Hi there,

I just got back from Montevideo, where we were working on our greenhouse. We were very lucky to have our good friend Anna as an extra helper this weekend and we had no qualms about putting her to work. We’re glad to have her help as temperatures in the greenhouse hovered around 100 degrees F. What we were working on was the beginning of insulating our walls, which is starting to look daunting as I can only imagine the temperatures increasing as we add insulation. Our ventilation has been minimal up until now, but soon we’re going to have to get the proper fans installed to making working in there tolerable. It was a bright sunny day, and I can imagine how nice it will be to be in there on a cold sunny winter day.

First we stuffed the gaps with insulation. We used two layers of R-11 insulation which is meant for 2×4 studs. This is a bit of a no-no as you loose some insulation value when you overstuff the insulation, but we have a bunch of it laying around thanks to my Grandfather, and it makes to much sense to just use it anyway. We covered it with vapor barrier (plastic sheets) and sealed all the seams with some Tyvek tape we had laying around. Then we cut some 3/8” plywood to fit the space, which takes some patience, because our concrete pad isn’t perfectly level. Anna and Michelle really went to town on this and did most of the work. It was really nice having the separate drill and driver as Anna could predrill a small hole and Michelle could follow right behind and drive the screw in. Predrilling really seems to make it easier. You only have to drill a really shallow hole to give the screw something to bite into. Another thing which makes life easier is Torx head screws and bits. They just work. The only issue I had is that after a day of work, the regular grade bits we were using ended up twisting under the torque of the impact driver (see picture below). I ordered a 25 pack of the Milwaukee Shockwave bits (T25) which are designed for impact driver use and we’ll see if they hold up better. If not at least, I’ll have a bunch of replacements.

Given the heat inside the greenhouse, we could only spend so much time in there, so we also got some external work done. I put in some framing for where our ventilation is going to go. Michelle and I put some screws into our external siding to help hold it in place better. Anna used a grinder and ground down some bolts in the concrete that used to be used for some fencing, but now are just in the way. My Mom put some primer on the siding. The thing I’m most happy with (besides the wall we finished) is that we (my grandfather and I) solidified our plan for finishing the end walls. I was putting off doing the walls for a while because I didn’t understand how it all was going to fit together at the top where the insulated portion of the wall intersects the glazing, but we hashed out a plan. Knowing where we are going really helps the process along as a lot of our time is spent figuring out how to do everything, but once we get going we can move at a brisker pace. I feel like I’m learning an incredible amount of stuff about construction that I never would have gotten had we not undertaken this project and for that I’m very grateful.

Update on Reese

Another thing I’m very grateful for is that my boxer Reese has been making incredible strides lately. We got Reese a year and a half ago as a rescue from Minnesota Boxer Rescue and he came with some issues such as fear of men and some weird form of dog aggression that was in-between overaggresive playing and fear based aggression that would often end in a fight. A month or two ago, Reese and Honey (my sister Nikole’s dog) became friends. This past Thursday, we went over to my friend John’s house and he played with Hilde. This weekend, Reese successfully coexisted with my mom’s dogs, Cody and Sadie, both of whom have been very defensive around Reese. While, I wouldn’t say they played together, they definitely were in each other’s company without having to be on leashes and with out constant supervision. I’m really grateful for this.

We’ve been very conscious in our actions heading in this direction. Here are some things that we’ve found have helped. First, it’s important to know your dog’s limits and only put them in situations where they will most likely succeed. Secondly, be patient and kind with them, even when they fail. Lastly, we’ve found that loading Reese up with his doggy backpack helps weigh him down and slow him down significantly and that helps other dogs accept him when his high energy and over-exuberance would put them on the defensive otherwise.

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Check out these awesome bocce balls from Michelle’s league play at the Nomad World Pub.

These past couple years, I’ve been exposed to so much information over the Internet that has broadened my perspective of life. Recently, I came across an interview with Ian Crane on One Radio Network which really resonated with what I’ve been feeling lately and inspired me to try and solidify my thoughts on life and why we (or at least me) are here on this planet. So bear with me as I try to make sense out of this and communicate it in some legible manner.

