Giftivism: A Path Toward Generosity and Generativity

Posted on August 30, 2012 by zoeweil

For my blog post today, I simply want to share this wonderful TEDx talk, Designing for Generosity. If, after you’ve watched it, you find yourself giving in a new or different way, please let me know what happens.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

Get tickets to the October 13 NYC performance of my 1-woman show: “My Ongoing Problems with Kindness: Confessions of MOGO Girl.”

Like my blog? Please share it with others, comment, and/or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Filed under: MOGO (Most Good) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Considering the Ethics of Fishing

Posted on August 27, 2012 by zoeweil
Image courtesy of derekGavey via Creative Commons.

For my blog post today, I’m sharing a recent essay I wrote for Care2.com, an online community for people passionate about creating a better world. Here’s an excerpt from “Considering the Ethics of Fishing”:

“Reading the August issue of The Sun magazine, I was struck by a section of the essay ‘Pioneers’ by John Frank about fishing. Frank writes:

‘I caught an ugly junk fish of some kind. It had giant, gold-rimmed eyes and a sharp dorsal fin that nicked the soft flesh of my hand. I tossed it back.’

And two paragraphs later: ‘Once, in junior high, I’d caught an odd-looking fish with large scales and taken it home to show my father in hopes he could identify it. I wanted greatly for him to be the kind of father who’d flip open a book and point to a picture of the fish and give it a name. But I found him asleep on the couch, the sun hitting the coffee table by his feet. So I went outside and threw the fish as far as I could into the woods.’

Frank may be writing about his past, but in the present, he isn’t compelled to consider the morality of his behavior. And my experience with people who fish recreationally is that, like Frank, the ethics of fishing rarely arise in their minds.”

Read the complete essay.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

Get tickets now for the October 13 NYC debut of my 1-woman show — My Ongoing Problems with Kindness: Confessions of MOGO Girl – at United Solo, the world’s largest solo theatre festival.

Like my blog? Please share it with others, comment, and/or subscribe to the RSS feed. 

Filed under: MOGO (Most Good) | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Replacing Fear of the Unknown with Curiosity

Posted on August 23, 2012 by zoeweil

I grew up in New York City. I didn’t have much access to the natural world, but when I did find myself in a park or the landscaped environs of the suburbs, I loved it. But I was also scared of the insects and animals I would find. Visiting a cousin who had a huge garden, I was almost immobilized with fear because of the hundreds of bees buzzing all around me. Once, in Central Park, I saw some boys digging up earthworms and those scared me too. On a suburban lawn, a teenager I admired caught a big black shiny cricket and that cricket terrified me. But it was when I went to sleepaway camp in Maine at age nine and discovered that there were bats who flew around inside our bunk at night that I thought I could not possibly bear it.

But each time, my fears were allayed by knowledge. I learned that the bees would not sting me, and I just needed to take care where I walked; that the earthworms were actually amazingly cool, transforming waste into fertile soil; that the crickets were completely harmless and were relatives of the grasshoppers I’d read about in storybooks and loved; and that bats could hear where I was with their sonar and would never choose to fly into me. I also learned that they’d be eating the mosquitoes that would otherwise be likely to suck my blood and leave me itchy at night. And so my fears abated, as they almost always do when we understand.

It’s not surprising we would be afraid of the unknown. Millions of years of evolution have prepared us to fear lots of things that might threaten us, and our fear is a good protector much of the time. But our unexamined fears cause a host of problems. They lead to bigotry and prejudice; insular behaviors and group-think; judgment and assumptions; stagnation and lack of creativity.

Our best corrective to unwarranted fear is curiosity. The more we can approach what is new and potentially frightening with an open and curious mind, the better our chances of learning and understanding rather than judging and assuming. And the greater the possibilities for living harmoniously and sustainably.

Today, try just being curious. Suspend your judgments and assumptions to the greatest degree possible and embrace your capacity to ask questions and learn. See what happens.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

Get tickets to the October 13 NYC performance of my 1-woman show: “My Ongoing Problems with Kindness: Confessions of MOGO Girl.”

Like my blog? Please share it with others, comment, and/or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Filed under: MOGO (Most Good) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

The Purpose of Life

Posted on August 20, 2012 by zoeweil
Image courtesy of godserv via Creative Commons.

I spent two days at a wonderful conference in honor of the ToDo Institute’s 20th anniversary. Titled Thirty Thousand Days, the conference explored how we can best spend our time on earth (on average 30,000 days). It was a powerful weekend with excellent speakers and fascinating participants, and I was delighted to have been asked to provide a keynote address on making choices in our lives to do the most good and the least harm.

Gregg Krech, the executive director of the ToDo Institute gave several powerful presentations. in one, he shared this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” How different this quote is from what we are often urged to consider as our purpose: our own personal happiness.

