Want to call ‘time’ on ‘can’t’?

I’ve been working on my branding. (I know, I keep saying this. I'm slow, OK?!)

MichelleSquared®, otherwise known as the talented Michelle J Raymond and MICHELLE B GRIFFIN , asked me, in their rather excellent Branding Workbook, to answer this question: what is being said around town that I don’t agree with?

The answer: can’t.

For so many decades, ‘can’t’ was my internal default. For decades, though, I helped children wrestle with it. And some adults too, in fact.

And they changed. Yup. They learned that they could.

On the surface, at any rate, for me – there is no can’t, anymore. I rage against it. It runs deep, but I'm getting there. Slowly. 😎

One of my talented ex-students, Ethan Moreland , is building a podcast. One of his amazing guests recently was Erchana Murray-Bartlett , a superathlete, who is running 150 marathons for 150 days from the tip to the toe of Australia, in order to raise money for The Wilderness Society. Listen here if you’re fascinated. (She’s already raised $70,000, and counting.)

There is no can’t.

I have friends and relatives whose children have changed gender and feel happier in their skin.

There is no can’t.

You can be a CEO of your own business and be black and female. And women can vote. (Unless you're in the Vatican, it appears. WTF?)

There is no can’t.

You can be out and proud and be taken seriously, not given bromide or be imprisoned, or mocked. (Or, at least, these days, we call that stuff out. It's not acceptable.)

Because there is no can’t.

So much positive change in our world. I know we still have plenty of room for improvement – we're pretty slow, in some ways, as a species – and I’m aware of my privilege as a white, middle-class female. I really am.

But still there is a status quo that I challenge.

I challenge the creators of workplaces and schools, and town planners, who still operate in a positively Victorian manner, putting people into little boxes of drab, dreary nothingness, and expecting them to produce creativity and be their best selves. Expecting students to attain their 'Minimum Expected Grades' and remain mentally and emotionally well.

Seriously?

Because ‘LEAN’ is NOT what humans were designed for. And it is NOT where they thrive.

Housing estates are built with parking for three cars, because now houses go up instead of out, such is the demand for homes.

Drives are tarmacked and block-paved – people hard-landscape their gardens to make them low-maintenance, despite the fact that their garden is habitat for all the wild creatures that help our planet to sustain us. Yes, there are regulations in place to protect the planet's wildlife. But, guess what? There are more developers than enforcers of regulations. The maths doesn't work for our critters and their habitats, sadly.

I call BS on the status quo. I call BS on can’t. I call BS on 'LEAN'. Lean STINKS. It's really bad for human animals' wellbeing, apart from anything else.

I can make a change. WE can all make a change.

My recent purchase of The Carbon Almanac is helping me to change the little I can change as a solo operator. (But how many solo operators on this planet now???) 

We can. And we must.

If everybody did more, if everybody were better informed, then we would be making this world a better place for all of us, for the future. (If you’re interested in The Carbon Almanac, here’s another good podcast, Biophilic Solutions, which I listened to recently, with one of its contributors, a writer who needed a new challenge, who decided to offer her services for free to the project. She was 56. I have hope!)

I can change.

We can change.

We can change together. We have to change together.

The planet requires it.

I had a conversation recently with somebody very dear to me who was actively considering suicide.

I challenged the nihilism I heard, and I challenged the despair that I saw. What else could I do?

‘Planet Earth needs more people like you,’ I said, ‘not fewer.’

Maybe we don’t know why we’re here; maybe there doesn’t even need to be a ‘why’; but given that we are, let’s do some good as we go. For our people, our places, and our creatures. Let's 'lean' our consumption a bit, individually, and let's 'un-lean' our relationship with nature and the world around us.

Back to branding...

I often say that inside my head it’s like a blunderbuss has just gone off. Not only do I see the big picture, I see myriads of the tiny factors that make up the picture. It’s like a crazy, wondrous dot-to-dot puzzle! Self-knowledge is a thing I've struggled with. So I asked for a bit of help.

And the people I’ve asked for help in reading my label say this:

🌱  I get passionate about their stuff. You want to change? I have the energy to help you.

🌱  I’m empathetic. You need me to know how it is to be you? I’ve got you.

🌱  I’m compassionate. No judgment. Ever.

🌱  I have the ability to make people see the best in themselves, and I use that knowledge to encourage and support them. You’re more than you know. Always. I sincerely believe that. Do you?

🌱  I’m a skilful classroom practitioner. That extrapolates to wherever I’m working, even if it’s not in a school. In your space. Wherever that may be.

Here’s our classroom. It's an incredible space, a cosmic miracle – the exact opposite of 'lean'. A place of awe and wonder, in the fullest sense of the phrase.

I’m never going to stop learning. I find the richness of it all just too fascinating! 

Want to learn with me? Stuff about how seeing life in a more holistic way leads to a healthier, happier existence? About being more in tune with the YOU that was designed to live hand in hand with nature in a tribe of about 150 or so, and how that will give you a better quality of life, at home, and at work?

DM me here and let’s get past the BS to a happier, healthier, more WHOLE you, whether you’re in your home or your workplace. With a side of benefits you never even imagined, for you, your loved ones, and for this beautiful planet which is our habitat.

Because you CAN. And why wouldn't you?

*Were there bubbles on NYE, readers? Actually, I was in bed by 9.00 with ‘flu. No bubbles at all. Decision was taken right out of my hands. And as of Tuesday 24th January, I’ve racked up 30 days alcohol-free. Winning.

#BecauseICan 🌿