As I was growing up, I was well aware of the homogenizing forces that society places on its individuals that dull us to a uniform state of mediocrity. Society has little understanding for the purpose of life. It is posed as one of life’s eternal mysteries. One that will never be answered. With all the information I’ve absorbed, I feel like I’m in a place where it makes sense why I’m here. I hope you gain something from this whether it be exposure to new ideas, a deeper understanding of me and my motivations, or further solidification of your own view on life.

As a society, we’ve been pushed away from religion and towards science. Religion is no saint and has many flaws, but this movement towards science has resulted in the move towards agnosticism and away from spirituality or a belief in a greater power. There has been discussion that consciousness is a byproduct of evolution. This concept that consciousness springs forth from matter doesn’t feel right to me. Instead, I believe that consciousness comes first, and that from this consciousness matter is created. Another way to say it is I believe we all have souls, and that our souls are bigger than our lives on Earth. Before we are born, we still exist as souls. After we die, we still exist as souls. We choose to inhabit these bodies for our brief existence intentionally and with purpose. One of the main purposes is so that we can have certain experiences that our soul would like to experience that can be most readily accomplished through our time on Earth in a physical format.

Right now, it feels to me, that we are in a unique transitioning period. Before the transition, we are more or less powerless, or more precisely we give a lot of our power away. The result of this is that in many areas of our life, a relatively small amount of people are making decisions for the rest of us that benefit them at our expense. After the transition, we have consciously chosen to reclaim our own power to create for ourselves the lives that we wish to live and the world that we wish to live in. This is the experience that my soul wishes to experience. It is clearly evident by where it drags me and the motivations I intrinsically have. I strongly suspect that the world we live in is setup in such a manner, so as to promote the motivations in large numbers of people to progress through this same transition from a mindset of victimhood and powerlessness to one of power and the ability and desire to consciously create our lives as we see fit.

Let’s briefly examine how we give our power away in a few areas of our lives. In politics our influence on society is reduced to the ability to participate in a political voting system in which only those who are backed by large campaign contributions are able to finish the process. With regards to food, the most readily available forms of food are created by large corporations which are devoid of nutrition and loaded with chemicals. Our education and economy are based on systems which corral people into jobs with bosses and management rather than entrepreneurial businesses. Our legal system is a convoluted mess where only the rich can afford the experts to navigate the system successfully. Our laws are created by lobbyists, through politicians, to strengthen big businesses and eliminate competition.

What happens is that people start experiencing pain-related emotions that are caused by the world/lives they create through their own inaction. They are creating worlds where they are serving others, rather than themselves. This dissonance between what they (un)consciously feel they should be experiencing and what they are actually experiencing creates unsatisfied emotions in a person which drive them to seek out remedies and methods for rectifying their situations. This sets them on the path of personal not-affluent/responsibility in that area of their life.

We are in a period of time where, as a society, we have given away so much of our power to a select few, that as a a society we are causing ourselves the pain necessary to inspire us towards personal responsibility. I feel innately drawn towards living only the best life for me, so I step ever closer towards that. I also feel innately drawn towards helping others live their own lives the best they can. This is a task that none of us can ignore, because deep inside we all want to be surrounded by amazing happy people, and we can only achieve that if we help them to become that rather than pushing others down to try to move ourselves forward. This blog is part of my steps forward on the goal of helping myself and others achieve more and more personal responsibility over the world we are creating. I hope you are willing to support this cause as your own as well.

One thing that I think is interesting, is that even if this worldview isn’t perfect, it is still a worldview that is conducive to getting good results because it is own that is geared towards action and obtaining happiness, rather than staying inactive and receiving what you get.

A short while ago, we hung up the door we built earlier.  Check out the gallery below for some pictures.  Also, we got some goodies in the mail that we’ll get a lot of use out of in the near future.

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To make a long story short, our old coffee table just plain tuckered out. Michelle had acquired it several roommates ago and its utility finally ceased to be. Its replacement was a coffee table I acquired two sets of roommates ago. It is sturdy and it looks nice, but it’s been sitting in disuse for a long time now, because the last time I moved we forgot to bring with the glass inserts that make up the majority of the table’s surface. Upon the death of the old coffee table, it has become clear that a revival project of sorts has been needed to bring this table back into use. So behold, the mosaic coffee table project has commenced. It is a combination of three loves: My love of building and construction, Michelle’s budding love for mosaics, and our mutual love for coffee tables and all their foot and feet holding splendor.

