I recently finished reading Braiding Sweetgrass and The Seven Circles: Indigenous Teaching for Living Well.
Key ideas from Braiding Sweetgrass:
"We need to restore honor to the way we live."
"How can we shape our lives in such a way that the land might be grateful for us?"
"Philosophers call this state of isolation and disconnection 'species loneliness'- a deep, unnamed sadness stemming from separation from the rest of Creation, from the loss of relationship."
We have no relationship with the land. In many cases, our parents never had a relationship either and therefore no one taught us how we are connected. We take, take, take, and never give. We go to school, we work, we consume. We stay indoors. It has not been this way long in the grand scheme of things but it has been this way long enough. There are few left to pass on knowledge. We never had what we are missing. The blind are leading the blind and our values are all shit.
What does having a relationship with the land mean? To me, it means learning about the plants and animals in my area and understanding how we all depend on each other. Growing food, not only to understand the process and feed myself, but also to know the time involved. How slow the process is. We need to get on that time. Respect, love, and care for the land where we are. Live with it. We all need each other. We cannot only take in this relationship. We must give.
I clearly remember feeling lost. I knew I wanted to live differently. I went on a solo camping trip to Big Bend National Park when I was twenty. I hiked and backpacked but I also spent a lot of time reading. I was reading The Legacy of Luna by Julia Butterfly Hill. A connection to the land is what I was missing. It gives life meaning. It makes us feel as if we are a part of something. Part of a whole. Besides the reading, time to sit with my own thoughts and my own common sense (trust it!) was key. I had no cell phone or social media back then, but I was a part of consumer culture. I was being constantly advertised to. It takes a lot of work and effort to break from that and to really think for oneself. Imagine how hard it is now in the digital age? How do we think original thoughts? We absolutely have to slow down, learn about and become a steward of the land, and share our knowledge. Surround ourselves with people from different backgrounds and cultures. Listen to them. Have courage to be different from the mainstream. We do not want to be like those around us. They've got living all wrong.
In Big Bend, I got mad because no one taught me about life in a meaningful way. What was all this time in school for? I was angry that my teachers passed on nothing of importance. My anger turned to shock when I realized the teachers were lost as well. This is a massive problem. That is what I mean when I say it has been this way long enough. Who is going to teach us how to return to the land? How to take care of ourselves and the plants and animals and Earth so that future generations can survive and thrive? I would later have one teacher my senior year of college that would help me. But I had to ask him. I asked him for books to read and he gave me a list. I was mind blown. Again though, this wasn't in a class. I had to look for it. I was lucky. Most people never know to look for anything. It doesn't help that everyone is locked inside a building cut off from all that is important. School protects the status quo and the status quo is not what we want. We need better, way better.
Key ideas from The Seven Circles:
"Because of an imposed sedentary, indoor culture, we face more illness and more depression, and we feel disconnected from the natural world. We need to consciously reconnect. And one we do, we feel immediate healing benefits that the land provides. We need to watch [plant and animal nations] and listen, because right now, humans are different. We are taking too much."
"When we view nature as separate or 'other' place, off in the distance being preserved by a government entity within a neatly delineated boundary, we support the idea that anything outside of that boundary is somehow not nature and therefore is less valuable or worthy of care or preservation. This sets the stage for constant, aggressive, and perhaps even thoughtless urban development."
I get so frustrated how every little pocket of trees is being cut down. They keep building massive apartment complexes or office buildings that surely must remain mostly empty. Everyone around here is living on the street. Pushing shopping carts around full of others' discarded trash so they can sell it to buy a little more meth. Do we need another gas station on this corner when there are two across the street? Why can't we leave this alone for the plants and animals? Why???? We need the land around us. Stop digging it up and cutting it down and pouring cement over it. It's so frustrating for me and I feel helpless. I recently started looking for ways to volunteer to restore the land. Thankfully, the opportunities are numerous! I cannot wait to get started.
"What we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves."
Go anywhere in Houston and look around. Do we seem mostly mentally and physically healthy? No. It is painfully obvious. We are not a healthy society.
"Balance is not a perfect state of being that one achieves. It requires a constant returning to... Imbalance will always be part of a balanced life."
I used to want perfection, expect too much of myself, become overwhelmed, and give up. Recognizing that small steps and a slow process are fine and good and "wins" has been eye opening. Plant one thing and take care of it. Get to the gym one day per week. Go outside for a walk once a week. Drink 32 oz of water instead of 64 oz. It seemed like this wasn't enough, but I was building habits. On days when I had a lot to do, maybe the kids had a million places to be, I would forget who I was (slow down!). However, after doing these small things for so long, I now remember. It is me now. I don't have to think about it. I have changed. I still may fail on some days to have complete mastery over myself (according to my standards), but I return to balance the next day. I do not go off the rails completely. Also, I doubt I fail in ways that seem like failing to others. I may eat another bowl of stir fry or have a 3rd beer. It's not that serious. I don't go on shopping sprees with credit cards or smoke crack. In my younger years, those small instances where I lacked willpower would have derailed me for weeks. Now I know balance.
"With every generation we must become more connected to the land... than the generation before. It starts with us, here and now. "
I feel defeated when I think about the lack of knowledge in 99.9% of the population. I feel like I cannot even have a conversation with them. They have no clue. What do we do with this? All I can think is to make sure my kids are not one of them. Let them listen. Let them think. Let them hear all viewpoints and search out the knowledge of other cultures. I have to focus on a smaller scale and feel that success. Focus on my family and my immediate community. Live it into reality.
"We choose to believe, with every fiber of our being, that there will be a time when the land heals, when reconnection takes place, when reciprocity reemerges, and when holistic ways of knowing become the hallmark of human life once again."
"This can be known as the era when things begin to heal again."
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Spring is here!
