy "car free Sundays", and over time they adapted their transport planning to integrate cycle paths quite naturally. Cycling and cyclists were no longer marginalised with the benefit of improved health, lower transport costs and safer cycling.

The world is currently staggering from crisis to crisis, unhealthily dependent on oil and seemingly willing to commit any crime to get the next oil "fix".

It's looking more and more like an addict who is completely unable to think clearly, rationally, wisely or thoughtfully - only able to focus on the immediate and next fix. The future and others who may yet come after us appear to be an irrelevant inconvenience.

Too often bullying countries and corporate leaders act like a drug dealer who will commit any amount of crimes to get what he wants, and justify it as well with arrogant, dismissive, wide eyed "honesty". Those pushing the drug of fossil fuel energy addiction are complicit in encouraging total dependence.

Are we able to pause, assess and choose to incorporate cycling in to the transport mix as wisely as the Netherlands did over 40 years ago. Or like the addict, will we pretend we "can't" and continue to make excuses?
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Budget, schmudget - we'll be in surplus!

News from a vaguely familiar state somewhere in Southern Australia. Somewhat tongue in cheek, and entirely unreferenced, flight of creative fancy.

The elected Grubbymint in their most recent budget, endorses rampant climate change, gives green light to policies that hasten our ill health, erodes job security and secures the advantage and ubiquity of coal fired power plants.

Education, now considered a luxury, is outsourced to the lowest bidder. Staff recruited via call centres based in India - visas optional.

Funding slashed from technical and further education redirected into newly built and refurbished jails. Corrections Officer training available from “Shonky Bros” inconveniently and expensively located in your nearest capital city.

What used to be quaintly known as the Bluestone College*, is rumoured to offer courses to inmates similar to what in the past was offered by TAFE’s. Many inmates had hopes for re-entry into education after disrupted schooling. *early jails were built from bluestone and were known colloquially as a bluestone college.

An early introduction to a life of crime by Thugs Anon, led to these youths being called the 100,000 dollar kids, being the average cost per annum to provide funding for services such as counselling, welfare, court appearances, intervention orders and rehab costs. Their dreams of a regular education have been gutted by the callous dismantling of the highly regarded TAFE sector with support systems available to reintroduce disengaged youth to reputable, vocational and challenging courses.

Services for those with special needs are seen as an an unnecessary luxury by the Grubbymint and are likely to be slashed to cut costs.

Jails are rumoured to be refurbished and huge sums are earmarked for new facilities to house the expected increase in convicted criminals. In part these new inmates are likely to come from the growing ranks of the newly unemployed and angry, disengaged groups who are unable to take advantage of “upskilling” now the TAFE colleges are being allowed to fall into disrepair. 

Stress levels are anticipated to increase as disregard for the environment takes its toll – those who used to cycle safely to bushland to lift their spirits and enjoy some peace from the hurly burly of life are now unable to avail themselves of that outlet. Health impacts are expected to lead to an increase in depression and weight gain, blowing out medical and hospital budgets.

Jobs slashed in the environmental sector saves millions, now earmarked for generous injection into cleanER coal. Koalas, already endangered, lose protected lands, but habitat is now available for fracking and/or subdivision (see F - Fracking here). Generous tax breaks for fossil fuel and mining industry will be offset by increased taxes in luxury goods such as bicycles, scooters and all recreational and sporting goods.

Innovative enterprises are obstructed and investment discouraged in renewable energy, further supporting the stranglehold of the fossil fuel industry.

Generous performance bonuses are deposited into bank accounts of the sycophantic Grubbymint minions whose inability to address the far reaching impacts of their vicious decisions further alienates them from the public and any good-will that may have been expressed. Secure in their sheltered, ivory tower 'workshops', they’re protected from the need to come face to face with any of the people who suffer at their hands, and give high fives all round for a job well done.

Safe in a sanctuary, these koalas are unlikely to be bulldozed or fracked into oblivion.
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An A to Z of Climate Matters.

April 2012. An A-Z of Climate Matters. 
There is a link in the sidebar to the A-Z blogging challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his wonderful team.

