As I watched this, I wondered what it would take for all of us to have a healthy balance of past, present, and future orientation so that we would all be able to learn from and appreciate our pasts, live fully in our presents, and be cognizant of and choose wisely based upon the goals we have for the future. Personally, I do not think that it is all that wise for most people to live predominantly in one of these categories and neglect the others. While it’s commonplace today for busy, future-oriented people (like me I’d add) to strive to live “in the present,” I think the real goal for people like me ought to be to live more in the present, and to find that elusive balance that enables us to be fully engaged right now while able and willing to reflect upon the past and eager to live in such a way to create a positive and healthy future for ourselves and others.

When Phil Zimbardo discusses the ways in which our children are now digitally rewired and fundamentally different than their parents in relation to time, and points out the ways in which traditional schooling is a disaster for so many kids – boys in particular – one wonders what the solution might be to raise a generation that is balanced in regards to time in today’s world. There are many ideas that lead to this balance for our children: time spent in nature where wonder may be cultivated; unstructured play time; and limited screen time to allow for a leisurely present that leads to joy and creativity in the early years of life that is later balanced with lessons in history (past oriented) and exploration of current conflicts and problems (in the present) that elicit creative ideas for system-changes and solutions (for a healthy future).

I believe it’s time to abandon any judgments about which orientation is “best,” as the early part of Phil Zimbardo’s talk reveals is happening in Italy, and to do away with the idea that our goal should be to “live in the present” or “wisely plan for the future” or “focus on learning from the past.” We need all of these aspects of ourselves together to lead lives that are joyful and wise, and we need to raise a generation that has the capacity to find the healthiest balance, too.

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of The Power and Promise of Humane Education and Most Good, Least Harm: A Simple Principle for a Better World and Meaningful Life

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Each of us has a fire inside of us. It is the fire of our passions and our beliefs, and all of us who are activists know it well. It is the fire that spurs us to learn about what is happening on our planet — to people, animals, and the environment — and it is the fire that spurs us to action to solve the crises we face and challenge the atrocities that still pervade our world. It is often a blazing hot fire. And sometimes, when we have burned out, it is a barely glowing ember. (There is a reason for the term “burned out” after all.)

As change agents, we have a choice about what sort of fire we will be. Will we be the warm campfire that draws people towards us so that we can share what we know and inspire others to make a difference, or will we be the forest fire that rages too hot, causing people to run from us? This is one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves because the fire we cultivate makes an enormous difference in our effectiveness as changemakers.

But as we know, fire is not static, so whatever fire you have been or are today is subject to change. Fires die out if we don’t add fuel, and the sparks that fly off of them can ignite infernos if we add too much fuel too quickly. As change agents, we must seek that perfect balance, adding enough fuel in the form of knowledge and resources to burn just hot enough to ignite change without igniting a conflagration. We will know if our fire needs more fuel if we are not doing the work that must be done and aren’t inspiring others to join us, and we will know if we need to let up on the fuel if people avoid us. If we’ve been activists for a long time, we may have noticed that our fiery youth has diminished too much. If we are new to changemaking, we may need to take great care in cultivating our fire so it doesn’t burn too hot.

Tend your fire carefully. The world needs you to burn just right.

Zoe Weil, author of Most Good, Least Harm and Above All, Be Kind

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Over the course of the past two weeks, I’ve been watching a multitude of frogs and salamanders at every stage of development. There are tiny, gilled newts, and full grown salamanders, and red efts ready to emerge for their time in the woods. There are tadpoles from half a dozen different species, all in various phases of their transformation into frogs. I’ve been watching them grow their rear legs, and then their front, and move onto land, and slowly reabsorb their tales. I’ve listened to the trilling of tree frogs, the peeping of peepers, the honk of bullfrogs, and beeps of green frogs. My foot has been the way station for an emerging frog. I’ve noticed the way in which some species of tadpole are bold, while others quite shy and how the full grown salamanders are the most skittish of all, ascending quickly for air only to dive down to the depths as fast as they can.

I’ve watched huge water scorpions swim laboriously as they paddle through the water with skinny legs. I’ve watched hundreds of damselflies with their iridescent blue backs mate and dip their fertilized eggs into the water. My legs and arms have been the resting spot for many.

Mostly I don’t know much about what I’m observing, at least not in the scientific sense. I don’t know the names of the different species of tadpole, nor the life cycle of the water scorpion. I could find out of course, and I likely will; but I am experiencing so much just through observation, and I’m reluctant to turn to books quite yet. I want to discover what I am able to learn and know by carefully watching what’s around me.

I recommend such an activity to everyone, but especially children. In our media-saturated, indoor- or sports field-focused world, we neglect to experience the magnificent natural world that sustains us all. We do this at our peril, as a failure to cultivate our wonder often results in our failure to protect what we neither experience, nor understand, nor love.

As I’ve said before, please go outside; for yourself and the world. And try sitting quietly in the same spot each day for 30 minutes and notice what comes.

Enjoy!

