10031 Psychological and Emotional Health

Don’t worry. Be thoughtful. Do something useful. Be happy.

Worrying and fretting about problems doesn’t do much that is useful to solve or mitigate problems . . . while on the other hand . . .

. . . Being thoughtful and doing something useful about problems is enormously liberating and that leads to happiness.

Let’s take climate change as an example.

It would be hard to find a bigger problem. The actions of any one individual will not resolve the problem, not for the world as a whole, nor for an individual at risk of global climate chaos. Nevertheless, there are useful and productive things that people can do that will help the situation. As we contemplate the issues —and the emphasis is on a calm and considered contemplation, not on worrying and fretting — we come to an understanding of what we as people can do. We don’t stop with thinking. We don’t give in to despair. Instead, we proceed to designing our response and then we implement what we decide to do.

Happiness in the face of overwhelming issues can be found in productive work that is the result of intuitive thinking.

Embrace solidarity and participation.

Everyone has the right to participate in their own life and has a corresponding duty to do so.

That’s a primary goal of this iPermie project. The Excess Consumption System Design default is for you to be blown this way and that way by manipulatory invisible structures so that you do nothing more than consume, excrete, waste, and then consume, excrete, and waste some more.

By actively participating in the design — and the operation — of the systems of your lifestyle, you withdraw your consent and support from the Excess Consumption System Design and invest your effort and resources into solutions.

In the context of full and complete participation in our lives is a process of awakening and cultivating our sense of human solidarity. Selfishness is the name of the modern game and we see the disastrous results of this abandonment of solidarity everywhere we look.

Solidarity is not hard to understand. The simple formulation is — “leave no one behind for the wolves to devour.”

Solidarity is the process of viewing other people as our sisters and brothers, so that an injury to one is an injury to all, and a blessing to one is a blessing to all.

Solidarity and participation are fundamental to good psychological health.

Live in communities of caring and support.

Solidarity and participation lead to communities of caring and support, which are important for our individual psychological and emotional health.

No one is an island. No one is self-sufficient in and of and by themselves.

If we aren’t already in a community of caring and support, by our personal praxis of solidarity and participation we can build new ones or find communities to join. Praxis is action grounded in knowledge combined with reflection and evaluation. Pop quiz! How many references to praxis does this make in iPermie? What does the frequency of reference suggest about its importance?

In this context, “community” takes its broadest possible meaning, beginning with nuclear and extended families, based on biology or voluntary consent and adoption, and going on through organizations rooted in territory (neighborhoods), religion (churches, synagogues, mosques, temples), occupation (jobs and professions), community service (lodges, organizations, schools, etc.) What works for you is good for you.

You don’t have to be brave and valiant and “leadership material” to praxis solidarity and participation. You just have to be yourself, a real human being, whatever that means in your life — so that you can be interested in others and involved with your life and your community. If you don’t think you are any of those things, just pretend that you are interested in yourself and others and your community. After enough pretense, it will become your reality, sooner than you think.

Yes, you can be a tough straightforward masculine guy and still be interested in others and your community and your own self. Touchy-feeliness is optional.

Forgive yourself and others.

We all make mistakes. We do wrong things against ourselves and others. We may call it sin or speak of screw-ups. We can create problems for ourselves and for others. We therefore need ways to get out of the holes that we dig for ourselves. When we dig holes for others to fall into, we need ways to help them out also. We need ways to process those events, to make atonement (at-one-ment), to heal hurts and injuries, to redress wrongs. Sometimes we find these methods via institutions. Others are more simple and direct. “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive others who trespass against us.”

Always look at the world holistically.

See yourself not in isolation, which is not a natural way of looking at yourself, but in your entire context. You are not an island. You live in a context, a series of situations. Learn to open your eyes (also your mind, your heart, your entire being) so you can see what can be seen, hear what can be heard, and understand what can be understood. Does this take practice? Does it require praxis? You bet it does. It is a project for a lifetime. The journey en route is interesting, if not always peaches and cream.

Manage your anger or it will manage you.

There are undoubtedly advanced souls who have mastered their anger, but even Jesus drove the money changers out of the Temple and he seemed quite angry at them for what they were doing. He had some choice rhetoric for the religious hypocrites of his era who persecuted the poor.

So accept anger as part of your life and learn how to control it. Don’t let it control you.

All anger is not created equal. There are some situations, where grave injustice and harm has occurred, where some amount of anger is not only necessary, but healthy. It becomes a problem, however, when we allow the anger to control and consume us, so that it leads not in productive directions (the resolution of the harm or injustice) and instead creates even more harm and injustice.

Don’t seek good ends by evil means.

The end versus means argument has been around as long as there have been philosophers to debate the question. I prefer a common sense approach. It’s hard for me to distinguish between me and my journey because I see myself in my whole entire context (holistic vision). If I choose an evil path, in an attempt to reach a good destination, I can only do that by embracing and becoming that evil that I choose for my journey. If I do that, how will I recognize a good end when I see it?

This doesn’t mean that I would not lie to the Gestapo if asked about the Jews hiding in my basement. It does mean that I won’t kill people for access to petroleum. Lying to the Gestapo to protect hidden Jews from persecution is not an evil act. It is an act of moral beauty and wisdom. Living a life that demands that my nation kill others in foreign countries for the sake of cheap petroleum is, well, not so morally beautiful.

In conclusion . . .

Don’t worry.

Be thoughtful and intuitive.

Do something useful.

Be happy.

Embrace solidarity and participation.

Live in communities of care and support.

Forgive yourself and others.

Always look at the world holistically.

Manage your anger or it will manage you.

Don’t seek good ends by evil means.

Easier said than done? Of course, that’s the nature of life. Like anything else, if we praxis, we get better at what we praxis.

Practice misery and worry and you will get plenty of misery and worry.

Practice solidarity and participation and you will get plenty of solidarity and participation.

The system of manipulation and domination that keeps the powerful in control communicates a narrative of powerlessness and threat to all us peasants. By keeping us continually on edge — frightened and divided — they increase our dependence upon them for a sense of safety. Thus they can manipulate our consent for ever-more-coercive measures of social control.

We use permaculture to design systems to make it easier to live healthier, more balanced lives in unity with the planet and our fellow human beings. We declare our independence from that sick social and cultural domination as we praxis our way into communities of joy and abundance. They fight with money. We resist with time. They will run out of money before we run out of time.