Author: Howard

The Sea, Nature, and Humans

 

“The sea has never been friendly to man. At most it has been the accomplice of human restlessness.”

On our relationship with Nature, I can relate deeply to Joseph Conrad’s words above……..

Conrad is seemingly humanising the sea, but I sense beyond an adversarial relationship, he points to a mystical synergy between Humans and Nature?  One that ascends our ‘Human to Human’ understanding of relationships. I sense the Western World, is approaching the relationship in a singularly, adversarial context, and moving to try and win through domination.

However, it is becoming clear that the increasing armour of mankind’s rational ingenuity, maybe taking us further away from ‘winning’. Further away from humans having a spiritual and continually restless accomplice relationship with Nature, A relationship that is the vital, yet broken as a link to our Real Success? What exists is a huge and ever widening Chasm, between Nature and Humanity.

Over the years of exploring how my Definition of Life Success has changed: How I moved from my Anthropocentric, Capitalist world view, void of Spiritualism, to a world where my very Being, relied on an understanding and acceptance of my submissive place in Nature. This journey has brought me face to face confronting, the seemingly flippant and idealistic questions above. As I have explored more and contextualised the huge shift we need to make to move toward a One Point Zero world, the paradigm shifts behind these questions are seemingly more and more like the imperatives we have to face.

From my, ‘little boy’, Transformed by Nature’s perspective: It is very clear that we are aiming at the wrong beacon of Success! One that is taking us further and further away from living intensely as full humans, and belonging to Nature and our Planet.

The sooner we see that, and change the beacon, the sooner the amazing ‘human innovation machine’ can be pointed at Real Success. When that happens, the One Point Zero goal will become an achievable reality. The challenge is for us all to see that where we are aiming is not success, but rather mass annihilation of a brainwashed or mushroomed crowd. Unfortunately the leaders of The Crowd seem so entangled in the power, fame, and fortune associated with our journey to the current beacon of Success, that they won’t volunteer to lead us where we really need to be going!  It will take all of us to demand from ‘them’, the Elite, to step up and show us the way, or either step down, and fall on their swords.

Now yes, that is a very big statement with huge ramifications from a mere ‘Little Boy’…..!

A ‘Little boy’ who himself as a member of the wealthy 1% has made the transformation, and now has an intimate understanding of Both Beacons of Success, and concluded:  There can only be one Beacon of Success for Humanity:

To live within the ecological capacity of One Point Zero planets! We             currently need One Point Seven…!!!

The year 1970 was the last time we lived within Nature’s Capacity to sustain us….!

I’m also in another personal struggle over what I’d like to do and what One Point Zero will allow me to do:

One of my dreams is to go down to Antarctica, the Falklands and South Georgia. Actually that was one of the reasons why I bought Allone! But increasingly for a number of reasons I’m starting to accept the disappointing realities that this may not happen. While in Tauranga, NZ I visited ‘Cruiseabout’, a travel agent that focuses only on cruise ship travel, and chatted with the consultant and I picked up this brochure below:

Flippantly I was exploring the possibility of replacing the intensity of an Allone experience with a cruise ship cabin. “Ha-ha, you hypocrite!”, I hear you say!

Well my soul would definitely struggle with that, then the bank account, but more importantly immersing myself in One Point Zero and stuff like this Post above, I could now NEVER do it the cruise ship way! It’s actually quite scary how fast I’m moving along my own One Point Zero journey!! At this stage anyway it doesn’t feel at all like I’m shooting myself in the foot, it really feels like it is JUST THE RIGHT THING TO DO!

While looking through my files for a few facts for above I came across these three graphs. I’d seen those months before, and filed them for this trip, but as I looked at them again, somehow I was even more shocked than I was before. I used the ‘F word’ saying: “Man this has to f…….’ing stop, why can’t we all see how serious this all is? It is an indictment on all of us who know The Facts and do nothing!” These two graphs have just upped my One Point Zero resolve a few notches more!

The truly Shocking Energy Usage Picture! We all know the picture, but did you know it was this   scary? ‘We’ have got our Success seriously wrong guys! No amount of alternative fuels, magical technology will solve that rocketing demand!

Sorry, guys I went on a bit of a rant but these graphs shocked me again! I’m not placing myself on any pedestal, I can see how I fit in to these pictures too. But what is liberating is I’m finally doing something about all this, My own Way of Life and through One Point Zero, even if it’s just me writing to myself!

Somehow this challenge to humanity is almost exciting in its Extreme Challenge objective but more the Chasm Crossing Challenge soon…

Safe and sustainable travels!

“The proposal has been that no effective restoration of a viable mode of human presence on the planet will take place until such intimate human rapport with the Earth community and the entire functioning of the universe is re-established on an extensive scale. Until this is done the alienation of the human will continue despite the heroic efforts being made towards a nigh benign mode of human activity in relationship to the earth.”

This excerpt from Thomas Berry’s book, ‘The Great Work’

This is a picture of my home in Nelson, on the northern coast of the South Island, NZ. I have been living on Allone since arriving back from the three months, Trumped by Nature, adventure to the USA.  Yeah, a bit of an odd home many would say, but for me it’s just what I need. In so many ways, and particularly in the ‘Just Enough, is Enough’, context.   A month back I passed my 12th year anniversary of being without a car, nor TV set, nor DVD / Entertainment centre, and all the other stuff normal developed world, successful people seem to need…!  Ha-ha the theme of this blog hey! That dark blue object on the front deck is my kayak that is my one means of transport, and out of view is my bicycle that is my main means of transport if ‘we’ aren’t sailing. Maybe I ‘cheat a bit’, because Fiona, my Nelson based girlfriend, takes ‘us’ away now and again in her car….

At the back of my boat on the left of the photo are my two sources of power. The wind generator is sticking up just to the left of that cloud, and then just below it, a bit hard to see is a big bank of solar panels. That boat next to Allone is a custom power boat which the owner uses for pleasure cruises for his family and friends around the area. Between the two boats on the jetty and on the extreme right is a grey box that provides electricity and water to boats at the jetty. The marina charges a fixed daily berth rate and then one can use as much water and electricity as one wants without paying extra. The perfect situation to study human behaviour when restraint has no tangible / material benefit, and greed has many pleasure / comfort benefits, and Nature’s role will depend one ones ‘Environmental Identity’….! (How one personally relates to Nature.)

Yesterday it was an overcast day, and blowing quite hard, and so I turned the wind generator on…. It makes a bit of a whirling noise, particularly at high wind speed, and over the afternoon a few people came over and wanted to know if I was testing my wind generator?  I said: “No I wasn’t, it was just that it had been overcast and so the solar panels couldn’t do a lot, and with the batteries going down I needed to top them up.”  As if pointing out that I could use the jetty power they one by one said: “Why do you not just connect to the shore power, it’s for free you know?” I replied:  “It’s not actually for free you know?! it’s really expensive, because its stealing the future away from the younger, and yet to be born generations!”

