LOVE truly is the answer my friends

This is an article I wrote. The ‘beautiful game’ refers to soccer:

If the majority of scientists and economists are correct in their analysis of global warming trends, the planet is facing a significant environmental and socio-economic crisis in the years to come. If what we are told is true, we have a very short window of opportunity (scientists estimate 10 – 20 years) in which to eliminate our bad habits in order to save the planet. We have a purpose; we are, and I say this very humbly, the most important generation to walk the planet. Think of ten years over the course of human history: It is merely a momentary blip; a blink of an eye over the course of a cosmic millennium. And you and I, for whatever reason, are alive and breathing during this most precious and scary and exhilarating of times. The way our generation conducts business as well as the way our generation conducts our own individual lives is integral to the success or the demise of the planet. Still don’t think you have a purpose?

Always Time to Shop.

   

What does it mean when Saturdays for some people are spent in the shopping malls purchasing $220 t-shirts and a whole lot of other expensive goods that no-one NEEDS, while others are outside digging through bins of waste in hopes of finding what they really need, basic survival? How is it that the effects of consumerism are so dangerous and permanent, yet so many people continue to mindlessly walk around malls in there spare time and shop? How do we shift the minds of the population into understanding that the status symbol of wealth comes at a much more expensive price than just the price tag itself? How can we stop the mindfucks and spread the truth legitimately  when the only ones who can afford marketing real estate around the city are the large corporations that depend and thrive off consumerism? How do we tell kids not to shop when shopping malls are one of the only free indoor public spaces that allow and encourage individuals to loiter on those cold winter days?

 

I wonder when and how status symbols became so important, that many people decided to go into massive debt just to pretend they are somebody they’re not by purchasing goods they can’t afford? Why are we still so concerned with ‘wealth’ and how we look? Are we still caught up in judgement? Shit, it seems so elementary. “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”  Something so basic and yet so challenging for so many people to grasp. If only we could use that energy and money towards real life issues that actually mean something. Instead of focusing on wealth and security, focus on health and happiness. Focus on living a complete life filled with adventure and love. Focus on treating your neighbor with love and respect. Focus on being a wise consumer. Think before you buy. Realize the difference between ‘wants’ and ‘needs’. Be aware of your ecological footprint. Be smart with your money no matter how wealthy you are. [Only a sucker will spend $200 on a t-shirt.] Be aware of the media and what they are actually saying and trying to sell to you. Smoking Marlboro’s won’t make you feel happy just as a new phone won’t make you satisfied. Re-think style and the cool and influence others. Be a walking billboard for the free spirited soul and be proud of who you are as an individual and not by the clothes you wear or money you may or may not have. Style is something that is acquired through living life and cannot be purchased at the latest clothing store. So go out and create your own style by being who you are and Remember that living life is a way of art…

 

Peace & Love,

Fungi-T.

 

kalle lasn buy nothing day interview on CNN

Buy Nothing Day Inserts

Live Cheap

Be proud of who you are!

LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED….let’s party

November 24th, 2:00 pm, at the art gallery downtown…. bring a mug for tea, bring a chair for chillin’, bring some warm clothes cause it’s rain or shine baby….

we’ll set up an environment where strangers can break down the barriers that keep us apart, where strangers feel comfortable chillin’ and socializing and participating in fun and free activities (ie chess, checkers, a game of soccer, maybe a game of street hockey, cards, listening to some tunes on the geetar, maybe people could give away books that they’ve already read for free, free back massages are always a possibility….. come down and join the fun…..