A is for Advertising - a brief look at the methods media, vested interests and the advertising industry use to sway opinion regarding climate change rather than to share facts.
B is for Biodiversity - why it's important for our very survival on earth.
C is for Change - how we often resist it, fear it and avoid it, but how we also need to face it head on if we're to negotiate climate change and energy depletion with hope and confidence.
D is for Desertification - what can happen to lands which are overgrazed, and have every natural living thing removed for the planting of mono crops.
E is for Eat - what we choose to eat, how much, how often and where it's imported from has major implications for food security. Farting cows make their appearance here.
F is for Fracking - a method of extracting fossil fuels from deep under the earth.
G is for Greenhouse - the gasses which we're emitting into the atmosphere at such a rapid rate aren't healthy and are contributing to a toxic blend of chemicals which will last many hundreds of years. We don't breathe these easily, nor do animals. Trees that normally absorb carbon-dioxide aren't keeping up with our emissions.
H is for Health - Our mental and physical health is intricately tied with our climate. Increasingly frequent and severe weather events such as fire, drought and flood have impacts on everyone involved.
I is for Insects - We need them! Without creepy crawlies and bees, humankind is unlikely to survive. Toxic chemicals used on crops as pesticides kill not only "pests" but helpful critters too.
J is for Jellyfish - these can survive and thrive in ocean areas which have been overfished.
K is for Kilter - as in Our climate is out of kilter and so are some of our lifestyle choices.
L is for Leadership - innovative, farsighted, visionary, leaders are rare and need to be encouraged and celebrated.
M is for Mangroves - mangroves are the most interesting trees! They're salt tolerant meaning they can grow in sea water, and can deal with more carbon than any other tree.
N is for Notice - notice how you can make energy savings in your home AND save money!
O is for Oil - such a recent discovery and one which has infiltrated almost all our lives. In fact it's probably fair to say we're addicted to it and as with any addiction, breaking it could be a bit of a challenge. but it will run out, so perhaps it's not a bad idea to have a "Plan B".
P is for Plastics and Pollution - plastics are a wonderful invention, and a byproduct of oil. They're extremely handy for all sorts of things. Unfortunately products are often discarded thoughtlessly and add to the increasing problem of pollution.
Q is for Quadruple bottom line - a little bit of accounting - a different way of looking at what is valuable for businesses. Interesting rather than daunting :)
R is for Responsibility - hyper-consumption has an impact on using fossil fuels and therefore our climate.
S is for Soil - you don't have to get down and dirty to appreciate how necessary healthy soil is! Healthy soil = healthy plants. Healthy plants = healthy us.
T is for Trees - tall, majestic and leafy or stunted and straggly. No matter what they look like, trees are vital to maintain a breathable atmosphere, to stabilise soil and to assist with biodiversity.
U is for Urban heat island - cities absorb heat so people to use more air-conditioning. Greening our cities creates cooler, healthier lifestyles.
V is for Values - values underpin much of what we do and give our lives meaning. When people are out of touch with their values, their lives can lack direction and be unhappy and empty.
W is for Water - Water wars. Water disputes. Country against country, region against region. Farming, people, mining, all demanding more of this increasingly polluted vital resource.
X is for eXtreme weather - did it really take me this long to discuss weather?
Y is for Yesterday - sing the words from The Beatles song "Yesterday" to get a sense of this letter.
Z is for Zero - Zero population growth - improved quality of life for mums, children, families and communities. Enough food and water to go around. Equity and balance. So easy, yet so hard for many to accept the need for reliable modern contraception.

And now ... a well earned celebration :D

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Climate Matters. Z is for Zero

This post is for Z in the A-Z Blogging Challenge 2012. Link in the sidebar.


Zero population growth
Zero economic growth
Zero waste
Zero carbon emissions.

How difficult it is to choose only one of the above to dip in to for the last letter of the alphabet. There's so much left to blog about, so much left unsaid.  I began back at the beginning on the month looking at the power vested interests, the media and the advertising industry have over our perceptions and understanding of climate change. I've dipped into different aspects of this immensely complex and challenging subject with each subsequent letter of the alphabet.