Adding my ‘selfish’ reason I said: “You know what?: I really enjoying living within Nature’s capacity allocation for me, and by not being connected to the free electricity it really makes me mindful of the fact that it isn’t unlimited and for my unrestrained consumption. The power I use, really is for free, but it’s not unlimited, nor totally dependable and in understanding that I live graciously within what Nature gives me for free. Some days I get more, other days less, but each day I manage within what Nature gives me. I believe that’s my responsibility to Nature, and it feels good within my soul. I never feel like I’m short or my life is being compromised: Funny, it’s quite the opposite, I feel I’m ‘long’, bigger, and life is richer, as a result. I do know few would believe that, and point to a misdirected inner stoic or masochistic need for suffering…… It ain’t that it’s just about belonging to a liberating bigger picture, spiritual connection…

I was chatting to the owner of the boat next to me, and the conversation moved to One Point Zero, and my recent trip to the USA by ship, taking the ship because I am being responsible to Nature and not flying.  He was visibly shocked when I told him The Facts and that we are today, a One Point Six, and ever increasing, humanity. Contextualising it for him, I added that while New Zealand overall is pretty good, I can almost guarantee that many of the wealthy / elite of Nelson, have multi-planet lifestyles, and care nothing for any responsibility to nature or our common Good. Emphasising the point, I continued: “ …and the elite in Auckland, like the elite all over the developed world are definitely multi planet lifestyle people. ”

Realising he was now also probably part of a multi-planet lifestyle, he turned the conversation and spotlight to a friend of his:  “Yeah I have this friend of mine who is a ‘Greenie’ like you, and he talks about all this but then flies extensively around the world!”  I turned to him and said:  “Mate I’m not a ‘Greenie’, far from it:  I’m just a responsible human being who doesn’t want to use more of the Common Good than is fair from a humanitarian moral and ethical point of view! Its part of my spiritual belonging on this Earth”

Just so he knew the extent of my conviction I had to take him further along the learning journey by adding:  “Mate, I hate saying this, but I’m independently wealthy, like you appear to be, and so you won’t find many, if any like me: ‘Walking the Talk’, man:  I can afford to live a multi-planet lifestyle, and many years ago I did, but have found a new form of success by living within a Responsibility to Nature.” I saw how the words actually sunk in, as he scanned his memory bank and he said:  “No you are right, I don’t know any wealthy people who do live like that”. I saw a moment of pain in his expression as he slipped out of the One Point Zero hoop and was ‘free’ in saying:  “Mate, you are wasting your time thinking things will change, those people won’t”  I wondered if he counted himself in “those people”, but in that statement he seemed free of any discomfort, and I wondered how I friendship would be affected? Fortunately we both took a break to talk about rugby and the invincibility of the All Blacks! There was no disagreement on that, even though we were standing on opposite sides of The Chasm.  He is a delightful guy, and I sense we bonded as more than boat neighbours, and I sense it will be only me who feels the pain of The Chasm between us.

In reflection time I have concluded beyond any doubt, that I could never say I had real Freedom if I wasn’t living within this Responsibility to Nature. Yet many seem to claim freedom on the basis that not even Nature is their Restraint: They have none, no constraints. Through money, technology and network power they perceive they have even conquered the restrictions of Nature.  Many others claim to be ‘Successful’ and yet a long time back turned their back on any Responsibility to Nature, or a respect for Human Restraint on the use of the humanity’s Common Good?

So the big question for those ‘developed people’, ie those who are beyond daily survival struggle is: Are Human Freedom, and Human Success conditional on a responsibility to Nature or Not?

In answering that I can’t help think one needs to have a view on whether Nature and Natural resources are part of society’s Common Good. Also, maybe how  that Common Good is apportioned to each of us in the context of humanity both current and future? This latter context is all about one’s Environmental Identity:  What is Nature for you and what is your relationship with Nature.?

“We can argue that all people—rich and poor; living in developing or developed countries—depend on ecosystem services for their well-being” (UNEP, 2005, p10).

I sense it all comes down to one’s Moral / Ethical framework within, and how closely one lives according to that framework. All heavy stuff, hey?!

I have been reading a few books on the history of slavery, and how those upholding the System of Slavery came to see the immorality of their ways, and walked away from a disgraceful formula of success that made them who there were in those days. (I think there is huge similarity with One Point Zero and many of the elite, today. In the case of slavery, yes there was increasing resistance from members of the slave community, but there was also ‘the odd’, lonely ‘Master’ who saw the immorality of what they were doing, and decided that the purity of their soul and the Common Good for humanity was more important than their short sighted, selfish success. I say “lonely” because while many knew it was unethical / immoral they choose to deny the situation and pretend there was nothing wrong so they could continue increasing their ‘Success’.

It took a courageous person to first confront the truths, then accept responsibility, and finally take action and the consequences of destroying a system that was core to their personal success. Add to this, was the real pinnacle of loneliness of knowing that by moving outside of ‘The Crowd’, and not subscribing to its well understood yet unspoken, ‘Untruths’, one would become ostracised by one’s ‘friends’ in ‘The Crowd’.

Many years on, with slavery abolished and to where we are today, I sense there is not one member of ‘The Crowd’ of those days: The Crowd mystically disbanded, and I sense none who would even own up to ever having ever been part of it!

I believe that the One Point Zero humanitarian crimes, are more complex, and yet more serious, and that’s in no way undermining how disgusting and almost unbelievable slavery and its related inhumanities were. (I was involved in apartheid and the transformation that occurred, and this has helped me see the unlikely similarities with One Point Zero and how this time I will not be a ‘active bystander’, hiding in the self-serving obscurity of ‘The Crowd’.  I made that decision more than 12 years ago, and with the knowledge and spiritual strength I have gained, I am just gaining confidence to work as an outsider, inside ‘The Crowd’.   In many ways I can associate the path of the lonely slave master I describe above: The one who steps out from ‘The Crowd’, is the path I’m on, have been on for many years and am now the path I  am destined to live out the rest of my life on…. But somehow there is huge Freedom in that knowledge and its destiny ….. I’m busy adjusting to the loneliness as each ratchet up on the One Point Zero activist road shows me more…

All of us want ‘Life Success’: Success as we imagine it for us, and The Developed world has a very clear and well defined definition of what the hierarchy of Success is about….! For the so called less developed communities of the world, The United Nations has a very well defined definition of what Development means. The two, Development and Success, are related because the Developed countries are the force behind the UN, and used their Definition of Success, to create the foundation of what defines Development with that Success in mind.

As I look at my journey in pursuit of Life Success, I see that per these measures of Development and Success, it would be concluded that I have a life trajectory of reducing Development and Success!? Maybe that’s fact, or maybe there is something missing?  Ha—ha that is quite extraordinary hey! A seemingly successful and developed guy, voluntarily decided to un-develop and become less successful! I best see a brain surgeon!

I helping solve this I found this quote is very relevant as One Point Zero and the huge Chasm between Humanity and Nature is now beyond doubt and ever increasing:

“On a very fundamental level, human development is what sustainability proponents want to sustain and without sustainability, human development is not true human development” (Neumayer, 2010)

Within my One Point Zero context, it is obvious to me that the developed World’s success is far from being a valid model or THE aspiration for Success. Almost without exception, the successful of those successful developed countries, mostly the elite are the furthest away from ecological sustainable living than anyone else! In terms of the pure wealth / material success that was sort of acceptable, as their success could be linked to society’s consumption growth and economic expansion, which was success, but in an ecological context, this is a disaster and wealth and that success is not the way! ot that wealth per se is the problem its the associated life style that demands unfairly from the planet.

So as scary as it may seem, we have no inspirational Success beacon that meets the, Responsible to Nature, (or Sustainability) criteria.

Worse still: The ‘Beacon of Success’ we do have is possibly the worst one we could have used….:

If everyone achieved that ultimate Success and lived like the current ‘Successful’ today I’d hate to think of the tens of planets we would need today!

Obviously, a society is designed with a view that not all will achieve the highest level defined success, and that there will be a spectrum of success, but one would hope that societies are designed on the basis that the more who do achieve The Success the more successful the community will become…?

Well in the case of the Western model of Success this is exactly in conflict. The more people becoming successful, the more planets we need and so the more successful a society the more in conflict of Nature our very lifeblood we become …. We need a Success that enables more and more to become successful, and as this happens we become more and more Responsible members of Nature’s team.