The project is a very simple one. This post will document the construction part of the project, and in the near future we will revisit this project to cover the mosaic making process. The materials we used were a small sheet of plywood 48” x 18” to fit the size of our table and 12′ of a small rectangular molding, both gathered from Home Depot for not much of a fee. We used a jigsaw to cut the plywood to the proper length and width. Then we cut out notches to allow relief for the legs of the table. We felt that it was a little weak to just screw directly through the plywood so we added some rectangular molding to the project. It allowed us to fasten both into the top and sides of the coffee table as can be seen in the pictures below. The molding adds the advantage of being tied into 2 different planes per side, but it also allows the distribution of the loads placed on each screw heads and like a washer helps prevent the screws from being pulled through the plywood if a heavy load is placed on it.

To be continued…

And may your days be filled with peace and gratitude.

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Picture is from a recent stroll through our neighborhood in Minneapolis.  We’ve really been enjoying the flowering trees this year.  They look and smell amazing.

This past weekend we spent on my mom’s farm building the exterior door for the greenhouse. For the interior door, we just salvaged a normal door and frame, however the location where the exterior door goes is an unusual shape which required a custom door. Completing this door is very exciting for everyone, because it means that the greenhouse is completely enclosed, so it will start retaining more heat throughout the day.

This project was very doable, but required a certain amount of patience and precision. I wouldn’t recommend it for the DIYer who just hacks stuff together, but those who take the time to make sure everything is just right will have no real problems. Our door is unique in that the opening it’s going in is the least standard opening it could possibly be, so our challenges are a bit greater than what would be typical. The top is at a 45 degree angle since the roof is so low, and the bottom is also at an angle since the cement there is cracked and unlevel. Our door is a solid wooden door made out of the same siding as the rest of the greenhouse surrounded by a 2×4 frame.

The project started out at Nikole and Brad’s house, where they bought some 2×4’s and routed a channel down the center of the board to hold the interior panel. Then they routed a bevel on each side of the channel for decoration. They made each of the boards a foot longer than need be to allow us room for cutting. At the same time, my mom and grandfather trimmed the door frame.

Michelle, Reese, and I brought the routered 2x4s from the Twin Cities down to my mom’s farm. It was a tight fit in my little Saturn, but we all made it even though Reese grumbled a bit for not having the full back seat to lay down in. The first thing we had to do when we got there was to adjust the door frame, by adding some shims between the stud and the door frame where the door hinges would be mounted. The stud has a little twist in it at the bottom, so the shims helped straighten the door frame out. It is absolutely essential that the door frame be as straight as possible, because when you attach the door to a crooked door frame, it will bind when swung. This puts unnecessary stress on the door, hinges, frame, and user.

The next thing we did was to cut all the pieces of the frame to length and miter the corners. I would normally discourage people from mitering doors. Most doors aren’t mitered and for me it adds some unnecessary complexity to the process. For us, mitering seemed to be the best option, because all the other options seemed really hokey. The bottom of our door is 1 ½ inches higher on one side than the other. We contemplated shaving the bottom of the door to match the opening and decided against that because of aesthetics. We thought about adding a spacer under the sill board which would be harder to cross with a loaded wheel barrow. It also seemed more difficult than just building the door to fit the opening. To determine the angles for the miters, we cut samples out of scrap wood and tested them for fit, then we made adjustments and retested. We slowly worked our way around the whole door making sure that the lengths and miter angles were spot on. After getting all the 2x4s cut, we cut the insert to fit inside the frame. First we got the width right. We adjusted the other sides to fit the door we were making. Finally, we test fit it up and discovered that one of the boards was slightly too long. We shortened it a hair and got it to fit together well.

Assembly was a whole different beast, easier, but the devil is in the details and it was a race to the finish before the wood glue dried. The first thing we did was lay it all out in the dining room, where it was warm enough for the glue to cure properly. We planned our attack on where to put the pocket holes. Then we put the pocket holes into the individual pieces. We used a Kreg pocket hole jig kit for this, which made the process really easy. One thing we learned the hard way is that the long extension bit was really essential to getting deep into the pocket holes in a 2×4. We had a shorter bit and it really didn’t get the screw firmly seated in there.

