What We Need Is Here

Responsibility and Happiness: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

Lately I have been trying to trick myself into doing “the right thing” by reframing the issue I'm balking at. Instead of “I should ride my bike to the store to save gas,” I’ve tried “I’m going to hop on my bike and enjoy the beautiful weather on the way to the store!”  Instead of “I’ve got to take two hours out of my day to cook all these vegetables,” I think, “I’m going to make something beautiful and healthy for my family tonight!” and instead of “Ugh, I’ve got to haul all these clothes out to the line so I don’t contribute to global warming” (or add to the general warming of my household – it’s 95 freaking degrees today), I go with “How quickly the sun dries all these clothes in this heat!”  The exclamation points are important.  Sometimes it works.

Reframing is a good motivator, and it’s no lie that all these things have a very positive reason for doing them as well as positive outcomes.  It helps me get going, and keep going.

Right as I was beginning to think about this, I read this post from Chile Chews – Change the Focus - which got some interesting comments.  A lot of people seem to be struggling with how to motivate themselves to stay the course and wondering if being more "positive" might help. I like the idea; I do.  And like I said it’s not so much a mind over matter thing as being able to see both sides – the negative and the positive.  But the fact is some days I am just too tired or cranky to happily do anything more than I have to.  And when I just can’t make myself happy, no matter how many exclamation points I try, I think of Wendell Berry. 

Berry is a sweet man (I met him!! And, oh, I could live on the happiness of that event for a looong time), and a person who delights in doing things the “hard way.”  His poetry and fiction entice us to delight with him, to see the world with love and gratitude, as well as clear-sighted honesty.  But he is also a moralist, and this attracts me too.  Here’s an excerpt from The Unsettling off America, a prophetic book written over 25 years ago that he says he wishes didn’t foretell the future of corporate agriculture and loss of the local as well as it did:

"One possibility is just to tag along with the fanatisists in government and industry who would have us believe that we can pursue our ideals of affluence, comfort, mobility, and leisure indefinitely.  This curious faith is predicated on the notion that we will soon develop unlimited new sources of energy: domestic oil fields, shale oil, gasified coal, nuclear power, solar energy, and so on.  This is fantastical because the basic cause of the energy crisis is not scarcity; it is moral ignorance and weakness of character."

“Moral ignorance and weakness of character” – nothing snappy happy about that.  Just the facts. Sometimes it’s hard and we make ourselves do it anyway because it’s the right thing to do.  And that’s part of it, too. The beautiful thing is, almost every single time I do, it makes me feel better.  And when I screw up, I try to think of this handy quote from another poetic fellow who was ahead of his time:

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

So we just keep going, unflummoxed by our past foibles, day to day . We can do it. (!)

Preparing for Hard Times

Jonah House Catholic Worker Food Storage

Lately, every time I unfold the morning newspaper I’m struck by how bleak things are looking. A year ago I had never heard of “Peak Oil,” buying local seemed like a good idea but not a necessity, and our house was worth thousands more than it is now.  There were those that warned that oil prices could top $100/barrel, but not that it would just keep going.  Concerned voices like those of Wendell Berry and Vandana Shiva had prophesied widespread hunger if the WTO and World Bank continued to strong-arm impoverished countries into abandoning growing food for themselves in favor of growing for the world market; but not that the price of grain would sky rocket this year (the price of rice nearly doubled during the first three months of 2008) causing the worst food crisis in over 30 years.  Was anyone predicting grain rationing here in the U.S.? Or the scope of the mortgage crisis?

Besides wonder and fear, one response among those of us not yet terribly affected is to start thinking about what the world might look like in a few years if we keep going in this direction – and to start planning for it.  Sharon Astyk, of the widely-read Casaubon’s Book is sharing her knowledge of food storage in hopes of helping others be prepared for what seems likely to be continued rising prices and possible scarcity.  In my initial de-cluttering phase a week ago, I came across Chile Chews’ decluttering dilemma – how to figure out what should stay and what should go in light of a future of scarcity. Shouldn’t we be keeping extras of things?  Is now the best time to be selling that hand-mixer clogging the kitchen drawer?  Or getting rid of the extra scrap wood in garage or the outdated coat? 

On a larger scale, the soaring price of food commodities is apparently encouraging some investors to prepare for the future by speculating on commodity futures in a way that is actually tying up food and causing the price to rise higher. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how this works.  Greenpa rants about it eloquently here and has a lot of interesting links to recent articles on the food crisis. As lame as my mind is when it comes to understanding commodities and investments, I do understand this:  Cargill, a major agribusiness firm, reported unprecedented profits earlier this month. How can suppliers and producers be profiting outrageously when people (some as close as a two hour plane trip away from me) are starving?  Even I can put two and two together. It's runaway self-interest, and it's wrong.  

