Category Archives: Social Development

A discussion of how we care for ourselves and care for each other to nurture personal growth, which in turn nurtures social development.

Naturally Inspiring

Life is naturally empathic, so why do we rush to aid those we see in need but routinely ignore those who fall through the cracks of the broken system? We are naturally innovative, so why are we so eager to regularly update our phones, but our political and economic operating systems are still driven by data over one-hundred years out of time? The peace of our neighbors has naturally been the best form of security we can afford, so why do we sacrifice peace to maintain the constant readiness for war?

When we were children, we had training wheels to learn how to ride a bike but nothing like that exists for evolving social structures. Even the great experiment that is American democracy fails to provide solutions in many aspects. However, the answer is in understanding that what we are now is the next version of our best selves from generations past. That it is the act of questioning itself that demonstrate a readiness for new growth. As long as we just accept what was as the only path as to what might be, we will continue to spiral downwards instead of propelling ourselves forward to explore undiscovered countries and brave new worlds.

There is a logic system that utilizes diversity to stay strong and embraces change as the foundation of stable growth. A system of governance that provides economic prosperity and produces quality of life results available from one generation to the next. This bounty is demonstrated in the natural world all around us, in the Earth that is our home.  We have forgotten that we are part of this living planet existing in symbiosis.  We have, in our youthful ambitions, become confused to believe that we live on a dead rock and nothing we do matters outside the needs of our wallet. Nature’s economy (driven by the cultivation of ingenuity and the principles of permaculture) works just as well for social, economic, and political systems as they do for producing a bountiful garden. The regenerative economy is a resourced-based approach where abundance is the currency of regular innovation and restoring the health of our ecological and social systems is a profitable investment in generational prosperity.

Two-hundred years ago we thought we “knew” it was OK to treat people as property and now we know to treat even the land with respect. One-hundred years ago, we thought we “knew” humanity was not meant to fly. Now we have touched the moon and sent probes into the depths of the cosmos. Imagine what we will “know” tomorrow when we apply all we have learned today. We all have the capabilities, the skills, and imagination to predict, with high accuracy, a brighter future for us all, simply by being the ones to write the script.

As a society, we are no longer children, and many would gladly vote to divert the global war budget to perfecting the realistic possibility of warp drive. Investing to prepare our home for first contact with the next version of our best selves as we make our home among the stars. The regenerative economy is the naturally inspiring ‘systems approach’ that makes a world like Star Trek possible. That recognizes innovation is the ‘warp drive’ to ignite imagination and exploration as the means to achieve global security, ecological health, and generational wealth of a united federation of people.

One-hundred years from now is more than enough time for the Earth to heal. For the people to clear the weeds of corruption and plant the seeds of peace that feed the mind and body of those who come after. The actions of transition are already happening and from major cities to rural communities the shift is occurring every day. You can be part of this discovery by simply acknowledging the land as a living being we are responsible to steward and addressing those habits that no longer serve this version of you. This one step is all you need to take in courage. As you embrace them, opportunities multiply, and the possibility of new life emerges.

You have a friend in Eric

Yep, Eric Friend, that’s his name, and for the last decade this love child of Mr. Rogers and Willy Neilson has served on the ARK board of directors as the resident ‘Hempster’- advocating for a plant as industrious as he is. He may look like a hippie (he proudly is) but despite two brain tumors, Eric has served his planet with distinction as an entrepreneur, community organizer, animal advocate, and political leader.

While I am sure he would prefer we talk about the new Greenerside hemp museum that is now open inside Tip Tops cannabis retail in downtown Anchorage Alaska, first of its kind in the world, that is not the story of triumph of the human spirit we want to share here today. Eric is an inspiration to many and everyone who meets him because of his sheer tenaciousness. Mental health is something we all deal with and far too often those with challenges will sink into depression and let the system run them through the mill until like caged lions they are better off left plugged in. Not our boy Eric. He is on a mission and from the time he wakes until he shuts his eyes, the dominate thought is “how can we mainstream hemp in Alaska?”.

So, to tell Eric’s story, we must tell a hemp story. Many know cannabis by its street name, marijuana, but few know that the most sacred documents in our Nation, like the Declaration of Independence are written on hemp; that the Revolutionary War was won largely because of hemp rope, that its 16 times more effective at capturing carbon than trees; or that it produces an oil you can run your car on and top your salad with. Like Eric, hemp has a variety of good qualities but sadly, gets often mislabeled by a conditioned populace still fighting Regan’s “War on Drugs”.

Hemp is an economic tool that can help the climate, commerce, and culture. Hemp is one form of cannabis, but it has no intoxicating effects. However, it can be locally grown in Alaska, milled into fiber, food, and fuel, in Alaska, used to build houses, replace plastics, and build cars and airplanes from the refined natural material, in Alaska. For the last 20-years Eric has been a friend to the planet and her people, serving diligently in the search for justice for this misunderstood victim of greedy industries and a controlling system. He has paid the price, or as he would see it made the investment in a world worth living in.

At the moment, Eric isn’t at the top of his game but that doesn’t stop him. And with a little help from his friends, he will get back in, ready to take hemp to the endzone in providing a generation win for the planet and her people. He will be the first to admit he is not perfect and that on any given day his usual rays of sunlight are covered by the grey clouds of doubt and uncertainty but that’s the point. Being a superhero is not a full-time job though it is on call. Eric’s lesson is our imperfections are what make us perfect when we act with love and compassion to a purpose that lifts us all up together and moves us collectively forward.

If hemp was seen for more than just a way to escape the drudgery of the world, and if the many beautiful people like Eric in the world found themselves amongst a tribe of healers and lightworkers, we could all raise our individual vibration and live a higher quality life, that doesn’t need to be dulled or escaped from. With a vibrant hemp industry, and good friends, our problems won’t vanish into smoke, but we will have the tools and the team to ease suffering and brighten the world for many.

Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, said once “In a very real sense, we are all aliens on a strange planet. We spend most of our lives reaching out and trying to communicate. If during our lifetime, we can reach out and really communicate with just two people, we are indeed very fortunate.” Like many, I consider myself very fortunate to communicate and connect with Eric and other special people like him. Hemp is a plant and cannot speak for itself but with Eric Friend leading the charge, the future of what only fools would call a weed, is lit.