PROGRESS

In the “developed” world the surface of life is changing at a furious rate.  New ideas, technologies, inventions, products and behaviors crash over us and suck us powerfully into an ocean of novelty.  We can hardly get our collective breath.  And, the rate of change is accelerating.  Our video game has been speeded up to such an extent that the images are beginning to blur.  Human generations can hardly find a common language to use to connect with each other as they are immersed in technologies whose generations are unfolding in months rather than decades.  We are dancing faster and faster.

We think this must be progress.  There are so many good things wrapped up in it.  If we are among the winners, we live longer, most of our children get to grow up and we live abundant, easy lives.  If anything, we have too much of everything.  We are fat and we suffer from the diseases of wealth.

Sure, we work longer hours for fewer dollars and live from paycheck to paycheck and feel no security.  We are contract or temporary workers.  We live with anxiety.  Our intimate relationships, if we have any, are strained.  We live in “starter houses” with “starter mates”. Marriages have become revolving doors.  We expect to “upgrade” several times in life.  Computers, phones, cars, houses, locations, jobs, spouses and the myriad of things that we fill our lives with are all up for grabs.  Easy come, easy go.

But, Homo Sapiens is physically, biochemically and emotionally the same creature that lived as a hunter/gatherer on the African savanna all of those ages ago.  We have conquered our planet and climbed to the top of the food chain, leaving a huge swath of extinctions of fellow creatures in our path.  Now, we are flirting with our own extinction and looking for ways to escape the rock that we have long called home.

It doesn’t have to be this way, people.  We don’t need to be this way.  We need to change, deeply, inwardly.  I am here to tell you that we can do that.  Let’s start now.