According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, time is relative because its measurement depends on the observer's frame of reference, including their velocity and position in a gravitational field. This perspective makes time a concept rather than an absolute, universal constant.

Time is also valuable, especially when spent within the same gravitational field, such as Earthlings on our gorgeous blue marble.

As this year comes to an end, so do many things.

Likewise, as the new year begins, so do many things.

Thank you for participating in our sound healing and Zoom reflection circles this year. Your participation was the foundation of co-creating a wonderful experience filled with meaningful gifts and takeaways.

This year, I gained insight into how missing the choice of how to spend time can intensify grief and pain later. My takeaway is deepening my understanding of the importance of enjoying wonderful moments while they last.

What’s your choice of time? How do you choose to spend and gift time?

Even though we can't change everything, everywhere, all at once, we can co-create fairness through awareness by thinking things through.

The Choice of Time Live Composition on 5-string Electric Violin, Voice, and Percussion 57:42 Minutes Recorded at Bodhi Tree Dharma, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, 2024 ℗ & © 2024 Markus Mars

Choosing reflection in difficult times can be useful for reassessing the status quo. However, it's important to acknowledge that our emotional responses, whether frustration, disappointment, or even anger, are not obstacles while reflecting but integral parts of the process.

The information overload in our emotion-exploitation economy contributed to what many scholars and policymakers describe as a polycrisis.1 It is increasingly difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel, especially if complex distractions obstruct our path.

Is reflection the sprout of our global community’s plant of life?

What’s your reflection-to-engagement ratio?

Even though we can't change everything, everywhere, all at once, we can co-create fairness through awareness by thinking things through.

The Choice of Reflection Live Composition on 5-string Electric Violin, Voice, and Percussion 57:04 Minutes Recorded at Bodhi Tree Dharma, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, 2024 ℗ & © 2024 Markus Mars

As we enter the fall season in the northern hemisphere, the southern hemisphere is about to flow into spring. Like yin and yang, our planet offers everything, everywhere, all at once.

However, no matter which hemisphere we reside in, during turbulent times of raging wars, inequality, environmental destruction, and climate change, calmness isn’t always a choice. Or is it?

Find calmness amidst the noise.

Complexities can seem scary, overwhelming, and anxiety or depression-inducing. Sometimes, we might ask ourselves: Are we going insane, or is the world around us going nuts?

This state of powerlessness can lead to escapism, like spiritual bypassing. In this state, we avoid looking deeply and default to confirmation biases. We numb our negative emotions or reactions to the unfairness we encounter or look the other way, telling ourselves, “I do me” and “you do you.”

This month, I invite you to reflect on the choice of calmness. What makes us still, and how can we find balance within to better deal with the outside? Take a look around and observe the calmness in the world. Does calmness come with perspective? How does knowing influence our ability to be still, and is ignorance really bliss?

Even though we can't change everything, everywhere, all at once, we can co-create fairness through awareness by thinking things through.

The Choice of Calmness Live Composition on 5-string Electric Violin, Voice, and Percussion 55:32 Minutes Recorded at Bodhi Tree Dharma, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, 2024 ℗ & © 2024 Markus Mars

What does co-creation mean to you? How do we shape our communities in the process? What do we need to let go of to make space for co-creation? How do others' contributions influence the co-creation process? Is co-creation - building something from the ground up - even possible in times of hyper-individualism in a me-first world? How to co-create something that requires our undivided attention in times of decreasing attention spans?

Even though we can't change everything, everywhere, all at once, we can co-create fairness through awareness by thinking things through.

The Choice of Co-Creation Live Composition on 5-string Electric Violin, Voice, and Percussion 55:04 Minutes Recorded at Bodhi Tree Dharma, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, 2024 ℗ & © 2024 Markus Mars

What does co-creation mean to you? How do we shape our communities in the process? What do we need to let go of to make space for co-creation? How do others' contributions influence the co-creation process? Is co-creation - building something from the ground up - even possible in times of hyper-individualism in a me-first world? How to co-create something that requires our undivided attention in times of decreasing attention spans?

Even though we can't change everything, everywhere, all at once, we can co-create fairness through awareness by thinking things through.

The Choice of Co-Creation Live Composition on 5-string Electric Violin, Voice, and Percussion 55:04 Minutes Recorded at Bodhi Tree Dharma, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, 2024 ℗ & © 2024 Markus Mars

We often hear how divided the country is. Are we, though? Or is the divide just a surface-level notion that helps demagogues pound their war drums louder and louder until we become deaf and unable to listen deeply? Is this divide just the tip of the iceberg, while we predominantly share common values, dreams, and goals below the surface? What choices do we need to become aware of to silence the drums of distraction? What sword of wisdom can we use to cut through delusions?

Even though we can't change everything, everywhere, all at once, we can co-create fairness through awareness by thinking things through.

