ChinchillaBlue
Welcome to ChinchillaBlue – a new blog that focuses on how to weave a better post-Global Financial Crisis world. It is the companion blog to ThinkingShift but with the added difference that YOU can contribute to the conversation.
Whereas ThinkingShift takes a look at such diverse topics as society, politics, economics, curious and bizarre things, ChinchillaBlue focuses on learning to live with less. And ultimately, if we learn to live with less, we will have reduced stress and more time to focus on others and our planet. Our consumerist society has led to extreme individualism – we want, crave, desire, lust after materialistic things. We seem to have largely forgotten about our neighbours as our most immediate decision revolves around buying the latest designer handbag or extending our home so that it becomes a McMansion.
We need to return to caring for others and focus less on ourselves. We need to learn to live without the designer handbag or the fancy car. We need to relearn how to make things for ourselves – knitting that winter jumper, whipping up a small pot of lip balm, making gifts for friends and family. Spending less and focusing on others doesn’t mean we become less of an individual.
Contemporary society has become dark, brooding, violent, uncaring. The global financial hissy fit is a golden opportunity – to work together on shaping a more caring world.
So ChinchillaBlue is a space for us to have a conversation around:
- how to live with less but still have a fabulous lifestyle; and
- what kind of society we would like to hand over to future generations
It’s a space for you to share your ideas, stories and tips. You can contribute ideas on how to live more frugally; share budget recipes; talk about endangered species – anything that is on your mind as we work out what the post-Global Financial World should look and feel like.
On the top right of ChinchillaBlue you will see two buttons:
- Forum – if you click on this, you will be taken to the Discussion area where you can join a conversation on a particular topic.
- Contribute your Story – by clicking on this, you will be taken to a form. You can use this form to contribute your story or ideas on any topic – how to prepare a budget, your struggles with learning to live with less, what’s going on in your area with food co-ops, tips for making your own products. Anything really. Stories will appear on the Chinchillablue blog but you can also feel free to tell your story in a Forum conversation. So there are plenty of ways to join the conversation.
Finally, why the name ChinchillaBlue? After weeks of angst over names and even asking readers on my other blog for ideas, I decided to go with two words:
- chinchilla – this is my favourite word in the English language and also represents an endangered species. Chinchillas were extremely popular for their fur in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Shy animals, they were relentlessly hunted and killed for their silky, gray fur. Many varieties of wild chinchilla are now on the endangered species list (eg Chilean chinchilla) but despite conservation efforts population numbers are still declining.
- blue – in colour therapy, blue is associated with the throat chakra, which is about communication. And more authentic communication is what is needed right now to shift our society from its current obsession with wealth creation and consumerism. Blue is also a cooling and soothing colour, so it’s the opposite of the red heat being generated by the global financial meltdown. And finally, we say in Australia, “true blue” or “true blue Aussie” - meaning the real thing, authentic, not ill or lame.
And so that’s what ChinchillaBlue is all about – caring, authenticity, being calm in an anxious world, conversing with each other for better understanding and learning how to live with less “stuff”. So together, let’s shape a brighter future!