Back to the smaller scale, all this started me thinking about the complications involved in preparing for a bleaker future.  A lot of it depends on what we believe about human beings, and about being human.  When I think about going full steam ahead and canning as many spring vegetables as I can, dessicating buckets of rice, storing water under my bed,  and making sure we have enough chickens to actually feed our family should we actually be entering into an economic depression, I’m faced with a dilemma.  What about the family next door?  What if D and K do not do the same, and their little girls are hungry?  Wouldn’t we quickly deplete our stores by sharing with them?  Would we NOT share with them? Would they build a taller fence to protect their chickens and their fruit trees? I like to think that in hard times, we would pool our resources. D is handy and could build a larger coop and we could let our chickens multiply together; I have a sunny yard for vegetables, they have fruit trees, L and B across the street have a sunny roof, solar power, and a hybrid car, H down the street hunts and fishes…  Could we help each other? Would we? 

If cooperation and sharing is the answer, than building those relationships now is an important component of real security - along with obtaining and sharing needed skills with each other. Learning to preserve food, to grow food for actual sustenance (not primarily for taste and beauty as I do) are part of it - and so is learning how to put our heads together now to solve common problems in preparation for those times when the problems may be a lot bigger.

Is this a naive view of a future in the throes of scarcity?  From a "Christian" bent (I bend that way), folks are supposed to share, trust each other, treat our neighbors like brothers and sisters, and "worry not for the morrow"...  But "Christians" seem to be some of the worst at actually following through on this (my husband's take on this is here).  We're only human we'll say.   

Which points to the biggest question: What does it mean to be fully human? Are we "all in this together? Or is it "every [hu]man for her/himself? The question of "what will become of us" during hard times is deeper than "how will we eat."  Is it possible to follow Gandhi's instruction to be the change you wish to see in the world during hard times? What do you think?

Practice Resurrection

Gurney Norman and Wendell Berry, c. 1973

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

by Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.

And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.

When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.

Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.

Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.

Listen to carrion -- put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.

Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.

As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go.

Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

"Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" from The Country of Marriage, copyright ® 1973 by Wendell Berry, reprinted by permission of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.

Accidental Environmentalism

I met Michelle and Susan of the "Need-A-Bag?" project at the 441 Farmers' Market today. They collect cloth bags, wash and dry them (on the clothesline, of course), and redistribute them to folks who want an alternative to plastic bags at the Market.  I love little projects that do a lot of good like this - no board of directors or non-profit-filing, just get the job done.  They look like they're having a good time, too. 

Michelle has a blog - The Accidental Environmentalist - that I've enjoyed reading.  She has gone where many of us fear to tread, including shampoo-less hair care, re-useable menstrual products, and Disney World. 

Thanks, Michelle and Susan, for the inspiration. And for helping me clear my coat closet of a bunch of extra cloth bags.

Good Times/Bad Times

Ben and Joe enjoying a gelato during Ben's "Dreams Come True" trip to London

Looking for inspiration in other blogs from folks who are trying to live more locally, I ran across a couple that expressed the difficulties of committing energy to this during difficult times. One is undergoing treatment for metastasized breast cancer and, while she is still doing her best to eat frugally and intentionally, she also made the case for celebrating regularly by dining out. Another was recently divorced and trying to juggle the challenges of co-parenting with living with more awareness of her family’s ecological footprint. And these are people with the energy still to write about it.

When my son Ben was undergoing chemotherapy, we temporarily suspended just about every guideline we’d ever had for nutritious, responsible eating. Not only had he lost 30 pounds during the first two months of treatment, his taste buds were out of whack from the chemo. That combined with his desire for “comfort” food had us hopping into the car and driving to whatever fast food restaurant he dreamed might have something he felt like eating. Truth be told, I didn’t have the wherewithal to plan, buy ingredients for, or cook a meal half the time anyway – although I went through an anti-cancer, macrobiotic phase before throwing in the towel. We went on like this for over two years.  It does something to your head and to your palate (not to mention your waistline) when you are afraid that any meal might be one of your last. Not a healthy way to live by any measure.

Having a little distance from that dark time, and wanting to make up for time lost, we are excited about this new path. But I don’t waste time regretting the free-for-all of the last couple years. And I would never begrudge Dove or Susan or anyone for giving themselves a break during hard times either. 

