Sharing

When it comes to living more richly with less, one thing seems clear: it’s going to require that we share.

That may manifest as more renting, borrowing or reclying versus buying (car co-ops and libraries), more co-housing (see cohousing.ca for more on that) or on more active participation in our communities. Whatever it looks like, the more we share, the higher our collective quality of life will be.

On the weekend, I received an email from my administrator at Freecycle, which I love, with a message I did not. The administrator advised us that some of us had been using the term Freecycle wrong. From this point forward, we were informed, we were to use Freecycle as a noun, not as a verb or adjective.

And today on one of my favourite blogs, Zen Habits, blogger Leo Babauta wrote that he’d received a letter from a law firm asking him to change his use of the term “Feel the fear and do it anyway,” which apparently has been registered as a trademark by the author Susan Jeffers. He refused.

Cue the language police. Please. (The idea that someone would have the nerve to register an old chestnut like ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’ is in itself a head-shaker.)

Later in the day, when I checked back on Zen Habits (yes, I am mildly OCD about my favourite bloggers), Mr. Babauta announced a new, free poster of his best tips, here. 

While reading about the poster, I also learned that Mr. Babauta has an ‘uncopyright’ on all his work. Yes, that’s right — he wants to share, because he understands that the benefit of doing so will ultimately bring him a greater audience, sell more of his books, and make him a happier, more successful guy.

Post-financial crisis, the idea of hoarding our ideas, our phrases and our stuff behind closed doors is no longer tenable. It’s impossible, and it makes us look foolish. So … I applaud Mr. Babuata, and Goddess Leonie, and I hereby uncopyright my work, too. Take it — share it. I’d be flattered.