Here we are at the end of the month, and not much has changed; forests are being felled. Creatures are being made extinct. Lands are being eroded. Arable land is being mined at an alarming pace. People are dying from climate related issues; lack of clean drinking water, malnutrition, flooding and drought. Australia is as tardy as ever in tackling the issue proactively, creatively and with courage, commitment and vision. Our politicians seem to prefer the "business as usual" scenario; "Let's not rock the boat, people might get a bit agitated when they understand the mess we've created and allowed to continue".

But there's one thing that could happen, relatively easily and economically that would make what is a potentially disastrous situation just a little better.

Zero population growth.


It took around 200,000 years for the population on Earth to get to 1 billion, but only just over another 200 years for it to reach 7 billion. An astounding 6 billion people were born in 200 years. That’s incredible! It’s the greatest population the world has ever known, and it brings with it challenges never before imagined or experienced.

China tackled the issue of overpopulation with determination
 and an awareness that to ignore the problem would be disastrous.

How to adequately sustain, shelter and feed the sheer volume of people is mind boggling to consider. Added to this is the goal of maintaining the Earth’s habitability so that future generations can breathe the air, till the earth, drink fresh water and enjoy a reasonable standard of living. We have a challenge of such magnitude and complexity that many people choose to ignore it.

Our changing climate with new patterns of drought, flood and storms is going to take some getting used to. Our habit of relying on easily accessible, cheap fossil fuels for energy will need to be addressed. Ideally this will be done creatively, proactively and without malice or obstruction from those with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo of an addiction past its use-by date. 

Companies are made up of individuals. Individuals have choices. Companies have choices. My dream is that every employee in every company around the world looks at the impact of their current policies with seeing eyes. That they raise their voices if there is coercion, bullying, unethical, cruel, inhumane or immoral behaviour. My nightmare is that they don’t have the ability to do this, and that our children, grand children and great grandchildren will suffer horribly as a result. The worst case scenario is that current policies and actions could lead to the final zero for humankind.

To honestly and courageously face these challenges will take vision, wisdom and the creativity and collaboration of peoples from all walks of life from all countries in the world. This is not a time for bullying, coercive tactics, manipulation and lying.

Both genders should be involved. At present, women are too often silenced by groups intent of maintaining their own power and the subservience of women. One way this is achieved is to deny women access to adequate, modern methods of birth control. “Barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen” is the reality for billions of women worldwide. Or perhaps more accurate is “barefoot, underaged, uneducated, pregnant and malnourished”. It's an insidious way to keep much of the world's population silent and compliant.

Few of us would choose to be born into poverty, into lands where food and water supplies are intermittent, where death in childbirth is common, where girls are taken as brides when they’re still children themselves and where education is a dimly heard of luxury.

However, unless we address the issue of our Earth’s rapidly increasing population and assist it to drop to near zero, poverty, disease and malnourishment will be commonplace. More mouths to feed means more crops to be grown on less arable land, (see D - Desertification here). There will be more carbon emissions, if our energy and food (see E  -Eat here) sources remain unchanged - and more garbage in general. (P - Pollution here).

Conversely, it’s been shown that population stabilisation has enormous benefits to all aspects of health in the communities where it is adopted. Women and girls, their family members their lands and food systems are healthier and more productive. There’s more food and water to go around, less stress on health services and infrastructure and equally importantly, arable land and fishing grounds are able to recover and become more productive.

Reducing birth rates eases the pressure we place on natural resources, food systems, water sources, biodiversity, forests and the atmosphere.

Contraception and sound family planning are vital components of the complex issues we face in the years ahead as we try to balance the population with what can be maintained by our Earth’s resources.

In a recent discussion, Naomi Oreskes said something along the lines of: Resistance to accepting there are challenges ahead is related to not liking the implications on political, social and economic levels. Climate change is rejected because it has consequences for how we live our lives and what it means for us. These changes will be very significant and require a complete transformation of the energy system. (Link here.)

If we aren’t proactive, and consider the repercussions of inaction in a calm, measured thoughtful way, we will be reacting as events unfold which is neither wise nor desirable.

Have we got the courage, wisdom and humility to face the future with eyes wide open or not?