As readers of my blog know, I am often bemoaning today’s prevailing purpose of schooling, which is usually something along the lines of preparing students to find jobs and compete in the global economy. Like the concept of personal happiness, this educational goal stresses and focuses on individual personal success. And like the concept of personal happiness, I don’t believe it is enough, which is why I believe that the purpose of schooling ought to be to provide our students with the knowledge, tools, and motivation to be solutionaries for a peaceful, healthy, and humane world for all people, animals, and the environment.

Of course we want to be happy, and we want our children to be able to support themselves. But Emerson’s quote offers a deeper, more meaningful, more worthy, and ultimately, a more joy-inducing purpose.

Humane education – which seeks to fulfill the higher purpose of schooling described above – may well put Emerson’s quote into practice by educating a generation who will be useful, honorable, and compassionate, and who will make a positive difference in the world.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

Like my blog? Please share it with others, comment, and/or subscribe to the RSS feed. 

Filed under: humane education | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity’s Landing Shows the Power of What’s Possible

Posted on August 16, 2012 by zoeweil
Image courtesy of Idaho National Laboratory
via Creative Commons.

Curiosity has landed. The Mars rover that left Earth last year arrived at its destination on August 6. But Curiosity’s landing was anything but assured. Take a look at this simulation that describes the perfect confluence of error-free events that had to take place in just 7 minutes for Curiosity to reach its destination safely. And now watch the response of the NASA scientists during and after those tense 7 minutes.

The joy of a hugely involved and challenging job achieved. The joy of discovery and exploration. The joy of curiosity met.

Now imagine this:

Imagine more bright and curious minds and compassionate hearts working together to solve other hugely challenging and involved problems, like global climate change, poverty, violent conflict, cruelty. Imagine people working together over years, tackling the complexity of human-created challenges, and experiencing such a positive outcome.

For me, Curiosity’s landing is an inspiration. There is so much we can do.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

Like my blog? Please share it with others, comment, and/or subscribe to the RSS feed. 

Filed under: humane education | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

High Heels, Media Literacy, and Reclaiming Our Freedom to Choose

Posted on August 13, 2012 by zoeweil
Image courtesy of heatheronhertravels via Creative Commons.

For my blog post today, I’m sharing a recent essay I wrote for Care2.com, an online community for people passionate about creating a better world. Here’s an excerpt from “High Heels, Media Literacy, and Reclaiming Our Freedom to Choose”:

“When I was in my twenties, I thought that some day, in the not-too-distant future, there would be no more high heels, except perhaps for costumes in shows about the past. I figured that emancipated women who had finally gained rights and freedoms (at great effort over many centuries) would be unwilling to wear shoes that compromised their safety, health and mobility. So the revival of high heels – including the extreme high heels of the past decade – has come as a bit of a shock; though it probably shouldn’t.

Having just watched the documentary, Miss Representation, about women’s depictions in the media, I know how manipulative and destructive the messages can be for both girls and women, as well as for men and boys. While women’s depictions in media have always included sexist images and messages, the sexualization of women and their bodies seems to have hit a high (or rather low) point. And we see the effects in our sexualized children, the provocative clothes worn by little girls, and, yes, the persistence of high heels, which cause harm to our bodies.

It is so challenging to resist the manipulations from advertising which insidiously compel us to fulfill our deepest desires – for love, happiness, security, power, etc. — with products. If high heels promise to ensure that we are desired and powerful agents in the world, and if everyone around us wears them, many of us find ourselves compelled to wear them, too.”

Read the complete essay.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

Like my blog? Please share it with others, comment, and/or subscribe to the RSS feed. 

Filed under: humane education, MOGO (Most Good) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Breaking Out of Our Comfort Zones

Posted on August 9, 2012 by zoeweil

 

 

Image courtesy of p_x_g via Creative Commons.

Like many couples, my husband and I have certain roles and responsibilities in our household. I cook the meals; Edwin does the dishes. I do the gardening; Edwin fixes everything. This works out very well for us. Edwin doesn’t enjoy cooking or gardening, and I don’t enjoy doing dishes and haven’t a clue how to fix anything.

But over time, it’s easy to get stuck in one’s roles and fail to branch out and grow in ways that might be positive and healthy. And so, every so often I push myself out of my comfort zone to do something I wouldn’t normally do.

In addition to being the family dishwasher and fixer, Edwin also does the heavy lifting. If we go canoeing or kayaking, he’s the one to lift the boats on the car and tie them on securely (while I’m usually busy making sandwiches). Edwin got me a paddleboard for Christmas last year after I raved about an experience using a friend’s paddleboard last summer. I love paddleboarding on our beautiful bay, but it’s not easy for me to carry the board very far to go elsewhere. It’s awkward and heavy after about 100 yards or so. But I wanted to venture beyond the bay, specifically to a wilderness area, where we’ve canoed many times, that’s full of wildlife and so serene and lovely. But that meant figuring out how to carry the board a third of a mile, get it on my car, maneuver it over some rapids to get to the flat part of the stream, and portage it over beaver dams and through woods and brambles.

