new economy – Bridging the Paradigms: re-connecting people and the planet

Lavender: When Summer Makes You Smile

August 17, 2012 by Robyn

We joke about summer in Seattle all year—and can’t stop smiling when it shows up!

Bonus is, it also smells great, especially when the lavender harvest is in.

I am so grateful when I work to establish good relationships with people who love their work, and then I enjoy the fruits of our mutual labor! Like my auto mechanic I bumped into this morning while we were waiting for iced coffees. Like the farmer at the West Seattle Farmer’s Market, who brought me some tiny lemon basil plants to humor my city girl’s green thumb, knowing all the while that I’d still buy oodles of it when she harvests, which I did (what you don’t gobble yourself makes lovely gifts).

And especially like Marcella Stachurski at Cedarbrook Lavender and Herb Farm in Sequim, Washington, who picked up the phone a few years ago, when the Seattle lavender crop had failed, and promptly filled my entire large large large order. It was literally on my doorstep the next morning (having delighted our postal carrier all day on his route). The lavender doesn’t get picked until it’s ready, and it’s shipped the same day.

Summer. Lavender. People who love their jobs.

Awesome.

Filed Under: Living Tagged With: business ethics, good businesses, new economy, noteworthy people

How Do We Really Define Land of the Free?

July 5, 2012 by Robyn

The Fourth of July in America has become a puzzle for me. We’ve devolved into an ‘us or them’ paradigm, it seems, where the only thing that matters is our military. Why is that?

Seriously, why is that?

I honor every American who works hard at whatever he or she does: from serving in the military to growing food, building roads, teaching, writing, fitting shoes, whatever it is. Especially those who love their work and respect other people.

I’m also puzzled over the state of our national discourse: people argue, rant and rave, attack characters instead of debate ideas. And somehow in that we get nowhere, as a society, as a culture, as a country.

The Fourth of July used to be something that narrowed the field, so to speak. It gave us a time out to look around and say, “Yes, wow, I am a citizen of this great country.” Time to think about it: “What does that mean, exactly, to be a citizen of the United States of America right here and now?”

Sadly, our culture now seems to be one that perpetuates fear. Yes, there are plenty of things we can fear: hatred, contempt, the politics of loathing, economic turmoil, drought, crop failure, cropped pants, and men who don’t wear shirts in the summer.

But there are plenty more things we can love: each other, determination, courage, experimentation, curiosity, intelligence, commitment, and winter fleece.

There are even more things we can do: we can get together every day, in large ways and small, and connect with each other. A quick smile at the market, a nod at work, letting the annoying driver cut in ahead of you, staring at the sun shining through a thunderstorm (it happens).

The Fourth of July is one of those days: connect to all Americans, as Americans, regardless. We’re not just military. We shouldn’t be. We have other things to be in the world: ambassadors of freedom.

Here’s hoping that next year when they televise the concerts and fireworks and highlight the people we should thank for their service, that they move beyond the military and show people of all races and creeds, representatives from each state, smiling and laughing together, joining together, one heart and one voice: we’re doing something great in the world, together. We’re Americans. We’re proud. We love: each other and the world. Whatever the work we do, whatever we look like. We matter. All of us, together. We’re all the land of the free.

You in?

Filed Under: Living Tagged With: good businesses, new economy

Why Being Appalled Works

April 6, 2012 by Robyn

: (c) 2011 Danny L. McMillin

The other day I saw a great bumper sticker. My best recollection is that it said: “If you’re not absolutely appalled you’re not paying attention.”

Perfect.

It’s absolutely the way I feel a lot of the time.

It’s the way we should all feel.

Because we all need to step up and speak up and quit putting up.

Before you think that’s negative, think again.

Feeling appalled is actually positive: it means we notice, we care, we have some basic standards, and we’re doing something about it.

Even if it’s only at the level of how we feel, because that’s where we have to start. We have to see what’s happening in the world and feel what it’s doing to us and speak up about it.

The problem is that too many of us are shutting down. Something awful makes us wince. Maybe. Usually we just turn away, look somewhere else, turn off the news, hide behind our dinner plates.

Remain silent.

If we’re even paying attention at all.

It’s time to quit ignoring what’s going on. We have to think about what we see and hear and figure out what is going on, and how we want to live in the world. We have to stop believing what everybody else is telling us is true and figure out what true is for ourselves. What life is and should be.