What is abundantly clear to me from my own personal trajectory of Development and Success is that before we worry about development programmes we should be begin by redefining the Success that is real Success, and then work out what is the appropriate development foundations that will deliver that Success. Continuing development with the wrong vision of Success is tantamount to humanitarian crimes. Back to my little world at Nelson Marina:

When talking to my boat neighbour, with his two houses, one in Nelson and one in Australia, the big motor boat, and self-claimed ‘busy lifestyle’, I am pretty sure he seems himself as ‘Successful’. As we talked I felt he deemed my living on board, no house, no car, no ‘anything’ life as not as successful as his…. Many would conclude that in saying this I have a self-esteem or grudge problem, but hey I know I really am free and don’t.

The issue I have is that I have chosen a quite different Definition of Success, and that confuses people, because they can’t see how what I am pursuing could remotely be Success.

From many discussions with many people all over the world, and from many class groups, I have a good feel for people and how they relativize Success, in the context of the well-known, Western world measures of Success.   Well without coming across arrogantly, when I talk to people who are leading ‘multi-planet demanding’ lives, and their mindset is one of no responsibility to Nature, I actually see them as having almost a slavery based Success. It’s a little bit like playing a game of sport, when you don’t adhere to the rules but your opponent does, and you win hands down claiming success….

On more of a humble note, I have spent many years coming to grips with how I achieved my Success in ‘The Crowd’, working their lies to my advantage, and asking myself whether I am the cheating player described above too…?  I have concluded that ignorance is excusable, but only just!  However once one knows the untruths of The Crowd one belongs to, and is knowingly ‘cheating’, one is an accomplice to the Crowd’s untruth Crimes, and a tacit supporter.

For me, each time at this point of knowledge has been reached, my soul rebelled, and I felt the moral / ethical conflict, and each time I chose exit from ‘The Crowd’, no matter what the consequences. ‘The Crowd’ is often so manipulative that one doesn’t know one is part of its crimes, but once one knows one is faced with the ‘Liberation’ or ‘Accomplice’ choice.

The Facts of One Point Zero are making it ever harder for multi-planet lifestyle people to deny their truths.  The untruths of ‘The Crowd’ are being increasingly exposed and made public, and so increasingly people are being personally presented with the pseudo slavery, moral and ethical choices.  I believe that Liberation is always the best option, and no matter what the cost the cost to my soul and its loss of spiritual belonging would be far greater and impossible to live with….

In the past, I have been part of morally / ethically wrong in my life, and in many cases hindsight reflection has required me to go back and apologise to those that I’d ‘unknowingly’ disadvantaged / exploited when I was a member of ‘The Crowd’.

I have apologised to many for my passive role in Apartheid, even though I played a very active role in the transformation once I became ‘aware’. Even today, I regularly apologise to the younger generation for my role as an ‘average greedy capitalist’ and a successful member of ‘The Crowd’, playing by its rules.

I like to think I was a responsible capitalist, but still when I see how capitalism and the western Success formula is responsible for the ever increasing Chasm between Nature and Humanity, I see I was an active part of the problem. The mindfulness and apology has freed me from my passive ‘crimes’

This, opting for ‘Libertion from guilt’, approach to life, has stood me well and while this One Point Zero Crowd’s ‘bad behaviour’ problem is by far the largest I have ever encountered the signs are the same, and I made my liberty decision long time back me and me and my soul are nicely at one, having just made it to Nature’s side of The Chasm.

I just wish I could be more effective at getting others, members of the elite to follow the morally and ethically right path to personal liberty. This will help increase the pace of change to a better Society and one that can accommodate all.

Be courageous: Embrace The Facts, and make your choice: Liberty or Accomplice…..?   If you have already done that and are living on Nature’s side of The Chasm, then help spread the message… Humanity desperately needs it!

 

One Month and Phew how Much I moved…..!

A month ago today I stepped off the ANL Bindaree in Auckland, and I did sense a new reality was awaiting me: One I was actually fearing but not sure exactly why?  Living intensely as I do, I thought it could be the impending solo sail to Fiji that was weighing on my mind. Weather window permitting, my plan was to change gears from being an ocean passenger to set sail from Nelson for Fiji as an intense ‘solo participant’ in Nature’s Grand Adventure!

The other side of me said that the three months of Trumped by Nature was a Howard watershed time, and that One Point Zero had somehow gotten right into my inner core and I should expect the wild and unexpected reaction that had nothing to do with solo sailing…..! Maybe sailing is what I should be doing: Running away from ‘The Arena’…??!!  Maybe I was already on my Extreme Adventure, and just been through its Baptism of Fire? Out of control on a ‘voyage’ into the unknown, and there are no manuals, charts, or other peoples’ blogs one can read for inspiration or in preparation?

In my earlier blog I lay out how I was feeling like the “Man in The Arena”, and how tempting it was to throw it all in and take up Plan B, away from society and trying to have a small impact on its course change away from ‘One Point Six and Ever Increasing‘ current course…..

I have never experienced the turmoil that I am currently experiencing:  In many ways I can conclude that a One Point Zero vision is idealistic and an impossible goal. My experience of the past three months, plus my many interactions with other humans over the years has often led me to the conclusion that “This is all Hopeless, Society will never change” and forced me to look within as to why I am even concerned or interested? I have those answers firmly banked I have had to as personal risk management!!

A Moral and Ethical Calling….

Thinking about this always brings out a strong response from deep within me that says there is an ethical and moral issue at stake, and I have to be true to myself and my beliefs and values. This to me is the holy grail of life: To live authentically:

Firstly knowing one’s self and what one stands for and then living as that same self. Quite challenging in this world that increasingly seems to reward manipulation and deception, and not value those who ‘Walk the Talk’. Deeming them as missing out on themselves and Game of Life!

Taking Gandhi’s quote:  My life is my message”, how many leaders of today, and the two USA presidential candidates included have a life message that is one that testifies to being inspirational and exemplary in following a sound moral and ethical framework that is necessary for future humanity Success? Forget the CNN witch hunt dirty laundry, just core life message they stand for… Hmmm, I have to say, I’m not inspired by many, if any??

I almost feel like a re- born religious addict, who has found His Truths, and is now preaching to all to follow my found path, but herein is my confusion…!

I’m a freedom seeker of the highest echelons, and when I set out in 2004 the main goal was Freedom: Freedom from a society with whose leaders and direction I had lost respect, Freedom from a hegemonic System that had cleverly imprisoned so many unknowing pawns, and Freedom from a set of Spiritual ‘truths’ that I no longer believed were truths, but ones for which I had no ready replacements.

Not being arrogant, I can confidently say that free of any real societal belonging context, over six years I found freedom that few will ever understand. However as I gained new Spiritual Truths and pushed the freedom boundary I found Nature’s restraint to my exploration of absolute Freedom. It became all crystal clear:  I was free to live the life I chose, other than it needed to respect Nature’s transcendental role in sustaining human life, and the vibrancy of our home, the Planet.

It’s taken a few years of understanding what that actually means, and maybe ‘Trumped by Nature‘ was the final liberating learning step. I’m now truly free, in that I can now live the life I want, but within Nature’s constraints and it all feels REAL good! It feels like this is how we were supposed to live, an ethically and morally sound human context within Nature and our Planet.

Without exaggerating:  This past month has seen my final acceptance of the One Point Zero restraint for me and the consequences have been quite profound and quite radically changed my expectation of life and my relationship to ‘normal Society’. Everyday normality is now seen in the light of a flawed definition of Success and whether I am tacitly enabling it or not? All quite scary!

