The Ultimate Simplicity of Unity

September 23, 2011 by scillagrace

Health comes from wholeness. This is true for every individual body on the face of the planet right up to the Earth itself. If the spherical (3-dimensional) network of interconnections is intact and working in harmony, we enjoy good health. Damaging those connections and setting up division between body and soul, body and earth, ourselves and others, creates a loneliness that we compensate using violence and competition. Violence to part is violence to the whole. We undo the fabric of life this way. Whenever we insist on the “rights of the individual”, we chip away at those connections. (see Jessa’s comment on the last post) How do we practice unity and health? How do we take up a posture of balance in our relationship to Creation or the Universe? Do we have the maturity and courage to desire this responsibility on our own so that it isn’t an “obligation”?

This morning, I have been reading an essay by Wendell Berry called “The Body and The Earth” from The Unsettling of America published in 1977. It is an extremely articulate and broad analysis of that “spherical network” that moves fluidly from agriculture, to Shakespeare and suicide, to sexual differences and divisions, and more. Here is an excerpt from the beginning which describes the mythic human dilemma:

“Until modern times, we focused a great deal of the best of our thought upon such rituals of return to the human condition. Seeking enlightenment or the Promised Land or the way home, a man would go or be forced to go into the wilderness, measure himself against the Creation, recognize finally his true place within it, and thus be saved both from pride and from despair. Seeing himself as a tiny member of a world he cannot comprehend or master or in any final sense possess, he cannot possibly think of himself as a god. And by the same token, since he shares in, depends upon, and is graced by all of which he is a part, neither can he become a fiend; he cannot descend into the final despair of destructiveness. Returning from the wilderness, he becomes a restorer of order, a preserver. He sees the truth, recognizes his true heir, honors his forebears and his heritage, and gives his blessing to his successors. He embodies the passing of human time, living and dying within the human limits of grief and joy.”

Last night, Steve handed me his own definition of living holistically: establishing (or re-establishing) a personal responsibility towards all aspects of the universe. He defines responsibility here as love, that is “presence with or an acknowledged relationship with” and the desire to improve that relationship. He noted that this responsibility comes from free will, not as an obligation. This is the posture of openness, the basic attitude to begin any discussion about living sustainably or in unity and harmony. Think of it as the beginning of a tai chi exercise or a yoga session. You take a balanced position: heels together and toes out for tai chi; heels together, toes together, palms together in front of your heart for yoga. Breathe deeply, opening connections to the respiratory system, the digestive system, the circulatory system.

Steve assumes the position

This is only the beginning, but as Mary Poppins would say, “Well begun is half done.” This part takes practice, just like meditation. Return to your breath. Return to a position of openness as you try to save the planet. We are not gods and we are not fiends. We are humans who love the universe, who desire to improve our relationship with every aspect of it.

C’mon People Now; Ev’rybody Get Together

September 22, 2011 by scillagrace

Harambee is a Swahili word that means “all pull together”. Many community organizations use it in their name. I understand this concept very clearly, being the linear thinker that I am. I visualize a load at the end of a rope. The object is to move the load in one direction, so everyone grabs the rope and pulls together in that direction. I would love to figure out how to jump onto that rope line and move the planet back from the brink of disaster. Problem solved, “ta-dah”, now we party. However, our interconnected web of global systems presents a more complicated “load”. If you start pulling in one direction, something else will be effected and will move. How will that effect everything else? That’s something to take into consideration. In fact, the whole thing has to be considered at the same time, holistically. So how do you visualize that? Steve was talking about a gyroscope-type model, with himself as the hub. He mentioned staying balanced and grounded in that center. I thought that sounded rather egocentric, but then he spoke about the Buddhist idea that “no one can be at peace until we’re all at peace”. Then, I visualized a round tabletop that was balanced on top of a ball at the center. With all of life on the tabletop, we would have to arrange ourselves simultaneously and evenly around the table so that it doesn’t tip in any one direction. Nature sort of works like this. Take populations: when one gets too large, the food web makes a sort of correction to bring it back in balance. Human beings are way out of balance on that tabletop. We have tipped everything in our direction; we are way too heavy in many different ways. How do we pull back in toward the center and make room for all the rest of life to be in balance? How do we look at the entire tabletop at once?

