I’m participating in an online course run by Scottee – it’s called Notepad Warrior and it’s a serious of provocations, bringing together art and activism.  And I’m really enjoying it.  Here’s my week two rant.  Now I’ve got to go and work on some slogans…

Why don’t people give a shit about how their lifestyles are killing our planet?  It’s selfish and indicative of a sad, short term, isolationist mind set.  As long as I’m ok – fuck you.  I want this and bollocks to the consequences.

I think on a deeper level its deeply, deeply sad.  People have become so reliant on ‘stuff’, so disconnected from each other and the actual real systems that sustain is that they have become rootless junkies.  Getting off on the next quick fix – new phone, jacket, car, dinner at that new little place, like on their post…  In a meaningless, endless competition driven and governed by the profit motive and greed.  Engineered / duped to consume at all costs and hook their identities and well-being onto stuff that doesn’t matter and actively damages our world, our mental health and social connections.  We’ve allowed the conversation about well-being to be totally hijacked by money fuckers with their clean eating and overpriced, culturally appropriated yoga. We even diss ourselves we aren’t like them, we’re not good enough.

We’ve broken the social contracts and stopped talking about how we want to be and we all focus on who we want to be, as defined by our stuff, status and ‘likes’.  We are choking our air, sending ourselves mad with anxiety, grief and depression, making ourselves sick with ‘food’, damaging our bodies by squeezing them into lifestyles that are just fucking awful for them – not moving, breathing, dancing, playing, relaxing.

We are ignoring the suffering of our species so that our hearts became hard and critical.  We chose not to see and feel pain because once we’ve started we’d have to tear the whole fucking thing down and start again and that scares us.  We forget that we are creative, compassionate, collaborators.  That is our true heritage.  Homo- fabulous the storytellers – we need new stories, new myths and new energy.  So, the tiny thing – the dropping of litter is a symptom of a deeper malaise.  It’s not middle class, middle England keep Britain tidy bullshit.  It’s honour our home, our provider, honour ourselves. Fuck this system that tries to belittle and intimidate us.  That keeps us small and sad frightened.

You, there, reading this.  Start small.  Smile and connect and say hello to people. Pick up litter, even if it’s not yours.  Do it while other people are watching.