The term synchronicity is coined by Jung to express a concept that belongs to him. It is about acausal connection of two or more psycho-physic phenomena. This concept was inspired to him by a patient's case that was in situation of impasse in treatment. Her exaggerate rationalism (animus inflation) was holding her back from assimilating unconscious materials. One night, the patient dreamt a golden scarab - cetonia aurata. The next day, during the psychotherapy session, a real insect this time, hit against the Jung's cabinet window. Jung caught it and discovered surprisingly that it was a golden scarab; a very rare presence for that climate. (Source: Carl Jung: What is Synchronicity?)
In Monday's extraordinary second inaugural speech, President Obama challenged us to think big. To move beyond the divisions of you/me or them/us or rich/poor and unite as "We The People." To reconnect with the ideals of the birth of this country and the hard, never ending work towards achieving the perfection inherent in its formation.
And yet, in including the need to tackle global climate change into his second term agenda, our President encouraged us to strive even further, to make what might be considered by some as a 'leap of faith' and surpass not only an evolved concept of self as an equal citizen of a country, and even the concept of equivalency in terms of global citizenship. No, to address climate change and survive as a species, what Obama is implying is that we must begin to recognize our place as citizens of the cosmos. A cosmos in which each one of us, in fact, each living thing, is born with equal right to the freedom to grow, develop and thrive.
About a year ago, I attended a lecture at San Francisco's Academy of Science Planetarium where Nancy Ellen Abrams and Joel R. Primack delivered an awe-inspiring presentation about their book "The New Universe and the Human Future: How a Shared Cosmology Could Transform the World."
The Malia-Sasha Horizon. Projected Carbon Emissions Through 2100, and Actual Data So Far. The pessimistic red curve is business as usual (IPCC 2007 scenario A2) and the optimistic blue curve represents an aggressive reduction in carbon emissions (IPCC 2007 scenario B1).
The cosmologists spent a good part of their presentation discussing the Malia-Sasha Horizon, with dramatic forecasts showing the world in 2100 under two potential scenarios: one in which no significant action is taken to reduce carbon emissions; the other in which aggressive reductions are initiated immediately.
"The long-term success of our species may very well depend upon our becoming a cosmic society, capable of thinking on the grand scale while acting on the small. A cosmic society is not about zipping around the Galaxy visiting aliens—it's about expanding our thinking and trans- forming our actions right here on Planet Earth. It's radical but simple, and for the first time in human existence it's within our reach."
Abrams & Primack.
Abrams and Primack (I wrote last year in
The Malia-Sasha Horizon & the Cosmological Commons) "maintain that if today's leaders -- political, cultural, religious, business -- and their supporters (which means each and every one of us) -- begin to envision the world from the perspective of the Malia-Sasha Horizon this would represent an enormous step towards expanding our consciousness of ourselves and our worldview within the 'boundlessness of cosmological time.' Still, even in the best case scenario, a scenario in which on an international scale, steps are immediately taken to address the root causes of climate change, the projected image of 2100 remains cause for alarm."
"By helping us come to terms with our place in a dynamic, evolving universe where time is measured in both billions of years and nanoseconds and size is measured both across great galaxy clusters and across the nucleus of an atom, the new cosmology gives us the concepts we need in order to begin thinking in, and acting for, the very long term. It lets us appreciate our significance to the universe as a whole. ... we have to think on a larger scale than the one we're acting on, if those actions are to be wise. To act wisely on the global scale, we need to think cosmically."
Abrams & Primack.
Yesterday, our President made it clear that he has his eye on that horizon. And like Jung, who unlocked the power of synchronicity with his 'chance' discovery of a 'displaced' golden scarab, he tapped into the invisible thread which binds each living system one to the other in the mystery of fighting for an equal right to survive as cosmological citizens.
The battle to win "the hearts and minds" of our fellow American citizens and rally them to address climate change is a daunting one. Like Jung's patient, so many of us have blocked access to the unconscious truth of our connection to all that is alive. Because to recognize that our actions are the cause of our own destruction and the ultimate destruction of all that we love, dream of, hope for and imagine is too enormous a truth to allow to rise to consciousness.
We are all harboring golden scarabs. They have been festering beneath our scalps for almost thirty years now.
And with one paragraph. On a beautifully blue day in Washington, the President of the United States of America, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, opened the wound and set the scarabs free.
The world is in our hands now. It is a huge, grievously wounded fragile world. And only "We, The People, the people of the cosmos, can heal it.
"So tonight, let us ask ourselves — if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
This is our chance to answer that call." President-Elect Barack Obama acceptance speech, November 4, 2008
Days over 100 degrees F in U.S. (National Climate Assessment Development Advisory Committee)
The 2013 draft of the U.S. National Climate Assessment reaffirms what increasing numbers of Americans have seen in their backyards and hometowns: climate change is real, and without action it will drastically alter the American way of life. Since the last assessment in 2009, climate impacts have gone from a seemingly abstract notion to a daily concern that hits close to home. From tcktcktck
Note: Add your suggestions to A Siegel's #ObamaEnv: Inaugural Address as Launchpad for Second Term Climate Action. Here's one I am adding:
Perhaps Jim Messina will call in the pros at 350.org and the Climate Reality Project to help with mentoring the folks at OFA. Encourage OFA members to participate in some real life learning immersion to gain acumen in the vocabulary and nuances of global warming topics and issues.
Help create a roll call of sorts by submitting a report or picture on climate change's impact where you live in GreenMother's Progression of the Drought.
End notes: A Toolkit
Assessing current knowledge:
CS Monitor Earth Day: How much do you know about climate change? Take our quiz.
Best Online Resources
• The Guardian: Everything you need to know about climate change – interactive
A "one-stop guide to the facts of global warming, from the science and politics to economics and technology, drawn from our ultimate climate change FAQ."
• The Union of Concerned Scientists: Global Warming and Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Regional situations Regional Information:
• CA and Western States
• Midwestern States
• Northeastern States
• Southeastern States
• Southwestern States
• International
RealClimate: Online Video Lectures on Climate Change:
Last year, Post Carbon Institute’s Sanjay Khanna Asher Miller published A Modest Proposal: Psychosocial Toolkit for Advocates of Bold Climate Action, which included a “psychosocial toolkit” designed to provide climate activists strategies in educating the public in a manner which would help "to better cope with anger, sadness, or loss they may be feeling about accelerating changes to the climate system and the lack of mobilization among the general public and policy makers ..."
• Notes from the frontlines – anecdotes and quotes from climate advocates on their experiences at Copenhagen and Cancun climate conferences
• Organizations’ approaches to keeping up morale in the face of worsening climate science findings
• Climate advocates’ successful personal strategies for coping, particularly surrounding leisure time, family, and community engagement
• Suggestions from top environmental psychologists, Indigenous elders, and mindfulness teachers on approaches to dealing with “global warming era”
Webinar "Governing Climate Change: Shifting Priorities in Urban Decision Making"
The Security and Sustainability Forum is a public interest educational organization that convenes global experts in free events to address threats to society from climate and other disruptions to natural systems. The next webinar will take place on Thursday, 31 January 2013 and explore the effects of climate change on urban governance. Trends of shifting priorities in decision making and community engagement are being seen in light of challenges posed by climate change and urbanization. Learning partner organizations for the series include Abt Associates, the World Bank, the Woodrow Wilson Center, the Penn Institute for Urban Research and the International Housing Coalition.