Steve has often pointed out to me that I am “not an athlete” (for example, when I’m getting in his way while he’s carrying a heavy box of books). He talks about how really good athletes have a way of anticipating how and where to move in just the right way to be in the right place at the right time. Think of soccer goalies or basketball rebounders. They seem to have eyes in the back of their head or peripheral vision and electromagnetic sensors that enable them to assess the total situation far better than the average person. There’s a grace and an instinct that gives them that special edge over the merely agile and strong. We need to have that kind of sense about our global situation. How do we move to counteract the imbalances in our systems?

I wish I were more of a visionary and that I had an answer for you. I am a freight train in many ways. I pull slowly and persistently, but I’m not the leader you’re looking for. I may be the droid, though. : ) But I believe that leadership is out there. There must be athletes in global perspective somewhere on this planet. Let’s start a forum. Let’s get together to work on sustainability. Let’s balance this tabletop before we all go crashing over the edge.

On track to sustainability

Saving the Planet: a Rational and Emotional Goal

September 20, 2011 by scillagrace

We were going to watch another episode of The Life of Mammals featuring Steve’s hero, David Attenborough. Somehow, despite a huge allergy attack and the resultant stuffed up head, Steve’s critical mind was able to detect something nagging at him. The media, entertainment, and complacency: is this a distraction from what we really want to pursue? Sure, it’s about animals and nature, but is it likely to help us get closer to saving our desperate planet? Are we sinking into a kind of complacency and pacifying our outrage by convincing ourselves that we’re doing the best we can just by appreciating nature through the media? What is the best we can do? How about coming up with solutions to systemic problems? Why would that be impossible? It’s no more impossible than writing a dissertation or an 800 page book on the life of Henry VIII. It takes energy and research and time and focus. That’s all.

Okay, at 9:30pm, I am not up to solving systemic problems, or even thinking about them. I had a headache and a backache, and I started crying. So I took a couple of ibuprofen and suggested we talk about it in the morning.

So, this morning I wake up with this phrase in my head, “If you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem.” Well, of course I’m part of the problem. I drive a gasoline-operated vehicle. I contribute to an economic system that is full of gross inequalities. There is plenty on that side of the list. I would like to be part of the solution. I would like to know what the solution is first, though. That seems rational to me. Steve counters that in order to be motivated to find a solution, we need the energy of emotion. My British heritage and upbringing say, “No way. You can’t motivate me by appealing to emotion. I want to be rational. I want to do the right thing for a rational reason.” Is there a rational reason to do the right thing? Why do you want to do something beneficial? Because it’s good to do good. Ah, but that is a tautological argument. Good = Good doesn’t prove anything. It’s like saying, “Because I said so.” Okay, fine. I do want to be part of the solution for an emotional reason. And the minute I say that, I want to back away from it. “Emotion never got anything done; it’s so uncivilized.” Wow, does that sound British or what? Ah, but the energy that comes with emotion can be very useful. Are we ever going to make drastic changes in our destructive trajectory if we don’t get angry or scared or fed up or sad in some way about how things are?

It's not easy being green

Okay, so how about striking a balance and coming up with a both/and approach? Rationally, polluting the planet and alienating ourselves from all life around us through exploitation and indifference is not wise. It may lead to our ultimate destruction. Emotionally, the defacing of the original cathedral of our adoration, all of life, makes me sad, angry and scared. I want to put energy, research, time and focus into finding ways to live differently. Recognizing that “all life” is interconnected, this will involve looking critically at economic systems, ecological systems, biological systems, psychological systems, political systems, sociological systems, philosophical systems, religious systems, etc. A complete overhaul. Why not? What else have I got to do with my life? I could just sit back and be complacent or sneer and be cynical or throw up my hands and despair, but I think I’d rather just get to work. I don’t expect the first attempts will be perfect or even adequate, but we may as well point the canoe and start paddling.

Is this nuts? Is this manic? Is this taking responsibility? What do you think?

