Living a Life Full of Fantasy and Flights of Fancy

It’s the holiday season.

I think this is the perfect time to share my thoughts on a few things I’ve been mulling over these past couple of weeks. If you’re up for a bit of a serious talk, read on.

This won’t take long, and I promise, you’re not wasting your time.

I grew up on fantasy and science fiction: we watched the movies, we read the books, and we listened to the stories. Well, a couple of weeks ago, my brother and I did a marathon of all of the Lord of the Rings movies (and yes, they were the extended versions, ’cause that’s how I roll). We ended up having a discussion that went along the lines of: “What if the world were like a fantasy film where all the bad guys wore black and were really ugly. All the bad places would have spikes, flames and a red glow coming from inside?”

If we could identify bad guys by the way they look, the world would be a much better place, but that’s just wishful thinking.

Reality isn’t black and white. Reality has all these shades of gray that make it hard for ordinary folks like us to make them out. Not everyone is all bad, and not everyone is all good either.

This is applicable to everything and to everyone.

Forget sustainability and environmentalism. Forget the concept of going green. Everything and everybody has shades, which is why we live in such an interesting, and ultimately, dangerous time. Deceit and deception have become commonplace, where people are hoodwinked into buying things without understanding the “small print.”

How is this relevant to us? We’re here at GreenJoyment.com because our interests have brought us together. We want to save the environment while saving a large chunk of change. Why do we care?

We should care because we are the most susceptible to this feint. Fairy tales and fantasies tell us what to avoid and who not to trust, but that is simply not the case. Greenwashing, which is the act of using PR and marketing to fool people into thinking that a product is environmentally friendly, is rampant.

Here we are, trying to do good by the planet which gave us life, and they are trying to cash in and make a quick buck off of us.

I doubt we can make a dent in the companies that do this, because they’re going to do it anyway.

But all I can ask of anybody is to be vigilant and to be aware of the decisions we make.

Now ask yourself this question: Are we making the right decisions?

Are the decisions we are making (about what to buy, how to live, where to work etc.) decisions which will positively or negatively impact the future of our children, and their children, and so forth?

Now this may seem like a huge responsibility, but it’s not.

It may seem like an expensive endeavor, again, it is not.

One of the things I most frequently say to friends and family is that every little bit helps. Every little saving, every little choice ADDS up.

Like all those slogans say:

“Be the change you want to see.”

“Change starts from within.”

“How can we expect to convince others when we haven’t even convinced ourselves.”

I’ve rambled and I think I lost the main point of this discourse, so let me summarize myself.

The world is full of deceit and deception, so we must tread carefully. We must make measured steps and be aware that our actions have far-reaching consequences which we can’t even fathom.

I’m not proposing anything radical or new here, I’m only proposing to change the things which are clearly not working for us. We don’t have to make do with a broken system, we have the power within us to affect a change.

Today, people are marching in the streets to protest against all kinds of things. But I would like to propose a different kind of march, one which will empower individuals all around the world.

I propose a march for awareness.

Awareness of our choices.
Awareness in our actions.
Awareness in our lives.

Are you with me?