How do you want to feel?

When I ask people how they feel when they are experiencing or expressing the Conventional Paradigm [https://www.wildhazel.net/blog/how-are-you-expressing-the-conventional-paradigm], they respond with words like: suspicious, inauthentic, victimized, stressed, anxious, greedy, ashamed, unsupportive, selfish, paranoid, annoyed, angry, lonely, unhealthy, myopic, cynical, rude, frantic.  Of course when a collection of us feel this way, it is continuously reflected and reinforced, reverberating through all parts of our lives and society. How can you be thoughtful with your partner or kids when you get home when you’ve been cynical, selfish, and inauthentic all day?

Most of us working in sustainability focus on solving the problems of the world, perhaps striving to achieve the UN SDGs. This is crucial work; however, how can we possibly “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” (Goal 3), or any of the other SDGs, when we’re feeling paranoid, myopic, and lonely? 

Before we can save the world, we need to save ourselves.  This is not only necessary, it is wonderful. 

When I ask people how they feel when they are experiencing or expressing the Natural Paradigm [https://www.wildhazel.net/blog/what-is-natures-paradigm], they respond with word like: accepted, aware, present, authentic, honest, compassionate, fun, supportive, inspired, playful, collaborative, creative, joyful, caring, excited, safe, curious, healthy, open, heard, myself, trust, expansive, generous. This way of being, individually and collectively, is exactly what we need to imagine, design, and create the world that we all want to live in, a world where all can flourish. And it isn’t limited to working on sustainability. When we feel and engage this way at work, we bring it home with us. Our personal relationships, as well as our sense of self, are stronger, healthier, happier. 

How do you feel day in and day out when doing your work in the world?  How do you feel when you get home at the end of the day? Is that how you want to feel? Is that how you want to be in the world?

Current cultural, societal, and economic paradigms are human constructs that are self-serving, self-reinforcing, and damaging to people and the planet. They do not reflect, support, or reinforce basic human values or nature’s principles. We need as many of us as possible to recognize the damaging Conventional Paradigm and that there's an alternative — the Natural Paradigm. When you understand and engage in your world from your own Natural Paradigm, it makes you and your world — our world — a better place.

If you’re curious, I invite you to request the [free] Tiny Transformation Workbook which will give you a tiny experience of intentionally living from your Natural Paradigm.