Last year I wrote - A-Z "An incomplete journey of workplace bullying" for Z, here, and Zero here.

Climate Matters. V is for Values

This post is for V in the A-Z Blogging Challenge 2012. Link in the sidebar.


Values are often considered to be the basis for ethical actions, they reflect an internal sense of right and wrong and influence behaviour. When a group of people share a common set of values and ideals of social expectations we refer to them as cultural values - they add meaning and value to life. Values generally reflect how we choose to live and ideally won’t be arbitrarily imposed by another group or more powerful person.

Values are different to goals which can be achieved or completed, then ticked off a list. They're often deeper and create an internal reference for what may be good, beneficial, important, desirable or constructive and lead to both individual and community behaviours and actions.

Many values revolve around family, marriage and close relationships, friendships, employment, education and personal development, recreation, the environment and health.

It’s certainly beneficial to reflect quietly on the place of values in your life particularly when you're stressed and ill at ease. It's easy to lose sight of some of our values in the hurly burly of our frenetic pace of life. We're so busily connected and on-line that the illusion of being together can mask a deep loneliness and distance from what gives our lives meaning.

It’s often when people are unhappy at work or in relationships that they find the need to take stock and reconnect with their core values which they may have been ignoring. There's benefit in reflecting on unhealthy attitudes that lead to a feeling of being ill at ease, and questioning whether for instance, your work-life, which may have evolved over many years, is now at odds with deep inner needs.

Some people find it confronting to thing about deep questions, but discover a sense of empowerment when they discover that they’ve been guided by other people’s judgements and opinions which don’t reflect who they truly are. They find it liberating and enriching to acknowledge and consciously choose a course of action in line with their own values rather than those of another person.

Living according to your values isn’t the same as being thoughtless, flippant or glib. Values need to be concrete, positive and proactive to give our lives a healthy, meaningful structure, leading to richness and fulfilment.

How do Values relate to Climate Matters?
Many people are concerned about food security and are putting a higher value on becoming more self reliant rather than being increasingly dependent on food being sourced from across the world.

Food and many other goods are transported in container ships using depleting fuel supplies through unstable weather systems during times of political and economic instability. Many waterways are at the mercy of well resourced and trained pirates intent on destabilising international commerce. As our climate changes individual and community values will be challenged and reviewed in light of unfolding events locally and internationally.

There is an emerging focus on issues such as sustainability, well-being, community building and civic engagement that needs a clear cultural values based perspective to be successfully implemented. Addressing these issues by acknowledging the role of values in communities would reflect common values and ways of life of the communities on which they impact.

Acknowledging the vital function of values both individually and at the community level is increasingly recognised as a critical aspect of social and human development. Individuals and businesses might ask "Does this decision I am about to make support and lead me in the direction of a value I hold? Or does it lead me away from this value?"

See Q is for Quadruple bottom line here and T is for Trees here.

What can you do right now that leads you in the direction of a core value?
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Last year I wrote about what makes people Vulnerable to workplace bullying for the letter V. Here and a drabble about Valiant volunteers here.

Climate Matters. O is for oil.

This post is for O in the A-Z blogging Challenge 2012. Link in the sidebar.


Oil is one of those things we used not to think about very much until we saw more and more on the news about the cost of oil rising above $100US a barrel. When the cost of filling the fuel tank in your car rises, it begins to hit home that something unpleasantly out of your control is happening.

In a nutshell, it was only about 150 years or so ago that oil came to be routinely used for more than as a fuel for lamps as people worked out how useful it was for cheap apparently limitless energy. It was abundant and the byproducts came to be used for all sorts of things beyond the obvious. Nylon for clothing, medicines, plastics and many, many other everyday items as well, all owe their existence to oil. Just looking around me now, I see book covers, chairs, curtains, an iron, plastic around my computer, cables, toys, floor coverings, a purse, artificial flowers, containers that plants came in, shopping bags, buttons, shoes - and the list goes on and on and on......

Image from Amazon

In The Transition Handbook (which is a very readable, positive book) Rob Hopkins discusses both peak oil and climate change when sharing some options he sees for our future. They are inextricably linked and to think of one without the other only gives half the picture.