Are we talking about Crimes?  

Colonialism, slavery and many of society’s other darker pasts now make total sense: They are all linked to a very similar definition of Success. One that I now see as fundamentally flawed, and I can just see our disregard for Nature’s constraint as the anthropocentric spine supporting the body behind all these past crimes! And yes they are crimes!

I can’t be part of enabling further roll out, and yet everywhere I look this body is at work creating more, driving for growth, bringing more novelty, and spiralling on ever tighter circles to some utopia void of spiritual context and that is in ever increasing conflict with Nature. There is no remedy, because there is no acknowledgement of a problem. There is just denial and blind pursuit of ‘this Success’ and a self-fulfilling hope that somehow ‘we will win’ against Nature.

So what do I do….Part of The Crimes or Not?

Other than devoting my life to pointing this out, and trying to propose solutions, I can’t see how I can be part of a contributing role in enhancing society along a path I don’t agree with…. I guess I could become a ‘carer’ of the helpless victims who see things like I do, but have lost hope, and belonging with a society they disagree with but I’m not ready or able for that yet! I could join those who see the picture as I do, but have decided to partition them from ‘that society’ and live one of the increasing numbers of bio regionalised communities. Communities that have One Point Zero values and ignore the fact that the rest of the world is living on different ‘One Point Six and Ever Increasing’ values.

No Escape? Its a Planet and Humanity Problem

Because Nature and the planet is a single and holistic ecological system for our single Earth, and not partitioned by nation, continent, community, individual etc., the only solution to the One Point Zero crisis is one that reflects the totality of The System, and the collective impact of all humans. In this respect we have a problem maybe cleverly designed by ‘our creator’, where all humans now all have to work together to solve?

National / Regional / Partial solutions are not solutions, and herein the responsibility to show leadership lies with those most culpable and with the capability and resources for solution. This points to the Wealthy nations, the wealthy and influential of the world, but sadly there is no history of these entities forgoing their selfish goals in the pursuit of grander, morally and ethically grounded humanitarian , Success that could require a compromise of their Success.

So as One Point Zero is an all of humanity as one issue, I feel compelled to continue my path contra to Society. Not knowing where I am going or how I am going to achieve any meaningful impact I do however feel this strong force within. Driving me to be true to my heart and soul and soldier on regardless of the odds, just embracing the journey and the learning and further freedom it brings me….

If only I could really share the sense of liberation success that comes with adopting a One Point Zero vision and exploring the pursuit of its associated lifestyle with those powers that be?

Transformation at Two Levels 

I see the process of the Transformation of Society to a One Point Zero World as needing to take place at two levels:

Systemic Change

Firstly, there is no doubt that huge Systemic Change is needed. I.e. Society needs to redefine what Success is!!  Many books have been written about that, and I have no doubt that if one was able to have a one on one over quite a few drinks, with Planet concerned world leaders they would acknowledge that Systemic change is the only solution: That is that the current path of citizens just continue with business as usual, and behind the scenes governments will just change the fuel of the engine is mere window dressing but at least seen to be doing something, for which they will get legacy building brownie points.

How We can get Involved Personally?

The second level is at the personal level, where gathering momentum from those desiring to embrace a One Point Zero life, demand fashion change and help the System leadership become more courageous in their vision for transformation and Systemic change.  In this individual context I believe the wealthy, elite and influential members of society can play a very big role in showing the way for change.

I do wonder when it will become frowned upon to be obviously living a multi planet demanding lifestyle?

My sense is that this isn’t that far off, and when that tide changes a vision of One Point Zero will start appearing as a distinct reality, and Systemic change will move pretty quickly as necessary the enabler. Individuals alone will not be able to turn Society around: It requires both levels of change, and both helping each other make the transformation easier.

I do come across many people living humble One Point Zero lifestyles within societies / communities that collectively are multi planet lifestyle entities. Often for them change was initiated by economic necessity, almost making it easier to cross ‘The Chasm‘ than for those who are burdened in luxury and wedded to the current day definition of Success and dependent on all the trappings that go with that pursuit. If you are one of the already committed One Point Zero-ers, I’d encourage you to join my activism in trying to influence the multi planet living people to change their ways. Many of these people are key cogs in The System, where the Systemic Change is needed, and so change at their personal level will have a huge knock on effect.

New heroes and celebrities of society will be those voluntarily getting of their huge multi-planet demanding lives and joining us on the Nature side of ‘The Chasm‘. Humanity desperately needs these role models, people who seemingly ‘sacrifice’ The High Life, for The Simple Life, and can vouch for the liberation they experience

So it is in this moral and ethical centred pursuit that I have resisted my Plan B escape option and move forward both tentatively and excitingly exploring the unknown. I look to harbour the strong moral and ethical inspiration within and remain ever open for outside injection from wherever it comes. As this past month’s surprise further awakening of my soul has shown me I maybe short on a route map, but a moral compass I have and I’m far from ready to give up…..

I’m just taking it one step at a time, and although I have lots of ideas and possible ways forward, I’ll just let this point in my journey deliver its next steps, and will be back here soon…

Back in Society, and as expected interesting re-grouping times I am going through…..and I’m going to share my personal ‘grappling’ as it relates to One Point Zero, and how I forge ahead!  After the experience of the past 3 months, I have thought long and hard as to the value of this sharing of my struggle, but sense it may help me, and in some strange way maybe provide readers with something of value too…. (Even if just, laughing at my free, ‘circus act’…!)

While out there in the Pacific I shared with you the news that Switzerland were voting on a world first, public ‘One Point Zero’ referendum, on 25 September 2016. This to decide whether the people want the government to redirect the path of the Nation from its current demand of Four Point Five Planets to a ‘One Point Zero’, Switzerland by 2020.

The 64% ‘No’ vote was a not a surprise to me, if anything I was expecting a larger ‘No’ margin. However the harsh realities of what this means are quite devastating for me. Read more about reactions to the Referendum result here.

Being back in (sub One Point Zero) New Zealand for just over two weeks now, reflecting on my intense One Point Zero  experiences in the USA, and then the freedom and clarity I had out there on the big blue Pacific? Out there I was almost ‘just a creature of Nature’ disconnected from everyday society. Now being back in ‘it’, but quite a different ‘it’ to the USA, and understanding the realities of what I found in those three intense months has been very challenging and traumatic. Although it would seem to many a small issue, this new information about the Swiss Referendum has added another bit of important information to my whole One Point Zero perspective.

As often happens in life stuff pops up at just the right time: I was reading the London Times today and a quote from Roosevelt, although used a different context, connected with my soul:

“The Man In The Arena” It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

I definitely feel like “A Man”, who has been in “An Arena”, and I am now taking a break between 1^st and 2^nd rounds to wipe of the “dust, sweat and blood”…! I’m also trying to understand “The Man” and ‘The Arena”…. Working out whether I’m deluding myself in the importance and authenticity of my personal mission or whether this is the REAL Arena, and it’s time for me to be a REAL Man!!! Maybe I was just shadow boxing, and the readers just enjoying watching me getting annihilated by my shadows…????

Ha-ha, yeah it is quite funny when one steps outside the arena, but seriousness soon returns as I realise that for me this ain’t just a sporting boxing match with a friendly sparring partner: This is My Life, and the game and the arena is quite confusing at the moment. Where is the confusion…?

I believe that my desire, mission and intent are all very simple:   I want to be able to live in a society that has a primary moral and ethical conviction to respect and live within Nature’s restraints. I believe without doubt that this is a primary condition for all human existence, and a pre requisite for any claims of Humanity Success.  The confusion comes with how to deal with the society Arena. And yes, unfortunately I DO see it as an arena… It is crystal clear that ‘Society’ doesn’t want One Point Zero, and that is the other source of confusion…Why, do I so clearly want it and society don’t???

