For years, I have been listening to my dreams. They are my internal compass, and a source of infallible wisdom.
Robert Redford visited me last night. I was back to being a jewelry artist and I was making a pair of chandelier earrings. Robert Redford was correcting my design. He was telling me to trim some of the pieces. Other parts needed to be moved around. The bottom strands with green beads, especially needed some attention, so that the overall design could be more harmonious.
Lately, I have been overwhelmed with too many projects. I need to focus, eliminate, rearrange, simplify so that I can be more effective at what I want to do. Despite my steadfast commitment to the green cause, I have allowed some distractions to take away precious time, and doubts to seep in, that cloud my vision.
I need to go back to how I felt after attending Robert Redford‘s speech, when I emphatically declared, ‘Robert Redford grabs my heart and inspires my whole being to go further and to act.‘
La Marguerite 
Wow, I wish I had dreams like that. That’s really amazing.
The furthest I have come is dreaming about reading. Too bad I never manage to remember what exactly I’m reading in my dreams. I think it’s stuff that I somehow would like to read, but haven’t, or something like that.
Do you know “The 7 habits of highly effective people”? It might help you out.
I must admit that Robert Redford has never appeared in any of my dreams, although he’s great as an actor, human, and activist. Other people who haven’t appeared in my dreams include Al Gore, Bill McKibben, all those scientists, and etc.
Since I have a policy of not naming those people who do sometimes appear in my dreams, I’ll leave it at that.
That said, I agree completely with the notion of focus and simplicity. Too many distractions these days. I think that “distraction” is actually a key (though accidental and unconcious) asset of the “status quo”.
Focus is not easy. I think you’ve got the right idea. Good luck.
Cheers.
Can you be more specific about your distractions?
coincidentally, i had come to the decision of trimming some of my para-literary involvement this week.
no dream, just a sense of necessary simplicity. no Robert Redford to inspire me, except for your videos. i believe it is time for all to focus sharply in our area(s) of expertise.
my fledgling green place is beginning to assume shape and linkage. it has a niche in the ground level discourse. broad support and representation are more essential than ever.
Marguerite, artist always, you create beauty around you.
i always marvel at the synchronicity of dreams like this – they come exactly when one needs them, didn’t know or remember that you did jewelry – you are one multi-faceted lady
I’m not sure that I would want Robert Redford in my dreams, but then I’m not a woman.
What I would like to see, not in dreams but in reality, maybe starting in the Bay Area (if it really is a trend-setter, which may be doubtful), would be mass demonstrations praising current high energy prices and crying out for even more price hikes. Signs would try to outbid each other: five dollar gas, no six dollar gas, etc.
At that point I would begin to believe that Americans were actually serious about controlling greenhouse gas emissions.
Gary, one thing I got from listening to Robert Redford, was the power of acting on one’s words, and of being persistent. Maybe you can start a demonstration, or co-opt some people into doing one with you? Right where you live. If you do, I will be happy to broadcast here on this blog.
The fact that you (suddenly?) started reprocessing old memories could point at increased learning. You may be making some connections between the artist/craftsman in yourself and one of your current occupations, possibly this blog or some other project.
I think that during my programming days, my strength has always been to use a whole-brain approach when designing things. In the end, it’s important to let your feelings guide you to what’s the best thing to do. Artists can’t really explain why they’ve made a piece in one particular way. It’s not “logical”. Instead, you do what feels right.
You could try to view your blog or some other thing you’re working on as a piece of art, just like your jewelry. See if you can transfer skills.
Marguerite,
I think if I were to start even a modest demonstration in favor of higher gas prices where I live, my days would be numbered, and the number might be pretty darned small.
I guess my bigger point is closer to this–people don’t want to accept the fact that we cannot change the world’s potential global warming picture without making some real sacrifices and lifestyle changes, and I don’t think Americans (or Chinese or Indians, etc.) are about to make such sacrifices.
Consider this. At least since 1988, if not many years earlier, it has been clear that the amounts of CO2 and CH4 in the atmosphere have been steadily increasing. Unless someone disproves the very idea of a global greenhouse effect, the addition of those gases will bring about rising temperatures, albeit unevenly both in time and space.
In 1988 the world’s population was about 5.1 billion. Today, that population is about 6.7 billion, so during the last two decades we’ve added another 1.6 billion people to the planet (a number about equal to the current populations of the U.S. and China together, an interesting coincidence since those two nations now produce about half of the world’s greenhouse gases).
In 1988 world oil consumption was about 65 million barrels per day; today it is about 86 million barrels per day, and I suspect that comparable increases have occurred in the use of other fossil fuels. As a consequence, of course, global greenhouse gas emissions have also increased substantially during the last two decades. Even during the Clinton-Gore years U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increased by about 15%, hardly a record to stand on.
The Economist a few months ago put its “finger” on the issue quite clearly: “You cannot win the White House by telling Americans that they must pay more to drive, or by telling Mid-western coalminers that their industry must clean up or die. But if candidates do not prepare America for the cost of tackling climate change, the next president will have no mandate to impose it. Now that’s an inconvenient truth.”
As always, I wish you and others only the best in trying to make a dent in what I see as a potentially serious global problem. I remain only a humble messenger, not someone who is going to stand on a street corner with a big sign that says “We need $10 a gallon gasoline!” Sorry to disappoint you.
Really, Gary?
