Matt Powers, influential teacher: “We are dealing with an Oxygen problem as much as a stagnating Carbon cycle”
I just love the wisdom of permaculturists. Systemic thinking. Symbiotic solutions. Healthy soil, clear view on energy, and integrating practical observations. They are telling the truth in a clear and concise way.
It’s how I came to understand the world. It’s how I find honest, practical solutions for my personal life.
Whoever thinks that permaculture is just a form of natural gardening, think again. It’s wisdom for our earthly and human future in all aspects.
Earth Care. People Care. Fair Share.
It’s the one and only Future Care. So, how about climate change and CO2? Matt Powers is very direct…
As views and beliefs flow with the times, deep ecology is here to stay.
What I like about the Tao (from ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tze) is that it tells us that we’re walking backward. Facing the past. Feet in the here and now, and our backs to the future. That’s why we train to have a strong back.
Why not walk forward so we can see where we’re going? Later, I read that many other teachings say the same thing. There’s no other way. Because the past is the only thing we can see clearly. And we need strong backs to be courageous in facing the unknown future.
LIFE
Holland, Indonesia, and now Ibiza. Life can be adventurous
“We need much less than we think we need”
People who make their lives simple, own little stuff, are the happiest people alive. Many of us hoard stuff in too large houses we have to clean and care for. And we spend our time worrying that somebody steals our stuff.
Mike and I chose to live nomadically. Live with the flow. And love. Love. LOVE.
The nomadic lifestyle is becoming popular. Mostly among young people, but we also meet the older ones like ourselves. And I love it. In Holland, we live in a caravan or we…
Rhizomes are changing the paradigm of deeply rooted trees and hierarchy
Lately, the influential professor Johan Gielis has taught me about bamboo and rhizomes. I have honest conversations with him via Zoom. And I’m challenged to go deeper into the work of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze and psychoanalyst and political activist Felix Guattari.
Their emphasis on the nomadic nature of knowledge and identity resonates with me. And I invite you to enjoy their bamboo roots with me…
Bamboo and its underground rhizomes are the opposites of hierarchal structures. The bamboo network underground is interconnected and nomadic. The organism roots and moves on. …
SCIENCE
Quantum Physics is too important
We all know that Tibet is heavily being oppressed by China. It’s a cultural war. It’s hierarchical power games. It must be so painful for the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, who currently lives in exile in India.
But what does this compassionate man do? He records three days of talking with Chinese scientists about quantum physics in English.
In heaven’s name, why?
I wanna go for a guess. Are you joining me? I’m always happy to hear your thoughts in the comments.
- The Dalai Lama knows that the western world idolizes him for his Buddhist, compassionate…
SELF IMPROVEMENT
This wise woman you should get to know
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”
Maya Angelou has been with me since my adolescence. Her autobiography ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ landed on my lap one day. It was pure serendipity in action. It was 40 years ago. I was living in Europe, not America. I’m not perceived as a person of color although I do have an Asian great-grandmother.
I was hooked by her work. As was Oprah Winfrey later on. Maya’s wisdom is…
ART — SCIENCE
Isaac Asimov and the art of bamboo and fungi
“The true scientist is quite imaginative as well as rational, and sometimes leaps to solutions where reason can follow only slowly; if he does not, his science suffers.”
We can only unleash the future with imagination and art. Sci-fi has been unleashing big time in the past. But we can do better than that, my friends. We can really imagine a world without fear. Without wars. With the vast intelligence of nature supporting us instead of killing us.
We can only unleash the future if we allow our scientists to be intuitive and wise. Stop thinking we…
LIFE LESSONS
Winter gratitude at the beginning of spring
“How can you ever hope to know the Beloved
Without becoming in every cell the Lover?
And when you are the Lover at last, you don’t care.
Whatever you know, or don’t — only Love is real.”
— Rumi in A Year of Rumi
Waking up, my nose and cheeks feel cold. I pull the blanket higher. My whole head is covered now. But I do hear your breathing.
A calm rhythm. Silently the air goes into your lungs. Your out-breath is slightly wheezing. I hear you are asleep still. I know your different breaths intimately. …
SELF
Your breath can help you with health and awareness
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. We do it every day, every hour, and every minute. Without thought, we just breathe. And that’s a shame. As soon as we start to use our breath consciously, a shift takes place. A shift in our bodies and in our awareness.
We can take huge steps in personal development and improve our physical and mental health with just our breath as a tool. Just enjoy the urge to open your nose and mouth, relax your belly, and breathe.
Today, I would like to tell you what I did to become aware…
Desiree Driesenaar
Curious about life. Systemic, upstream solutions. Aligning economy, ecology, and the human spirit. Free spirit. ✽ https://www.linkedin.com/in/desireedriesenaar