But I do wonder how much of my family’s crazy eating came from a desire for comfort that might have come from someplace else. When Ben was in the hospital and for some time after, a number of families brought food to us, and really there was nothing better than that. The ongoing nature of Ben’s illness made this seem like an imposition to me. But I wish now I had been more open and less ashamed about accepting gifts of food from friends, family (and sometimes people we barely knew!). At this point, I hope that we can be one of those people to someone else when the occasion arises. 

It seems so right to use food to “celebrate.” Whether the life passage is joyful or of the more difficult variety, how good it is to mark that time with special food: comfort food for the bereaved, nourishing food for the sick, extravagant food for special times in life that need commemorating. The right food, lovingly prepared and generously given to someone in need of care from someone who cares – that’s making the most of what you’ve got at hand. You can’t really get more “local” than that.

Beyond Home-Cookin' and the Waltons

Sometimes the “localist" movement is criticized for being based on nostalgia for times past. It is true that there's some recognition that we've gone too far in the wrong direction and need to turn back to get on the right track. There is also a tendency to look askance at the ugliness and monotony inherent in chain stores and sprawl compared to old-fashioned village centers and downtowns. And maybe there's a longing in there for our grandmother's soup or reworked hand-me-downs, and an appreciation of the skills required to produce them.  It's true that there is some backward glancing, but I think it's based firmly in the present - with an eye to the future. 

In a recent interview in the World Ark, interviewer Lauren Wilcox asks Wendell Berry if he thinks the main problem with the long distances between producer and consumer is the isolation - the lack of community -  it creates for the consumer. His response: “No, the main problem is the permanent depletion of resources.” 

This seems true to me, and it's worrisome.  And it’s why the idea living locally goes way beyond "lifestyle" or a nostalgic wish to live like “the Walton’s” or Little House on the Prairie” or like any story or dream of the past.   We’re running out of the resources that made the American dream of unending growth and ever-expanding “wealth” possible. And we're already beginning to suffer the consequences.

Many pretty smart people believe that we are near or past our peak of global oil production (peak oil), and that from here on out it’s only going to get scarcer and way more expensive.  There are a lot of smart people, too, who are noting that the effects of climate change are happening at a faster pace than projected just a few years ago.  Either of those two things have the potential for radical change in our economic and agricultural situation.  Both together are likely going to be devastating to our "lifestyles" and to the very lives of the world's poor. 

Poor quality food shipped long distances, the emptiness of consumerism, the loss of farmland to suburban sprawl - all of these things can and do strike a chord of nostalgia for a very recent past when people lived much closer to the source of their needs and didn't seem to "need" as much. Wendell Berry is right. Our ways have isolated us and created an impoverished way of life, the loss inherent in which leads many of us longing for “the good old days.”  But the real problem is that it’s not sustainable. 

We can begin to change willingly now. Or we can wait until disaster – more wars for oil and other resources, high food prices, expensive fuel, and a crashing economy force us to change.  We're trying to take steps toward living a more responsible life now. I wonder, though, if we should be jogging.

Inspiration: Wendell Berry

Geese appear high over us,

pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,

as in love or sleep, holds

them to their way, clear

in the ancient faith: what we need

is here. And we pray, not

for new earth or heaven, but to be

quiet in heart, and in eye,

clear. What we need is here.

Wendell Berry is a poet, essayist, novelist, and farmer.  Some people think he’s a prophet, and I'm one of them. For years, he’s been saying what folks are now beginning to listen to – that we need to look squarely at the damage our ways are causing the earth and ourselves, that radical change is called for, and that we have to start with ourselves and our own communities.  Here’s an excerpt from an article originally published in Orion magazine: 

The danger now is that those who are concerned will believe that the solution to the "environmental crisis" can be merely political — that the problems, being large, can be solved by large solutions generated by a few people to whom we will give our proxies to police the economic proxies that we have already given. The danger, in other words, is that people will think they have made a sufficient change if they have altered their "values", or had a "change of heart", and that such a change in passive consumers will cause appropriate changes in the public experts, politicians, and corporate executives to whom they have granted their proxies.

The trouble with this is that a proper concern for nature and our use of nature must be practised, not by our proxy-holders, but by ourselves. A change of heart or of values without a practice is only another pointless luxury of a passively consumptive way of life. The "environmental crisis", in fact, can be solved only if people, individually and in their communities, recover responsibility for their thoughtlessly given proxies. If people begin the effort to take back into their own power a significant portion of their economic responsibility, then their inevitable first discovery is that the "environmental crisis" is no such thing; it is not a crisis of our environs or surroundings; it is a crisis of our lives as individuals, as family members, as community members, and as citizens. We have an "environmental crisis" because we have consented to an economy in which by eating, drinking, working, resting, travelling and enjoying ourselves we are destroying the natural, the god-given world.

You can read more from Mr. Berry here, here and here.