In the context of Roosevelt’s quote:  Have I really been “The Man” and have I really been in “The Arena”??  Did I “do deeds” or was I “just pointing out where the Strong Man stumbles”….?

Well, after all I did take the ship and train rather than fly..? I made the most of both ship voyages (almost 40 days at sea) but in its lengthy voyages it certainly wasn’t the first choice convenience of rather flying. This is about feeling and experiencing change, and so in that regard I took the challenge front on, and also ‘Walked the Talk’, and had a huge experience, one I’ll never regret!   But the act of not flying was just a small part of My Arena. The main part of this arena was my public sharing of the One Point Zero story, ‘The Facts’, my beliefs, my Truths, and then my resultant ‘judgements’ of society and where it has gone wrong! The teeny weeny exploratory steps into the world of activism.

I said some serious ‘just pointing out’ stuff:  “Western Society cannot claim success, with a One Point Six and ever increasing, scorecard…etc, etc”

Implying that the One Point Six and beyond ‘Success’ and ‘The Development Failure’ are tantamount to humanitarian crimes is a serious allegation, Howard. Do you really believe that???  Yes I do! Now that we know the extent of the problem, from the bottom of my heart I believe these are verging on ‘criminal’…. Wow, now that’s a serious issue, My Boy!!…. Remember:  Western society is everywhere and expanding every day, it’s just the shades of ideology intensity that vary from place to place… ! It must be you who has it wrong, or there is another explanation…?

Why am I ‘only’ pointing to the ‘only’ failure / weakness when Society has achieved such amazing things….?  Who the hell am I to point this out? Why am I doing it? Am I so different from the people and communities I engaged with? If I am so different why is that so? I was born in grew up and ‘played’ significantly in the western society? Am I envious of a success I long way back walked away from, as I don’t have a new success? Are my One Point Zero beliefs wrong? Have my extensive expeditions around the planet changed me forever, and given me a different perspective? Is it a morally and ethically sound perspective?

Man over the years I have thought long and hard about all this, but now having been three months in an Arena, and coming out with a bloodied face, I have had to really look deep within and ensure I know my soul’s answer to these questions? This is not the time for comforting lies, but also The Crowd is very good at hiding its inconvenient truths and attacking those that are courageous enough to deal with them. This all requires personal vigilance mate! I have checked my deep inner motive for my One Point Zero initiative to ensure it is ‘pure’: It’s not adopted with malice, envy, a need for power, or from religious ideology blindness, but rather by purely what I feel is, morally and ethically, right. Yes, just like everyone else I am selfish and it’s connected to a purpose and a spiritual necessity to enable me to be a full human: That being, firstly deserving of living on this Planet, and secondly, enabling me to fully flourish.

I had some ‘bruising’ encounters with members of the elite, who blatantly said they couldn’t care and they have earned the right and freedom to live however they please. I had very difficult interactions with many members of anthropocentric religious groups, who to my surprise, also said they couldn’t care about One Point Zero, because the apocalypse is coming anyway, to solve the problem, and they have a beyond earthly solution for their soul’s continued existence.

What really struck me is that many of these same people were leading lifestyles whose footprints are multi-planet demanding, and they seem totally disconnected from any earthly spiritual context. I had Jacques advice from Tahiti come up quite a few times as I remembered the excuses people gave for not being able to embrace a One Point Zero life. I could write a book just on these alone!

I had to deal with the fact that almost everywhere I went in the USA I saw people, communities and society at large on a common mission. Like a vast crowd all engaged on climb up a human created mountain. They were in a struggle upwards, some had fallen down, others stationary just clinging on at their current level, and all at different stages of difficulty and proximity to the summit. Most had no goal of summit-ing, just moving upwards with the crowd: A mountain climbing mission that had all the signs, behavioural traits, and media encouragement that supported a multi-planet demanding lifestyle that was in total conflict with the one I am fighting to live as I try and step back into society….

Many talked the Sustainability / Belong to Nature talk, but sadly most of these people are caught up in the struggle of the climb, a struggle to survive in the  western world’s ‘life race’ to ever illusive newly appearing teaser summits. So in the choice between survival or ‘Walking the Talk’, there was no choice. As I moved along my adventure road, it seemed like I was always an odd man out: Always trying to find a way around this upward current as I moved on a fixed contour, I really felt like I was in an Arena, and dealing with a serious physical and emotional onslaught……

Coming back and hearing about Mark Zuckenberg and Priscilla Chan’s $3 billion fund to “Cure, Prevent, or Manage all diseases by the end of the century”…, was just the icing on top! I have no doubt that they are good people and their intention is noble, but the mindset behind this initiative almost epitomises ‘our’ anthropocentric perspective and ‘our’ relationship with Nature: A sense of ever increasing human rational superiority over Nature and the Planet, and yet ever increasing void of spiritual belonging context. I wonder if they even know that their country is already more than 200% over populated with respect to its demands of Nature.

I wonder what their perspective is with regard to the fact that if everyone lived their lifestyle we would need many, many more than two Planets? I sense he does know this but maybe I’m wrong? Maybe they know, but don’t care. Maybe they know, but focusing on solving that one, will put a spot light on him to lead by example, force him to question the Success formula for society he is promoting.

Not that they are bad people, it’s just the act of mindfulness of their contribution to Humanities most Challenging Issue? This is challenging stuff, and taking on One Point Zero would make him ‘The Man in The Arena’ .

Clearly taking on this huge ‘Disease project’ with a serious intent to change the path of society, he has the means and influence to be ‘The Man in The Arena’ of a One Point Zero, society changing initiative, but maybe he is not desiring of The Arena. Rather choosing to buy a lofty platform of popularity that will bring the anthropocentric Crowds shouting out accolades and giving them Humanitarian hero status.

I’m not angry, nor jealous, nor being dismissive of the enormous financial commitment they are making to a noble intent. I’m just very disappointed that those that have the power and means are not actually stepping into The Arena, where they are most needed, and could have huge impact: The Arena where tough love, and a desire to ‘Walk the Talk’ and lead us to the difficult road to Real Success is needed.

I am envious of not having their position of influence, as I consider my meagre, almost hopeless, “Arena” options!   In laying this out I’m not being critical but I’m back within my sphere of influence looking at myself and my ‘shadow boxing’ question??

This all points to me having a wrong priority perspective and the Swiss Referendum result confirms the validity of my ‘Top Priority’ answered question as being the key:

“How come ‘most people’ don’t see the need for living a One Point Zero life as a ‘Real and Fundamental Human’ issue….?”

If ‘they’ didn’t know ‘The Facts’ well that’s sort of deserving of forgiveness, but then again why don’t ‘we’ humans know this most fundamental Human belonging requirement?

Either way the situation is an indictment on Society, or am I missing something??

Is society so lost that we have forgotten we are, Part of Nature?

Discovering the answer to this question and the fact that most people are proudly anthropocentric,and have no desire to even question that orientation, and its misalignment with Nature, has truly bowled me over.

I could point to many huge ‘multi-Planet living, ‘niche Crowds’, within Society, whose group Beliefs and Values are in direct conflict with a Nature view of the world, and those  needed for a One Point Zero society. Many of these groups have serious influence, and are part of the ‘invisible hand’ that shapes World Values and the direction of Society.

But singling out groups and making them my ‘Man in The Arena’ target for change would merely be seen as me having some anger based unfair personal vendetta against their members.

