SUSTAINABLE LIVING

Technical expertise is invaluable when considering the topic of sustainability in our modern world. At the same time, I have learned from my study of cultures and traditions that have existed for millennia that another kind of knowledge - along with technical know-how - is also essential. This other kind of knowledge might best be described as a "spiritual orientation" to life: recognizing that we are all connected, not separate from anything or anyone. As Chief Seattle of the Salish tribe famously said in 1854, "Man did not weave the web of life - he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." Taking to heart this perspective means that to create a sustainable world we must wake up and take greater responsibility for our lives and our world in ways that are far beyond in depth and breadth of what most of us have previously imagined. Now is the time for us to reexamine our personal lives, to look deeply into how we conduct ourselves in our relationships with others, and to reevaluate the values that we have held dear, that we have believed to be life-sustaining. Living a sustainable life requires that we revise how we "practice" our lives. In a sense, it's an initiation into a new way of living that might, if we're lucky, produce the kind of sustainability that served our ancestors so well.

There is one more aspect to my work that I would like to share. Many traditional cultures throughout the world are dying. They are dying because the ills of the modern world have found their way into the heart of these cultures. This is happening all around the world, even in Bali where it formally appeared that they had enough cultural immunity to ward off anything that would threaten their traditional way of life. My intent here is not to celebrate, where sustainability is concerned, traditional cultures as all good nor am I interested in demonizing modern life. I have seen that both have something to offer; there is value in each way of life. In my work my purpose is to help people who are interested in sustainability, especially those who aspire to be leaders in the field, integrate what each of these worlds have to offer without minimizing the value of either.

-- Robert Elliott