Cheap, plentiful oil has enabled our society to be structured as it is. Many things around us use oil in their manufacture and for their transportation around our Earth, and naturally it’s hard to imagine any other reality. When the cost of oil rises, so do many other commodities and we struggle to make ends meet. Eventually we have a choice - either work longer hours and take a second job to continue our current rate of consumption - or change our habits to consume less.

Why is the cost of oil rising? Oil is a finite resource, and in approximately 200 years, we’ve extracted all the easy to get at reserves. Whilst it’s hard to get reliable data on production figures and reserves, those in the know estimate that production has already peaked (ie the oil glass is half empty and being consumed at ever increasing rates) and that there will inevitably come a day when demand outstrips supply and prices will begin to rise sharply. This is irrespective of which political party is in power, and however much the oil companies try to sugar coat the situation.

Naturally enough, oil companies have used the easy to get at reserves first. There are less discoveries now, and the companies are doing their best to extract every last drop from the most challenging areas of our Earth. Tar sands oil is very dense, it can be dug out of the ground with massive machinery and the sand is then washed to extract the oil. This process produces carbon-dioxide (one of the greenhouse gasses), uses vast quantities of water that then needs to be treated before being dumped back in the ground. (see also F Fracking)  Caribou herds, wolves and native peoples are deemed inconvenient and removed often forcefully and with little regard for their welfare.

We're encouraged to believe that we can't survive without plentiful fossil fuels. However, there will come a time when we have to. Common sense would say that to begin seriously looking at and promoting investment in all alternatives would be a reassuring way for communities to face our future post oil. Unfortunately (at least in Australia) we're encouraged to believe that the only way forward is to use all deposits of oil, gas and coal before we build the infrastructure for renewables. Unfortunately this black and white either/or attitude discourages investment, research and innovation and thus has a negative affect on jobs growth in the sustainable energy sector. In addition, the ongoing jobs created by the mining of fossil fuels are minimal and growing at a painfully slow rate in comparison to other sectors.

The excitement about pockets of difficult to extract oil and the frantic insistence that all is well, obscures the need to reassess our reliance and addiction. The investment in advertisements and obfuscation point to a defensive industry on attack rather than one that is genuinely secure, adaptable, innovative and comfortable.

A word I heard used recently about the negativity and undermining practises surrounding renewable energy was "obstructive" - unfortunately it seems to be an accurate word.

Shale Oil production at Newnes, near Wollemi National Park. NSW.
This complex operated in the early 1900's. Info here.

Last year for the letter O, I wrote about Obstructive and Outrageous Behaviour associated with Workplace Bullying. Here and Outrageous here.


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Climate Matters: N is for Notice

This post is for N in the A-Z blogging Challenge 2012. Link in the sidebar.


Notice what changes you can make in your immediate environment to become more sustainable - to become aware is empowering!

An old postcard found tucked into a book.
Poems by John Hepworth, sketches by Leunig.

That cheaper plasma TV that cost next to nothing to purchase could be slurping power in the most greedy way. It's easy to get sucked into a purchase because an item is cheap to buy - but often what is cheap at the register is more expensive to maintain day to day. They're energy sucking vampires. If you purchase a new TV, choose an LCD or LED screen, they're far more energy efficient.  As an aside, if you're using TV as a form of anaesthesia consider going for a walk either alone or with others, our bodies like to move and will thank you for it.

Was your refrigerator banished to the garage or basement when you upgraded to a swishy new one?  There it is keeping a few bottles of beer cold ... have you checked how much energy it's consuming? I know of one person who saved over $300 per year simply by getting rid of the beer frig and elderly TV! An alternative could have been to only turn them on as needed ie, don't leave them on standby. Many electric items on "idle" consume more power than you might expect! Standby, or idle is not the same as off. It's not unusual to reduce electricity consumption from 29 kwh to 9.32 kwh just by turning off those items - that represents money in your pocket!

Leaving white-goods on standby can seem petty and insignificant, individually it could be as little as $12 per year, pfft, that's nothing!! But when you add the different items around an average home, it all adds up - maybe it still seems a bit pointless, but when push comes to shove, who would you rather had that $160, you or your power company?