So after all this, and forgetting that my face (and ego!)  is “marred by dust and sweat and blood”   was I “The Man in The Arena”, Roosevelt referred to…?

If I have to be honest with myself, that this wasn’t ‘The Arena’ and with my current clothing and weaponry I am never going to be ‘The Man’, even if I found ‘The Arena’. I am close to concluding that the only thing I have to offer is my experience from crossing The Chasm myself!

However, I can see that my journey was so unique and personal that it is probably seen as “the journey of a madmen”:  And “in his financial independence and ‘strangeness of living’, it has no relevance to those more ‘normal’ beings living ‘normal’ existences: That with all the ‘normal’ demands, from a life deeply entrenched in Western Society.

I can see how concluding a picture like this will enable me to go away with a good excuse and society to have swatted another irritating fly.  I can  but I need to be honest with myself as to whether that is me running away scared of stepping up to be ‘A Man in One of The Arenas’, or is that the best reality…?

There is another ‘Arena’ I can witness to have been in and have no doubt I was ‘The Man’ for ‘That Arena’:  This was the more than 10 year struggle to free myself from an Anthropocentric, Capitalist, Western Ideology based ‘Way of Life’ and to find what it means to ‘Belong to Nature and this Planet’, and what ‘Being Fully Human’, actually means….

It is from this hard won context that I derive the clarity of the dire situation of Humanity that I have, yet unless one has travelled the path one wouldn’t know my perspective exits nor the value of taking the seemingly perverse adventure.

The hard won moral / ethical pillars of strength enable me to withstand this ‘attack’ and provide huge energy that drive me as I decide whether I withdraw and find a life away from a society that is not needing of my offering, or continue in some evolving form…

As I have explored the various Sustainability / Global Warming / One Point Zero type initiatives going on around the world, I realise ‘Motive for Change’ is the key issue.

Almost without exception all the initiatives are based on a fear motive, and the fear level is not enough for real change yet. A fear that the earth is going to overheat; A fear that human life will be threatened, etc….

It’s all about what is the minimum we have to do so we can avoid discomfort, disturbance to our current existence, etc…. Fear is not a good primary motive for change, and also those with the means will buy their individual protective solutions, leaving those that don’t have the means to face the threat.

With the One Point Zero goal, I only see a spiritual and ethical motive as the driver.

With both of those motives anything more than One Point Zero is NOT acceptable.

I realise the world is made up so many people of so many different beliefs, values and culture, and so my clarity may have no relevance for others. In my, maybe myopic view of humanity, I honestly believe that One Point Zero could be that one uniting goal for the whole of society, irrespective of colour, creed or class to unite work together for some real uniting purpose. That this is an impossible dream, because of the selfish and parochial orientation of humans is the harsh human reality which I need to factor into my path ahead.

The fear driven motive, is typical of, an under threat, and survival mind. Whereas the spiritual and ethical motive, is a vision for a flourishing soul. That makes me sad, that in humanities selfishness, the minimal will be done to survive, but in that delayed addressing of the issue and desperate expediency that will arise, humanity will continue on its path of deformed development, and the lie of Success will become harder to keep covered from The Crowd!

I leave this open and honest blog download in mid conclusion point and the ‘resting time’ outside my ‘little arena’ for The Boy continues ……!!

It’s been a few days since I arrived back in Nelson, South Island, New Zealand, crossing the finish line of ‘Trumped by Nature’. The final leg took three days from the time I arrived in Auckland until I climbed on board Allone in Nelson! I was finally back on the home I’d left just over three months ago!  I’d achieved the ‘Trumped by Nature’ goal, and proved to myself that I could overcome the ecologically disastrous convenience of flying between continents. I’d tested and successfully found a way to live my adventure lifestyle on Nature’s side of The Chasm.

Arriving in Nelson, brought from Start to End, the whole Journey into vivid context.  Wow, what a Journey this has been, very intense, so diverse, and yet also very, very sobering and challenging! A total of 31 000 kilometres travelled, and all of it only on the surface of Nature’s amazing Planet. I know this may sound like me trying to make something of nothing, but for me who travelled every metre of this path, I can honestly say that once again surface travel has put the size of ‘our’ small planet into real context for me.

I sense when flying it is all about the destination, and one loses the feel for the planet and it vast and dominant ocean component. This trip has made me wonder whether through the convenience of flying and not experiencing the vastness and intimacy of the oceans, our individual ‘Environmental Identities’, has been deformed as we have almost become to believe that the planet is only about the continents?  The land, with these ‘inconvenient oceans’ in between where most ‘humans don’t go’. The oceans make up a whacking 70% of the surface of the earth, and how many of ‘us’ ever get to feel this vastness, experience its many moods, and then incorporate it in our picture of what the Earth and Nature really are to us….?

Whether we consciously recognise it or not, we all have a picture of what Nature and The Planet mean to us, and this forms our unique ‘Environmental Identity‘ which then sets how we contextualise One Point Zero in our lives.

We all know that the forests play a huge role in absorbing billions of tons of greenhouse gases, in their natural photosynthesis process, but I wonder how many know that the vast oceans absorb some 40-50% of human greenhouse gases. The Southern Ocean and cold water around Antarctica is like the planets heart ocean heart, one that’s drives the major ocean current system of the world. These currents are interlinked with the weather and so yet again we see that this wholeness on Nature and how it’s is all one diverse and complex, yet self-regulating system. There are no sovereign boundaries, providing portioned kingdoms, for domination or exclusion. There is just a diverse, interlinked and co-dependent one-ness, and Nature makes it all work together as One.

Maybe there are lessons for humans in that oneness, and the un-naturalness of self-determining nations who disregard this fundamental rule of One-ness, and ‘One Point Six and ever Increasing‘ results?

The Harsh Reality of the Adventure

My time on the vast Pacific ocean, and the contrast with my time in the different vastness of the USA as a nation of portioned humans, has made me reflect deeply on The Chasm and human role in the initial fracture of our Relationship with Nature.

I left Nelson three months ago as an adventurer with passion and positive expectations of having ‘some impact’ with my message. I passionately believed that One Point Zero was a concept that had the potential to unite a fractured humanity, and bring focus to our long fractured relationship with Nature. Yes, I was just teeny weeny, Howard setting out on mission impossible, and in acknowledging that I also thought I had realistic expectations of the enormity of my challenge ahead.

Upfront I knew this would be a mission of ‘tough love’ for society, the inconvenient truths are beyond inconvenient they are verging on  The Criminal Truths! I threw caution to the wind, and chose to take the inevitable icy headwinds right on the nose, and see whether my beliefs and values would be strong enough to pull me through?   In many ways this was going to be an exploration of the courage and moral fibre of the Human spirit, both mine and that of the society I would encounter! Wow, this has been extreme, and I thought the North Pole was challenging!

Well, yes I succeeded in my personal goal of ‘Trumped by Nature‘, but the being able to make a ‘wee impact’, I have to say I feel shocked, verging on being demoralised, but at least still not broken! Ha-ha! (See my ‘Broken Spirit strategy’ here)  The exploring was of itself hugely valuable:  Being able to get right inside society and then stand outside and reflect on the enormity of The Chasm that exists was something that presents a truly daunting picture of reality. One that I have to say I feel like running away from myself!  Sadly for me, what I see is almost all are ‘running away’ from the picture, and burying themselves in their own safe portioned world. This is not criticism nor judgement, just the reality of a challenging situation.

I was also ‘Alone’ Out there!

