I choose joy
I don't know about you, but I've had enough of COPs (as in, Climate Change Conferences).
Regularly hijacked by oil barons, they are NOT the instrument they were meant to be to get us out of this mess.
But what is??
This year I've done a lot of inner work (after all, a focus on my spirituality was my 2024 intention), and as a consequence, I decided to choose joy - I'm not talking about being happy all the time or ignoring the issues we are facing, I'm talking about stopping whining and focusing on what I already have and can do, and only on that. Don't give any airtime to negativity as, in my experience, this attracts more of the same.
I was recently reading a book about energy (not just the one that powers your sockets, but universal energy) in which I found a quote by Rob Brezsny:
"In the New Earth we are creating, we will ridicule the cult of doom and gloom, and embrace the cause of zoom and boom. We will laugh at the stupidity of evil and hate; we will summon the brilliance to praise and create."
Now, it sounds a little New Age (in the negative sense of the word, I admit) but the core of this concept resonated inside me like a tuning fork... I have had enough of doom and gloom!
I searched "Boom and Zoom" online and it's not a great parallel as it's effectively a way of bombing and flying away from the target...
But how about Zoom and Bloom?
For this reason, I decided to rename this newsletter, from the very unoriginal "GG newsletter" to Zoom and Bloom.
Yes, I want to go from Doom and Gloom to Zoom and Bloom to make you feel serene, light and joyful, happy to work and live a sustainable reality, focused on what can be done as opposed to crying in a corner about what we have lost or are about to lose.
Look, if this is not for you and you still want to scroll through an infinite stream of negative comments and proof that the sh*t is hitting the fan you can do very little about, you can absolutely unsubscribe at the bottom of this email. All I know is that I, and lots of other people like me, want to feel light and flourish despite the circumstances. And who knows: by showing up in the world with a calmer, more joyful attitude, perhaps we can also manage to change the circumstances?!
It has been demonstrated that even plants grow stronger and faster when they are looked after with love and positive thoughts, so why shouldn't we, 21st-century folks, be able to use this power to change the status quo?
Final question: has negativity (or realism, as some people call it) helped in any way, ever?
So, what do we have to lose?
At least, we will enjoy a little more of the time we have on this planet, work more serenely while we try to fulfil our purpose and, hopefully, this acquired new common consciousness will also change the trajectory we are on.
This article was originally written for the Green Gorilla weekly newsletter. If you liked it, subscribe to receive more articles like this and learn how to communicate sustainability better, how to be more productive without selling your soul to the work devil, and how to make an impact in the world. Here is the link: https://newsletter.thegreengorilla.co.uk/