The Bioneers Host a Talk by Paul Hawken

Here’s Paul Hawken’s talk at the Bioneers conference last year.  The big idea here for me is one that I try to express myself from time to time, though I cannot hope to put it as grandly and as powerfully as Hawken.  I would summarize it as follows:

Our civilization has taught us that we need to win, to take: to get rich, to be liked, to be powerful, to satiate ourselves with the fruits and the wealth of the world around us.  Not only has this brought us to the edge of environmental collapse in dozens of different ways, it’s made us miserable, since the precise opposite is true: we need to lose, i.e., to lose this misguided notion.  Only when we realize the profound joy that comes from being a part of the wilds of nature, and contributing to life forms all around us are we able to achieve the happiness and serenity of which each one of us is capable. 

Again, Hawken said it better.  But whatever you do, don’t trust me on that; check it out for yourself.