not sweet enough!?

Bro in the jungles of Palomino, Colombia

I am on a flight between Cartagena (Colombia) and New York (USA). Two incredibly contrasting cultures. I have come fresh out of the jungles of Colombia where I slept in a hammock, washed in a river and cooked on a fire while foraging mangoes and coconuts and staying with a humble shaman's family.

I get served high altitude coffee and despite requesting that the stewardess not give me sugar I get a pile of sugar sachets labelled "Dunkin' Donuts" and "Pure Sugar" on the reverse. One of the most addictive, unhealthy and unpure sources of sugar out there. My inner yogini breathes, surrenders, accepts and goes within to feel this fire sparked. And then in honesty another part of me really doesn't like this. No matter how cool, how chilled and how compassionate one can be, I feel like a boundary has been crossed against my will and because it is socially acceptable, I am expected to subject myself to this unhealthy brands presence in front of me telling me a blatant lie that it is 'real sugar' and whispering 'take me, take me, let me sweeten you up'.

Tip: Sugar makes really good face exfoliator. Rather than throw away the sugar one may wish to mix it with natural soap and make a yummy face scrub.

But this is just the start of my gears getting lightly grinded as my weary mind and body traverse across dimensions. I know it is probably due to my time drinking "La Medicina" (an indiginous cleansing potion) with my brother and the shaman a few days before that I am sensitive. I am feeling incredibly in touch with these emotions and when I find myself talking to the American guy next to me, I again find myself fired up.

Before I know it I am passionately explaining how the mass consumptive culture nurtured in the Western world needs to end. That things are being made to last little time before being thrown away and replaced with 'the latest model', that people are being taught to care about the wrong things, that peak oil is coming, that too much power is in the hands of the few... before I finish, said American looks at me suspiciously.

"Are you a communist?" he interrupts me.
"No" I reply politely. "But I do have common sense".

Gosh, I'm no angel. I've worked with the big banks, big FMCGS etc. I know (second-hand) that Coca-Cola wonders how to get a child to drink 7 cans of the stuff to create a newly addicted consumer.

Tip: Coke makes really good silver jewellery polish, teeth and stomach rotter.

That and a few other secrets of this world that won't be able to sustain the growing populations and demands of the middle-classes of the 'emerging markets' where people also want the latest and bestest of stuff built to last a year before the latest model comes out.

I want to cry. I want to shout. I want people to see how out of harmony we are with the world we are here to protect. The innocent children manipulated. The women made to feel inadequate. The religions made to feel self-righteous. The men commoditised. People taught to fight for a freedom that is a lie. To be at war for a 'democracy' ruled by an elite. Oh I'm so fired up and so I explain simply:

Finite resources plus mass consumption equates to the destruction of our planet. The one living organism that we are all collectively a part of and that, I believe, will also be doing a ceremonious cleanse of itself if human beings persist on being the cancerous body that destroys it.

While I say this, knowing that I am returning to the vibrant, interesting, alive yet fiercely loud, interruptive and competitive city of New York, a part of me longs to be back by the rivers of the jungle again. Despite the mosquito bites apparently caused by too much sugar, the lack of internet and homely comforts of hot showers, a fridge and stand up kitchen. At least there I felt a serene sense of connection where nature gave me what I needed without forcing products, ideas, labels and stuff on to me. Messages telling me to fill divine emptiness with clutter and insecurity. Messages feeding my human ego and telling me to be selfish and want more.

I can't direct any anger at anyone person. We are all part of this silly machine we've built and while one may, to an extent, need to adapt in order to survive (make money), another part of me wishes that we had the power to create a more responsible, sustainable and harmonious culture transcending these lesser human desires. That perhaps more people had that space and time in nature to truly see how beautiful simplicity is. And how much collectively, we need to protect our home for the sake of our own survival as a species and, dare I say, we could all do with slowing doooooooooown.

I am afraid Dunkin' Donuts sugar sachets are a long way of that.

Tip: But they do have free internet.