In ancient Greek, «Krisis» meant «decision, passage». And in Latin, «crisis» was the «the turning point in a disease». In other words, these definitions convey a phenomenon that is natural, useful and more than that, something positive. Indeed, I think we tend to overlook that this financial meltdown is going to be the best thing to happen to us. And I am going to prove it to you. And yes, that takes balls. 

For years we have been enduring complaints about mass consumption, careless societies, people interested in purely selfish pleasures who buy, spend, shop, get things and things and more things. Carrie Bradshaw, the icon of a whole generation, seems to be the emblem of a shopping addict, wasting huge amounts of money on clothes and shoes (even though there is nothing wasteful when it comes to Manolo Blahnik shoes). Anyway, ô joy, ô joy my friends, that time is over. 

Today, that kind of society is behind us, not because we don’t want to go on shopping (we do!) but because we no longer can. So we suddenly appear as free-minded, deep people, who don’t care about superficiality. Awesome. 

These times of passage are also going to be great for developing our humanity. I mean real humanity. Listening, thinking, laughing, breathing, creating bonds with others, and keeping them. As Blue Cantrell would put it « You have to let it breathe » my friends. And even though there might be no such thing as a free lunch (come to think of it, when is the last time you got anything for free?), there are still gifts we can give one another; time, thoughts, laughter, an ear, a smile, an inspiration. Open up and watch as people talk to each other again, share fears and hopes, get back their creativity, and join in a universal need for feeling alive. 

Last but certainly not least: the planet is going be saved thanks to the crisis, this turning point in our disease. And the best part about it, we don’t even have to try. Let’s face it, before the crisis, how many of us made conscious sacrifices for our planet? Of course we did it from time to time when we wanted to feel good about ourselves but I mean EVERYTIME ? Now we do it, right? Not because we think of the planet every single minute but because we think of our bills… nothing glorious here but the results are still there.  And in French we say « necessité fait loi », meaning that when we come back to the lowest levels of Maslow’s pyramid, we see what really matters and that necessity of survival dictates our behaviour and what comes next.

So ö joy, ö joy my friends, the passage to the stars and to a new dimension full of humanity and nature and simplicity and serenity is ahead of us. All we need is patience and faith because it is a fact it is all gonna be better thanks to this KRISIS.

victoria, from New York, NY.   Status: Feelin the Pinch.
March 23, 2009 07:06 AM

Thanks so much Camille... You are SO RIGHT!!! We've lost the capacity to enjoy the best things in life and it is at times of scarcity when you better understand the value of family, friends, love, honesty and generosity.

I guess that is the secret of Africa's charm: the generosity of Africans despite their poverty. In Spain we say that anyone who travels to Africa will get addicted - "el mal de Africa"- and will always want to go back.