12 Steps of Energy Sobriety

1. We admitted we were powerless over fossil fuels, and that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a lasting and cleaner source of power could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over the laws of the biosphere and the principles of conservation.

4. Made a searching and fearless inventory of our energy abuse.

5. Admitted to ourselves, our leaders, and the world at large, the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to remove from our body politic all that oppose the wise use of resources.

7. Humbly set out to reverse our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all peoples and species we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such beings whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to inventory our resource use and abuse, and when we erred promptly corrected it.

11. Sought through monitoring and research to improve our conscious choices, seeking only to meet the sanest need with the least harm possible.

12. Having had a responsible awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message throughout the land, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Note: I was inspired to write these, based on the 12 steps of AA, after following a discussion on Huffington Post. Although I began it  half in jest, it occurs to me that if we actually followed these steps, we would solve our energy problems - and a lot of others, besides! Feel free to copy & spread the word.

Thanks,
Jan B

Summer Solstice Energy is: The Cave

The Summer Solstice arrived early this morning, dear readers, and so we have entered the ripening yet waning cycle of the year. I consulted the cards today, and came up with The Cave as the energy that will prevail for us from now through August 2, or Lammas Day.

Think of it not so much as hiding in your Cave, but rather as having a place for refuge and regrouping within the self, where you can go to process the lessons you've gained from interaction with others. We'll be buffeted by winds of change in this time period, and see opportunities beckon us along the way. The Cave, representing our insight and inner resources, will be our storehouse of resilience as we journey through this season. Don't forget to replenish it with sufficient "me time" as you embark on your summer adventures!

Would you like to have a forecast of your personal energy cycles? My intuitive readings will help answer your questions and illuminate your path - and are now available by e-mail!. For information and to request a reading,  click here, or send a message to burchjan@gmail.com. Use the tabs above  for more information about my intuitive services.

Notable Quote: Whither the flock?

We all think that the stuff and the energy and the accoutrements of modern life make us free, but until I took some time to do without them, I never got the chance to see the extent to which they also trapped me. Having electricity trapped me into the "freedom" of working at night, when I might have been playing with Isabella. 

After we started the no-electricity phase I got a number of e-mails from people who asked me, in all earnestness, how I would continue to make bread without the electricity to power my bread machine? My bread machine? When did we start thinking that we couldn't make bread without a bread machine? Is that freedom or enforced reliance on machines?

What's wonderful about the human race is that we move forward together. We like to be part of the flock. We go where the flock is going, and and this is wonderful, because to be part of the flock is to feel the love of community, while to move outside the flock is in some ways a rejection of love. The problem is, while we all move together with the flock, none of us takes charge of where the flock is going.

We need to figure this out and we need to figure it out fast: Where should this flock now go?

Colin Beavan, No Impact Man