Out of a Trance – Intrinsic {2009}

PUBLISHED ON INTRINSIC WEBSITE
JULY 2009

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From the beautiful Australian seaside village of Bronte, NSW, a very special experiment is taking place and quickly gaining momentum, attracting a following of grateful and like-minded Sydneysiders. Called Wake Up Sydney!, it’s a platform for social change, encouraging mindful consumption, social entrepreneurship, developing contemplative practice and awakening a kindness revolution.

Behind this movement is Jonathon (Jono) Fisher, whose own transformation from corporate life to male nanny opened his eyes to the need for a simpler and kinder way of life.

From corporate ‘sickness’ to inner richness

In May 2005, Jono quit his career. He recalls, “the clincher was how my body felt. I remember making a presentation in a boardroom and feeling physically sick. It was like my body was indicating that I was going ‘against the grain’.” His fast-tracked corporate lifestyle no longer had meaning, and life beckoned him in a completely new direction. This was the beginning of a complete lifestyle change: stripping back and slowing right down, and becoming a ‘Manny’ – male nanny.

What initially felt like a deprivation soon began to feel quite the opposite. Immersed in his new lifestyle of simplicity, Jono discovered a new kind of ‘wealth’. Not with material luxuries, but with time, health and peace. “Life became outwardly simple yet inwardly rich,” he says, “I also became much more present to what I currently did have in my life – walks, swims, dogs, friends, simple nourishing food, meditation and the arts. Up until then, I had been so busy chasing what I thought I wanted that I had missed all the richness already present in my life. Instead of feeling a lack, I felt like I was living a royal life…I think Da Vinci once said that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication…and I couldn’t agree more!”

However, the challenge that came with the simple life was an ego struggle. Jono found it difficult to admit his new ‘Manny’ status to people. “I never knew what kind of a response I would get from people – ranging from complete disinterest, confusion and suspicion to the occasional person who really respected the work I was doing,” Jono recalls. After a year of feeling ego-battered, Jono says the concern and worry finally seemed to drop away and was replaced with a sense of freedom. “It was as though I was genuinely no longer concerned about what other people thought. I began to feel so wealthy and filled with so much appreciation for what I had.”

Through experiencing simplicity and liberating himself from being concerned by what other people thought, Jono discovered some key pieces of wisdom:

• The ultimate luxury good: Peace of mind
• The greatest assets: Time and health
• This moment is enough: The power of presence
• The good life: Friends, food, nature, dogs, kindness and the arts
• Contemplative practice: Meditation, yoga and presence
• Being of benefit…the seed to one day grow into Wake Up Sydney!

These realisations, along with a renewed passion for creating social change led him to initiate Wake Up Sydney! What’s behind the name? Well, Jono has a view that by “taming our minds and cultivating an awareness of the present moment that our basic nature emerges – completely open, unprejudiced and compassionate. We discover the world to be naturally sacred; full of beauty….we start seeing every moment freshly….we begin to wake up!”

A Kindness Revolution

A key component of Wake Up Sydney! is hosting evenings, which incorporate live music, film, meditation, wine, chocolate and inspirational guest speakers to entertain, inspire and renew guests, while also giving them a place to relax, slow down and connect with like-minded individuals. Another is generating kindness. Jono believes kindness is our planet’s greatest need: kindness toward the natural world; each other; and ourselves. “When I speak of kindness I am not talking about some kind of weepy, sentimental, misty-eyed sighing kind of thing. Love is the life-essence of creation. It is absolutely transformational,” he says.

He came up with the idea of making kindness cards which encourage the pay-it-forward notion: anonymously doing something kind for someone and leaving a kindness card behind, asking the receiver to do the same. Jono sees kindness as a word that everyone can connect with, and is an act that everyone can do. Kindness cards could act as a catalyst for awakening compassion, interconnection and anonymous generosity. For example, if one person does three acts of kindness, and the following day, those three people pay the kindness forward, by day three, kindness would reach 27 people, and after two weeks 4,782,969 people could potentially be touched by kindness!

While Jono believes that generally kindness can really only be shared in small and seemingly “insignificant” ways, it is these small acts that touch our hearts. “I believe that the small is revolutionary and we do ourselves a great disservice thinking that change only takes place through BIG actions. Whether we are giving or receiving kindness we experience a profound sense of connection and renewal,” he says.

In just three months, Wake Up Sydney! has already started 3000 kindness ripples. Looking to the future, Jono distinctly views Wake Up Sydney! as an experiment, not a set of answers. As he puts it, “We aim to be unattached to the outcome and have faith that our actions will lead to good results even if we don’t yet know what they will be…while also having lots of fun along the way!”

Seven steps to simplifying your life

• Emotions audit


  Clear out old feelings, attachments and head clutter. Make peace with the unresolved or unfinished and let go.
• Guilt-free No

  Learn to say no without guilt. Work out what your individual parameters are and maintain them.
• Power failure

  Switch off the telly, shut your laptop screen and take some r & r from the media. Then make an inventory of electronic equipment in your life. What is serving you? What could you really do without?
• Drop the shopping
  Devote yourself to living a life without excess and over consumption. Try going a week without shopping, to see what the bare minimum for survival is. You don’t need to live in such extremes continually, but this exercise will help you to gauge need versus want.
• Cost and return
  Look at the activities that fill your days. How much time does each activity consume? Consider their cost and the value, gratification, benefit they provide.
• Be You


  Wouldn’t it be so much simpler, natural and authentic to be yourself, rather than the friend/family member/colleague/lover you feel you should, could or would be?