testimonies from the planets of the universe introduced

planet 101 – This is how you safe the world

By the time our fate changed, we couldn’t leave our houses without masks, drinking water was scarce and food so devoid of nutrients that it didn’t matter much what you ate – by that time, there was one economic branch booming: books with titles like: This is how you safe the world, The ultimate solution for our planet, You have to do this to safe our world, Do this and we will be safe and hundreds of variations along those lines. And people still bought them.

Ours is the story of a planet which nearly collapsed until someone wrote a short to-do list, comprehensive, respectful, encouraging, rational, someone who jumped over the mountains of Do this! books, and saw what we needed: simplicity, courage, respect, love and a vision. This someone was eleven years old, a rascal and a visionary to the core.

planet 159 – Family

Nodi was a hundred and eleven years old. His friend was a year younger but not doing well. One evening, the two friends sat together on a bench, watching the cars pass on the road. ‘I don’t have family,’ Nodi’s friend said. ‘I have no one.’ ‘What?’ Nodi exclaimed. ‘What about me. Am I not your family?’ ‘Are you?’ ‘Of course, I am, my friend. But I tell you what. I have been thinking. It can’t be that all we are good for is to wait for the next birthday and the next congratulation that we are still around. There must be more.’ ‘Oh, no. Not one of your ideas.’ ‘Oh, yes. Do you see these people in the cars. All alone, all on their phones, all rushing. They don’t live. They don’t have time for it.’ ‘So what. We were no different.’ ‘True. But we can be now.’ ‘How?’ ‘We open a time centre.’ ‘What the heck is that?’ Nodi smiled cheekily.

Many stories have shaped and still shape life on our planet. The story of Nodi and her time centre is a big favourite.

planet – 138 – True power is in creation

The trouble with power, we found, is that it is easily misread and it easily misleads. Power is in fact a delicate creature, which, when used with understanding, can be powerful indeed, when used by those who don’t understand the essence of power, it’s not just wasted, it usually causes harm.

It was a person who had already lived in the cloaks of several gender, a person who had travelled far, a person of a mind always seeking, always asking, always exploring. When they found the source of all power, they studied it long and when they returned, we finally understood that true power is in creation, in connecting, in empowering, everything else the inability to be powerful, strong and wise.

This is the story of how we learned to embrace true power – not least, because we needed it. Our planet was in a bad shape. Our societies were exhausted. We were lost. With the understanding of true power we began to create connections, our habitat, our future.

planet 153 – The tree

Views from around the universe is actually an old collection which used to be referred to as views or even vs. It’s only now that we are polishing our entries before we share them with planet Earth that we use the more elaborate title: Views from around the universe.

I’m telling you this, because we keep finding fragments of the views where no one knows who wrote them. Often they have some intriguing core while their beginning and end clearly belongs to something else.

This is the story of the tree fragment. A story so beautiful that we all know it by heart. At it core it says: This is how we can understand us and our place in this world. We are like a tree. We start with a seed in soil, we grow as the rain falls and the sun shines. Our roots reach into the ground, our arms stretch towards the sun, our leaves rustle in the wind. As we grow, our shape and our perspective constantly changes. The seasons, too, challenge us, make us wonder, have us sway in the storm and drip after the rain has eased. And we still grow, with each spring wrapping a new layer around us, reaching a little deeper, a little higher, our leave returning, our blossoms gleaming in the sun, and soon our branches will be heavy with ripe fruits again. Yes, we change. But that does not have to frighten us. It is part of who we are. And we are always worthy. The first fruit that is ever ours to give is no less precious than all the other fruits we will contribute in our lives. We change but we are never less or better, we are always the tree that keeps growing, that keeps changing, that keeps bearing fruits.

planet 114 – Unite

There is six of us, sitting in our café. The café won’t open for another three hours so we have a moment to tell you about our planet, or rather about us. No, actually, about Joel and Joex.

There is little interplanetary travel happening in the universe. And we know how much you love your space travel stories. But it’s not really fun to travel for year, even if you sleep most of the time. You kind of know that you missed some years, and it feels weird.

Joel and Joex were one of the few visitors to our planet and they soon made a nuisance of themselves. They knew things. I guess it’s a truth universally acknowledged that no one likes people who know things. Unless, it is something you’re really interested in. But how often does that happen. Joel and Joex knew all the things no one wanted to know. But what was worse, they also knew all the things we already knew. I mean, we were not stupid or inactive. We did things. We fought for things. We knew things!

