Phteven and I are mostly very much in Love. There are times when the quirks and foibles all get to be a bit too much and one or the other (usually me, rarely my Grumpy husband to be fair) gets well fed up with the whole marriage lark. It never lasts long, and I am given pause to think about the advice I give to anyone and everyone who will take advice from me on matters of the heart:

 

We are all crazy, so it is crucial you find a crazy that fits when you’re choosing a life partner.

 

So my crazy is flaring up again because I feel helpless as the world seems to be hurting in so many ways. We’re all sadly given front row seats as waves of fascism swell in various places around our politically uneasy planet. I find this impossible to get my head and heart around, as we’ve been through this kind of thing time and again as a species, and it truly never ends well.   One of my favourite lines in a musical is from RENT is when Mark yells: “The opposite of war isn’t peace, it’s creation!” When you’re afraid of everything and need to feel superior all the time, you’re almost certainly too distracted to be creative.

 

Encouraging “us and them” mentality or encouraging fear and hatred to be our guides does nothing for creation and destroys so much. Foremost it destroys Love and trust between human beings and creates fear and suspicion that evolves into even uglier manifestations.

 

So what I am doing to hang onto some shreds of sanity (because seriously, the state of the world makes me so incomprehensibly sad and anxious) is feeling extra grateful for the Love and support that surrounds us, around the globe, and most importantly, within our own four walls.

 

Grumpy chooses humour as a buffer against the barrage of insanity and natural and human-instigated disasters. He keeps me laughing along and that’s an incredibly powerful emotional anesthetic.  I curl up inside him and rely on his logical pragmatic approach to life as a safe haven so much.

 

We are home from a long flight and incredibly engaging conference in Norway. The eye opening truth of how tough people need to be as individuals and businesses as the transition to green technology takes hold was gob-smacking. The advocates and activists that have sacrificed so much and shown unwavering hope and integrity are the reason why there’s any electric cars, solar panels, or batteries in use today. But wow do we have a mountain to climb still. We haven’t even made it to base camp, and I am already exhausted.

 

So on this, my 15^th Valentine’s Day with the poor bugger on the other end of the phone wanting to collocate a server and fell for “The smart girl who didn’t bullshit like salespeople normally do” I am glad we have each other.

 

In a time of fear, uncertainty and dread, we choose collaboration, hope and humour.   No matter how sad this crazy world makes me, I know that every day I muster up the strength to keep going there’s change being made, and trust and hope being nurtured.

 

If you’re one of the people who’s actively on this journey of creativity and creation with us and the growing community of Green Tech Activists, THANK YOU! I can honestly say that I Love you and your passion and enthusiasm and the only chance any of us have of reaching energy independence and witnessing a complete paradigm shift is working together, putting aside differences, and encouraging as many people as we can to make decisions that will positively impact them, their family, their community and the planet.

 

Here’s some pictures of our loudest and proudest cheerleading squad to finish off this rambling Valentine’s Day post about being Lovers in a seemingly apocalyptic time.