Next we glued the 2×4 to the insert. We hammered them lightly into place and clamped them together using ratcheting tie downs. When we got it all glued we screwed all the corners together. On the top and bottom corners we added an extra screw coming straight up or straight down. This was in addition to the two pocket screws. We added this extra screw, because we were worried about the pocket screws being at an angle and tweaking the miter joint as it pulled tight. We also used the clamp from the pocket hole kit to clamp the joints together to keep them even while we screwed them together. This whole process seemed to work fairly well for us. It took a while because it was our first time. Next time, I would anticipate it would go quicker and smoother.

On a complete and utterly pointless tangent, I want to talk about the cordless drill and impact driver kit I got as a gift last year. They, along with the pocket hole kit are shown in the photos below. I’ve never used an impact driver before, so I can’t really compare it to other drivers, but this one is amazing. It is significantly better than a standard drill for driving in screws. It just seems to have more power and more control. Combined with better bits (square drive, torx, or hex head) it is a very nice experience. I was standing on a ladder putting some screws into some metal trim on our barn and the screws went in so easily even with outstretched arms and little leverage. I really don’t think I can go back to slotted or phillips screws. Plus when you have a drill and a driver, you can use the drill as a drill and the driver as a driver, without messing around with changing bits all the time.

Back to the door though, the last time I saw it, it was sitting in my mom’s dining room letting the glue dry. In the near future, my grandpa and mom will hang the door in the greenhouse and install the door handle. I promise to put some pictures up once they get it hung as I feel like the door may have that cute cottage feel going on.

Thanks a lot of for checking in on our progress. We appreciate it a lot.

Why we chose to build a winter greenhouse

There are many reasons why we chose to start building a winter greenhouse, but they really boil down into three categories: Quality of food, food independence, and the desire to contribute towards a positive change in our society.

My family lives near Montevideo, MN. The quality of food there is ridiculously low. There are exceptions, as there are some CSAs around, but they are exceptions rather than the norm. The food is of the same quality as all low end grocery stores, which is to say that if the produce looks good, it’s loaded with chemicals, and if it says it’s organic, it looks like you wouldn’t want to eat it. All of it lacking taste and nutrition. All of it shipped in from some place like California, Mexico, or Chile. Like the majority of our nation’s prime farmland, Montevideo imports most of it’s food, which is completely unacceptable.

In the summer, we can grow our own food in our gardens. In the winter, however, we are entirely dependent on the importation of most of our food, although preserving our food does help some, there is no substitute for fresh. If we allow ourselves to be dependent on imported food then we are tacitly resigning ourselves to subpar foods. A greenhouse of this size coupled with root crops grown in the garden during the summer, can provide enough food for 15-20 families during the winter months as is evidenced by the Fords greenhouse, which is situated in Milan, MN not too far from my Mom’s house.

The lack of quality food, that is nutritious and free of toxic chemicals, inevitably results in a variety of health related problems. This is clear, both in society at large and within my own family. Growing our own food keeps our money at home in our own community and out of the pockets of large agribusiness companies who profit at the expense of the farmers, consumers, and the Earth.

The winter greenhouse, while not new, is still a fairly young concept that has not permeated into the mainstream consciousness. This blog is partially devoted to helping raise awareness of this tool. I truly believe that every farm or homestead in the Northland should have one, but that remains an intellectual construct that I’d like to cement with life experience. Also, as the economy toughens, this greenhouse at the least will provide for the reduction of the amount spent of groceries and provide a constant food source should times get really tough. At it’s best, it could provide a high quality food source for others and small income for us.

Other options for season extension

There are many other options for season extension including high tunnels/hoop houses, low tunnels, heated greenhouses, cold frames, raised beds, etc. We chose to go the passive solar greenhouse route for a couple of reasons. I’ll probably be proven wrong at some point, but I’m of the belief that it will get us the hottest temperatures in the dead of winter. Most of the other options aren’t insulated and don’t insulate the ground and as such can’t keep it as warm in the cold weather. Of course, a heated greenhouse will be the hottest, but on a small scale, the extra fuel costs will eat up all the benefits, especially in the beginning. One of the most important reasons to us for choosing a passive solar greenhouse though is psychological. The weather in Minnesota in winter is a bleak, desolate place. A warm, sunny greenhouse is a tropical oasis by comparison. It is a place where life flourishes and one can read a nice book while basking in the sunlight.

