I’ve been having conversations with friends in the last month about my new clarity. I’ve actually been saying, “I want to save the world.”
Try saying that to an old friend in the grocery store at 9:30 on a Sunday night. (Lois, you were so gracious.)
I get that “save the world” is one of those phrases that makes people back away, just in case your spittle lands on them as you expound your latest conspiracy theory.
I get that it’s a phrase that presumes you are a god-like creature who can do the saving and who gets to determine who and what gets saved.
I get that it’s even a fusty phrase, twinged with pot smoke and hairy underarm funk.
It’s also a phrase heavy with “been there, tried that, too tired now, doing what I can.”
I get that it is almost unbearably naive.
I get that language is power and I need better language.
I get all that. Really.
And I’m not ready to stop using the words “Save the world.”
Because they make me profoundly uncomfortable. They help me see my desire for comfort is often greater than my desire to lessen my impact. They help me see my desire to be special is often greater than my desire to be of service. They help me see my story of “who do I think I am?” to take this on. There are professionals doing this, for god’s sake.
This dated, fusty phrase is helping me wake up.
These words are helping me open, to hold, with tender mercy, my discomfort, to see it and say yes to it.
To love myself for wanting to do this without falling into “Oh how special!”
For a long time, I’ve been part of a sub-culture that believes if you raise your consciousness and do good stuff like buy quinoa in bulk and shine light to others during hard times, that will be enough to change the world.
I say that’s crucial, that’s glorious, and that’s not enough.
As Lynn Twist, author of the Soul of Money says in this stunningly good video delivered to some of the very most influential people who are teaching consciousness:
….Talking to people who are in the business of transformation because that is the key factor that will turn the tide… your capacity to shift attitudes is the key…
and
As fast as we are all working and as successful as we all are [at shifting consciousness]… it’s not fast enough, it’s not deep enough, it’s not adequate for how fast the future that we don’t want is coming toward us… as scientists tell us the future we don’t want is coming at us faster than we realized.”
Do me a favor, please: watch the video. Lynn is all about consciousness and she is about a call to action.
Then tell me what words will help us stay awake, help us create “a positive tipping point out of choice and sourcefulness, out of our longing to serve and to be the people we want to be on this planet?”
If not “save the world,” then what?
Thank you.
24 responses so far ↓
1 Ingrid Sep 15, 2010
Hi Jen, I love the way you describe this. Perhaps to “savor and save” the world? When we add savoring, then we are also loving, slowing down a little- maybe enjoying without consuming? What was the quote? “Caught between the desire to savor and to save?” Adding Savor might pique curiosity, whereas Save alone does seem overwhelming…. Just a thought. Thanks so much for this discussion/ call to action.
2 Jennifer Sep 15, 2010
Hi Ingrid! The E.B. White quote is
“If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”
It’s often changed into “”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” which is a bit better (sorry E.B.)
3 Julianne Fuchs-Musgrave Sep 15, 2010
Synchronicity strikes again. I’ve been working with what I want to do as an artist teacher, and much if not all of my plans have to do with a solid belief that education–real arts-based education can “save the world.” I absolutely believe that saving the world entails not only making positive changes–but doing so as we savor. Savor the beauty that exists, the beauty that is created with positive change, beauty is good work well done.
4 Liz Sep 15, 2010
Jen-
I’m grateful to hear you say this out loud and in public.
Because I, too want to save the world, and have for as long as I can remember.
Of course I learned not to say it out loud, or anything crazy like that, but this is the longing that is still in my heart.
And often I’d rather do whatever I can to not notice it, because it seems so hopeless sometimes. Most of the time I can’t even comprehend the scope of what needs ‘fixing’ never mind the thought of actually doing it.
And so I do what I can. I recycle. I turn off the lights. I volunteer at my son’s school and try to make my little corner of the universe peaceful and happy.
And sometimes I get overwhelmed with the apparent futility of it all. In those moments, I envy those who don’t feel this pull to save the world.
But I do. And it’s hard. So thank you for putting your stake in the ground.
It gives me courage and hope, because if there are many of us (as I suspect there are!) maybe together we can do what none of us can do alone.
5 Karen Sharp Sep 15, 2010
True, serious words, Jen. And I very much agree, the future and the inevitable point of choice and consequence is coming a lot faster than we think.
One way of talking about this I’ve been using is by reference to the idea that our calling is that place where our greatest joy intersects with the world’s deepest need. That’s what I’m trying to do, that’s where I’m trying to work.
Also, depending on my audience, I sometimes refer to the old Isaac Asimov story from his Foundation trilogy, of working to create a safe haven to save as much as possible, in a time of profoundly, desperately transformative change.
I’m working in the same trenches you are, Jen, with the same sense of momentousness. The work’s too important for us to be timid about sounding overly idealistic or naive (even though I do, too, all the time.) I salute your willingness to step into this language and this problem. For the sake of the world.
6 Jennifer Sep 15, 2010
oh bless you each of you for reaching out to me in this
I look forward to reading your work/connecting/supporting each other
I so know that doing this alone is NOT a good idea, actually, it’s kind of laughable, isn’t it?
7 Danielle LaPorte Sep 15, 2010
bravo.
xo
8 Shannon Sep 15, 2010
Oh, I really needed to see this right now. I live in that subculture too, and no, I don’t think it’s enough anymore. Not for me, at least.
