I love it, the NYC Parks Department rents goats to “mow the lawn” at Freshkills Park in SI, as the NY Times reported recently. Now here is a solution in the spirit of our times. Eco solutions go mainstream, there is definitely hope on the horizon!
same time next year
It is comforting to me to live in awareness of the circularity of life. That’s why I have always minded my children’s 6-day school schedule, it goes against the grain and is confusing. Not that “if it’s Tuesday it must be meatloaf” is such an inspired idea, but there is something to be said about “if it’s Tuesday we must have Art.” Today is June 22 and it is my birthday and I like the notion that it comes back year after year, like all of the holidays.
In reality, though, nothing ever stays the same. Perhaps because of that, because life is all about change, the regularity of circular rhythms such as the seasons, the planetary revolutions, the tides, the full moons, the reoccurrence of our birthdays, even the rhythm of the school year, builds a reassuring structure from where to watch and live the change. Children who grow up with a strong awareness of these rhythms, as they teach it for example in Waldorf education, can become grounded adults. And as an adult I am learning to see the circularity of life beyond my own death as a continuous cycle - in and out of physical life, in and out of non-physical existence – in an even grander perspective.
it's the little things that count
Setting the table nicely is important to me. 
It’s a little ritual that improves the quality of life, even though my son thinks I’m silly when I mind one yellow and three white dinner plates, and insist on four matching ones when the children set the table. And we have other little rituals, like eating croissants on Saturday mornings, or getting special breakfast items from our favorite French baker in town for special breakfasts, like Father’s day or birthdays, or setting up the birthday table with a special table cloth, a candle, flowers, the birthday cake, and all the presents and cards. Ritual and predictability add rhythm to life and remind us of its circularity; paying attention to little things makes life more meaningful.
summer time
Please note that blog postings will decrease temporarily in frequency between now and September due to any of the following: travel, hot temperatures, house building related stuff, kids home, house guests, time off. Wishing all of you a happy summer!
my spiritual life begins with putting on lipstick in the morning
Swami Rudrananda, the spiritual teacher also known as Rudi, used to say that your spiritual practice begins with making your bed in the morning. Although I do make my bed in the morning, my day begins with putting on lipstick. What Rudi meant, though, was that your spiritual and your everyday life are one and the same, and your everyday life has to be in order as a basis for a good spiritual practice. It is misguided to neglect your everyday life for the lofty pursuit of a removed spiritual life. One such example was published in The NY Times last week about a 3-year yoga retreat that ended prematurely and with a fatal consequence for one of two participants. Instead, you eventually interweave your spiritual convictions and practice with your material life. Since most of my work happens in front of my computer at home I need to get myself and the house in order before doing anything else; part of that is dressing up nicely and putting lipstick on. After that I am ready for the day.
to weed or not to weed
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Weeds are not “bad” per se, after all they are part of the biodiversity of the plant kingdom. It is more a matter of perspective how we see them. Out of laissez-faire I have weeded relatively little in both our vegetable garden as well as the rest of the garden this year, and I am finding that the whole garden is just so filled with all kinds of plants, more so it seems than in other years. Our bees are happy, wild flowers and herbs are spreading, vegetables are self-seeding from one year to the next – it’s incredibly abundant. Some “weeds” are actually edible, such as dandelions or purslane for example. Other “weeds,” which we call wild flowers, are pretty in the garden or beautiful in a vase gathered in big generous bunches. Others spread an incredible scent, as does our wild and wildly growing honey suckle. Making weeds my allies, instead of “fighting” them as enemies, is a much more cooperative approach, as The Healthy Environment Group and Bill Finch explained recently in separate write-ups.
taking charge
A brief bout with mild depression a bunch of years ago taught me an important lesson and helped me to shift my thinking drastically. At that time I felt like a victim of circumstances, believing that the world was to blame for where I was at in life. I even went to an allopathic doctor and got myself some pills. But then something shifted in my mind. I realized that I create my life, my circumstances, my opportunities, the way I perceive everything around me, out of my own consciousness and beliefs, and that those are not static, I can change them. I brought the unopened pills back to the pharmacy and took charge of my life. It is not only incredibly empowering to wake up to this wonderfully creative opportunity of shaping and creating my future today and every day, it is also an awesome responsibility. And it has implications for the people around us.
Martin Luther King famously said something along the lines of “only when you are at your best can I be at my best, and only when I am at my best, can you be at your best.” The more we realize our own creative potential, the more we illuminate everything and everyone around us.
To Life!
education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire
...a recent fortune cookie insert. Something to think about.
small is beautiful...
...or quality over quantity. McMansions, ever growing restaurant portion sizes, jumbo eggs, jumbo strawberries, big SUVs – why has bigger become better? The earth is finite. It is physically impossible for everyone of 7 billion people (and growing) to attain the standard of living we call the American Dream.
Something is sustainable when it self perpetuates without growing beyond its original size and without using up the principle. In our irrational quest for ever more we are shamelessly gobbling up our principle - natural resources, rainforest, soil (the Black Dirt here in our area) – without replenishing this precious capital.
When we begin appreciating quality over quantity we begin to shift our priorities to holistic ones. Think small sun ripened sweet and intense tasting strawberries. Think small eggs with deep yellow yolks, strong shells, and egg whites that don’t run, fresh from the farm. Think small zero energy house (the average American home was under 1000sf in the 1950s!).
Smaller and better oftentimes costs more than larger and of lesser quality, but there is nothing wrong with paying more for better quality - and that may mean saving somewhere else.
free clothes drier
When energy prices spiked several years back I remembered the European clothes drying racks of my childhood that are still customary over there (neither my parents in Germany, nor my sister in Belgium have driers). I ordered two over the internet and have dried our clothes for free ever since. My electric clothes drier gets used only very rarely anymore. These racks are inexpensive and you can find them on this side of the Atlantic as well. In comparison to the stationary racks sometimes found in gardens, or the overhead clothes lines strung between trees, I can move my racks outside when the weather is nice, and inside during the cold months. Moreover, when there are no clothes to be dried, I don’t have to look at the rack in the garden. They fold up flat and store behind a door or against a wall. Between my two racks I can fit three loads of laundry, and when the air is dry the laundry dries in a few hours. 