Key design features of a passive solar greenhouse

The design of a passive solar greenhouse differs greatly from that of a regular greenhouse, due to the winter environment that it will operate in. In the summer, the weather is warm and the sun is overhead. In the winter, the weather is cold and the sun is low in the southern sky. The passive solar greenhouse is glazed only on the areas of the greenhouse that will receive direct sunlight. The rest is insulated to prevent heat loss. The angle of the roof is important as you want to maximize the direct sunlight you allow into the greenhouse. Another interesting design choice is the ration of the length to width. Many people recommend a 2:1 length to width ratio or greater because if you get smaller than that the end walls will shade the plants for too much of the day.

Our design and why we did it as we did

One of the things that is the most unique in our design as opposed to others we have seen on the Internet is that ours is built on a floating slab of concrete. Most people build theirs over a dirt floor so they can plant directly into the ground. We had an existing slab where a barn used to be that already had water and electricity run to the area. It was too good of a deal for us to pass up as it spared us from all the groundwork associated with building the foundation and bringing in water and electricity. We will have the unique challenge of trying to insulate the floor. Most people instead choose to insulate the foundation. I’ll elaborate more on that distinction at some later time. Ideally, for our latitude, we would want an the slope of our glazing to be 55 degrees to maximize the solar gain during the coldest parts of winter. We chose 45 degrees as the slope of our glazing. This seemed the best compromise for us. It simplifies the construction process for us amateurs. It also means that we’ll get slightly worse performance in the coldest parts of winter, but we’ll get better performance in the other winter months, which will enhance the season extension properties of the greenhouse. When you look at our drawings you’ll see that the greenhouse is divided into 2 rooms. The larger Southern room is the insulated growing room. The smaller Northern room is a storage area. We added the storage area room for a couple of reasons. The first is that it acts as a double door entryway to the greenhouse. This prevents any cold winds from blowing into the greenhouse space while entering and exiting. The second is that it simplifies our construction. The saltbox shape of the growing room is intentional as it reduces shade that would occur as the sun moves higher in the sky. Adding a room to the backside made the design of the rafters symmetrical. This had the side-effect of moving the edge of the North roof closer to the ground, which greatly eased the roofing process. A third benefit is that it offers an area for storage that is outside of the growing area. This will help keep clutter out of the growing area and maximize the area that is useable for plants. The greenhouse is 24′ long and 18′ wide. Of that, the growing room is 24′ by 12′ which follows the 2:1 ratio preferred for passive solar greenhouses.

The greenhouse for my family is interesting in the sense that it has been a catalyst in conjuring up our imaginations.  My mom is having visions of salad greens running through her head, and I’m having visions of  a project completed and full of utility.  I think she’s wanted a greenhouse for a long time, and is excited about getting one when she wasn’t expecting it.  Also given that it’s at her house, I feel progress for her is moving really slowly, since she sees it standing still so often.  I’m really excited about the possibility that she could be entirely self-sufficient food-wise in the near future and could be providing the rest of my family with quality food and nutrition not too far after that.  This weekend we will be returning to the farm to build the external door, and will post on that when the opportunity arises.

This weekend, we completed a major milestone on our path to completing the greenhouse at my mom’s house. With much help from Brad and Nikole, my sister and her boyfriend, we finished shingling the North roof. It feels great that it has the extra layer of protection from the elements and even though its external door isn’t complete (our next project) and it isn’t insulated, it still reaches 20 degrees above ambient in the afternoon.

The North roof is constructed in a very conventional manner. If you were looking for a guide on how to replicate our work, you could find it easily by Google searching for “how to shingle a roof”. This was the first time we shingled, and while we learned a lot in the process, it was a very manageable task for someone who hasn’t done it before. We decided to use plywood for the sheathing as opposed to some form of OSB as we new it had the possibility of being exposed to moisture, both because it was going to be left exposed for a period of time, as I only can come out to the farm every couple of weekends or so, and because it will possibly be exposed to higher than average levels of humidity from inside the greenhouse. OSB is more sensitive to moisture and we wanted to avoid that. We covered the edges with drip cap, followed by tar paper and shingles. One thing that was a huge benefit to us was the fact that the edges of our roof are a mere three feet off the ground. That makes it much easier to work on and less intimidating for us novices, especially on a 45 degree roof. There were two things that made it much easier for us that our lumberyard provided for us, were a roofing nailer and roof jacks.  You can see the roof jacks in the pictures below holding Brad up while he’s shingling.  You nail them to the roof and then shingle over them.  When you are done you remove them and pound the nails in the rest of the way.