What else to do? Cover downlights with little special igloos to stop winter heated air escaping - many types of downlight create a tiny vortex sucking out your warmth and can double a heating bill in the blink of a wintery eye.

Insulate, insulate insulate - we have chopped up wool and it acts as a cosy blanket for the house.

Double glazing could be too expensive for many of us, but there are stick on alternatives that are affordable and good if you're renting. These products can cut down loss of heat, or prevent it getting in, in hot climates.

Heavy curtains over windows prevent sun getting in where the temperatures are hot, or heat escaping in cold climates. Pelmets over the top of windows stop heat sneaking out - if you're renting it's possible to make simple cardboard ones. It helps create a snug cocoon.

There's a neat little gizmo that you can buy to see how much power is being consumed by appliances when they're on idle. A remote kill switch or power board, again seems insignificant to cut power from standby, but add it to the other savings so YOU get to enjoy the benefits NOT the corporation

Turn off lights when you're not in the room - how simple can it be!

Door seals, don't have to be dorky, and most of us are aware of drafts around outside doors, but I'd never thought of using them indoors. If your toilet or bathroom has a window and vent to the outer world, it could be worthwhile to use a draft sausage and door seals there. It seems picky, but you could be heating the air outside rather than snuggling in it inside.

You can use an Incense stick to check for drafts - just light one then wander around and see how the smoke behaves - is it being sucked upwards towards light fittings or toward door surrounds?

When you buy a new light globe try the LED ones, they're more expensive to buy, but will last an amazing length of time, more than making up for the initial outlay. Some of them shed a cold light, the same as regular light globes, so check before you buy.

We used to hear the saying "a penny saved is a penny earned " meaning  don't throw your hard earned money into the abyss. Millions of Australians earn around $20 per hour, if you leave 5 items on standby (eg washing machine, toaster, computer, printer and bar frig) that equates to working 10 hours and you're not getting any personal benefit. You might be at work and notice that the first hour of each day for two weeks every year you're working to pay for items sitting at home on standby. Isn't that worth noticing?

Only run the dishwasher or washing machine as needed, ie when full! Unless you're running a hotel, only wash towels once a week, it's easy to dry them either outdoors in summer or on a clothes horse in winter. Clothes dryers can be used as a back up when all else fails, but line drying is the preferred option - the smell is invigorating and as a hay-fever sufferer I can honestly say I've never sneezed when wearing clothing straight off the line.

You might also become aware of the common unsustainable ingredients in foods. Palm oil is produced from plantations where natural vegetation has been decimated, biodiversity has been thrown out of balance, native peoples forcible removed from traditional lands and animals squashed into pockets of land that are unable to sustain them promoting spread of disease due to overcrowding.

As we learn to notice things such as where goods come from, the ethics of companies, and think about sustainable lifestyles, we find we have choices. Rather than reacting through habit, when we notice we realise we have the power to choose in accordance with our values (see V) - it can help make decisions simple - it's empowering.

Last year for N, I wrote about Nurses and other Nice people for my theme of workplace bullying. Here. and Nincompoops and Napalm here.
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Climate Matters. L is for Leadership

This post is for L in the A-Z Blogging Challenge 2012. Link in the sidebar.

With so much doom and gloom surrounding corrupt corporations, stick in the mud politicians and belittling of sound scientific research, it’s possible to lose sight of the innovative leadership that is happening around the world. Wise leaders in neighbourhoods, communities, and towns as well as in many industries are working together to mitigate the unsettling and damaging effects of dramatic climate events.

As part of overall change, many businesses have experienced the need to adopt more sustainable  practices and are connecting with suppliers, service providers and customers to promote their achievements. They're finding that improvements to reduce energy and water usage have paid for themselves and simply make good business sense. Simple things like fixing leaking taps and turning off lights are an obvious start.

Assessing waste and doing some basic sorting to reduce disposal and landfill costs and increase recycling can be a real saving. Some industries are ideal candidates to reuse materials, others benefit from reducing waste at the initial stage of production. These businesses are providing leadership and forging the way to achieve cost savings through cutting consumption and addressing their environmental impact.  Many are conducting research and focusing on innovation to reduce their carbon emissions.

