Life Strategies Simplified
We’ve had the immense pleasure of hanging out with William McDonough, winner of three U.S. presidential awards including the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development. He’s an architect by training and philosopher by temperament and is co-author with Michael Braungart, of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things and The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability-Designing for Abundance.
Here is a very brief synopsis of his philosophy:
EFFECTIVENESS FIRST!
LOVE ALL THE CHILDREN!
ELIMINATE THE CONCEPT OF WASTE!
CELEBRATE FIERCELY!
When talking about the future of the environment, choosing between what is bad and less bad isn’t good enough. McDonough flips the script by going for what is effective. “Effectiveness First” describes our 50 years of our audio archive of deep dialogues. They are timeless and they promote effectiveness over quick fixes and stopgaps.
McDonough asks these questions “What is native to this place? What would it mean to rise from the ground here in a way that honors all beings.” New Dimensions acknowledges all the children, including humanity’s babies, animals, insects, birds, fish, and plants. All that is alive including Gaia herself.
McDonough and other former guests remind us of the concept of sustainability and how we are using up the resources of the planet and contributing to its pollution in the way we make things and then throw them away. New Dimensions guests encourage an eco-centered rather than an egocentric view of the world. One of the keys to life-sustaining action is rooted in seeing nature as sentient – a being worthy and deserving of a personal relationship.
And finally, we are encouraged to “celebrate fiercely!”.
Remember, in the words of our dear former guest and filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman, “Earth is not some sort of galactic penal colony.” Our lives are meant for celebration, joy, community, dancing, laughing, intimacy, and being the physical stand-in for God (or whatever word you use for the ultimate creative power in the universe) to experience awe and wonder. I’m a member of a civic-minded group of women whose motto is “Do good and have fun.”
Here are three quotes from New Dimensions guests supporting this philosophy.
BRYAN WELCH
“We do have a history as a species of using things until they’re used up. It takes quite an act of will for human beings to step back from consumption while there’s still something to consume.”
Welch is a farmer and former producer of Mother Earth News magazine.
Program 3105 – An Enlightened Farmer In Kansas with Bryan Welch
PATRICIA RYAN MADSON
“Despite our desire for security and being careful, life is meant to be lived.”
Madson is Professor Emerita at Stanford University, where she served as head of the undergraduate acting program. In 1996 she founded the Creativity Initiative at Stanford. She is the author of Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up.
Program 3108 – Just Say Yes: Improvising Your Life with Patricia Ryan Madson
DEIDRE COMBS
“The object of the game is to learn from your opponent more than to convince them of your side.”
Combs is an international consultant, instructor, and author working with cross-cultural strategies for resolving conflict and overcoming challenges.
Program 3111 – Two Opponents, One Flag with Deidre Combs
Program 3151 – The Four Seasons Of Moving Through Tough Times with Deidre Combs, Ph.D.
Program 3462 –Evolution Through Conflict with Deidre Combs, Ph.D.