A common question I’ve been getting is with regards to why half the roof is covered when all other winter greenhouses are glazed on all sides. Passive solar greenhouses, or winter greenhouses as they are also called, are optimized for winter usage. In Minneapolis and Montevideo, MN, where we live, the winter sun is at a low enough angle that the northern roof is shaded by the peak and contributes very little solar gain to the building. By insulating the North roof instead of using glazing, the heat loss out of the surface is dramatically reduced and the building will remain much warmer.

What we’ve accomplished so far

• Design the layout and cross-section of the greenhouse
• Install the sill boards
• Build the knee walls
• Build and install the trusses
• Build the end walls and divider walls
• Put siding on the exterior walls
• Install the North roof and cover the south roof.

What we’re going to do in the near future

• Build and install the external door
• Design and build the insulated floor
• Install the ventilation fans
• Determine the wiring system
• Side the North and South walls
• Paint the exterior
• Insulate and cover the interior walls.

Above is a picture of our gently used but new to us water crock.  Michelle and I bought the crock and stand off craigslist a month or so ago and are super excited about it.  The glass water jug is a carboy from a local homebrewing store.  I’m really happy with this purchase.  We’ve been getting spring water from the Fredrick Miller spring in Eden Prairie to use as our drinking water, but this kicks it up a notch.  We were using gallon sized plastic water jugs that we kept in our fridge, but the water crock is significantly better in a couple ways.  First off, it’s a 5 gallon jug, which is bigger than we were using before, so we’re not making as many trips back and forth.  It’s not in the fridge anymore, so we’ve gained some of our fridge space back (before the gallon jugs we used Brita or Pur pitcher style filters).  While it could be placebo, I find the water to taste better.  The spring water tastes significantly better than tap water, and we found the water in the plastic jugs had a mild plastic taste after we switched mostly to glass.

The biggest advantage, obviously, is the health improvements to be gained.  The quality of the spring water is far beyond that of the tap water.  We’re not ingesting the fluoride found in Minneapolis, which is huge.  Given that it comes from a spring, there’s a lower chance of ingesting pesticides, prescription drugs, etc. which are in surface water.  A couple of weeks ago when all the water smelled like fish, ours still tasted fine.  We also aren’t ingesting any plastic from our drinking water which we would be if we were drinking bottled water or water from the plastic pitchers.  Even though you can get BPA free plastic jugs, I still feel more comfortable with glass.

We do have a couple improvements to make though.  The spigot is still plastic and the bungs are some sort of rubber or plastic.  Ideally, we’d like to switch them out with non-plastic alternatives, but for now we are really happy with the reduction in plastic in our drinking water.

Lately, a lot of thoughts have been stirring through my head regarding how we, as a society, have created so many corporations, government, and other institutions of culture and society which seemingly act against the betterment of the people they intend to serve. As individuals, we spend a lot of energy acting against the betterment of ourselves. It is essential that we consciously choose to act in ways that are congruent with our desires and our own self-improvement, both as individuals and as communities. This is the first of several posts that will put my constant musings into written form.

The Plasticity of the Mind

The human mind is often viewed as a static entity which is formed during childhood and adolescence and becomes set during adulthood. This however is not completely true. It appears true because people get caught up in their routines and habits, but it is not a certainty. The brain is made up of neurons, which link together to create neural pathways. When you learn something new, your brain creates new neural pathways so that you can understand it. The more you think about something and understand it the stronger the neural pathways become. The more time you spend understanding something and the greater your certainty that what you know is true, the stronger the pathways become. For those interested in memes, our neural pathways is where they take physical form.

