The Life Like Honey website is situated directly in the middle of a paradox, and invites visitors to participate. It’s a perennial paradox, scrutinized by scientists, pontificated about by philosophers, and lived by mystics for many centuries. This is it:
The paradox of THE ONE AND THE MANY.
Our tagline, “a formula for truly personal sustainability,” invokes this paradox because “personal sustainability” is pretty much a contradiction in terms (contradictio in terminis), or rather, an oxymoron.
Sustainability
Sustainability is never a personal question nor task. Everything we do–our very existence–is inextricably bound up with the entire creation. The easiest way to look at this is to consider how difficult it is to avoid negatively impacting the environment in the context of the modern West: it is impossible to live a sustainable life in the midst of an unsustainable society. For better or for worse, we’re all in this together!
The reason I embarked upon website creation is that I have found myself recommending the same–the very same–set of help-me-improve-my-life resources to friends, family and acquaintances for many years now. I’m the sort of person who, when I have a significant life challenge, I investigate to the ends of the earth trying to find a solution: partially because I like the exploration, and partially because I am passionate about efficiency. I get really, really excited when I find stuff that works! (The simpler and less expensive, the better. )
Financial Sustainability (personal)
When I found, for example, YNAB (You Need A Budget), I was positively giddy about the friendly user interface, extensive free webinars, and easy-to-understand PDF explanation of the four principles of budgeting, which they also emailed me over several consecutive days when I first submitted my email. Who knew that budgeting could be…fun?! And of course, it took me two years to really use the program to its fullest potential, but I’m a slow learner when it comes to financial management. I just kept at it, and was supported by more webinars and the friendly staff at YNAB when I got stuck.
The Honeycomb
Each of the six sides of Life Like Honey — financial, relationships, spirituality/personal growth, time management, health, and “Clean & Green”–has a similar story behind it. (Ok well, Clean & Green leads you to IntroductionToSustainability.com, which is also my creation!) The similarities are:
- highly effective
- wide-spread appeal
- accessible value for low or no budget
Four Recommendation Levels
Of course, I have found and made use of other products, services and teachings that didn’t quite make what I call “Level 1” recommendations. In fact, my main spiritual school, Clairvision, is on Level 2 of Spirituality & Personal Growth. This is because the appeal of this specific school is going to be limited to those who are interested in developing non-physical vision, and to a high level. Not everyone is interested in this, but I would venture to say that most people are interested in becoming more present–i.e., less distracted–in their lives; most people want to show up more fully, to really enjoy the presence of their children, to more deeply appreciate beauty, and to just be with nature. Thus, Eckhart Tolle is my Level 1 recommendation for Spirituality and Personal Growth.
Levels 1 and 2 are highly recommended. Level 3 resources are things I also like, but perhaps have less experience with. Level 4 items are things I’ve run across that look interesting, and you might love them.
This shows the four navigation levels on LLH.
Truly Personal Sustainability
Let’s return to the overarching question of sustainability. If I’m distressed about troubles in my primary relationship, it’s near impossible to make space to be concerned with something like climate change. Happily, because my partner and I have a high-functioning relationship, we’ve been able to go down to a one-car household, and with few hiccups, save money and reduce our cumulative emissions. This step is not appropriate for every couple that gets along very well, but it is much more possible when relations in the home are harmonious.
If I’m distracted by financial troubles, whether it’s because I feel like I’m not making enough money or I’m just disorganized, it’s obvious that I’m less likely to dedicate money to fund people out there actively doing the on-the-ground work to make the world a better place. This also applies to time management: if I have a clear picture of where I stand with how I spend my time as well as money, volunteering at a local shelter or wildlife rehabilitation center becomes a possibility I can consider with clarity.
A Formula
Together, the Level 1 resources I recommend set you up to “get on top of” your life, rather than feeling like life is on top of you. I believe that most people feel like life is on top of them, and escape this monkey-on-the-back feeling with drugs, alcohol, t.v., and probably, Facebook! We all need good, solid downtime, but too often our downtime is of a low quality because what Eckhart Tolle calls “the background static of perpetual discontent” never really goes away. Life Like Honey is a formula to make it go away. Instead, the offerings on this website help us to grow bigger (metaphorically speaking) and more solid; to foster peace and wellness and dispel distraction and distress.
Making the World a Better Place
If you are paying attention, you feel some level of distress somewhere inside about climate change, for example. I’m not talking about uselessly worrying about earthquakes or robberies or floods or fires just because worrying about yourself or other people is part of your identity. Rather, when we contemplate the course we are on, honestly, it’s grim. Even those seemingly impartial scientists are breaking rank with the stoic academic front these days. For me, a spiritual path has both alleviated unnecessary worry and suffering, and opened up never-before-entertained possibilities. The Universe is far, far, far larger than our tiny little human minds can comprehend. The intelligence of the Universe is mega uber vast. Our individual lives are tiny, and exquisitely important opportunities to Awaken.
Awakening
If “awakening” is a vague concept to you, just think of it as an invitation to move into full engagement with your full self in the totality of creation. This might sound like you’d be really, really busy for the rest of your life. Maybe. But, think of spiritual teachers: not a lot of busyness in most of them. Often, stillness–epic stillness–is the result of deep, inner realization. With epic stillness, most (not all, but most) lose their need for STUFF; certain important relationships come to the fore, and others fall away; nature becomes supremely key; spacetime becomes relative.
Show Up For Life
Take the recommendations of Life Like Honey seriously, but also, lightly. Recognize that the weight of the world is not something you need to bear alone: if you feel like it is, then something is off. At the same time, the world is calling for our full engagement. Make space in your life by cleaning up your house. This might be your literal house, your finances, your stuff. It might be your emotional house. It might be getting rid of toxic chemicals and pseudo-foods. In any case, it’s a very, very simple request: please, please show up.
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