Zoe Weil
Author of Most Good, Least Harm and Above All, Be Kind

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1. Commit to the 3 Is: inquire, introspect, and live with integrity. Expose yourself to information and ideas about MOGO living by talking to and learning from people from all walks of life who are also trying to do the most good and the least harm; by reading widely and deeply; by visiting websites aimed at making a difference, and by viewing relevant films. You can find a list of websites, books, magazines, and films, updated regularly, in IHE’s Resource Center. Then introspect: identify your values, consider what is most important to you, assess your talents and interests, and seek out ways to put these together practically and productively. Finally, live with integrity. To the best of your ability, put your values into practice.

2. Work for change. Give some of your time, resources, and talents to create systemic change that benefits all. Choose the issues that most concern and compel you, get involved, and relish the joy that such generosity brings to yourself and others. If you can, make your career one that is MOGO.

3. Rethink, reuse, repair, and recycle. As much as possible, rethink your use of products that are unnecessary, inhumane, produced through exploitive business practices, non-recyclable, overpackaged, toxic, and/or unsustainable. When you do make purchases, choose the most sustainable, efficient, humane, fairly traded, and healthy versions. Then reuse what you can, repair what is reparable, and recycle when you are through. And in the midst of these 4 Rs consider what you could borrow instead of buy, and what you could share with friends and neighbors so that they can better rethink unnecessary products, too.

4. Eat for life. As much as possible choose plant-based foods produced close to where you live, grown organically, and unprocessed. This will improve your health, the environment, the lives of animals, and the well-being of other people.

5. Reduce your ecological footprint. Drive less, carpool, walk, bike, car-share, and use public transportation more. If you need to own a car, choose one with the best fuel efficiency to meet your needs. Choose the most energy efficient and ecologically friendly options for homes, home repair, appliances, lighting, heating, and cooling. Choose your recreation and vacations with MOGO in mind as well. An ecotourism excursion over a cruise. Cross-country skiing instead of downhill skiing. Canoeing more often than motorboating.

6. Transform education. People need relevant information, tools for critical thinking, and motivation to lead meaningful lives that contribute to a better world. Whether you are a parent, student, teacher, elder, or concerned citizen, help make living sustainably and peacefully the very purpose of education at all levels by engaging in dialogue with lawmakers, educators, and school and university administrators.

7. Invest your money ethically. If you are going to rely on a mutual fund for retirement or college, choose a socially responsible investment fund. Ask for a portfolio and assess whether the company invests in the kinds of businesses you want to support. Seek out community banks and credit unions and consider microlending as a means of using your investment money to help others.

8. Build community. Find others who share your desire to make MOGO choices by joining existing groups or creating your own group, and invite people to join you. You will enjoy the friendship and camaraderie and help make a difference at the same time. Don’t forget the communities in which you are already a part. Get to know your neighbors and work with them to make your neighborhood healthy, supportive, and safe.

9. Teach others. Share what you know and learn with others to engage them in the challenge of living a MOGO life, using positive communication that does not judge or blame. Listen as often as you speak. Teaching and learning happens everywhere: one on one, in schools, in religious congregations, at camps, in families, in print and film, at learning centers, on social networking Internet sites, at senior facilities, etc. Model your message and speak your truth in kind and inspiring ways wherever you are and with whomever you’re in contact.

10. Strive for balance. Set reasonable goals for yourself and remember the “most good, least harm” equation includes you. You are a role model for a MOGO life, so find the balance that lets you live joyfully, enthusiastically, and compassionately.

Zoe Weil, President of the Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm, Above All, Be Kind and Claude and Medea

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Sy wrote this:

As we lay in bed this morning, Norma asked what I was going to do today. “Save the world,” I replied in a deadpan voice. “Did you say ‘save,’” she asked, or ‘savor’?” I laughed. “Try savor,” she said.” (The Sun, January 2010)

This got me thinking. My work is of the “save the world” sort. It’s not as if I have so much hubris as to think that I am going to be instrumental in “saving the world” (and I’m not sure what that means anyway), but I do believe that I have a responsibility to use my skills and knowledge toward creating a more humane, sustainable, and peaceful world as far as I can. And sometimes the weight of this responsibility is heavy, and I feel guilty if I don’t put in what I consider the right amount of “save the world” hours. The truth is, though, that I relish savoring the world, and I do so regularly. I snowshoed this blizzardy morning up our small mountain and savored the incredible beauty of the carpet of fluffy, star-like, sparkling snow thickly coating even the tiniest of branches and turning the evergreens into a Dr. Seuss book.

But often I feel like my life is divided between savoring and saving, and I strive for a balance I can live with.

After my hike this morning I returned home and logged onto the MOGO Online Commons on this first day of our month-long MOGO Online course at the Institute for Humane Education. Today’s exercise for the course comes from my book, Most Good, Least Harm. Participants imagine and then share what they would say to a child who comes up to them on a park bench at the end of their long life and asks what they did to help create the better, safer, healthier, more peaceful, and restored world that the child now lives in (and that the exercise presupposes will come about).

