“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
–The Doc

So there are times when it feels right to get off your ass. Not that I don’t get off my ass already, but sometimes there are some causes you feel are worth working hard for with immediacy. And for somebody who practices a contemplative technique, like meditation, working hard in activism practice is the perfect complement to sitting. Why? because you can only reveal a certain amount about yourself through meditation. The amount you can reveal is amazing, and anybody who doesn’t meditate should really start tonight, at the ID Project or elsewhere.
But action, mindfully interacting with other people to transform some aspect of not individual but shared consciousness, is just as revealing, if it’s done by someone with a framework for self-reflection.
The two practices, action and contemplation, are revelatory to each other when balanced. That’s the idea, at least. Together they create a positive feedback loop of insight into the functioning of your mind. That’s been my experience so far, at least.
So here are the two things I am getting very involved with in the coming weeks.
First, and most excitingly, is the ID Project’s first multiphased “Alternative to Plastic Bag” Community Action Initiative, to get stores and consumers in the East Village and other neighborhoods to reduce or hopefully eliminate the environmentally devastating use of plastic bags. All the details on our first daylong action practice (beginning with guided meditation) are HERE. For our Saturday, February 2nd Inititiative and practice, we have 17 folks rsvped as of this writing for this new and exciting program. We’d love to have at least 30. RSVP soon so we can coordinate action teams for the day!
Second, I’m volunteering for Barack Obama in the run up to the February 5 New York Primaries. He is running neck and neck with Clinton, having lost the Nevada caucus very narrowly, but somehow having come away from it with the most delegates (I really don’t get election procedures). My personal choice to support him and work for him came down to three factors:
1a) Oprah had nothing to do with it. Mike Huckabee got my favorite celebrity endorsement from Chuck Norris.

1b) I think Obama’s background and language as a community organizer will inspire people after he is elected to really work to work with their own communities on a level we haven’t seen in a long time.
2) I think he will transform – through his appearance – the  world’s distrustful and antagonistic perception of the US almost instantly. I actually think this might be a larger factor than any other in terms of going forward in the interdependent 21st Century. The world will be a friendlier place for Americans in 2009 if he’s running the show.
3) While I don’t STRONGLY dislike Clinton, she is going to continue the kind of triangulating, unprincipled actions as President that empowered the worst regime in US history. She was one of the ringleaders in the roll-over-and-play-dead Democrat maneuvers in 2001-2003 (or 2007 if you want to go that far). She is actually a strong progressive in many respects, but you really can’t be a progressive when you keep voting to give most of our money to the military industrial complex and give the scraps of leftovers to health, education, and culture. She’s also so visibly ambitious for the crown that it hurts. There are much worse possibilities than her as president, but there are also better possibilities.
So if you want to get down with this, see what it’s like to work on a campaign before Feb 5, practice mindfulness, transform our consciousness and our community, then send me an email:
ethan at theidproject dot com.
I’ll send out details for how we’ll Barock the Vote later this week.
Note: all of the above are just my personal feelings.
Anyone wanna argue? I love when that happens.