How You Can Vanquish Apathy Through Innovation

The Truth of Interconnectedness Provides Valuable Insight

There is emerging science that now is validating what teachers of ancient spiritual traditions have been trying to communicate for centuries: that we, our bodies, our actions, even our emotions and all creation inhabit one fluid dimension. A dimension which Max Planck called ���The Matrix���.

No this is not the stuff of Tom Cruise movies or Hollywood special effects, but there is no doubt that many of the concepts for that script were inspired by Prof. Planck���s early work in the area of Quantum Physics: a term and field of study that he pioneered.

Our western religious teachings and even past scientific perspectives held that each of us is a self contained entity, separate and apart from everything around us, save God. From this mindset, we have built a civilization that operates on the concept that competition and conflict are a necessary part of human life.

Darwin taught us that survival depends on being the strongest and that ideology has permeated every aspect of human interaction. We have observed in society that a desire to control rather than cooperate breeds conflict, which begets violence. Eventually revenge becomes the only objective.

 

In the corporate and political world, the relentless drive for supremacy compels governments and companies to break laws and behave in an immoral fashion, putting peoples health, financial security, even their very lives at risk, to achieve greater profits or hegemonic control over their constituents. 

But this chaotic existence is in opposition to everything we are now learning about how the universe operates. The most desirable result of these discoveries would of course be humanity evolving to live more harmoniously-like the seamless field of energy that we now know is holding all existence together. 

As individuals though, we have little power to control global affairs directly. Competition over precious resources, economic prosperity, arable land, water, energy, religious ideals and even living space have made our planet smaller, causing disparate cultures to rub elbows and struggle for supremacy.

But that doesn't mean that in the absence of a collective epiphany, there is no hope.

How can we then, as individuals, begin to incorporate these exciting developments into our lives to achieve greater effectiveness and happiness? 

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By reorienting our relationship to world events 

from one of apathy to one of innovation. 

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For those of you who were born to the Millennial generation or are even younger, you may never have known a world without computers, the internet, phones and texting, etc. But rest assured, the world of global communication was once very different and it wasn���t that long ago.

 

 

In the 1970���s and 80���s, when I was collaborating with a friend across the country to write songs, I would record my guitar and voice on to a cassette tape and mail it to him.

Now of course, we can use Skype and send our performance ���real-time���, from screen to screen. And while I can now save ideas and images to my computer, the songs and poems I was composing as a young man now live only in my library as aging reminders of a bygone age. An age when the only ways to document your thoughts were either through the use of pencil and paper or typewriter. But thanks to intrepid visionaries, like Steve Jobs, a completely new paradigm of recording and communicating thoughts has been woven into the fabric our lives. 

Other such (now-a-days, ubiquitous), technologies that were not so long ago only the stuff of science fiction movies are digital cameras, cell phones, all electric cars and solar-powered homes. Yes, we now all accept these as mundane realities, but they would not exist if not for the creative thoughts and actions of people no so different from you and me. 

My point is, it is possible for one person or several people working together, to change the world. Your life represents a microcosm of the creative power of the universe and when your ideas and passions are focused into one intense beam of effort, amazing things can result.

But you don���t have to be a Steve Jobs or Elon Musk to make a difference. You can use innovation to influence improvements to your home, your company or your community.

Conceive new ways live more sustainably with Nature. Drive less, use water and other resources more thoughtfully and most importantly, find a patch of terra firma where you can begin to cultivate life. Our incredible planet is endlessly productive and with a little help, every place on Earth is capable of supporting plant and animal life. 

My girlfriend and I have patch of land the our back yard that was once barren, with the exception of some opportunistic weeds. We decided to turn it into a garden, which was no easy task. First of all, the land is sloped, so any water applied to plants there, would result in wasted runoff. So we had to use a terracing technique, as old as the Gardens of Babylon. Every culture throughout history that has been faced with the challenge of sloping land has devised a similar solution.

It took about 6 months of intense labor and a fair amount of materials, but now we have 16 fruit trees, a vegetable garden, grapes, berries and a new vantage point from which we can enjoy the setting sun every evening. From the Earth���s bounty, we now create delicious meals, preserve fruits to enjoy later or give as gifts. And through the maintenance of our little farm, we attain all the exercise and sunshine we need, while strengthening our relationship though the enjoyment of a shared activity.

This too is innovation and though small in scale, it has the ripple effect of influencing all those who witness or benefit from the effort. 

The take home message here is: Pour your love and care into some sacred creation and watch your efforts bare the fruit of abundance and satisfaction. Regardless of how big or how small, it is through this change in your perceptual relationship to Nature, in all it���s magical and mysterious perfection, that you will begin to discover hope.

Where there is hope, apathy cannot survive. 

-Shane Eric Mathias