Actually, I think you were on to something. Are you familiar with the artist Maurizzio Catalan? He is a master provocateur. – did installation of Pope struck by meteor, also Hitler kneeling down – I believe the climate cause needs someone like Mr. Catalan, to stir the crowds with some provocative gestures. Your idea is actually not far off. Or another one like it.
I am wondering whether it would be a great idea to try to get some people together to have an informative, interesting, productive, and “fun” session to share some thoughts, analysis, and ideas on all this stuff? For example, perhaps some people living in or near the Bay Area (or who could get here) could meet up for a day at some local conference room or “retreat” place. (I know of one that might work.)
I’m thinking of between five and ten people, i.e., not two or three people, nor dozens.
The “problem” I’m trying to address is this: I’ve got some insights, information, and ideas to share, but I can only do so much via writing. So, if I could convey some of that to other interested parties, and learn from other interested parties, then we might find that such sharing of info would be helpful to each other in our diverse efforts. For example, perhaps something Marguerite or Gary or other person would share during the get-together could be very helpful to me in some effort, and, likewise, perhaps something I could share might help Marguerite or Gary or other person in something you (they) might choose to write or do. In short, conveying some information and ideas in a get-together might be quick and efficient and might release some of the bottlenecks that I feel when I realize how much there is that I can’t write (because of my schedule and stuff).
In short, would people be interested in trying to get together for a day or half-day for an information-and-idea-sharing session, near the Southern part of the Bay Area? (I know of one conference center in the hills just outside of Los Gatos, but I’m sure there are other places too.)
Cheers.
Well yes now that’s great. Only 9 hours of timezone, a land mass and an ocean seperating us…
No I’m kidding.
I think it would be a great idea for the ones actually there.
Meryn,
I’d be happy to send you an outline of my notes on any informal discussion I might lead during part of such a get-together, and/or perhaps (if the conference facility can do this) we could connect you in via an internet connection for a portion. Sorry about the timezone, land mass, and ocean stuff.
By the way, could you tell me the average or typical cost of electricity there for residences (for example, what you folks pay for electricity), i.e., here we have it in cents per kiloWatt-hour. A typical cost here is about 12 US cents per kW-hr, though it can get up to 15 cents or 20 cents. Any units would be fine. Just something typical, or a typical range, if you have time.
Thanks.
I’ve just looked this up for you. Quite interesting, because I never really looked at any energy bills.
The biggest energy companies in The Netherlands (we have some ingenious “free market” scheme of competition between energy service providers) charge about 9.20 EUR cents per kWh, but there’s an energy tax of 8.65 EUR cents per kWh. This adds up to about 18 cents total.
There will always be 236 EUR subtracted from the energy tax to be paid. This applies to both electricity and natural gas taxes (almost all houses in The Netherlands also have natural gas, used for water/home heating and often also cooking). Effectively, you can use a little bit of energy untaxed.
What’s crazy (I’m just discovering this): The 8.65 cents tax is up to 10.000kWh, after which it becomes only 4,46 cents, so industrial/corporate use (or waste?) is fiscally favored. I’d like to see that gone.
Jeff, thanks for the offer. It may be good for you to continue this conversation offline with whoever express interest after reading your comment.
One of the great things about blogging is that it is asynchronous, and hence allows for people to participate on their own time.
Meryn and Marguerite, …
Thanks for the info Meryn. Yes, that’s very interesting. It might be interesting, at some point, to compare usage rates for households of various sizes. For example, I’m aware of people here (no names) whose usage ranges from about 300 kWh per month to 2,000-3,000 kWh per month. Of course, the season matters as well. (In summer, air conditioning.) I’m not sure what the U.S. average is (for a single-family household).
Marguerite: You’ve mentioned the word asynchronous, and that sounds like a good description of my mind. I agree it’s also a great benefit of blogs. Yes, I’ll take any discussion of a possible info-sharing session off-line, for anyone who may be interested. If anyone in the La Marguerite audience who lives in or near the Bay Area expresses interest, they can reach me through my website, http://www.ObligationsOfReason.com , or (if you know them or of them), you can feel free to (selectively) give them my e-mail address.
My schedule is busy but fairly flexible. I’d hope to get together with a group of three or four or five or (up to) fifteen people to talk about global warming and what might be done about it (as well as related stuff, like population, consumption, and etc.), on an informal and information-sharing basis.
Cheers.
Sounds like a good plan, Jeff. I see writing and discussing in this blog, as means to clarify one’s mind, and support for concrete actions. Then it is up to each person, to figure out what is best for him or her. In my case, I am sifting through business opportunities to determine which one I want to pursue, that will have the greatest impact.
Hi
The dreams are very important but these have to be interpreted. I am sorry , I don’t know how to interpret the dreams.
The truthful MessengerProphet Muhammad used to ask from the children as to whether they have seen any dreams and then he used to tell them the correct interpretations.
Before Muhammad started receiving Word of Revelation from GodAllahYHWH he used to see truthful dreams and he mentioned that the dreams are 1/40 th of MessengershipProphethood.
We also see mentioned in Quran (and also perhaps in Bible) that Joseph s/o Jacob saw a dream which his father interpreted correctly and that dream played a very important role in his life, rather the dream played a central part around which all his life revolved.
Kindly visit my blogsite for interesting posts there and your peaceful comments or discussion there if you so like.
Thanks
I am an Ahmadi peaceful Muslim