The Story of Stuff

Thanks so much to my friend Julie for sharing her thoughts, which mirror my own and which I am posting below, and for passing on this important and powerful link. This message also feels even more timely as we approach Christmas. I hope you will consider sharing with others. Thanks...

Peace ~ Molly

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Friends:

Recently, I had dinner with a friend, in whose kitchen is a sign that reads “The best things in life aren’t things”. This message resonated deeply, not merely for the obvious emphasis it puts on people and the intangibles that add wonder and spiritual value to our lives, but because it underscores a theme that’s the subject of continuing fascination for me: the drive to consumerism that’s a staple of mainstream American culture.

In the same week in which I visited my friend in her kitchen, I was also part of a circle of women talking about transition – how it was manifesting in our lives and how we were handling it (or it was handling us, in some cases). One of the women startled me by saying how excited she was to be witnessing the current global economic crisis. Upon further discussion, it became clear that for her, destabilization of the financial services industries and the issues surrounding tightened credit markets represents an opportunity to reassess our values: a real tipping point capable of engendering new perspectives and behaviors. This conversation stimulated some interesting self-examination on my part. It reminded me to see events that may seem inherently difficult, painful, or problematic as possessing opportunity. It also brought new insights to my thinking on corporations, acquisition, values and meaning, and on creating growth from loss.

In my explorations on this topic, which are partly intellectual, partly spiritual, I came across a good Website, called “The Story of Stuff”:

http://storyofstuff.com/

The site features an understandable, engaging 20 min video which talks about consumerism and economic sustainability, touching on ideas like planned and perceived obsolescence. It makes the case that the endless appetite for consumption is not an accident of production, but is instead a conscious creation which is impacting society and the environment in ways that require collective action.

Passing it along for those of you interested in looking further at consumption, the environment, and ways to live more sustainably on this fragile planet.

Julie S. Doll
HPC Sys Engr / Microprocessor Arch and Performance Ops

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Another Way
Many people who have seen The Story of Stuff have asked what they can do to address the problems identified in the film... Each of us can promote sustainability and justice at multiple levels: as an individual, as a teacher or parent, a community member, a national citizen, and as a global citizen. As Annie says in the film, “the good thing about such an all pervasive problem is that there are so many points of intervention.” That means that there are lots and lots of places to plug in, to get involved, and to make a difference. There is no single simple thing to do, because the set of problems we’re addressing just isn’t simple. But everyone can make a difference, but the bigger your action the bigger the difference you’ll make. -- From The Story of Stuff