I was already sufficiently worried about the health of our planet when one day, all of the sudden, I, like all of you, got caught in the once-in-a-century economic storm. Every day, for one solid month it got worse and worse; television and newspapers competed to inform us that all signs were negative. And they insist-as though we haven’t properly understood-that it will get worse: for now we’re just enjoying a taste of the crisis; the main dish is yet to come.
I felt the nagging sensation that the world machine as we know it was about to come to a screeching halt. And, as did many other people, I promptly ‘forgot’ my home-banking password, erased my short-term dreams and went into diligent stand-by, just like the red light on a TV.
So on one hand we have evidence of the economic crisis. But on the other hand, come on! This is the only life I have and I want to live it. Although I do like to think that we are blessed to live-as the Chinese saying goes-in an interesting era, maybe a little less interesting would be fine, too. I could deal with something less dramatic. I don’t want to be scared to make plans or think 20 times before spending 50 euro. Or 5 euro.
What’s the solution?
As we often find, it is the little stuff, the details that make the differece. Last weekend as I was going through my socio-cultural updating ritual by reading five kilos of magazines, I found a loophole for filtering pessimism and reactivate my creative circuits thanks to Amory Lovins. Environmentalist, energy-use expert and author of Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, Lovins writes, ‘our future is not made of compromises, deprivation and discomfort, but of elegant frugality.’ Obviously he was referring to the fact that today’s green technologies are so efficient and profitable that they allow us to live our lives ‘without wasting anything or damaging anything or anyone.’
The concept of elegant frugality is extremely useful for remaining calm in the storm and for looking forward without fear. I would argue that right now, efficiency is not only the best solution for environmental problems but also a formula that can be applied to life in general:
-Elegant = Maintaining a certain style; not sacrificing good taste; continuing to do-in fact, doing the best you can; giving of yourself; finding every occasion to enrich your inner self; being curious; being truly culturally interested and active.
-Frugality = Simplifying your lifestyle; making efficient economic choices; continuing to consume-though perhaps less automatically-inventing opportunities for reuse and alternative use; sharing things, ideas and problems; swapping; appreciating nature’s gifts; becoming micro-independent; resetting your objectives so they allow you to maintain a positive attitude.
It is useless to make a list of things going badly-that would be too easy. Instead, it is much healthier to think of what we can do, what we can create and go forward with our lives.
With elegance, frugality, curiosity, initiative and imagination, things will get better-even if they get worse.
Next time:practical advice for incorporating elegant frugality into your life