More and more small and medium businesses are promoting their achievements not only in their own communities but around the globe. By example and encouragement they help others to address the need to become industry leaders.

Those who are managing well, have discovered the benefit of collaborating with others in different professions as well as being committed to self management and self leadership. They've embraced change and found it caters to their ability to be creative and think laterally.

Consumers have enormous power to effect change. Individually choices and decisions may seem insignificant, but collectively the weight of these choices has an effect. When we purchase goods from quality providers who are already supporting sustainable change we’re having a positive effect.  Our choices can encourage businesses to provide better, more detailed information regarding their environmental impact on their websites and in promotional literature. This is resulting in more providers improving the quality, longevity and sustainability of what they are offering to the market. As consumers become more aware, it’s easier to make informed choices and boycott companies that pursue unethical practices and make unsustainable products.

As the global economy has contracted, many people have also become self employed either by choice or as a result of redundancy or under-employment. Their worklives have changed as they adapt to the need for managing their careers in a new way. They’ve found they need for understanding and communicating their strengths and the benefit of being creative, resilient and adaptable as they negotiate and forge new pathways and unfamiliar worklives. Many are emerging as a new style of leader. Not grandiose or self important, but going about their business quietly and having a positive impact in their communities.

Many have become resilient, self reliant and supportive leaders as they acknowledge that large corporations can’t be relied on to act with the needs of future generations in mind.

Wise leaders choose to take time out of meditate, exercise and immerse themselves in nature.

Tidal River. Wilsons Promontory. Victoria.

Cape Schank. Victoria.

Last year for the letter L, I wrote about Lies for my theme of workplace bullying. Here.

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Climate Matters. K is for out of Kilter

This is for K in the A-Z blogging challenge 2012. Link in the sidebar.


Many of us are acutely aware that the world as we've known it is changing. It's evident in the unsettled climate and unpredictable, extreme weather systems which are out of kilter leaving many of us feeling acutely uncomfortable.

For the past 40 or so years, we've focused on working excessively long hours, maybe at jobs we don't particularly like, commuting long distances in heavy peak hour traffic, negotiating aggressive, abusive drivers, becoming tense and irritable not only with ourselves but with our frazzled time poor families. Trucks, noise and fumes assault our senses while we mindlessly scoff sugary snacks simply to get us through the stress and as a "treat" for surviving. Out of kilter indeed.

The words temperance and moderation are considered old fashioned, as we've been encouraged to consume more and more at a faster and faster pace, forcing us to work crazy hours a two or three jobs simply to make repayments on "essential" goods we often have little time to enjoy. Houses large enough to double as a boutique hotel are considered normal, purchased with borrowed money and astronomical repayments that can feel more like a stifling life sentence.

Some of my male clients confess that they're empty inside, life feels futile and pointless, yet they appear to have "everything". It's often only when their marriage falls apart that they stop and question the vortex they've become caught in.

It can be confronting to realise that the lifestyle we've fallen into isn't meeting our fundamental human needs: happiness, time for relaxation, and making space and time to feed ourselves with wholesome food and nurture ourselves and those we love.

Many of my clients say they've forgotten what it's like to slow down and just be...

• that they're not sure who they'll find
• if there's anyone even there any more
• that they don't know who they are
• what they want
• what they believe in
• and whose values they're following anyway
• and when they stop they feel empty, unsure, afraid - so it's easier not to stop 
• like they've sold their soul and are feeding an addiction that they weren't aware they had 

This out of kilter habit can be broken, and whilst it might initially seem outrageous, a complete break to take stock and visit or revisit your values alone, then with your partner can be be a first step in looking at what makes a rich, full and meaningful life for you.

It's generally not something we do when we're young and may have fallen into a job without examining what it is that we value in life. We may have plodded along for years feeling vaguely dissatisfied and frustrated. Sometimes it's only when crap happens that we're confronted with the need to question and perhaps change unhealthy patterns.