Awareness, Appreciation, Action

September 8, 2011 by scillagrace

Today was Day 2 of volunteer training. Insects and Soil were the topics. Howard, the second staff naturalist, began the day. We went through some background information about the Animal kingdom and where Insects fit in, targeting the 1st grade through 3rd grade audience. Then he sort of stepped outside of the topic to comment on why we teach this stuff. He said that he likes to keep AAA in mind: awareness, appreciation, and action. I understand completely that there is a dearth of awareness about the natural world in our urban youngsters, especially as technology advances and funding for enrichment education is continually cut. They spend more and more time on the computer and less time outside, then they look under a log for the first time and are amazed to find critters living there. Ta-dah! First step. Then comes appreciation. They wonder and want to know more and are fascinated by what there is to learn. Animals, plants, rocks, the solar system, cycles, etc., all inter-dependent and inter-active, details and marvels in abundance. I recognize that my appreciation increases every day and that I have a voracious appetite for more. I want to spend more and more time outdoors, more and more time learning. This is a pretty cool place to be, but it’s not the end. The final step is action. What do we hope for these young people who come to learn about the natural world? What do we hope for the next generation? Well, I raised my hand and ventured, “Responsibility?” because that’s what I hope for myself. I want to take all this awe and love and turn it into decisions that will make a positive impact. This is indeed the toughest part of the trilogy to grasp and embody, and it’s where Steve and I are currently stuck. It’s fine to recycle, buy local food, and support environmental legislation, but is that really going to make a difference? In order to reverse trends and live sustainably, we need to make more progressive and radical life decisions, and we need to implement them in community with others. But where do we begin? How do we find others who are committed to that progress?

How will I respond to this awesome world?

We have a lot of reading material (as you would expect), and Steve is planning to write to some of the authors he’s following: Derrick Jensen, David Orr, David Foreman, etc. He’s looking to start or join a forum or study group of people with similar action goals. I know that often, when I sit and think about how to solve a problem, I end up going nowhere because I’m too much in my head. I find it useful to just get out and do something in that direction, anything, and see if that reveals the next step. That’s why I’m happy to be meeting naturalists and educators. It feels like I’m tracking down a clue. When Howard began talking about action, I got excited. That’s it! That’s where I want to go! I’m hoping that more clues will open up.

“Nature’s great masterpeece…the only harmlesse great thing.” – John Donne

August 30, 2011 by scillagrace

Elephants may well be my icon of choice for ancient grace. I’ve felt an affinity for them since childhood. I slept with a plush, stuffed Babar for years. He had a tattered felt crown that was especially soft against my cheek. I loved him until he literally fell apart, and then I bought a stuffed “lelepani” at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel when I was 10. My wicker laundry hamper was even shaped like an elephant. But my favorite childhood elephant was a real one, named Bobo, who lived at the Lincoln Park zoo. I met him while he was still a baby in the zoo nursery. I could pet him right over the little wall of his enclosure, and I visited him frequently after my Art Institute class on Saturday mornings. When he moved into the big elephant house, I was away at Girl Scout camp, but my mother mailed me a clipping. I looked for Bobo online and found these photos from 1974.

I’ve been reading about elephants more in depth lately. I’ve always been in awe of their intelligence and social sensibility. The way that they communicate and support each other has been documented extensively. They mourn their dead and protect each other. Both female groups and bulls maintain social ties with others of their sex. The female herds accept the leadership of a matriarch, who is grandmother, aunt, or mother of the others, and she decides when and where the herd moves on a daily and seasonal basis. These are the warm, fuzzy facts about elephants. In a book called Elephant Destiny: Biography of an Endangered Species in Africa by Martin Meredith, I read the painful and horrid facts about their history as a species. Their systematic decimation from Roman times to the present is a shocking example of human brutality. In articles in National Geographic and Smithsonian you can read about the ongoing war with poachers who trespass on national park land for the opportunity to sell tusks on the black market. Armed with semi-automatic weapons and axes to hack the ivory from the animal’s skull, they leave behind a devastating scene of carnage that the rest of the herd internalizes, exhibiting increasing fear and mournfulness.

