Don't Tell Me Cause it Hurts

I occasionally encounter a situation in which a difficult subject like the effects of mass coffee or cocoa production, precious metals and gem mining, or the waste generated by a spoiled consumer society is a potential off-shoot of a conversation. I tread lightly in such situations after having often experienced the “deer in the headlights” look of most people with whom I share my thoughts on these subjects. So I look for the one person who looks most receptive and seek a dialogue by asking general questions such as: Do you like organic coffee (or dark chocolate)? Have you seen the movie Blood Diamond? Do you know that much of our trash is now buried under the ocean? Sometimes I get a curious look and from there I share some interesting detail, usually a very hard to hear detail, but I try to make it really short and then acknowledge that learning about these things is not easy, but important if society, particularly American society, is going to use its amazing human and natural resources for good versus evil.If I can share that much I’m happy and feel I am doing my duty as one of the people striving to achieve a tipping point around issues of personal responsibility. It used to make me crazy to see how few of my fellow Americans in the workplace actually care to know the effects of their cause. But I have been inspired by great philosophers and activists like Thich Nhat Hahn, Pema Chodron, and so many others who know that fear is what paralyzes us and prevents us from seeing.I can’t say I’m altogether over my fear of others’ unseeing, but I can say I am more focused on my own. When I take my awareness another step higher I increase my capacity to hold more suffering and attend to its transformation in whatever little way I can. Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver’s Travels, said that vision is the art of seeing things invisible. This too is inspiring because this teaches us to look underneath the surface of whatever “mask” or façade is apparent and see with our feelings, the spark of life that connects us all.