I’ve been excited about the effects of this recession. No, seriously. When the natural consequences of our irresponsibility arise, there is no choice but to adapt, learn from our mistakes and figure out how to be more responsible.

This video gives me hope for what might happen. The signs of hope seem small right now, but perhaps a few more years of this will help them to grow.

I especially love the part technology is playing in this. It’s amazing how it’s helping people work together to find ways to save money, spend it wisely and use the resources we have in the best way possible.

Sometimes I try to come up with ideas for how, as a web developer, I can play a larger part in promoting the responsibility of our culture. Do I build a directory for food co-ops? A wiki where people share tips on how they’ve saved on groceries or their gas bill? A Facebook application for ride-sharing?

Does anyone have any ideas for how the Internet, social networking or mobile technology would help you find ways to promote sustainability, local community and responsible living? Maybe we can do something together.

Yet another great TED video that stirs back up the conversation we (or maybe just I) have been having here about food, where it comes from, and our responsibility not just to eat it wisely, but also to cultivate it wisely.

I hope that we as a society and a world can understand and latch on to Carolyn Steel’s ideas about how to manage this earth we live on in a way that benefits us as well as the earth. It’s a symbiotic relationship, and right now, humans are abusing the privilege.

I feel challenged to think more about how I plan my week of cooking, and how if I were to actually plan meals ahead of time for my week, I could not only save money, but I could be healthier personally and be a step closer to controlling where my food comes from and how it’s made by being conscious of where I buy from. Our country really could stand to get back to cooking and eating at home together again. It would do a lot for our health, our economy and our social wellbeing.

Finally, the fact Steel mentions here, that in the western world it takes ten calories of energy to produce one calorie of food, completely blows my mind and further encourages me to think about the “miles per calorie” as far as where my food comes from.

People bring back traditional religious ideas in the funniest ways sometimes. I’m sure this man is aware that “sabbatical” and “sabbath” share the same root. Taking time off has its value. I wouldn’t mind a year off every 7. So many projects and ideas I could take the time to develop and flesh out.

My dad gets a sabbatical from his work once every ten years. His just started a month ago. It won’t be a full year, but it’s something. I have to admit I’m a bit jealous, and curious to talk to him at Thanksgiving next month about how it’s been going.

I watch this video and try to imagine what the personification of my genius would be like. He’s probably a bipolar bully that comes around to punch me in the gut, moving by so quickly that I have no time to prepare myself, talk to him or figure out why he does this. Then he taunts me from a distance until I get frustrated, just far enough away to be out of inspiration’s reach.