The Choice of Common Ground Live Composition on 5-string Electric Violin, Voice, and Percussion 47:20 Minutes Recorded at Bodhi Tree Dharma, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, 2024 ℗ & © 2024 Markus Mars

Sustainability has become a broad term. For some, sustainability is a lifestyle. Others might see it mainly from an economic perspective. Some interpret it as a momentary snapshot, some as a constant throughout history.

As the 1987 United Nations Brundtland Commission defines, sustainability means meeting present needs without compromising future generations' ability to do the same.

The three pillars of sustainability are social, economic, and environmental sustainability. The Stockholm Resilience Center, in collaboration with other groups, developed the concept of planetary boundaries, focusing on nine aspects that humanity needs to thrive in the future.

These boundaries are:

1) Climate change: Limits the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to avoid dangerous levels of global warming.

2) Biosphere integrity (biodiversity loss): This refers to maintaining the diversity of species and ecosystems. There are two sub-boundaries: genetic diversity (preventing species extinctions) and functional diversity (maintaining the ecological roles of species).

3) Land-system change: This covers converting forests, wetlands, and other natural ecosystems into agricultural or urban land, which impacts biodiversity and climate.

4) Biogeochemical flows (nitrogen and phosphorus cycles): These relate to the excessive use of fertilizers and chemicals, which disturb global nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, causing water pollution and dead zones.

5) Freshwater use: Limits the amount of freshwater withdrawn from rivers, lakes, and aquifers to avoid ecosystem degradation.

6) Ocean acidification: Refers to the absorption of excess CO₂ by oceans, causing chemical changes that threaten marine life, especially organisms with calcium carbonate shells or skeletons.

7) Atmospheric aerosol loading: Relates to the concentration of particles in the atmosphere from pollution, dust, and other sources, which can affect climate and human health.

8) Stratospheric ozone depletion: Protects the ozone layer that shields life on Earth from harmful UV radiation.

9) Introduction of novel entities: Includes new substances like plastics, chemicals, and radioactive materials, and organisms like GMOs, that can disrupt ecosystems and human health.

In 2022, fourteen scientists concluded that humanity had already transgressed some of these boundaries, including those connected to freshwater and environmental pollutants.1

So, is sustainability a choice for all of us or limited to those who can afford it? And if only a handful can afford it, how sustainable is this?

We might be the first species on this planet to develop two contradictory abilities: the ability to think things through and precisely predict consequences, and the ability to choose not to use this ability.

Where do we go from here?

Do small-scale individual choices, like asking for your coffee in a for-here mug instead of the default to-go cup at a coffee shop, have an impact?

How is it possible to become sustainable in time while the socioeconomic gap between the northern and southern hemispheres is said to increase further due to climate change, mainly caused by unsustainability?

Even though we can't change everything, everywhere, all at once, we can co-create fairness through awareness by thinking things through.

The Choice of Sustainability Live Composition on 5-string Electric Violin, Voice, and Percussion 53:56 Minutes Recorded at Bodhi Tree Dharma, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, 2024 ℗ & © 2024 Markus Mars

What role does participation within a democracy play in achieving environmental and collaborative goals? Is participating in a governmental decision-making process through democratic elections too much to ask of already busy people? Is individual busyness a priority even if global laziness could lead to a disaster?

Even though we can't change everything, everywhere, all at once, we can co-create fairness through awareness by thinking things through.

The Choice of Participation and Commitment Live Composition on 5-string Electric Violin, Voice, and Percussion 56:54 Minutes Recorded at Bodhi Tree Dharma, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, 2024 ℗ & © 2024 Markus Mars

The planet is hurting. We are hurting. The concept of 'interbeing' is crucial here. It's not just a philosophical idea; it's a truth we must embrace. There is no 'you' without 'me,' and vice versa. There's no 'them' without 'us,' and vice versa. This understanding is the key to our collective healing and the healing of our planet.

Are we too busy to care? And what are we busy with? Are we busy with self-ing because we believe the self is above everything around us?

The picture of the oxygen masks on an airplane comes to mind. If an accident happens on board an aircraft and those masks pop out, we learn to put one on ourselves first so we can then help others around us. Instead, we are trying to cram as many masks as possible over our faces.

We hold the power to make a significant impact. We can choose to consume locally grown foods, reducing CO2 emissions significantly. We can choose a diet that minimizes methane emissions. And if we can't afford to eat healthy, sustainable, and locally grown food - like many Hawaiian residents - we can choose to speak up, form coalitions, support those already working on these issues, and get involved in local politics. We can choose to raise awareness among our friends and family about the severity of the issue.

Our choices matter, and they can make a difference. However, scrolling on "social" media platforms for hours on end does not make a difference. Let's be clear: liking and sharing posts alone doesn't do it. Go within, get clarity, then go out and be loud. We need the yin and the yang.

Even though we can't change everything, everywhere, all at once, we can co-create fairness through awareness by thinking things through.

The Choice of Saving the Planet Live Composition on 5-string Electric Violin, Voice, and Percussion 46:55 Minutes Recorded at Bodhi Tree Dharma, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, 2024 ℗ & © 2024 Markus Mars