Monday 16. of March 2009

By: goat

It has taken a solid two-week break since the finish of the official inaugural week of Breathe, and a couple more days on top since the documentary crew has left the building, before this blog could be written. Simply put, it was a week that felt like a year, yet dissolved in what felt like seconds. One where the world was changed forever, yet was left totally unaffected. All in all, it summed up the contradiction we all face in our time on this planet – there can be no life without death. The appreciation of black must first be attained before one can fully comprehend white. Contrast…

In setting up Breathe the overriding objective was to create a platform to encourage and facilitate contrast that many of us are blinded to in our everyday lives. Even by bringing people to a utopian environment like Costa Rica, it was a challenge to examine the contrast of realities even here on the ground. And many there are. Too many tourists who visit this country are blinded by the obvious beauty, bio-diversity and impeccable climate. What is not so obvious in many cases is the devastating affect of foreign capital is having in the form of construction and multi-national corporate investments, both on a social and ecological level.  Time after time, during out travels throughout the country while researching and shooting the documentary, warning bells were sounded by concerned involved parties that the public statements of intent are often very different from the practical realities on the ground – from a municipal to a federal level.

This being as it may, it also created a stark contrast between those organizations that are totally focused on fighting for the issues as they stand and those who simply give it lip service. The number of dedicated, passionate, individuals and organizations we met on our travels who are working on all levels, in all areas from social to ecological, was truly inspiring. Costa Rica, on almost every level you can examine it, is a paradise in most people’s terms, but the question remains – for how long. Empowered, the people we met will bastion a sustainable development to ensure the integrity and beauty here will be persevered for generations to come.

And that, in a local and global sense, was the ambition of the Breathe concept. To create a platform to contrast to the normal western consumer society with that of one closer to a high integrity, functioning eco-system. To present, meet and experience people and projects that return as much as they take. To demonstrate the power of positive re-affirmation is as strong, if not in fact, stronger than the politics of fear that we as a species have been brainwashed into believing is the only reality that does or can exist. Working with the locals here in the Nicoya Peninsula on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica in conjunction with the visitors who made it down was an amazing experiment in science that proved with little doubt that positive energy has the same power to move, shape and effect as it’s negative sibling. The choice is in fact our own...

As much as this may sound as if we spent way too much time hugging trees or getting high on mango moonshine, it is very far from the case. It became a practical experiment in an alternative point of view. One based on questioning the construction of the present system, examining the way we interact with our planet and ourselves, alternative ways of looking at things, in effect simply – a contrast. Many may think this is an idealistic outlook. Some might say it is misguided or far too simplistic. I would challenge that. Humans created the present system roughly 200 years ago with the start of the industrial revolution and in the short term it ushered many advancements in science, health, construction, lifespan, wealth and technology. But we have bought all this on credit and the bill is in the mail.

Any system that is based on unabated, expotential consumption where there are finite resources has a limited lifespan. Humans have affected our home, our only planet, more in the last 200 years than all of the 10,000 years before it, allowing clever marketing people convince us of the irrational, mainstream media to dull us into not thinking, socially irresponsible multi-nationals to hook us on cheap products and continual profits while collusive governments protect the interests of their paymasters in the military industrial complex. It is long overdue that we stop for a second, breathe, and rethink our direction and how we interact with this planet.

In the “The Story of Stuff”, Annie Leonard concludes, “Some people might think this is unrealistic. Too idealistic. But I disagree. What is not realistic is to think that we can continue the way we are.”

It is time to Breathe for a second, if for no other reason than to give us a chance to contrast what is and what should be. Positive action begets positive reactions. It is in our hands... and is totally doable once we put our collective minds to it! Nicolas Mueller concludes in the "Breathe - the first edit" video below that we need to find and express more Love. I would further contend, we as a species need to question more, think regularly, re-connect with our environment, practice more empathy to our brothers and sisters and above all find an appreciation of this amazing piece of rock racing through space in this remote corner of the universe...

 

If this still sounds inconceivable, check the below documentary based around the authors of the Cradle to Cradle design concept of the chemist Michael Braungart and the architect William McDonough. It will give you another way at looking forward. 

 

A full report on Breathe coming soon….

 

 

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