A creative society is a prosperous society! We need YOU!!!!! And NOW!!!!!!
(inspiration packed into this amazing video by my friends at Holstee)
Last night, as I laughed my self to sleep in sheer excitement of the amazing things that are bubbling up all around me, I was confronted with an equally dismal thought. I chose not to engage it at that time, but as I sat down this morning with a delightful cup of my beloved Oslo brew of Brooklyn’s best coffee I was reminded of this thought, so I will flow into it…
What really is prosperity? Our we a prosperous society? What’s our qualifying measurement system here?
Is it a home with a white picket fence? A Porsche 911 Carrera in the garage? A fancy job? A hot girlfriend? You get where I’m going with this.
Or is it a healthy and happy family? A community of loving & nourishing friendships? Time to do what you love? The ability to choose the life that you want to live? And a life that inspires limitless joy!
Reflecting upon these questions, it seems that life in America appears to be dominated by the more quantitative measurements of success that reflect a more physical nature of prosperity. And it’s no wonder when we look at the corporatized marketing machine that pollutes our perception of this idea of what it means to be happy, healthy and prosperous. We are bombarded with images and well crafted stories that have brought us to believe that happiness lies in the accumulation of physical stuff. But does this really define prosperity? Let’s look closer.
If we look at American society today, we seek a country on the verge of bankruptcy. While its citizens may have lots of stuff (big homes, fancy cars, iPhones and video games), we are in major debt and are living way beyond our means. So, while the stuff might be in our possession, I guess we don’t own anything; the banks own it all! From an extreme perspective, we are a society enslaved by our addiction to stuff and the banks that loan us the money to acquire it. This doesn’t feel like prosperity.
When I travel to the north of Brazil or the mountainous region of northern Thailand, I find societies that, if measured by American standards of prosperity, look broke. But when I walk down the streets and engage the locals in conversation, I feel a deep sense of joy and peace. There is a feeling of richness that emerges within me. It’s amazing how a society who seems to have very little physical stuff seems to be overflowing with a abundance of joy. And because they live closer to nature (physically & mentally), they appear to be nourished with bountiful amounts of fruits, vegetables, sun, water and all the essentials that nature provides for us. Overall, these people feel much more prosperous that the drones that I see walking down Wall Street. Ok, I know this is extreme, but exaggeration helps in making a point, right?!
I guess quality trumps quantity when it comes to measuring prosperity. And from my perspective, American society is waking up to this same realization at an ever increasing rate. This is extremely encouraging. But, how do we transform our personal experience of prosperity to one based on quality vs. quantity when everything around us encourages us to buy more, consume more, have more, work harder, etc.?
We must change our perspective! As we are a product of our environment, we must first create and curate a new environment; one that inspires a new perspective of prosperity. We must surround us with those that share this new perspective. We must choose to saturate our experience with images and stories that inspire qualitative experiences of joy and peace. And we must listen to our hearts.
It all comes down to creativity! When we look across the planet with a perspective of prosperity based on quality of life, it’s clear that creativity is a core ingredient. To live in flow with our bliss, we must tap into our creative flow.
On that note, I must flow to a very important meeting. I will leave ya’ll hanging with this thought and let’s pick up on this again tomorrow. Have a glorious day!
Love & light,
Ryan!
