My time is parceled out to things that are in line with my value system and that give me joy and meaning. One of the things I like to do is research new initiatives that I find interesting. The latest? I just learned about “bottle schools.” Bottle schools are built using eco-bricks (used bottles filled with trash) while raising awareness around waste, community, and consumption. This is a grass-roots initiative of Hug It Forward. Only problem I see is that going to school sometimes hurts families and their traditional ways. When we insist that everybody go to school perhaps we are touting our way as the best way but is it for everyone? I certainly believe in equal access but we need to rethink our ego-centric motives when a family in a “poor” country is told that their children should go to school and their livelihood and cultural traditions suffer as a result. In other words when we strive to “do the most good” it is important to look at all angles of an issue before proceeding. For example, I remember when peace corp. volunteers used to build water wells in the village thinking that they were improving the quality of people’s lives greatly. What they didn’t realize is that the women actually preferred to go gather water with other women as it was their time to connect and socialize. Making sure that all concerned and impacted individuals are consulted before an idea is implemented is always a good idea. So even though doing good feels delicious when must, if we want to live consciously, consider how it feels to all the people involved.
