The Future of Sustainability: Intentional Living

Having children changes the world. Not just THE world, but YOUR world. You raise them to be independent, to follow their dreams, to be happy as they define happy, meaning you tell them. “go ahead, study what you want, explore what interests you.” But as they take you at your word, your parental fear grows knowing that the further from your experiences they get, the less likely you will be to help them when they get into trouble because you probably never experienced what they choose to experience, never learned how to cope with what they are coping. Perhaps for this reason, no matter what you say, you actually secretly wish your children would follow more closely in your footsteps; at least then you can pull them along with you, and when they catch up, push them ahead of you. That would clearly make you part of a growing chain.

None of my children literally followed me in my professional path, not that I really wanted them to. But as each moved away and took quite different routes into adulthood, I began to feel distant from them, removed from their lives. So imagine my surprise when very recently (like yesterday) as I thought about each of their uniquely chosen paths, I began to realize it is not the path that is important. Instead, it is the goals, outlook and tools each brings to their own paths. And in that regard, I do see the unbroken chain, the links that make me realize I have never, ever been apart from them.

Each of my children shows in their work a desire to make a difference in the bigger world. And as they get more deeply involved in their professions, they are even showing me what the future of my own profession will look like. My oldest son, as an example, favors an approach to life called “Intentional Living.” This is where each person tries to be as conscious as possible of all the connections that support them in this life, as well as their impacts on those connections. Sounds like the same goal a sustainability professional has! I may pay attention to technology and organizational structure for impacts on sustainability, but this son is pursuing it by paying attention to his personal life choices, and how to influence other individuals to become more aware of the power of their choices.

What is he teaching me? That technology represents only half the solution to sustainability; opening up the self to increased awareness is the other half. It looks like we now have things to teach each other. That may bring up a different type of discomfort, one that reveals my own insecure notion that a parent should always know more than a child… but I’ll get over it. And that in itself will increase the sustainability of my relationship with all of my children.