The New Audi OI (Opportunistic Infection).

Feeding our Disease.

Many people now have heard of the theory that the Maya have predicted a cataclysmic event that will lead to an apocalyptic encore on December 21st, 2012?

Well, I hate to be an end-of-the-world-party-pooper, but this is simply not the case; this date simply is the beginning of the 14th b’ak’tun, which is a cycle of 144,000 days, and is a time to celebrate. Maybe Prince will cut a new track.

What is happening on earth right now, cyclically, is also happening in many of our bodies, our minds and spirits. Our actions in the past allow the equivalent of an opportunistic infection to have its opportunity.

An opportunistic infection is an infection caused by pathogens (bacterial, viral, fungal or protozoan) that usually do not cause disease in a healthy host, i.e. one with a healthy immune system. A compromised immune system, however, presents an opportunity for the pathogen to infect.

For many, many years, we humans have been living as if there is no tomorrow, but every morning when I press my maté we are proven wrong. We have been developing a culture that reacts negatively to a reaction to an action that we acted out.

Let’s look at the oil spill. Sure it’s easy for us to all want heads to roll at BP, it is true that corporate regulation (globally) is poor, and the bigger they are the more they are left to their own devices. But seriously, even BP did not want this to happen—they are losing money and their stock is down 52%. Trust me, heads are rolling, and the mess is a big one. But who uses the oil? I do. The oil spill is just a large example of the opportunistic infection that our culture has been harboring since we decided to stick the oil needle in our arm. Statistically speaking, there are over 3.5 million oil rigs in the world, on and off shore, and it’s actually amazing that only a few have had catastrophic malfunctions. They are some of the largest movable man-made structures in the world, and drill at depths of up 12,000 feet below sea level. Most people can’t even hit a stud in their walls to hang a picture.

So whether you are hailing from the drill baby drill crowd or the I ride my bike crowd, we are all responsible for the opportunistic viruses that are lurking in the depths of our pasts, and right now the universe is drilling to let a little pressure out, so be prepared, not afraid; there is no difference between us and that which we create.

The future is not a blame game. It’s time to take ownership for the future and the past—and until we do that we’re simply treading water.

Joshua Onysko resides in Boulder and in airport lounges, is the founder and CEO of Pangea Organics, keeps bees, cooks, and quite possibly has the largest finger puppet collection in the U.S.