You’ve always had the power, my dear. You’ve had it all along.
– Glinda, the Good Witch, Wizard of Oz
Did you know that you have the power to change the world? Did you know that you do just that, every day.
There are brief moments when I am completely absorbed in it – that I notice the absolute absurdity of consumerism and the myth of the need for convenience. The other day, I was waiting on line to purchase groceries at my local supermarket, when that delightful little cooler of cold beverages just waiting there for me to notice it, grabbed my attention. My thoughts went something like this: “ooh cold drinks. Yes, I am thirsty. I think a diet soda would be really nice right now (yes, dear reader, I know, please don’t judge). But how much is it? $2.00!? mmm- yeah ok- that’s a lot but I am really thirsty.” So I made my selection and very happily waited to pay for this ever so important impulse buy. And then I got to thinking. Isn’t that funny how I had considered buying a 2-liter bottle of that same soda in the beverage isle, but it was priced at $1.75. Well that’s ridiculous! Especially when all those other sodas I don’t want are only $0.99. Outrage! I will not purchase this horribly overpriced item – but put it in pretty little cooler and I’ll pay more for quite a bit less. Why? Convenience. I’d be paying for the convenience. And more often than not- I’d be doing it without even taking a second to acknowledge that fact.
Somehow, we as a society have allowed ourselves to become convinced that convenience is essential. We don’t think – “wouldn’t that be nice- but at what cost?” We think “I need that. There it is.” End of story.
Time and time again, I’ve seen people purchase small items in a “convenience” store, have them placed into a plastic bag with a paper receipt- and then step outside to use whatever item, and toss the packaging, the receipt and the bag into the garbage pail right outside. Without even thinking.
I began noticing this after watching myself do that exact thing. And down came this great crashing double-edged sword – jolting me awake- pulling my attention to my own zombie skin. And so on one edge, the deep pain of recognizing that my repeated mindless actions had indeed had an impact. (How much space do my discarded conveniences take up in a landfill -somewhere out of sight and out of mind? How much damage had I already done)? But on the other edge of that great sword – the awareness that I was indeed powerful, and what a difference it would make if I decided to apply choice – deliberate mindful action – to this power, already in my hands. And there it is again – the simple everyday magic of awareness and choice.
Why have we made it so much easier to destroy? Negligence has become second nature because we have forgotten ourselves. We have forgotten. And so it takes effort, and thought, and possibly some inconveniencing and discomfort to turn this around, and choose to live as though we matter. As though our neighbors, and community and planet matter. One step at a time, I can make changes. I can recycle k-cups instead of tossing them in the garbage. “But it’s so messy to pull them apart, and it takes so much time.” I’m just sharing the thoughts I have had myself. Have you had them too?
I believe in us, guys. I believe we can handle some coffee grinds on our hands. I can take an extra 30 seconds to see if my lipstick company tests on animals before I buy anything.
Here’s the terrible irony. We have been encouraged to believe that being inconvenienced wastes our valuable time and is unnecessary suffering. We’ve lost connection to the joys that come with productivity and care-taking, with responsibility and reverence for ourselves and our environment. And so that idea – that myth of the the necessity of short-cuts and time saving – leads us to make blind choices in hopes of feeling important and powerful. But we become dependent on these things and then feel we are powerless without them.
Why? Greed is probably the best answer. Someone put that little cooler in my supermarket to make some money. Perhaps they have also been tricked into thinking that power comes by having the most, the best, every imaginable luxury. Perhaps they have forgotten that they don’t need all the “free time” and niceties they can handle – to matter.
They do matter, though. Just like everybody else. They have just forgotten.
Isn’t that convenient?
