The planet doesn't need more success and nor do we

We are obsessed with success.

The Oxford dictionary gives two primary definitions of success:

Success: 1. The accomplishment of an aim of purpose or 1.1 the attainment of wealth, fame of social status.

The attainment of wealth, fame or social status.

Our goals are now summed up to becoming richer, acquiring more stuff, going faster, improving our work skillset and beating others while we're at it. We are obsessed with filling up and terrified of emptiness.We are constantly over-stimulated and increasingly frightened of the “nothing” whether it manifests itself through loneliness, boredom, or taking two minutes to breathe.

This is also reflected in our worldwide economic belief: growth reflects success. An economy is successful (remember, wealth, fame or social status) if it grows. Our economies are strong if they grow (no matters to what expense or by what means); they're weak if they don't. The concept of de-growth is the d-word: it’s bad, it’s dangerous and we know it doesn’t work even though 1) we haven’t tried and 2) many studies demonstrate the opposite.

We often forget that this pace of life and these beliefs are very new – so new that they are a spark in the lifetime of humanity [about 200,000 years old]. It started to develop with the Industrial Revolution 200 years ago and boomed significantly to the next level with the internet revolution in the 1990’s. We are now constantly connected, “on” and therefore on edge, through the feelings of stress, anxiety and depression (and we’re not even allowed to talk about it as this too, is perceived as weaknesses).

So how is this connected to the environmental mess we’re in?

Our continual desire to grow and seek more is contradictory to how we developed and where we come from – and the dynamics of the planet we live on. Millions of years of evolution shaped us to evolve completely in accordance with the environment around us. Our bodies are perfectly adapted and designed to work with light and darkness, sun and moon, cold and warmth, which are phenomenon that happen slowly and with imperfection The fact that we now believe to be immune to those natural processes on which we rely and evolved from for such a long time – much longer than anything we can fathom really, deeply affects our mental health. In return, our poor mental health affects the way we behave with the planet.

We are permanently ill, and the society we evolve in proposes fake medication in response to our ailments: consumption = buy more stuff = fill the hole = be happier till next time. Are you feeling depressed? Go for a shopping haul. Are you feeling lonely? Go get smashed with your friends at the pub. You’re feeling like a failure at work? Well, you might be one, and what matters anyway is getting promoted and earning more. The rest is superfluous.

We don’t take into consideration the things that keep us alive; we don't pay attention to how we interact as a community or a group; we don’t focus on or understand the way our bodies work: our breath, our movement, the food we eat, our sensations, emotions and feelings. Even exercise, which is beneficial for your health and that we need more of in most cases, became an obsession. People are constantly at the gym responding to the overwhelming pressure of the body-culture.

We need to un-define rather than re-define our values and what we prioritise.

We never stop and feel anymore.

This is exactly where the problem lies. The natural world is based on feeling, being receptive and adapting. The environment we’re in, and what it provides us with - basically everything we need to survive from oxygen to food - is a foreign concept to most of us (in the Western world). We never halt, appreciate what’s around us and take stock. The fact that we’re spending more and more time indoors, that cities are growing exponentially (in 2050, 70% of the world population will be living in cities - that's 2/3 of us), and that we don't cultivate knowledge of how the world works separates us deeply from the wild, quite literally.

We need to un-define rather than re-define our values and what we prioritise. Recently, many of the signs used in the 'Strike for Climate" stated that "we can’t drink oil nor breathe money". Nothing is more self-explanatory than this.

We have to focus on healing and being more aware and knowledgable of our environment. We need to redefine the concept of success, which has arguably brought more harm than good so far. Our values need to be reshaped to be more in tune with where we came from.

This must be our number one priority if we want to continue our existence on this beautiful planet - and to be successful at it.