As I headed to where I would put in, I felt my heart beating a little faster than normal. I knew I was about to embark on something challenging for me. Every time Edwin and I had canoed at this spot, he’d always been the one to deal with the canoe, the rapids, the portages, etc., while I simply carried our lunch.

But despite my worries, I did it all with no mishaps. I waded and pushed and lifted the board over the rapids and through the woods. And alone on that beautiful stream, I noticed even more than usual: the green stream grass that looks like gorgeous hair, undulating in the current, turning frizzy when the wind dances on the surface of the water; the hundreds of small and medium-sized fish everywhere in the water; the ubiquitous and postcard-perfect frogs sitting on blooming lily pads; the bald eagle who was so close because she or he didn’t notice me (quiet as I was on that paddleboard); the fluttering black-winged, iridescent green and turquoise damselflies; the dozen beaver lodges and the dearth of dams (most broken, some seemingly being built).

Although the word empowered is so overused, I felt empowered. It was good for me to practice a certain kind of strength and independence. Interdependence is wonderful, and I’m blessed by my 27-year partnership with Edwin, during which we’ve found our best roles; but pushing myself out of my comfort zone has its benefits.

Yet while I’ve shared this personal story about pushing myself out of my comfort zone regarding paddleboarding, the truth is that the even more important ways to push ourselves our of our comfort zones are in relation to how our choices affect others. As readers of our my blog know, I try to live by the MOGO principle: to do the most good and least harm to people (including myself), animals, and the environment, and as a humane educator I try to inspire others to do this as well.

We all have not only roles but also habits. And the truth is that many of our habits are destructive to others. The foods we eat may cause suffering and harm to people, animals, and ecosystems; the clothes we wear may have been produced inhumanely and unsustainably; the energy we consume always has its negative effects; the time we spend outside of our work and family responsibilities may not include the kinds of volunteerism and changemaking that our world most needs from us.

Breaking habits and breaking out of limiting roles may be just what we and the world most need. And chances are, if we’re willing to take the plunge and leave our comfort zones and make some choices that at first appear challenging, we just might find greater purpose, joy, meaning, and a sense of empowerment in our lives.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

Like my blog? Please share it with others, comment, and/or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Filed under: MOGO (Most Good) | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Savor and Save: The Key to Being a Lifelong Changemaker

Posted on August 6, 2012 by zoeweil

For my blog post today, I’m sharing a recent essay I wrote for One Green Planet, a website dedicated to ethical choices. Here’s an excerpt from “Savor and Save: The Key to Being a Lifelong Changemaker”:

William F. Schulz, the former executive director of Amnesty International USA, once wrote:

“I think we who work for justice and come face to face regularly with its negation are at risk of losing that which animates all healthy beings: the capacity to respond to the graciousness draping the world in colors vivid and electric, the warmth of the sun, a lover’s touch. If we neglect to notice these, why attend to anything else? E.B. White said, ‘Every morning I awake torn between a desire to save the world and an inclination to savor it. This makes it hard to plan the day.’ But if we forget to savor the world, what possible reason do we have for saving it? In a way, the savoring must come first.”

How often have I felt this very same conflict?

Read the complete essay.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

Like my blog? Please share it with others, comment, and/or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Filed under: humane education, MOGO (Most Good), nature | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Top 5 Ways Humane Education Can Save the World

Posted on August 1, 2012 by zoeweil
Image courtesy of DonkeyHotey via Creative Commons.

For my blog post today, I’m sharing a recent essay I wrote for Care2.com, an online community for people passionate about creating a better world. Here’s an excerpt from “Top 5 Ways Humane Education Can Save the World”:

I’ve spent lots of time trying to determine the most effective and strategic approach to creating a healthy, just and humane world for all people, animals and the environment. Given limited time and resources and the enormous challenges we face, what is the very best way to create positive change in the world? Legislation and politics? Entrepreneurship and innovative technologies? Investigative reporting? Protest? Direct action and rescue? Making personal choices that are humane and sustainable?

I was so excited to watch The Story of Stuff’s new animated video “The Story of Change,” which echoed much of what I’ve been teaching and writing about (including in my recent TEDx talk, Solutionaries). Annie Leonard, whose “Story of Stuff” video introduced millions of people to the underlying effects of our products and consumerist culture, points out that we can’t buy our way out of looming catastrophes and dangerous systems of production by choosing the greener and more humane products – although choosing such products over those that are inhumane and toxic is a first step.

Read the complete essay.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind, and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“

Like my blog? Please share it with others, comment, and/or subscribe to the RSS feed. 

Filed under: humane education | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 451 other followers