So, I’m going to try and weave together a few concepts that I think are important and that I want to explore and share;
Part 01 Personal Values
Part 02 The Commons
Part 03 Our Garden Plan
It comes down to this; I don’t think the world is going to be better for our kids than it was for us. I think we’ve hit a tipping point where it’s going to get worse before it gets better. I’ve read something recently, or someone mentioned, that, in fact, things in the world are better now than they ever have been but doesn’t seem that way due to how much we clearly see the bad shit is going on for most of the global majority due to the pervasive access we all have to social media. Social media does a lot of harm, and yet it is also opening our eyes to the experience of people across the globe in a way we have not seen before. Lifting the veil, so to speak.
We’re coming up to a point in history where we
a] are seeing more clearly what’s going on;
b] aren’t willing to allow it to continue,
c] realise climate change is going to get a lot worse before we’re able to do what’s necessary for it to be better, and
d] doing what’s needed to be done to create a future that is better for All is going to require us to really fight for it. It’s not going to happen with a wish and a prayer. Breaking down systems, structures, and beliefs that are harmful won’t happen quickly, easily, or even peacefully.
With that said, I want to do what I can in every way that I can to leave things better here before my time comes to an end on this plane. Ok, let’s begin.
Part 01 Personal Values
Before I start any venture or project for myself, I try to figure out ‘my why’ [thanks Simon Sinek]. I want to be clear on why I am going to spend my time on pretty much anything. And, generally speaking, any ‘why’ I establish generally leads back to one of my personal values. It’s the chicken and the egg paradox. My personal values are guidelines for my why, and my why for anything links back to my personal values.
Very simply, values help us live life with intention. They keep us aligned to what’s most important. They help create the foundation and framework from which you operate. It takes a lot of intention to live in a way that is truly aligned with your values. It requires thought, reflection, and understanding of who you are and what you stand for.
[There is a values exercise/worksheet in my THIS IS YOUR TIME planner freebie, which you can grab here to figure out your personal values]
A few of my personal values are community, self-sufficiency/environmentalism, and our connection to each other and the earth.
Part 02 The Commons
‘The Commons’ is a recent name given to how public space existed in the past to support a society’s or community’s food security. It was tended and cared for by that society or community in order that it would continue to provide support/food security.
Then land was privatised and became an economic tool of profit for the few as opposed to support the well being and needs of the many.
Humans are wired to care for each other in community.
It was [and is] a matter of survival. I recently finished a book called The Value of Nothing by Raj Patel. I dogeared a number of pages. Numerous. It offered analysis and criticism on where we’ve gone wrong, and how we can do better into the future. Here are some of the parts that resonated very clearly.
“Evolution suggests that altruism and a range of other unselfish behaviors have some independent utility, that social relationships of mutual altruism help us to survive.” Pg 32
“Every civilization has had traders and markets, but modern market society has spawned the corporation…In most countries, corporations are defined as ‘legal people’…‘If the corporation were a person, what sort of person would it be?’ Using the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) to match behavior against a list of symptoms, they find that corporations exhibit many of the characteristics that define psychopaths.” Pg 41
“Almost every cultural tradition has cautionary tales of similar beings with appetites run riot. In what is now called western Canada and the United States, indigenous cultures told of Weendigoes. A giant, hungry spirit, a Weendigo had lips that were bloody from its constantly gnashing jaws, and its hunger became deeper with every drop of human blood it drank. Weendigoes were cannibals, people whose desires had so entirely become the core of their being that they were prepared to eat others in order to survive. Weendigo tales were told as a reminder that unbridled consumption in harvest months meant less foods for everyone in leaner seasons, which meant that eating more than your fair share today was effectively a kind of cannibalism inflicted on the rest of the tribe in the future…Few people in North America have seen giant spirits, but many more people have seen their modern incarnation, giant creatures with few interests beyond the satisfaction of their immediate appetites, even if this prevents tomorrow’s hunger from being met. The modern Weendigo, Johnston suggests, is the multinational corporation.” Pg 88
As a descendant of white colonial settlers, I can see the harm wrought by my ancestors that is maintained today, from which I still benefit. The Commons seems [and is] the ‘white’ name given to societal/community structures and wisdom of indigenous people. Or at least…way back, my ancestors did understand and hold that wisdom, but lost it to white colonial settler capitalism. More and more people can see this is no longer working for us and for the earth. For our survival we need to return to the idea of The Commons and follow the teachings and wisdom of Indigenous peoples. And what I mean by that, more specifically, is to step back, listen, learn, and follow leadership of Indigenous peoples, not to listen, learn, and step forward as leaders ourselves using Indigenous knowledge to legitimise our leadership.
Part 03 Our Garden Plan
This brings me back to our little community and the garden we’re working on this year.
And just to be clear, in no way am I suggesting that I have it figured out. I’m wildly and hopelessly imperfect and learning and am expecting to be called out in a million ways as I fuck up enormously.
But it is obvious we can’t continue as we have been. Beyond obvious. And the more people who are learning to grow and share food, be in community, looking out for and supporting each other, the better off we’ll be, as a collective global community.
I know some of you have very successful and productive gardens, among the many other things you do for yourselves and your neighbours and community, and if you have tips and advice, I’d love to hear it!
We’ve got seedlings started in the basement, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t get the right soil, it’s not warm enough, and I haven’t been watering them enough and half the seeds are …old, which…isn’t good. We’re going to try raised beds and transplant the two apple tree saplings we got last year.
We’ll see how it goes. I know it’s a lot of work, time, and care. At the very least, I’ll learn lots. The big vision includes bees and chickens. Throw in a goat or two for dairy and we’ll be in great shape. We just need municipal policy to shift a little…no big deal, right?…
But all this work is needed to enable people within communities to be food secure and self-sufficient. No, not self-sufficient…community-sufficient. Because this isn’t just about me and my family, it’s about our neighbours, our community, and living in a way that contributes to the well being of the earth, that makes things better for All, not just I.