One participant, Kathy Hally, a friend of mine and a local elementary school teacher, wrote this:

“What I would want to be able to say to this child on the park bench:

“My role in helping to change history was easy and enjoyable. It was painless to give my time to animals left in shelters who had been abandoned and/or abused and were lonely and scared. It was easy and fun to pat a cat or throw a ball for a dog and take them for a walk in the woods. It was comforting to have a lonely pet lean up against me and show me how much they liked a little friendship and affection.

“It was satisfying to find ways to spend my money on food that wasn’t sprayed with chemicals or mistreated with cruelty and/or shot up with awful antibiotics and other chemicals. It was painless to buy things I knew were not being made by children your own age in sweat shops and/or other inappropriate child labor means.

“It was interesting to find ways to decrease the amount of pollution I created by knowing how and where things were made all over the world and the impact they had on local people and the globe. It made me appreciate and care about nature more and more.

“It was painless and enjoyable to grow my own organic vegetables to eat and share with friends and family.

“It was fun. Try it.”

I immediately thought how wonderful it was to read a response that was about simultaneously saving and savoring. No distinction. No need to “find balance.” No separation. No either/or. No “now” and “later.”

I know I, like Sy, will continue to distinguish between “saving” days and “savoring” days, but how comforting it was to read Kathy’s response and realize that a shift in attitude, attention, and awareness can meld these two into one.

~ Zoe Weil

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In the activist community, taking time for oneself is often suspect, viewed with criticism. There is, after all, so much work to be done. Years ago, when I was hired by a non-proft, changemaking organization, employees had to work 52 weeks in order to get a single week’s vacation. The message was clear.

There are activists I know for whom endless work brings great joy because it is the “antidote to despair” that I wrote about in a previous blog post, quoting Joan Baez. But for many others, the constant effort to create change, the burden of guilt for indulging in pleasurable activities that don’t “make the world a better place,” and the self-imposed pressure to do good all the time can lead to burnout and depression. I’ve known many activists who’ve simply abandoned changemaking efforts or who suffer from stress-related physical problems and illnesses. This doesn’t do anyone any good.

In my book, Most Good, Least Harm, I profile several people in the section, “Live your epitaph,” who are endeavoring to make the world a better place. One of them, Melissa Feldman , a humane educator and friend of mine, said she wanted her epitaph to read thus: “Melissa did some good and had some fun along the way.” So simple.

Finding the balance that allows us to be happy, joyful people who are full of life and love and who also strive hard to create a better world utilizing our best selves is a challenge, one in which a bit of healthy guilt may spur us to work harder, and a bit of healthy self love may spur us to take care of ourselves and celebrate the glorious miracle of our own existence. This is no either/or but an important both, and that’s worth our effort to cultivate consciously, responsibly, and joyfully.

~ Zoe

Image courtesy of hbp_pix via Creative Commons.

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The question “How can we choose to know and still maintain hope in the face of ghastly atrocities?” is a seminal one for humane educators and reflects a paradox that is difficult to resolve. We must know in order to create positive change. Knowing leads to what Buddhists call “right action” and Jews call “tikkun olam” (repairing the world), but it can also to lead to rage, depression, fear, and violence, and even, paradoxically, to apathy when we simply cannot absorb or care about so much.

Most of us know angry activists who turn off more people than they turn on, whose actions are counter productive, who fail to model the peace and compassion they seek to create in the world. These people “know” but their “knowing” actually inhibits their successful changemaking.

And most of us also know activists who tirelessly create healthy change while inspiring others. What is the key to their success? How do they both know and radiate kindness, acceptance, patience, and openness? I believe that most such changemakers find a practice that grounds them, as well as outlets for experiencing joy and inner peace. They may spend time in the natural world, or meditate, or read inspiring works, or find strength from their religious beliefs, or gather with friends to laugh and play. They self reflect, they revel in all that is good, they acknowledge their own sadness and frustration as worthy emotions, and they persevere in cultivating their own best qualities.

Humane educators must not only cultivate all this within themselves, but also in the students we teach. If we create a generation full of despair, rather than a generation enthusiastic to play their part in creating change, we will have failed. If, however, we honor our students’ sorrow, fear, and anger and help them transform these emotions into “right action” we will have created a generation that can embrace the humane educator’s paradox and move toward the unfolding of a better world.

~ Zoe

Too often we feel compelled to narrow ourselves, to decide that we are thinkers rather than feelers; extroverts, not introverts; believers instead of nonbelievers; animal people versus people people; pro-choice, not pro-life; business folks rather than non-profit types; sanguine not melancholic; type A’s not type B’s.

There are times to choose, to cast our vote, to commit to our values through our actions and our decisions – this is true. And its opposite is true, too. In the midst of our choosing, of our taking sides, of our speaking our truth, we can and must remember that we – the human family, the Earth family – are one, inextricably connected, the same despite our myriad differences. We know and learn with our hearts, our hands, our spirits, and our minds.

Openness to all and commitment to our deepest values. Let’s find the balance.

Happy Equinox,

~ Zoe