Back to Basics

ELIZABETH DENLEY explores the idea of back to basics, and in the process offers some simple ways to support the fundamental rights of everyone on planet Earth.

- ELIZABETH DENLEY

This January, “back to basics” has been at the forefront of my mind. We generally start each year with resolutions, hoping to change our habits and our circumstances. But this year has not started well, with the ravages of war, many displaced people around the world, families suffering without food, shelter, or safe places to live, and the climate crisis threatening communities on every continent.

With such uncertainty, the standard approach of self-reflection, followed by choosing personal goals, intention-setting, and creating new habits feels like a luxury; while “back to basics” is about many people needing to have their basic needs met.

For those of us lucky enough to live with safety, adequate food, clean water, shelter, and good health, how can our “basics” include personal aspirations as well as the collective aspirations of global citizenship? Can we use the United Nations's 17 Sustainable Development Goals as our global aspirations? Not with much certainty, as eight years later we are no closer to achieving them. Profit is still winning outrageously over eradicating poverty, and conflict over unity. We are far from a united humanity.

So this year I am taking a different approach. It will still involve self-improvement, because we are here to evolve, and because collective change is predicated upon individual change. But there is something much greater at play – our connectedness and our responsibility for each other.