Oh, yah!

Joel and Joex were also a bit funny. Because they were spot on rational. You couldn’t tell them that we did things a certain way. If it didn’t make sense to them, they simply ignored it. Sometimes that was funny. Usually they simply trampled around in our space. And frankly, we wanted them gone. After all: We knew things! Ourselves!

But then, one super hot summer day, Joel and Joex hacked into the planet’s communication systems, and we didn’t have a chance but to listen. It was a lot, and it was a hot day, but as the sweat rolled down our necks we began to guess that maybe they had a point, or two and actually a lot more.

For this little introduction, I’ll only mention one or two or actually probably three. Number one: We were good people, we knew things and we were bitterly fractured. ‘How,’ Joel asked. ‘How can you preach that your planet needs change but when we approached you, you pushed us away. You didn’t want us to be part of the change that is so clearly needed. We were puzzled by this. It didn’t make sense. If you have a problem, you get as many people on board as possible. If you all act in your small little bubbles than your dooms day prophecies will come true and those who destroy the planet can keep cheering your stupidity. If you were half as righteous as you say, you would unite. More, you would empower each other. More, you would see each other, see what each of you has to contribute. You might as well stop complaining and attacking. It’s no use, unless you unite.’ Joex nodded and took over at the mic. ‘And what’s with savour/martyr complex? Does any one of you really believe you are the only one who has all the answers. And answers?’ Here Joex and Joel snorted dismissively. ‘We thought you had graduated from that kindergarten myth. Answers will not get you anywhere. It’s questions you need even if you have relevant answers. Answer will always put people on the offensive. Give them a question, show them respect and you have someone who started that precious process called thinking.’ Joel nodded. ‘Our advice. Become a human. And believe in your fellow humans. Not because they deserve it. They need it. We all do.’ Joex took a deep breath. ‘You need to establish ground rules and on that basis you need to come together. If you don’t unite. Nothing will ever happen. Just like in the decades you have been demanding change. Become human. Enjoy the task. Do it together.

planet 108 – Retraining our politicians

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planet 126 – Healing for our sick shareholders

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planet 123 – How we found the secret of longevity

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planet 133 – How we woke up and learned to overcome denial

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planet 113 – Why do we work?

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planet 155 – Our incredible journey of how we reconnected to nature

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planet 128 – When we overcame poverty, we all began to live

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planet 137 – How empty foods became real foods again

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planet 110 – Happy in the bubble

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planet 106 – The mirror

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planet 130 – How we lost our planet

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planet 168 – Abuse

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planet – 107 – When we began to take care of ourselves

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planet 134- The end of the destruction of our natural world

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planet 118 – Going wild

Lisa and Laura were a well-known couple in our town. They were both wheelchair users which was why our mayor was incredulous when Lisa and Laura began to strike against the anti-plant management of the town by disrupting the traffic in front of the town hall with their wheelchair races. Apparently wheelchair users are supposed to be good compliant citizens. ‘Also, my dears,’ the mayor said to them. ‘If we really re-green our town, then trees would disturb the smoothness of the pavements and your road would get very bumpy.’

This was the beginning of how, first our town, then a succession of next towns and eventually country after country, began to re-green towns & cities, and to rewild large areas of our planet. I have to admit that I simply admired (and still do) these two women who are so full of life and absolutely undaunted by bumps in the road. But I didn’t really expect anything to happen. Many people got on board because they liked Lisa and Laura and everyone loves a good laugh at the mayor.

It was when we notices small changes: the air began to smell differently, the water tasted sort of smoother, and a lot of people reported that they suddenly didn’t have that many headaches any more, that they slept better and didn’t feel so easily depressed.

That’s when we began to take our work seriously, suddenly curious what else would change if we restored the natural world we are a part of.

planet 132 – Overcoming our obsession with numbers

It wasn’t just measurements. We were also obsessed with statistics, often using numbers which weren’t even close to representative. But so long as we could point to two columns and see: look the majority wants A, or more B’s are really so and so, the happier we were.

Until a numbers wizard destroyed our house of cards with remarks like: ‘Are you implying that it is a good idea to poison our air, the stuff we breathe, just a little bit longer until it has reached this point here? This sound to me as if you think that poising is ever a good idea.’ Or they would say: ‘Majority? Really. You are telling me that you can ignore the wishes of sixty-six million people because sixty-six million and one voted for your so-called policy. It doesn’t seem to me that numbers are doing you any favours.’