A sketch from Jean de Brunhoff

"Trophy" from a modern hunting website

One of my dreams is to take part in a scientific research project to study elephants and to support the construction of safe corridors for their migrations through Africa. One organization that matches up volunteers with these projects is called Earthwatch. They have an elephant excursion slated for 2012 in which I’d love to participate, but I’m not sure I’ll be up to the “strenuous” activity level. Basically, you have to be able to sprint and climb a tree in case of animal attack in order not to be a liability. And you have to walk 10 miles a day over varied terrain. (That part would not be a problem.) There are other projects that will allow me to see elephants that have a “moderate” activity level, though. It’s definitely on my “bucket list’.

So I have accumulated a collection of elephantalia. Bookends, figurines, jewelry boxes, etc. adorn the bookshelf in my bedroom. One day, I’d like to have photographs that I took myself to add to that collection.

Cottage Industry

August 29, 2011 by scillagrace

The first time I set foot in Steve’s house, I stopped dead in my tracks on his enclosed porch and inhaled. It smelled like my grandmother’s beach cottage. I commented on that, and he said, “Oh, it’s probably all the old books.” I had never seen so many books in one person’s house. I thought my parents had a lot of books, but they weren’t running a book-selling business. I have learned a lot about having a “cottage industry” in the last few months. I like the idea of finding appreciative homes for books that someone else might have thrown onto a rubbish heap. I like the idea of having a small, personal business that enables us to make just enough money to pay the rent, but doesn’t require us to work set hours or sign a company policy based on someone else’s values. And I like the books. I like flipping through each one before we mail it off. There is so much to learn about, so much I’d like to read. Also, I like pictures. I like imagining the people and places the books will be going to. This morning, there was a book going off to Switzerland, and a book about Frank Lloyd Wright going off to Japan (neat pictures in that one!). I like my friends at the post office. We are on a first name basis and chat about camping and sports teams and what to do on the weekend here. I like discovering a treasure of stuff in the stacks that we plan to keep. I feel like we are amazingly rich in what we have to explore, just between these walls.

The dining room

The business is not predictable, and it is rather a mystery why the online orders come through as they do. The hosting website manages the postings, so we have little control of how visible our books are over the other vendors’. So, we’ll have a dry spell and ponder the various factors. Is it the economy or is it the website? Not worth worrying about. The more Steve works on posting new titles, the more orders we get, even from stuff that’s been online for years. So, he just puts in the hours and the orders come in. Summer is a good time for estate sales and book sales. We have a lot of fun roaming neighborhoods for books. We did find a real beach cottage estate sale north of Milwaukee. This lady had some interesting antiques. Steve goes directly to the books, but I poke around for other stuff, just for fun. Old electric hair dryers and curling irons that were heated directly in the fire, for instance. Hats, sheet music, Victrolas, jewelry, vintage clothing, Reader’s Digest from 1958. I bought a pair of binoculars on Saturday, just like my dad’s. In a book about Opera, I found a season ticket brochure for the Lyric Opera in Chicago from 1940. Seats were only $8! I like old wooden tools and kitchen gadgets made to last a lifetime, not these flimsy, plastic, planned-obsolescence items we have so many of today.

Home economy is a term that has gone out of fashion. We don’t have Home Ec in schools now, we have Adult Living. It seems like we keep getting further away from the hands-on way of life – using electronic gadgets that can’t be fixed at home instead of simple machines, for instance. Steve hands me anything that breaks around here. He knows I like trying to figure out how to make it work. There’ s a simple satisfaction in that. Ask my mom about being one of the “last Luddites”. The value of being self-reliant is seen as old-fashioned, but I really worry about what happens when we are too reliant on mega-corporations who make large-scale decisions. Local and specific values get plowed under. Balance and scale and harmony with nature get ignored. It gets to a point where we don’t think we can change…that WalMart is going up whether we want it or not, right over 4 acres of our outlying marshlands, because we need cheap goods readily available to the people in those new subdivisions, and we need those jobs. Do we? Are you sure there isn’t another way?

Recommended reading: anything by Wendell Berry or Harland Hubbard.