It seems that the war within has been replaced by a war without, where patience has been sacrificed on an alter of self-serving, manifest in short-termism:

“The common thread running through all the causes of our economic tumult is a pervasive and persistent insistence on favouring the short term over the long term, impulse over patience. We overvalue the quick return on investment and unduly discount the long-term consequences of that decision-making.”

This is seen in how we treat the planet and its other inhabitants, the environment, the economy, investments and our own health.

The problem is that to solve some of the seemingly intractable problems we face, we require creative solutions and need some boredom to process our thoughts. The best ideas often bubble up when the outside world is not distracting, entertaining or scaring us.

So at this time, may you find time to check out, disconnect, reflect, spend time with loved ones, go within, be bored and refresh – next year could be challenging and we should be prepared.

“Boredom is paradise.it is the blessed absence of what the world offers as ‘interesting’, i.e., the lures of fashion, media and other people, which, you may recall, Sartre considered Hell.” Billy Collins, American poet

via BusinessDay – Finance for “green” projects.

When you see spontaneous social protests erupting from Tunisia to Tel Aviv to Wall Street, it’s clear that something is happening globally that needs defining. There are two unified theories out there that intrigue me. One says this is the start of “The Great Disruption.” The other says that this is all part of “The Big Shift.” You decide.

via There’s Something Happening Here – NYTimes.com.