Unconsciousness

Our brains act in both conscious and unconscious fashions. The brain is predominantly unconscious, however as our species evolves, we are becoming more conscious. Unconscious thought controls much of our bodily functions, but it also holds the bulk of our foundational knowledge and forms the basis of much of our actions and reactions to stimuli. Unconscious thoughts should be considered as patterned responses. The brain receives a certain combination of inputs and it associates them to a certain preconditioned response. Even when we are thinking consciously, our brain is pulling information from our preconditioned neuropathways. It is very important to be aware of our own thoughts, as so much of our thoughts are unconscious patterned responses that we have acquired at some time in the past that possibly isn’t true or is counterproductive in our ability to accomplish our goals.

Unconsciousness: Productive or Counterproductive

When it comes to achieving your goals, the importance of our unconscious programmed thoughts cannot be overstated. Our unconscious thoughts pervade everything we think. It is of the utmost priority that our unconscious thoughts support the goals we wish to accomplish. If we are unaware of the unconscious thoughts that act against our achievement of our goals we will struggle mightily against ourselves in addition to the external world. As an example, you can look at the social conversations of people of different skill levels. This is an area where many people wish to improve their lives. A person with good social skills will make a conversation look effortless. Their brain has created strong neural pathways which help them make connections with others and to say things that keep the conversation rolling and make people feel good about themselves. They have a confidence that what they say will be the right thing to say. A person with poor conversation skills hasn’t habitualized the same neural pathways. They have a harder time saying timely things that move a conversation forward and keep the other person interested. Since the neural pathways aren’t strong, they will have to exert more conscious brainpower trying to keep the conversation going, which could be better used in enjoying the other persons company or guiding the conversation where you would like it to go. Often times the person will refrain from adding to the conversation because they are concerned with saying the wrong thing. Their subconscious beliefs tell them that saying the wrong thing makes the conversation awkward and inhibits them from saying anything at all which ironically makes the conversation awkward. Someone without this limiting belief will keep saying stuff, regardless of whether it is having a positive effect. They will not have a smooth conversation, but the other person will find them more interesting than someone who has nothing to say. If they are a good conversationalist they will help smooth the conversation out. The most important part though is that through practice the person with poor social skills is training their brain and strengthening their neural pathways which will lead them to competency. The person who refrains from adding to the conversation is missing out on this practice and stays perpetually in the awkward conversation. If the person is aware that their limiting belief is getting in the way of their goals, they can muster up the courage to focus and overcome their beliefs.

Consciously Programming our Neural Pathways

Learning is a habitual process, meaning the more a thought occurs, the stronger and more certain the neural pathways become. The brain can either learn consciously or unconsciously. We, as a society, focus a lot on conscious learning, as in choosing a major for college, but that that can only get us so far as so much of what we learn is unconscious. This is something the advertising industry knows all too well in their attempts to get us to associate certain things or emotions with their products, so that the first thing that comes to mind is the thing they are trying to sell.

How does the brain incorporate all this information? Where does it come from? More importantly, how do we become consciously aware of it? The people we are around most often, will have a profound effect on us. In my own personal experience, I have been able to notice the changes in my own actions and behaviors as I’ve switched the friends I’ve been with. Many personal development experts recommend surrounding yourself with the people that you want to become like. This is because you will assimilate some of their habits, world views, etc. Another powerful example of unconscious learning occurs through personal relationships. With regards to children, the expectations that have been put on children have been shown to have a strong correlation with their performance. Children that get a sense from their teachers and family that they are limited, often live up to those expectations. Similarly, children that are gifted also live up to the expectations put upon them. In the workplace, we often have top down hierarchies, where the top of the hierarchy makes decisions and pushes them down to those below them. Over time, it often occurs that those below them tend to stop making as many decisions. They only make the decisions that they are “allowed” to make. This is a severe detriment to the company as a whole, because the further away from the source of the communication the less effective the decision making process is going to be. It has also been shown that when you take a group of peers and you give one of them the title of “leader” they tend to trust in their own decision making more and will be more dominate in the group to the exclusion of the followers. So much in our life we are relegated to consumers, where we choose from a few different options that are available to us. It is becoming more and more rare for us to choose which options are available to us to select from.

In order to maximize our ability to achieve our goals, we need to consciously program into our subconscious the neural pathways that will help us achieve the results that we desire and to breakdown the neural pathways that remain as obstacles to us. We need to understand that any bit of information or meme comes from a source and it will have its own frame of reference that it will be based from. It is challenging but important to be aware of the frame of references and assumptions that information carries with it. Surround yourself with media that conveys the frame of references you want. Instead of watching TV that tells you how little you have, watch inspirational youtube videos of people just like you that have succeeded in doing what you want to do. Put up messages in your workspace that you notice in your periphery that reinforce what you want to become. Work with people who empower you and have tendencies you want to acquire.

