Another word on courage

Dear readers,

The last three months have left you with an unpardonable absence of input. I plan to make up for it. And now: Back to making recommendations. I'm barely half way through this book, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to expose it back into cyberspace for all to read. I usually hate books about business, but a welcome exception is Dave Pollard's Finding the sweet spot: The natural entrepreneur's guide to responsible, sustainable, joyful work.

You know that mental zing you get when you read something that really resonates with your current thinking, your current worldview? Well, I've been getting plenty of zings not only from his book but many of his blog posts. For example, pg 57:

"If courage is merely not having any alternative but to do something remarkable, what can you do to make trying to become expert at something you think you'd really love so compelling, you have no alternative but to go for it?"

If you read my previous post, does that theme sound familiar? It is a question at the core of anyone's quest for work that they really want to do, efforts they want to be a part of, and potentially kindred spirits they want to meet if only they knew where to find them.

I'm still looking for ways to bring 21st century thinking into the material world and make a livelihood from it. One area I keep coming back to again and again is how to solve problems in recycling plastics and other common products. I'm not a scientist and I don't have a background in logistics, but I'd like to confront this challenge. If I'm confronted with a situation I want to deal with responsibly, I assume there are potentially millions just like me facing the same thing. Case in point: Take my lowly cuisinart beaters.

No, really, take them, please. They're broken. The gears grind horribly, and fail to spin the beaters. I'd love to be a proud DIYer, but I can't even discover how I would open up this gadget to look at the innards, let alone fix it. So how do I dispose of this item responsibly??

Initially, I thought about boxing it up and sending it back to the address listed on the product information brochure. After all, shouldn't the original manufacturer take responsibility for their products throughout the entire lifecycle? I'm stymied.

This conundrum is a perfect example of a so-called problem, that should never be one in the first place. That's compelling. That's relevant. That is worth becoming an expert. And on what part of it would I be an expert? Just think of how many kindred spirits I would have to meet in order to solve this, and similar problems for everyone across this lovely continent? Wouldn't that keep me busy for the rest of my life?    Stay tuned.....