Here’s what I know:

A month ago I lost my soulmate: my 13-1/2-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Murphy. She died of splenic cancer. How did she get it? The damn thing is linked to early spay/neuter. For years we’ve been told to do the right thing: neuter our animals and vaccinate their immune systems into oblivion. The animal shelter and rescue folks and veterinary community have been spouting this nonsense for years, and they know they are lying. My dog died of a cancer linked to early spay/neuter. Be appalled. What do you think? Speak up! Stop it now!
The city of Seattle is talking about building a third sports arena downtown: the first one was vetoed by taxpayers and built anyway, and who knows how the second one got there, toxic sludge? This is abuse of democracy and entitlement of the rich. Be appalled. What do you think? Speak up! Stop it now!
The Seattle City Council recently voted to ban plastic bags from city stores, even though taxpayers voted down the ban! It doesn’t matter if you supported the ban, the democracy we supposedly live in said ‘no ban.’ Big brother said otherwise. Be appalled. What do you think? Speak up! Stop it now!
Last night I saw a Seattle police officer approach a stopped vehicle with her hand on her gun (and, yes, she was fiddling with the handle strap). What is the actual percentage of police officers threatened by drivers or pedestrians on routine stops? Considerably lower than those who are harmless and chagrined by being stopped, and those who become frightened of the police because of their aggressive behavior. What is so wrong in our society that the people who choose to be police officers feel threatened every time they encounter civilians? Or do we have the wrong people being officers? Be appalled. What do you think? Speak up! Stop it now!

What is true? We don’t always know. We absolutely have to find out, even if it means arguing it out. Politely. With facts.

What is right? Educating ourselves. Being thoughtful. Being kind. Being compassionate. Speaking up.

Pay attention: what is government doing with our money? What is religion doing with our souls? What is fear and aggression doing to our society? What is ignorance and complacency doing to us—and our planet?

Do you know?

Pay attention.

Be appalled by what you see that isn’t right.

Speak up. How does love, compassion, respect, concern speak through you?

Tell us. Let’s figure it out, out loud.

How? By paying attention. Being appalled.

It will work. It has to.

Filed Under: Living Tagged With: business ethics, creating community, new economy

Choosing Our Way in the New Economy

October 15, 2011 by Robyn

He didn’t mean to make me smile.

He had been loitering by my shopping cart.

We were both stocking up on office supplies. I was, as usual, simply exhausted by the choices. Wouldn’t life be easier if we didn’t have so much to choose from?

Think about it. I do. A lot. Even choosing a donut is fraught with anxiety: should it be raspberry filled, triple chocolate peanut butter, lemon glazed, or pistachio cream cheese?

With so many options, is it a really a donut, or a lifestyle choice?

Okay, maybe donuts are a lifestyle choice, but, really, isn’t it less stressful, less complicated, and equally satisfying to order coffee and a cruller than a caramel macchiato and a blueberry coconut cake donut? While we’re standing there, weighing our choice as if it really mattered, have we done one thing to connect with the people around us, made one step towards building community?

Yesterday in the office supply store the choices weren’t nearly as delectable as donuts. From the store’s towering shelves to the competing bins of goods it was confusing, tiring, and boring. I needed supplies to keep my business running and I’d had a traumatic few weeks. Which is to say I had a lot on my mind and it wasn’t just donuts and office supplies.

I was headed back to my chock full shopping cart when I saw him.

Mid-thirties, clean cut, he stepped away from my cart as he caught my eye and shyly waved at my cart. “I was leaving you something.”

He shrugged sheepishly, then walked back to my cart, picked something up off my stack, and handed it to me. “I thought you could use this.”

It was a coupon for $30 off a $150 purchase.

I laughed and thanked him. We smiled at each other and he left.

Just like that, the day got a whole lot better.

This is the thing I like about the new economy. Yes, it seems like people are a whole lot meaner and greedier. Fear seems to have stripped many of us down to some desperate level where we run right over anyone, or anything, we even suspect might be in our way.

But even more people are paying attention and reaching out to connect, even as simply as handing a shy smile and a $30 coupon to a frazzled stranger.

Those are the things that keep me going. I’m still overwhelmed by the choices in things we can buy. Fewer choices would be simpler, but it might not be better. Don’t know.

What I do know is that sometimes the choices are simple. As easy as handing a stranger a coupon and getting a smile back.

These are the choices I’m liking in the new economy: how we’re finding simpler ways to connect.

What are you choosing?

Filed Under: Living Tagged With: business ethics, creating community, culture, good businesses, inspiration, new economy