LOVE MORE

LIVE MORE

SHOP LESS

why we consume (in very blunt layman’s terms)

Quite simply, I think over consumption is a result of the emptiness of our culture… The notion that there is a correlation between consumption and fulfillment, wealth and happiness, is deeply embedded within our culture. I think individuals have a very tough time feeling fulfilled when many work in a job they hate for 8 hours, come home to a microwave supper low in nutritional value , watch reality t.v., read a fashion magazine that tells them they need to buy this cream and that lotion to feel beautiful, and then fall asleep on the couch to the 11:00 state funded network news. On the weekends they spruce up their lives by watching football and drinking a case of budweiser, and call themselves spiritual beings by trying hard not to fall asleep during Sunday service. The interesting thing is the advertising agencies of budweiser, of the microwave dinners, of the football game, etc. would have you believe, through the brilliance of their marketing campaigns, that consuming their products will help to make you feel like you’re happy and fulfilled. We’ve bought in, believing in the misnomer that drinking excessive amounts of budweiser on a friday night will help you feel happy, accepted, attractive, invincible…. just like the image the tv commercials so aptly personify. And so in order to fill the void of living this cultureless life comprised of empty cultural calories, we reward ourselves with an unnecessary new pair of shoes, or the latest cell phone, or a new car, because it makes us feel good, it makes us feel like our peers will accept us, but yet we are totally oblivious to the effect that this purchase has on the ecosystems of the world. Our appetite for consumption provides the markets for ‘the machine’ to exist and so ‘the machine’ will make every effort to ensure that you comply and be a good citizen and continue to consume. Immediately after 9/11, George Bush, in his address to the people, informed citizens that the best way they could help America was to go out and shop!!! (reference still being sought after). The machine desperately requires your non questioning compliance to consume, and as a result spares no effort to ensure that you are inundated with messages to buy shit. Probably more frightening than this is the realization that many aspects of our culture have been set up to ensure that we feel unfulfilled in order to create a desire in us to buy shit. Or that much of our consumption stems from the fact that our lives are so busy with the responsibilities of a 40 + hour work week that we will spend our hard earned money on convenience products that promise to free up more time in our day so we can watch more t.v. They are selling the product of ‘convenience’ because it is so desperately desired in our hyperactively hectic lives.

I think the solution is simple, but will not be easily attained: shopoholicism is a major problem, with devastating ecological, political, and social consequences that we need to be aware of…. rather than continuing the trend of mindlessly consuming, we need to find healthier, more natural ways of seeking happiness and fulfillment. Perhaps an emphasis on play, on relaxation , on exercise, on socializing, on reading, on pondering, on thinking, on wondering, on loving, on truly LIVING is what we need to reduce our ecological footprint. Our current emphasis on competition, on material wealth, on consumption, on vanity items, on social status, on PROFIT AT ALL COSTS, is leading us in a very dangerous direction , both individually (highest ever recorded rates of depression, anxiety disorders, low mental health) and collectively (global warming, growing gap between the rich and the poor, a very likely World War 3)…… Open your eyes, open your hearts, open your mind, open your soul….

Peace and Love,

D

A twist on an ol’ favourite….

Live Clean….

Live Free…..

Nov. 24th, Reduce your ecological footprint…. BUY NOTHING…..

then make a habit of it

Buy Nothing Day

As much of ‘the machine’ requires our unrelenting, unquestioning habit of consuming to exist, I thought we could align ourselves with an adbusters initiative…. that of ‘buy nothing day’…. perhaps we could take some time at our next workshop to brainstorm some ways in which our time could be better spent than mindlessly consuming crap we don’t need. Maybe we could come up with a poster idea, find a way to mass produce it, and spread the word around the streets of vancouver…. Here’s a starter list of free (or cheap) activities that give me a greater sense of satisfaction and happiness:-reading (mainly non fiction, but every now and then a fictional story is good for the imagination)-playing foosball, tennis, ping pong (craigslist has cheap used stuff that works great)-going for a walk or a run or a bike ride in the forest-playing my guitar-socializing/philosophizing with friends-playing drop in ice hockey ($5.50)-doing yoga in my bedroom-writing my thoughts down in a journal-playing hacky sack-volunteering time at a daycare-indoor rock climbing (approx. $10)-playing ‘bump set spike’ with a couple of friends