Liberating Our Dreams, Ourselves, and Our Societies

I have been without a financial cushion for most of the past year now. When I say that, I mean I barely make rent and feed myself every month. The money I had in the bank, as well as the in the stock market game called an IRA, are gone. Eaten away. Given to landlords and utility companies that use fossil fuels and nuclear power to heat my apartment and power my stove and laptop. My attempts at generating income on my own through various means haven’t yet brought in enough to move past poverty, and really, as it is, a return to the wage an hour world in some form or another is probably coming soon.

This stepping out that I did a little over two and a half years ago was done partly out of desperation (needing to reduce my stress levels before it was too late), and partly out of a desire to truly question what it means to do Right Livelihood in the world we live in. I’ve run through all sorts of emotional states and narratives during the process. Delusional “get rich quick” dreams. Carefree “I don’t need money anyway” stories. Shame-ridden hopelessness over being so broke I couldn’t buy my own groceries. The hazy confusion of “what’s next?” Disillusion of looking for jobs and feeling trapped in the process. Dreams of “How can we do this differently?” Fears of being called “a lazy bum,” “slacker,” or whatever and then wondering why it is that I let such nonsense get to me, especially since the majority of people who say such things give and do so very little in their communities. The list goes on and on.

I want to live in a world where people are supported for the gifts they already give to the world, regardless of whether those gifts are “money making” or not. I would love a world where just being and doing what you can is enough to be considered worthy. Sure, on a spiritual level these are already true. I don’t need to want anything. Furthermore, I could eliminate some of my current difficulties by getting another wage an hour job. By selling my skills off to whatever bidder is willing to use them. (Let’s face it: that’s what capitalism is all about.) I get all that. This isn’t some poor me sob story, nor is it the ramblings of someone who doesn’t want to work.

What I’m writing about here is the stories we’ve collectively come to accept as “THE Truth.” And how so many of us are now falling behind or struggling to make ends meet, regardless of whether we’re gainfully employed or not. And how stupid it is, in the face of this, to keep plodding along, thinking that a little more hard work will bring us to a more comfortable place. Or a lot more hard work will elevate us into the economic and social territory of the 1%.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if – instead of so many folks feeling compelled to say “That’s not possible. Be realistic. Be practical.” – that more of us would naturally gravitate towards the beautiful visions of the possible and make it so. Make it real. Say to hell with the conventional practical and make a new practical.

I’m not a naive, young dreamer. I’m nearly 40 years old, with a resume that struggles to fit into two pages in small type. Furthermore, I love giving away my life. I serve frequently. I give my time, my words, whatever I can because I’m aware that, in the end, it really isn’t “mine” anyway. It’s an almost natural state, despite all the impediments. And yet the more I wake up, the more I realize how this society works completely against all of this. How it makes people like me poor, while enriching those driven by greed and power.

Is this the kind of society you want to live in? Well, if you live in North America, this is, for the most part, what your world looks like. And anyone who doesn’t go along is deemed lazy, useless, and worthless. Which are totally accurate terms when you are someone else’s resource, which is the case for the vast majority of working adults. Even though alternative economies and new forms of structuring businesses are slowly developing, the philosophies of hyper personal responsibility, the Protestant Work Ethic, and the Horatio Alger myth still reign.

It’s killing us, this way of living and thinking about the world. Our Earth is being eaten alive and we humans are being stressed to death in the process.

I know there are better ways to build and sustain societies. I invite you to consider dreaming a little more, and to believe less in the stories you’ve been told. And if you’re a little like me, I invite you to share more whatever it is that you’ve experienced and learned.

This is only a tiny piece of my story; there’s plenty more to come. Let’s liberate our dreams and make them realities!

Photo Credits

Giving To Others by James Alford

Recent Nathan Thompson Articles:

• A Balm for Your Body and Mind
• The Gifts of Comfrey
• Learning in the Community Garden
• Passionflowers
• The Beautiful, Powerful Coneflower