We tend to judge people on their ability to contribute to the economy, and we judge this on, the size of their home, the clothes they wear, the car they drive, the exotic holidays they enjoy. Their material success.
Our economic system is set up to value status. This economic system is set up to value things that make us happy in the short term, so we end up on an endless hamster wheel of striving for more. This economic system is set up to keep our economic systems running. But who we are, is at odds with what society tells us to be, so we are never content. We have an insatiable need to strive for more, have more, be more, more likes, more clicks, more material success. More. The quest becomes for more.
We class ordinary lives as not extraordinary, but it's not until we face hardship, such as loss of a loved one, or a serious illness, that we want the ordinary moments, the familiar sound of footsteps, the smell of freshly baked bread, the cup of tea shared.
We need new measures for success systems around us. A system that includes kindness, compassion and connection. a system that prioritises the happiness of children over academic results. A system that includes nature and its needs in all our decisions.
Take a small child for a walk, and every ordinary detail is extraordinary. A small rock, a dandelion, a trail of ants. When we see the world through a child's eyes, we can savour the ordinary moments of our lives; the intricate pattern of a spider's web, the detail within a flower, the sound of children giggling, the smell of freshly cut grass, a cast of a million stars. We find this is where happiness lives, and this amounts to an extraordinary life, one ordinary moment at a time.
And like our lives, we tend to judge forests on trees and their ability to contribute to the economy, and we judge this on their size, their shape, their trunk, their look. But these giants are there as part of a system of so-called ordinary understorey plants doing extraordinary things, that benefit the whole forest society, keeping it healthy.
But we class these ordinary plants as not extraordinary. It's not until the forest faces a hardship such as death of trees, or a serious disease that we appreciate these ordinary plants are the key to a healthy forest, which amounts to an extraordinary forest, one ordinary plant at a time.
When we can see a forest through the eyes of a small child, and savour the ordinary plants, the intricate web of nature, the detail within each flower, the sounds of insects, birds and animals that live there, the smell of freshness after the rain, a cast of a million inhabitants. We find this is where happiness lives, and this amounts to an extraordinary forest, one ordinary plant at a time.
Our economic system is set up to value status. This economic system is set up to value things that make us happy in the short term, so we end up on an endless hamster wheel of striving for more. This economic system is set up to keep our economic systems running. But who we are, is at odds with what society tells us to be, so we are never content. We have an insatiable need to strive for more, have more, be more, more likes, more clicks, more material success. More. The quest becomes for more.
We class ordinary lives as not extraordinary, but it's not until we face hardship, such as loss of a loved one, or a serious illness, that we want the ordinary moments, the familiar sound of footsteps, the smell of freshly baked bread, the cup of tea shared.
We need new measures for success systems around us. A system that includes kindness, compassion and connection. a system that prioritises the happiness of children over academic results. A system that includes nature and its needs in all our decisions.
Take a small child for a walk, and every ordinary detail is extraordinary. A small rock, a dandelion, a trail of ants. When we see the world through a child's eyes, we can savour the ordinary moments of our lives; the intricate pattern of a spider's web, the detail within a flower, the sound of children giggling, the smell of freshly cut grass, a cast of a million stars. We find this is where happiness lives, and this amounts to an extraordinary life, one ordinary moment at a time.
And like our lives, we tend to judge forests on trees and their ability to contribute to the economy, and we judge this on their size, their shape, their trunk, their look. But these giants are there as part of a system of so-called ordinary understorey plants doing extraordinary things, that benefit the whole forest society, keeping it healthy.
But we class these ordinary plants as not extraordinary. It's not until the forest faces a hardship such as death of trees, or a serious disease that we appreciate these ordinary plants are the key to a healthy forest, which amounts to an extraordinary forest, one ordinary plant at a time.
When we can see a forest through the eyes of a small child, and savour the ordinary plants, the intricate web of nature, the detail within each flower, the sounds of insects, birds and animals that live there, the smell of freshness after the rain, a cast of a million inhabitants. We find this is where happiness lives, and this amounts to an extraordinary forest, one ordinary plant at a time.