Often in the act of stopping, sharing and reflecting, a new way of thinking is permitted to grow. You might choose to attend a class on sustainable living, learn to cook your own fast, nourishing foods, explore a long ignored desire to learn a language, or enrol in further study for your career.  All of these things feed into our capacity as humans to be creative learners, to be revitalised and to adapt better to a changing world. We become more flexible, less rigid, more independent and enthusiastic and less willing to follow the advertising machine blindly and without question.

In the process, some people decide that having less will actually lead them to have more. They realise there is a choice and choose to downsize and make purchases mindfully.

We've become so accustomed to being out of kilter living at breakneck speed, that it's easy to forget that having an enormous mortgage, constant pressure and irritability isn't written into our DNA. It doesn't have to be the blueprint for the future.

Borrowed money can feel like a crushing burden.

What single step will you take today in the direction of your preferred future?

Last year I wrote about the Known triggers for bullying for K in my theme of workplace bullying. Here.
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Climate Matters: C is for Change

This is the post for C in the A-Z Blogging Challenge 2012. Link in sidebar.
(Edited Jan 2020 during the Australian bushfire disaster)

In recent years, human activities including deforestation, land use changes and burning fossil fuels for energy, have resulted in an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. We’ve released sufficient quantities of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to trap additional heat in the lower atmosphere and affect the global climate.

Sea levels are rising, glaciers are melting and precipitation patterns are changing. Extreme weather events are becoming more intense and frequent such as we now see in the devastation in Australia from bushfires.

Change is happening and it can be unsettling. We don’t know what will happen or how we’ll manage as individuals, communities and countries. (*A free on-line test is available here to see how readily you adapt to change.)

In “Brain Rules”, John Medina describes a three part response to stress. It reflects how many of us are responding to climate change.

1. There must be an aroused physiological response. Talking about changing climate can result in passionate responses.

2. The stressor must be perceived as aversive. Extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and severity causing loss of life, property, land and infrastructure. It’s scary.

3. The person must not feel in control of the stressor. We see the damage from extreme weather events and know we can't control the weather.

We have instant access to harrowing pictures of earthquakes, cyclones and tsunamis. We see and hear the damaging effects of increased storm frequency and severity, as well as tidal and bush fire damage, such as has been occuring in Australia for the past few months. 

The fight or flight response, which is our evolutionary response to stress seems to be overloaded. We want to keep safe and avoid physical injury but we’re experiencing a rapidly changing climate and know this is having an effect on our lives and world events - we’d prefer it all just went away.

Many of us are confused by the barrage of information much of which is conflicting. It’s complex because the world, our atmosphere, our oceans, our environmental systems, our animals and we, ourselves, are complex. We don’t know everything there is to know, about everything. To try to get your head around all the different aspects is mind-boggling.

We’ve been living with the knowledge of climate change events for a long time now, and I suspect it’s having an effect on health and wellbeing. Could stress related to climate change make us more vulnerable to illness? Does the knowledge that we’re collectively facing life-changing events undermine our hope and ability to act proactively?

It’s not unusual to feel distressed about the state of the world. Our relatively comfortable way of life (at least in the West) has been around for a generation or more. It's possible to become resentful and lash out at those who say we must change our ways. Some people respond by disagreeing with anything that’s said about climate change to protect a belief rather than accept unpalatable scientific research.

On the whole as a species, we like a structure, we like life to be safe and relatively predictable. We're out of our comfort zone. When we're stressed or feel threatened by too much change, when we feel out of control, it's common to respond by hiding away from others or to seek comfort in alcohol, drugs or food. A side effect of stress or depression is that our problem solving and creative thinking abilities are affected, a stressed brain doesn’t learn well so we're less likely to be able to embrace change.

There’s no human around who’s been down the climate change path before, there are no leaders to tell us what to expect, few encouraging and reassuring comments.

However,  remember the narration by William Shatner at the beginning Star Trek “…to boldly go where no man has gone before.” It is possible to negotiate these changes successfully, but it will take courage, collaboration and a good dose of creativity.

* The test was devised by Australians Prof Jim Bright and Robert Pryor.

Last year I wrote about Courage and Climate for C in my theme on workplace bullying. Here. 

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