How mass-market economics changed earth for the worse

Monoculture

Bananas may soon go extinct.

Why?

Because corporations that wanted to sell tons of bananas around the world decided that the most economic variety ie the cavendish variety would be planted extensively to fuel a market they were creating.

The banana industry was built by converting thousands of hectares of arable land and forest into an unsustainable monoculture.

The cavendish banana became 99% of all banana exports. …

earth has no heroes

The only guarantee is that there is no guarantee.

There is no perfect place, no perfect time, no perfect organisation nor person that will bring your dreams to life.

Pick yourself, do the work. It may be the only time you’d see sunlight

This week, I have found myself reminiscing quite a lot. I have grown even though I often fail to notice it. I have had quite a number of wins, even though I quickly forget. I have been reminiscing lately but I really vibe to Seth Godin when he says pick yourself. …

may a cure never be found for you.

“heaven help us from fools and dreamers”

this quote is an excerpt of a letter written to botanist Hugh Wilson after he wrote an article of his dream to restore heavily gorse-infested farmland into native New-Zealandean forest. You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VZSJKbzyMc

I have been a wierdo for the majority of my life. wheteher it was with the way I spoke, my hobbies, ideologies and even fashion sense I have always gravitated to things on the fringe. to things that don't often make sense to many.

Sometimes I hate it. Sometimes the self-doubt is crushing. other times the cheering crowd is deafening silence. less times than i’d love to admit, things don’t go as planned. this life is one that is hard to plan.

But slowly, I…

You would never know enough.

When you get a new piece of equipment, especially one you have no prior experience with, one of the first things we may try to do is to read the manual. A similar thing happens when you try to start something new — we try to learn everything we can about that venture.

However, there is something to be said for our pursuit of knowledge. It can easily become a rabbit hole — a never-ending pursuit of information over action.

This year, I found myself taking a lot of online courses. Many of which I have failed to practise.

Be mindful. Movement is not the same as progress. Realize that there would never be enough knowledge to replace action and no matter how much you learn, you would never know enough.

One of the most common advice given to people who want to start some form of activity or business etc is “just do it” or “just start now”.

The problem with “just start now” is that it doesn't give you the full picture of what starting entails.

There are issues like managing expectations, starting with what you have, not fussing over petty details, not trying to gather all the information you can and realizing that failure is not necessarily a bad thing.

Only after all these, does one find the courage to “Just Do It”.

For the days I am too afraid of change

I have been working on a project for a month now and… I am scared

I am scared you wouldn't like it

I am scared that something would go wrong on the day of launch

I am scared that my plans at asking people to support my work financially would be a dud.

I am scared.

If this was me trying a new style of writing, I wouldn't be so scared. …

How to turn your Weaknesses into Strengths.

“Every weakness contains within itself a strength.”
― Shusaku Endo

I love the Japanese, they seem smart, plus — Anime!!!. How can you hate anime? However, I find their philosophies on life to be even more intriguing. I find it to more wholesome and often counter to standard western ideologies. For instance, what do you do when you break a bowl?

Do you just toss it away?

What if it is your most prized china? Would you try to fix it, hide its cracks, and make it look as unbroken as possible?

Do…

A Rookie’s guide to social change

Be content to act, and leave the talking to others.

-Baltasar Gracián

Just do it. Just start.

The year was 1999. I was 3. Kindergarten. Sitting in a slightly packed class. Baggy pink shirt, a fat blue tie and blue shorts. Multicoloured little wooden chairs and round tables. I remember listening to my teacher as she told an all too familiar story.

In a rat-infested house, the owner bought a cat. This definitely wasn’t a welcome change and so the rats held a meeting in order to strategize on how to get rid of…