My Dharma: Sharing Stories of Sustainability Success

OK…what the frack is “dharma” and why are you spouting off yogic terms on a blog dedicated to waste-less living and plastic pollution rants?

Chill.

Little known fact about me: yoga changed my life and indeed, set me on the path that I now find myself tripping down. I’m amazed I haven’t let more yoga drop on this space but now that the cat’s outta the bag, you’ll probably be seeing more of it here. Why? Because so much of what yoga is is what we as humans need more of in order to feel fulfilled and happy. I’m getting off topic-though. For an in-depth look at what “dharma” is, read up here, then come back here and continue reading!

We need to be inspired in order to want to protect wild spaces such as this!

Do you ever have one of those moments where you feel like you’ve been hit by lightning (but in a less painful way)? You’re jittery, unable to move, feel electric and lit up in every fiber of your being, ready to take off like a shot? For me, these moments usually tell me one of two things: I’m onto something or, I’ve actually been hit by lightning. Luckily for all of us, the latter is not the case in this particular instance.

As you’ve no doubt seen on this web space, Seven In the Ocean has undergone numerous facelifts (some better than others) involving an evolution of its content, a lot of awkward silence while I recalibrate what the heck I’m up to here, and stories. The stories have not been as numerous as I’d like and that’s where the lightning comes into play. Recently, it hit me (like lightning! Ahhh…full circle): I love sharing stories. I love writing. I’ve always kept up with writing and since university, I have thoroughly enjoyed finding and sharing information (a research degree will do that to anyone, I suppose). This is my thing. But I don’t do enough of it!

To add to this conundrum, our world is at this funny stage where things are just going wrong left, right, and center and we’re feeling overwhelmed. There is a lot of good shit happening out there, but the media always seems to focus on the negative and we’re just trying to make it through a day without having a panic attack about it all. It feels like the world is in survival mode: half of us are trying to advocate for a better tomorrow while the other half have their heads down, maintaining their day-to-day, because that’s all that keeps them from going completely bat-shit-crazy (why is it called bat-shit-crazy, anyway?). How are the advocates supposed to make any headway when everyone’s looking down?!

Here’s my idea: we need more stories of success, hope, and optimism. I am, at heart, an optimist and I really believe that it’s possible for humanity to not totally blow it, at least not for now. I believe it against all odds, against all pipeline proposals, against all orange-headed doofuses running the show. But in these troubled times, we need more people to believe that, too. Back to this idea of stories…

My favorite thing, what lights me up like a crack of lightning in the dead of night, is sharing a story of something awesome that has happened in the realm of sustainability: mostly this ends up being about plastic pollution, but not always. Sometimes it’s food-, animal-, or human-related. My problem is that I don’t vocalize these success stories nearly as much as I should when they come up. Friends are always sharing articles, videos, products, and organizations with me that are doing their best to make this planet better. My typical response is to make some kind of comment, look into said information, and then I forget about it in a week. The nerve!! Well, that’s all gonna change because I am here to SHARE SUCCESS.

Success comes in all forms, and I’m going to tackle it all: success in business, whose products I use, but more to the point: whose missions resonate with me; success in organizations, the people behind them, and the impact they have be it locally or globally; and finally success in people, working hard for their families and their communities to leave this place better than the way they found it.

A success story waiting to happen…Cuppow, I’m lookin’ at you!

Some of my posts will feature products, some will feature organizations, some will feature individuals. The consistent thread throughout will be the faces behind each: who made that product? Who were the people that sat down together to come up with their organization? Who is that individual in my community making a difference? Everybody has a story to tell, a reason for doing what they doing in the way they’re doing it.

If I’ve learned anything from the people I’ve interacted with over the years, it’s that stories resonate with everyone. People feel moved to action when they read something that is heartfelt, honest, and real. So Ima find those stories…and share them with you so we can get inspired, keep our heads high, and not give in to the negative news spiral but kick-butt at saving this planet.

This is my Dharma (my calling). I’m so excited, and I’m excited to have you along on this journey!

I’m here to share success, with a chicken in hand!