For a long time now, I have had the understanding that our world (or at least the US which I live in) needs to change the way that we “do business” because the current antiquated way is seriously failing our needs. I have been struggling to put together a complete understanding of where all the weaknesses are and what an ideal solution would look like. However it is becoming clearer in our collective consciousness every day.

We as a group are raising our consciousness. This should come as no surprise as we have been raising our consciousness for a long time now. This is the reason we have chosen to participate on this planet. We are however crossing a certain threshold which is very important for our advancement. In the terms of Wallace D. Wattles,  (The Science of Getting Rich), we are leaving the competitive plane and are entering the creative plane. In Gabriel Cousens terms, we are leaving the Culture of Death and entering the Culture of Life.

Life by its very nature increases life. From the moment life was created, it has started its upward path of creating from itself the advancement of life. We started with small single cell creatures which advanced into communities of single cell creatures, which advanced into multicellular organisms which are communities of different types of cells all working together for mutual benefit. Our body is very much comprised of beneficial organisms such as bacteria which many would not call “us.” A lot of our economic theory is based off of thoughts similar to Darwinism or evolution which paint a picture that the universe is brutish and cold. Only the strong survive and reproduce. The weak are eliminated. You must trust no one and dominate others to succeed. This is a very partial picture, to say the least. The symbiotic relationships found in so many ecological communities make it very clear that cooperation is the equal of competition if not more important. In the competitive plane, we advance at the expense of others be it other humans or the rest of the world. In the creative plane, our actions advance everyone together. Business benefits all stakeholders, not just one.

The current system is designed to reduce us to material consumerism. It was created by some of us in the competitive plane to make it easier for them to outcompete us. It obfuscates how the world works and inhibits us from learning how to do stuff ourselves and makes us dependent on them. It hides the sins of industry and politics while encouraging us to give our power to those who we may or may not trust or who may or may not have our best interests at heart.

The world we are creating is one in which everythings becomes transparent. All stakeholders are involved and responsible for their choices. Gone will be dirty deeds done under the cover of night. The internet removes the gatekeepers from the media and allows information to transfer instantaneously across the world. If someone decides to short change their employees it becomes available for all to see. If a politician sells out his populace, the world sees.

Our social structures by necessity will need to be recreated to reflect this change in consciousness. Similarly, correctly done, the structures will help progress advance the change in consciousness that is occurring and help to entrain bystanders ever upwards in the same way that our current structures are holding them down.

Dave Pollard conveniently released his blog post Imagining Post-Industrial Society.  He does a great job characterizing the differences between the Industrial Society and the Post-Industrial society.  Please spend the time to read it, as the rest of the post is influenced by his.

Of the characteristics of this new age which will be developed into our new structures are as follows. These I believe to be the most important ones.

• The advancement of all. Our structures must be designed for the advancement of all stakeholders.
• Reclaim your power.  Power must be centered as locally as is reasonable.  When it is being used faraway, it’s hard to ensure its being used justly.
• Transparency in all aspects. This empowers all of us to take full responsibility for our actions. Actions taken on behalf of us, must suit our conscious.

Dave stated that “it’s hard not to conclude ‘you can’t get there from here’.” I think that it’s inevitable that we are going to get there. It’s inevitable because it takes a tremendous amount of energy to fight against the natural ways of doing things. The amount of energy we expend to hold ourselves down is an amazingly large amount. As our consciousness grows to allow us to create more natural structures, that tremendous amount of energy will be free for constructive use. The increased transparency of information is happening through the internet.  It’s an example of how technology and structures, and how we interact with those structures can change our perception and consciousness.  The internet has also connected us in ways that just weren’t possible before.  It has allowed us free access to information that has been traditionally expensive.  Information like, how do I start a business?

With every structure or relationship you are a part of, ask yourself, “Does this advance all the stakeholders involved?”  The design of our social structures is essential.  They must be consciously built to reinforce the ways that you want to interact with them, because they will alter your consciousness with respect to how they were created.  This is a topic I intend to more fully explore as it is deeply close to my heart.