Thanks for planting the flag.
9 jo Sep 15, 2010
I so get this. And for now I’m learning to ease the overwhelm by having a teensy bit of the world that is mine to save and by getting off my backside and doing it. Nothing heroic, but doing it. And I’m eternally grateful that people like you are taking care of their bits of it too.
10 Teresa Deak Sep 15, 2010
Such gentle determination and unapologetic compassion.
I’m Not sure that my words help communicate the deep swift shift you want to characterize, but this is where I have arrived after years of my heart coming alive and finding peace in the essence of a flower:
“Beauty will save us.”
I said this quite off the cuff to a friend a few months ago, and realized that, while I knew this to be true, I didn’t really understand what it meant.
I’ve thought about it a lot since then, dovetailed with my daily practice of sharing a beautiful photo and brush strokes of words. With my photos and my words I constantly seek Beauty. I look for her in the most common and mundane places, and finding her brings a peace and aliveness to me that feels like a connection to something bigger, something divine. Like falling in love with the earth.
And so, for me, *seeking* Beauty is what saves me. It’s what takes me beyond the walls of my ego into a sublime place.
And what if every person every where spent just a few moments every day seeking Beauty? Would we not all experience some level of connection with the Infinite, that Vast Mystery that inhabits our world, our selves, each other? And once faced with the Beauty in all things, wouldn’t we have to respect everything just that little bit more?
This is what I do. I share this Beauty that finds me through the lens of my camera, for any and all to see. Virtually every day. It’s my small contribution to, in the spirit of your post today, saving the world.
Hugs and butterflies,
~Teresa~
11 Amy Sep 15, 2010
As I read everyone’s comments I suddenly had an insight. It’s not a new one, but the importance of it hit me hard, especially in relation to the questions posed above. Here’s what I heard:
“Compassionate collaboration, not self-centered competition.”
Compassionate collaboration will help us have the courage to do things we may not do individually.
It can weaken the fear or complacency that keeps us stuck so we can courageously save the world, with a friend or two.
As an individual I can move molehills. But as a community we can move mountains.
I’m not sure if the phrase is powerful enough to keep us on our toes, but the idea inspires me to reach out and connect more often with other people.
here’s to growing somewhere great!
Amy
12 Amy Sep 15, 2010
jen,
i love what the other amy, just above, posted.
and what you are saying here reminds me of all the squirming i have done for decades, as i naively tried to “save the world” through community building exercises in small rural villages and inner city soup kitchen conversations about justice. i didn’t really believe in my efforts because underneath it all i knew i was just one person and no matter how much i did, it couldn’t move more than a molehill.
but a community of committed individuals, a la Margaret Mead, now there’s something.
as to other phrases, none come to mind that don’t evoke the squirminess. what you say about appreciating the discomfort of your phrase tells me that it’s not done learning you. not yet.
thank you for being oh-so-brave.
love,
amy
13 James | Dancing Geek Sep 15, 2010
Not “Save the world” but rather “Create the world of your dreams”
Don’t react to a problem; bring to life your heart’s vision.
There’s so much else behind this swimming in my head right now, but I’m still working out how it all fits together. (That’s kinda my thing – I think I might change my name to The Pattern Whisperer!)
14 Elizabeth Sep 15, 2010
I’ve been part of that sub-culture too, and what I do feels so little.
I am liking this idea of using the phrase as a way to see where my discomfort with it lies and be gentle and grow. Thank you for that.
This is why I really love the idea of being kind to ourselves and remembering that we are enough – because it feels like the kinder we are to ourselves, the more kindness we can extend to others and to the world.
15 Willie Hewes Sep 16, 2010
Really? You gave us the conditions of enoughness, and now, after all, it turns out to not be enough after all?
What I mean to say is, what then?
I’m happy for your new found wakefulness and bravery in the face of elephants. But I must admit, I do not understand this at all.
16 Jennifer Sep 16, 2010
Willie, thanks for your comment. Conditions of Enoughness are needed HUGELY to save the world, there are integral! COE’s and knowing what enough is doesn’t preclude wanting to do something huge like save the world – you want hold a big goal (save the world is one, that’s for sure
and then here you were in everyday life. What’s enough today? So for me, as I decide how to help, I’m using COE’s every DAY to ground me and to be human, and sane, and present. You dream, you yearn, and then you chop wood, carry water with gratitude. COE’s give us a way to do that. Not feeling we are doing enough won’t move or save anything. Does that make sense? Perhaps a longer post on this would help. It’s a VERY important point. Thank you for reading my blog.
17 Walter Sep 16, 2010
How can we save this world if majority of people are selfish in furthering their erroneous ways with the aid of their destructive technology? While I’m glad that many are making an effort to make this world a better place, it takes only one big error to destroy everything. Perhaps we should focus on changing the hearts of people.
Just a thought.
18 williehewes Sep 17, 2010
Thanks Jennifer, that does help. Micro vs. Macro, right. Everyday enoughness vs. epic stuff. That works.
And it’s a pleasure to read your blog, so you’re quite welcome. ^__^
19 Shawna R. B. Atteberry Sep 17, 2010
That is great. And I needed the reminder to stop being so hard on myself and have fun. I get more done when I have fun.
OK Chicago Transit Authority, when are going to start doing this? I’ll always take the stairs.
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