Greetings from Alison Wiley here in Portland, Oregon. I'm a writer/doer/thinker who lives happily by putting people, nature and God ahead of accumulating more stuff. Read more →
Two things (at least) stirred my soul during the inaugurational ceremonies yesterday of Governor John Kitzhaber here in Oregon. One was a phrase used by poet Kim Robert Stafford in his inspirational poem. The phrase was “abundance moving toward need”. That’s a diamond-cut concept if I ever heard one, the idea that abundance — I [...]
Tags: abundance·Ducks·Governor John Kitzhaber·inauguration·Kim Robert Stafford·rich and poor·social justice·soul·spectator sports
The largest act of civil disobedience against climate change in U.S. history took place in the nation’s Capitol in frigid, snowy weather on March 2. More than 2,000 people marched, and many risked arrest by blocking all four entrances to the coal-fired Capitol Power Plant. Time magazine gave it serious coverage among other mainstream media; [...]
Tags: activism·climate change·coal·coal plants·global warming·social justice
Today is Blog Action Day, I have learned from the popular blog Zenhabits, and the theme this year is poverty. As you may know, I’m a fan of solutions and ‘doing’ when it comes to any given problem. I promote more joy and less consumption in the United States — but you need to have [...]
Tags: Blog Action Day·Boardman·development·economics·giving·happiness·life·Mercy Corps·PGE·Pro Mujer·social justice
I’m sipping my coffee at 6 a.m. at Stumptown in Southeast Portland (joy). The Oregonian’s front page shows an ocean of the 72,000 faces that turned out to see Barack Obama yesterday (yes, I voted for him, too) and the lower right corner story is: “Who loves high energy prices? The environment.” The gist is [...]
Tags: carbon dioxide·carbon footprint·carpooling·consumption·economics·environment·global warming·life·philanthropy·social justice
I recently asked a good friend how happy he was on a scale of 0 to 10. He only had to think for a few seconds. “A five,” he said. “You?”
“I’m at 9 or 10,” I replied. Interestingly, he makes about twice as much money as I do, and even likes his job (as do I). The social sciences have studied happiness quite thoroughly, so what have they
Tags: consumption·economics·happiness·history·Juliet Schor·relationships·Robert Putnam·social justice
I’m sad that John Edwards has exited the presidential race. Why? I saw his as the most honest and courageous voice on the national stage, between his populist stand against poverty, naming corporate greed for what it is, and . . . imagine this . . . promoting that Americans should be willing to sacrifice as we address global warming.
I heard Mr. Edwards use those words when I was
Tags: carbon footprint·climate change·Democrats·environment·global warming·John Edwards·poverty·primaries·sacrifice·social justice
Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream: that America could rise above the selfish institution of segregation. The dream seemed hopelessly idealistic. Too many people in power benefited from segregation, and were willing to violently defend it.
What if Dr. King were alive today? I am convinced his dream would embrace sustainability, i.e. living in a way that ensures future generations can also live. Everything he stood for supports such a
Tags: carbon footprint·climate change·consumption·CSR·culture·Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.·economics·global warming·I Have A Dream·idealism·integration·joy·life·Martin Luther King Jr.·materialism·racism·religion·segregation·social change·social justice·vision
I’m back after a break! Pulitzer prize winner Jared Diamond points out in the New York Times today that we in the U.S. are consuming 32 times more than the citizens of developing countries, and that that has to change because the earth’s resources are running out.
A little more surprisingly, he also says something I have been maintaining for years: our quality of life is not directly tied to our
Tags: carbon footprint·conservation·culture·economics·economy·environment·global warming·happiness·Jared Diamond·Juliet Schor·quality of life·social justice
In the late 80’s I led a workshop on simple living at a conference on peace and social justice. This was at a Quaker church in my hometown of Whittier, California and two of my workshop attendees were an older couple with kind and careworn faces. As we all spoke of our experiences it became clear to me that this couple had been living lives of simplicity and conviction
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