And they didn’t. Several groups, in various countries were first angry with the wizard, and then they did the unheard of: they questioned the usefulness of numbers. The example that did it for me, a man, were the numbers about domestic abuse. The official numbers stated that 160,000 women were abused by their partner. And 20,000 men were abused by their partner. ‘Are you seriously telling me, that the tragic and damaging circumstances 20,000 men is irrelevant, only because the other number is a good deal higher. Who are you people?’

It was not easy to find the numbers that serve us and to get rid of those which don’t. But ours is the story of how we did it.

planet 111 – How we restored our planet

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planet 153 – Story Land

Story Land started as a story for adults who like to dream. Some of these adults found each other and decided to build a real Story Land – a place where thoughts grow into stories.

This is the story of those adults, the story of their stories, and how those new stories slowly opened new doors, new perspectives in our minds. Just in to do a U-turn on the damage we were inflicting on each other and on our planet.

planet 122 – How we reversed the collapse of our planet

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planet 157 – Abortion

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planet 142 – Press Pause

include closed world, no time to connect, no room

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planet 154 – How irrationally nearly cost us our world

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planet 117 – Lies

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planet 116 – The experiment

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planet 152 – The cure to loneliness

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planet 104 – How we deal with each other

What are we afraid of?

planet 150 – Your powers

When you crush me, don’t I scream?

planet 116 – What happens when we hold each other to account?

What we let happen

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planet 105 – Profits

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planet 112 – The families houses

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planet – 162 – Moi opens his eyes

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planet 140 – What guides our thoughts? A closer look at narratives

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planet 141 – Connections

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planet 144 – Leadership

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planet 149 – Us and them

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planet 125 – The challenge

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planet 115 – Free Towns

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planet 110 – Hurt souls

Faustina was born blind. And for a long time, people thought that she couldn’t speak either.

planet 147 – When we stopped making demands, things got finally done

The biggest hurdle to change are divides. The biggest stumbling blocks to change are defensiveness. And the most deafening tool with regard to change are demands.

Once we allowed these thoughts to take root in our minds, we still grimaced, we still didn’t trust even those who were supposed to be our allies but we began to acknowledge that we could only win if we began to build bridges, if we found a way to trust, if we found a way to put the all of us and the all of nature before our fears and shallow needs.

This is a story about stumbling, about sinking into the mud, about nearly giving up, about screaming and punching the air – on our road to stop making demands and to begin finding solutions.

How do you know that a solution is worth the trouble of torturing yourself to leave the comfort zone of complaining and attacking?

We had this man. He was amazing. A great thinker. A great heart. And one of those people who always made demands. When the thoughts of thoughts took shape in his mind, he decided to share his struggles, his screams, his anxieties with us. And with that he opened a door for us to go on our own journey.

Us and them does exist. In all cases it is an invention. It some cases it is a decision. In many cases it is a habit. In all cases it is something we can overcome.

Why?

Do you want to enjoy life?

planet 102 – Who are you? And who do you want to be?

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planet 127 – This is why we failed

This is why we failed and lost our planet: We didn’t unearth every bit of potential we had. Instead we lived the divides that made us sick. We fought lone wars we could not win. We thought that wars were a solution. We didn’t understand that we all wanted the same: to live.

planet 119 – Courage to face ourselves and each other

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planet 121 – Seriously

We took far too much too seriously and far too little serious enough when it counted.

We were the people who always asked for the systemic changes, those abstracts and inventions we are so good at creating. It was only when we realised that the path to change starts in us, when we do the bitter work of admitting that we get hurt and that we take so many blows too seriously, that we were able to relax and with that relaxed mind and a new purpose, one far beyond that of defensiveness, we finally accepted what needed our full attention and our complete, unflinching, bold seriousness.

This is the story of two midlives who decided to let down their guards and to prioritise what needed to be done.

planet 133 – How we became all that we can be

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planet 143 – This is generosity

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planet 124 – The incredible power of empowerment

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planet 139 – How we became the healthiest and wealthiest we had ever been

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planet 136 – The invention of scarcity

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planet 145 – The billionaires camp

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planet 129 – The invention of evil

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planet 148 – How matters

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planet 120 – What made our planet sick?

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planet 109 – action, action, action – What did we achieve?

Are we happy with the amount of applause we get? Or is our priority to get things done. And when something doesn’t work, will we keep exploring, will we keep questioning ourselves? Do we still see ourselves?

planet 103 – Fly, my friend, fly

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planet 151 – Sides

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