In all my 31 000 kilometres I did not come across one ‘person of relatively high wealth’, who was ‘One Point Zero friendly’…… !  Not one! (By relatively high wealth I mean someone who is in the top 1% on the Wealth Gap scale) In San Diego I had the privilege of reconnecting with a head of a Christian community for an affluent county. I asked him if he knew of any ‘1%-ers’ who had decided ‘enough was enough’, and was not trying to create more wealth to have and spend more, but had stopped and was trying to live the simple, One Point Zero type life?  Having met him a few years before we had a very open reconnect chat, and in his genuine ‘mind racking’ I saw his desire to want to help me: But he concluded: “Howard, I’m at a loss, I can’t think of one person I know. Sorry!” He confirmed there were many he knew who met the ‘relatively wealthy’ criteria, but “No None passed the other criteria”!  This was very hard hitting to me, and made me question my alone ‘stupidity’..?

I met Amish people who in their sustainability, simple life bliss, didn’t even know One Point Zero was an issue, and so it was great to just end it before it started:  “Don’t worry about it, you guys are already on Nature’s side of The Chasm!”

I also met many who weren’t in that 1%, ‘relatively wealthy’ demographic who were already embracing a simple life and personal sustainability goal. Often it was driven by economic need, which then fuelled a sustainability passion. Some weren’t aware of the problem, but were eager to learn more and I could see genuine concern and a desire to take some personal responsibility in sharing the load. With almost all these wonderful people, when I shared the One Point Zero concept they really latched on to the ‘neatness’ of One Point Zero as a moral and ethical, based measure of human belonging. In many of these discussions I saw lights switch on inside and the motive moved from a noble responsible citizen one, to a more transcendental meaning one. It was exciting to be part of these discussions and to feel the power of the One Point Zero.

One Point Zero Stood The Test!

The most amazing positive in all this challenging upstream flow, was that One Point Zero and my belief in its value to Society came through even stronger than when I left Nelson. This is a powerful concept that provides an opportunity for bringing humanity together.  That’s not me, or my website, etc, this is about the concept that is built on the Global Footprint Network’s Ecological Sustainability, intellectual property.  Packaging it in a One Point Zero goal, provides the sound ethical and moral   basis for our earthly human existence and our relationship within Nature, and that is where I see the huge void in Society today.

From all the feedback I have received I sense there are those who understand clearly the One Point Zero concept, and its context with Ecological Capacity and Ecological Footprint, and how they are linked. Others seem to be unsure of how this all fits with Carbon emissions, Global Warming etc…. I can see how it can be confusing and I’d suggest a visit to the Global Footprint Network’s site will be well rewarded, and convince you that there is just one way of looking at real sustainability and what it means to you and I.

 

The Future…

So there we go, ‘Trumped by Nature‘ is completed, however the blogs on this site will continue, with my sharing of my perspectives, highlighting worldwide initiatives that support or undermine a path towards a One Point Zero vision.

I have obtained huge insights on where best I can contribute. So pop by the website once a week, and I’ll try keep you engaged as I adapt the One Point Zero journey to accommodate the huge insights and impact of the past three months.  I’m also hoping to get out a monthly One Point Zero e-zine that will keep you updated on developments.

Lastly:  I hope you enjoyed being part of the last 3 months?  I would value any comments and feedback you may have, as I’m busy deciding on how best to progress the journey!  Coments can either be sent ublicly on the site, or confidentially to me at: lifeaseriesofadventures@gmail.com

Nature Gives us the Perfect Arrival into Auckland

From the rough seas of the day before, it all went calm around 1am yesterday. I was up on the bridge at 3am and it was a perfect night, the sky showing me every star possible, and the outside temperature not as cold as I was expecting as the thought of sailing to Fiji in a few weeks starts dominating my mind. Very soon the lights of shipping and the various navigation aids in the approach to Auckland made me realise Nature’s vast open sea wilderness was coming to an end and I was about to be confronted with Human’s ‘domain’: The Big City wilderness, where anthropocentrics can exercise their almost full control over a wee part of the surface of this planet.

 

 

Coming into the Hauraki Gulf, we cut speed to the required Whale respecting speed of 10 knots, and as the daylight broke the almost unspoilt natural specialness of the Gulf’s outer islands came into view, and a perfect cloudless, windless day opened up in front of us on the bridge.  It was good time for savouring the last hours of life on the ‘Big  Machine’, and in conditions like this it almost didn’t seem like the big brute of yesterday.

With hardly a bow wave as it seemed to be part of the mirror it was ‘gliding’ on. The vivid blue of the open Pacific sea was replaced by a nutrient rich, almost brownish hue, typical of these higher latitude southern ocean waters.  As I looked down from the bridge I could see many jelly fish close to surface and was struck how things are changing for me….

 

Pilot Pic:  Our first Kiwi!: The Pilot boat dropping off Matt our Pilot

There is a long and snaking channel into Auckland and so the pilot joins the ships quite far out and has a long ride in as ‘temporary captain’ of all arriving / departing ships. New Zealand and Auckland included can get some pretty wild weather, and so these pilots must have man a pilot story to tell…

In capturing the extent of ‘our perfect day’, Matt the pilot said:  I don’t know whether today is better for a pilot to be at work or better to have the day off? Clearly a guy who enjoys outdoor recreations he was debating whether the easy job today was better than enjoying the recreational day off the easy weather would provide!

As we turned the corners of the channel, the views of Auckland changed and New Zealand’s largest city go larger and larger. Since 1995 when New Zealand ‘shocked the world’ winning America’s cup in San Diego, and Auckland became to host in 2000, Auckland has just exploded into a relative metropolis given the small size of the country and its 4.5 million people.

Auckland’s population is said to be around 1.4 million and I sense its changing values and ever increasing alignment with the highest level western ideals is causing some ‘values conflict’ with more traditional New Zealanders.

I’ll delve more into this in a future blog relating to New Zealand’s ‘REAL elite nation’ status as a rare member of sub One Point Zero club of nations. Exploring how long term sustainable that club membership is given these inevitably changing values in the increasing pursuit of higher Western Success.

In many ways but for totally different reasons, I put New Zealand and Switzerland together as countries that just ‘get on’ with what they see they ‘have to do’ for themselves, and ‘Just Do it’!  Both seem to do it in a way that is ‘their’ unique way but seems also one that is inspiring and has many ‘values lessons’ for ‘the rest of the world’, yet they aren’t trying to change the rest of the world!

Clearly New Zealand and Switzerland are almost at the opposite ends of the One Point Zero scale, so in linking them above it’s not about that but more of a low key, yet strong almost independent clear identity and value system, that fits with their unique needs.

ANL Bindaree, Final Hours and Goodbyes

Each day it’s been building but today it was clearly visible that I was no longer part of the ANL Bindaree team, and these guys now saw me as a ‘traitor’ about to step off into freedom: To leave them to carry on with two or three more 22 000 kilometre circuits of the Pacific. I’d done one circuit albeit with a six week break in between legs. For these guys stopping in Auckland is a mere 10 hour period with a different set of work tasks.

Amazingly the ship was being partially unloaded / reloaded (about 700 containers each way I think) in just 10 hours and my home and new ‘ship friends’ of the past 16 days would be dropping mooring lines and heading back out that same Hauraki channel: Destined for Melbourne Australia, and crossing the sometimes treacherous Bass Strait.

In those ten hours in Auckland, even with the container terminal being almost right in the CBD, very few go ashore, either not wanting to, or because of work responsibilities, not able. I understand their reluctance, and need to stay in settled in ‘their ship world’, but Auckland and New Zealand was about to become my ‘new world’.

So all in all it was quite tough dealing with The Chasm  between our ANL Bindaree motives and experiences. But these are tough guys, men of the sea, and they told me they experience crew members ‘coming and going’ all the time: Sometimes they are the one saying goodbye to their imprisoned buddies, and other times their buddy is like me saying goodbye to them and stepping to freedom. For me I didn’t see it like that, as I had had another very intense and special experience, and with One Point Zero occupying a lot of my focus our motives and goals were very different.

The ‘Goodbyes’ started the night before Auckland arrival, as I knew I may not see some of them on the day. So ‘one by one’ I made sure had a special goodbye, some exchanging email addresses, but in all I felt a strange ‘intimate stranger’ bond, as we knew our sharing had been intense but our paths were now seriously diverging.  I sense for many I had been someone they could talk to about life, real life, and the things that matter in this world. I sensed that life on board almost forbade them going there, and in that unnatural, yet necessary discipline they realised they were preventing themselves accessing an important part of life’s intensity. I felt some human to human value in helping them see that….and in its absence of fellow passengers, this trip brought a much larger element of this intimacy of exchange.

Sorry there are no pics of The Crew, these guys are very anti photos, and being made passenger’s celebrities! I like that…..

Preparing for ‘The Shock’ of Civilisation

As far as cities go, Auckland in a great city, but my re-entry into civilisation will no doubt have some shocks over the next few days. I rode the short distance into the CBD and went straight to sort out accommodation for the night. I sit here typing this blog, in this Auckland ‘prison cell’ that cost more per night than my spatial cabin on ANL Bindaree!

There is not a single window to the outside world and on the one wall are three large adverts for Adrenalin activities. The one’s caption is: “It’s not the Last experience that counts, it’s the First”!!   I wondered how this applied to my birth into this world! Another caption is: “Celebrate The Journey”! Is that celebration at The Destination or when? Sounds like maybe a ‘journey’ of a series of ‘conquests’ and to celebration each ‘milestone’ towards the final destination! But then is it a Journey or a Conquest! ????

Ha-ha, yeah I am at a CBD backpackers place, convenient location for the ship and bus, and this is all part of the exploring experience! Good to be around young people, they all international and on ‘Their Journeys’, yet it’s supposedly still New Zealand off season.

IF I’d ‘Taken the Plane’ I’d be ‘There’ by NOW!

Just a reminder: It’s been over three months of this Trumped by Nature adventure, and I’m committed to No Flying?!  Part of the adventure is dealing     with the struggle to really understand what living a One Point Zero life as a ‘financially independent’, traveller is all about?

Whether it is even possible, and whether it will still be enjoyable, or whether I have to curtail my planet explorations?  These are all explorations with possible profound implications.

It has been pointed out to me many times that the Ecological Footprint of Ships is much worse than Aeroplanes. Yes, for kilometre travelled, Flying is very bad, and Ships even worse, I have been aware of that for years. From a personal Footprint, one has to look at the specifics:  As I pointed out in the amusing (well I think so!) blog from Tahiti: Because I didn’t come on a Passenger ship, (rather a Container ship) the Ecological Footprint ‘accounting’ is quite different between me and cruise ship passengers and also the footprint of the cargo goods on the container ship. Passenger planes and Ships only ‘go’ if there are passengers, and as with both Cap Capricorn and ANL Bindaree, they ‘go’ with or without passengers.

I hope you can see that, and also that I’m not promoting Passenger ship travel over Air travel?!! My Tahiti blog should clear it all!

It’s been an intense 3 months, and good to get back to New Zealand. Yesterday it was very tempting to go on line and book a ‘quick’ flight to Nelson. If I had done so I could be writing this blog from Nelson, but instead I wanted the full experience of trying to live my One Point Zero life. So in a few hours I cycle to the bus station, board the bus for Wellington. After over-nighting there I’ll ride to the ferry terminal, take the Inter Islander ferry across the Cook Strait to Picton on the South Island, and then the bus to Nelson….  I long trip you may say…?

Well I see it all as an experience in itself, and it’s like many of ‘you’ business travellers would do: Its away from home business travel, and I get to do my One Point Zero work on the bus, and ferry, and the many people I will no doubt meet along the way will enrich my life, and add perspective to my One Point Zero work. Importantly I get time to reflect on the past 3 intense months, and what this whole mission has been about. Time to savour the many and diverse moments: Their rich value to my life, whether they were good, medium or difficult moments. I used to be someone who always wanted to get ‘There’ as quick as possible, but long time back I realised it’s about the Journey and taking it ALL in, which includes reflection and learning from the reflection Maybe that’s what that “Celebrating The Journey’ above was all about?!

I know for many of I’m talking to the converted, and probably converted way before me, but this full on, competitive society we live in more often than not, puts the focus on The Destination!

Next one will be in a few days and once I have settled back in Nelson. That should be very interesting….!!!

 

 

Welcome back to this One Point Zero Blog, and hope you enjoyed ‘Our Pacific Crossing’…

 

 

I’ll be on the ANL Bindaree from 25 August to around 15 September when we are due in Auckland. I won’t be at this website, but with a bit of luck with satellite communications you’ll be able to track my progress and read the ‘every second day’ blog here

Without an ‘on blog’ Comment facility, please send me your comments / views to lifeaseriesofadventures@gmail.com

I really do value input and just remember I’ll only be able to respond once in New Zealand.

(A great thanks to ‘Mailasail‘ who provide the great ‘from the ship’ blogging service, and have helped me with my adventure blogs over the past 10 years.)

Who is this handsome guy???

Ha-ha!  I cannot deny that this Trumped by Nature adventure has been TOUGH!

In the June e-letter I warned it would be the ‘Most Extreme Adventure’ yet! Adventure involves Risk, and believe it or not I ‘hate Risk’! But I believe that without some form of ‘Discomfort Zone Risk’ in our lives we are merely souls dormant in stagnation! So I have learnt to accept and live with Risk.  In that light (Ha-ha!): I’m nearly signed off on The Purpose of Life (for Me s just as just another non-anthropocentric, creature of Nature!) as being:

The pursuit of full human intensity as Nature intended us to be, and participating  as a full team member on Nature’s side of The Chasm!

Today, ‘desperately’ seeking some ‘comfort zone inspiration’ I paged through my Simply Adventure, ‘Picture Book’, and magically the ‘battered activist’ perked back up to 100%: Ready for the next steps into the activist journey unknown!

There we go:  Using Nature again hey!!  While I’m away I leave that book here for you to maybe also enjoy too…(It takes a few seconds to download: Quality requires patience!)

Maybe in the context of its images and One Point Zero pondering these questions will help our sharing l learning in our upcoming Pacific crossing together:

What is Nature for YOU? What defines Nature’s boundary? Do you believe we are ‘part of Nature’ or ‘some’ separate being? If a ‘separate being, what should our relationship with Nature and The Planet be? Are devastating storms, disease and sickness part of Nature  or ‘an outside evil’?  Is their a striving for ‘Happiness’ in Nature?  

Now no ‘cheating’ by looking at this  I do think these are fundamental keys to filling the gaps of how and why we have got to ‘One Point Six, and ever increasing‘!

While I am at sea ‘struggling’ without ‘you’ in ‘my cell’ why not also checkout the Resources page and treat yourself to one of the books I ‘found useful’ in understanding Our One Point Zero Challenge?

OK, best I say Good Bye from terra firma!  Just give me ‘a day or two’ to settle into my new blue, prison cell. (vs Cap Capricorn’s red one) before I can get blogs going!

Hey, I’m really looking forward to my 20 day sentence…. I have this feeling inside though that I maybe the ONLY passenger!  Well I’ll be relying on ‘you guys’ a lot more then hey??  Not really ‘Solo but Not Alone‘ is one of my motto!

All the best in your 20 days living too, hey!

H!

A ‘cute’ Photo PS: