social arrangements on the move

The world is changing fast and society opening up to a greater variety of family arrangements and social expressions is just one manifestation of it; what with single moms, single dads, gay and lesbian parents, and the complex family structures of divorced and remarried parents.  It became so clear to me when I read Saturday’s NY Times. On p. A9 I learned that for the first time in Cuba  (of all countries) a transgender person was just elected a municipal representative.  And on p. A11 I read that a republican senator, who was previously opposed to same-sex marriage, reversed himself on the matter when he found out his son was gay (this position now makes him at odds with his party).  Amazing how quickly things can change.  And our still relatively conservative little town (mind you, we are only 50 miles north of NYC) has now its very own LGBTQ Center of the Warwick Valley, at least online.

symptoms of inner peace

I have had this piece of paper on the fridge for years.  As a matter-of-fact, it became so old and stained and ripped that I copied it anew.  I never knew anything further about it, just that I liked it, and that I was happy whenever I saw one or more of those symptoms cropping up in me.  For this blog post I had to investigate its provenance, though.  So let me finally credit its author, Saskia Davis, for gracing my kitchen for all these years and reminding me what it feels like when I am grounded and at peace.

cheap seeds or not?

I used to buy cheap seeds on sale at the end of the season, the cheaper the better, and non-organic of course.  I didn’t think it mattered whether seeds were grown organically or not.  My somewhat limited belief was that if the vegetables grew without chemicals and in my own healthy soil that was enough.  But that is a narrow perspective.  Then I learned that poor soil (the depleted kind that needs to be sprayed chemically) makes poor seeds with poor genetic material, which in turn will make poor plants (and poor food).  Or the other way round, mineral rich soil makes genetically complex seeds and plants that make for good food.

More recently, I read an article by Margaret Roach, which opened my mind to two more implications of buying non-organic seeds.  First, “growing vegetables for their seed often involves more chemical use than growing those same crops for food" (didn’t know that).  Second, plants grown from non-organically grown seeds adapted over many seed generations to existing in a chemically enhanced soil, and thus may not do as well in mineral rich and chemical free soil (didn’t know that one either).  Tom Stearns, founder of High Mowing Organic Seeds, says that "organic gardeners are using a dull tool when they use seeds from conventional agriculture."

Why is "Now" so important?

Because if we are not “Here,” then we live either in the future or in the past, and what good is that for? “Now” is when things are happening, “Now” is when we experience joy, pain, fear and whatnot,  “Now” is when life happens.  Yet, this constant babbling brook of thought running in the background, which we fall prey to, are used to, and take for granted, prevents us from being in the “Now.” But it doesn’t have to be so, the mind is trainable.  I read about a South American shaman, who had the opposite problem.  He could not understand our Western mind frazzledness and was trying to comprehend how our minds function because he only lives in the "Now."

Actually, the ideal would be to be able to go back and forth between both mindsets.  We need the Western capability of analyzing the past and mapping out where we want to go in the future – to make a plan with intent -  and we need the Native “Being-in-the-Now”  for all other times, when we are doing and being.  For inspiration take a look at Eckhart Tolle’s Power of Now, as well as the Pachamama Alliance and the Eagle and Condor Story.

sacred agriculture

Agriculture is only about 10,000 years old and it has shaped today’s cultures fundamentally.  Agriculture enabled population growth and the population explosion of the past 50 years.  Agriculture is also what has brought forth culture as we understand it; it is specifically agriculture that enabled the development of the first great cultures in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Agriculture was a new concept then, as we moved from a nomadic lifestyle and collecting our food through hunting and gathering, to settling down and harvesting food from the same surrounding area year-in and year-out.  The hunter-gatherer lifestyle permits nature to renew itself naturally, while agriculture, if not practiced wisely and in tune with nature, depletes the soil – and then what?

Agriculture is the unification of nature and man.  We exhibit our current disconnection from nature through the type of agriculture we have created – soil-depleting monocultures that require outside chemical input to produce food at the expense of environmental and human health.  However, the significant growth of the organic (funny -  until about 150 years ago all agriculture was organic), sustainable (better than organic), and  biodynamic (the best) agricultural movements demonstrates an emerging awareness of the deep connection between ourselves, nature and our food supply.  We exist as part of nature, not apart from nature, and strictly on the basis of light and water.  Without nature we do not exist. Sacred agriculture!

what do you want to do that for?

That is what we’ve heard many times since beginning the planning process for our new energy efficient house.  The most extensive argument may well have been around the merits of triple-pane windows.  In northern Europe triple-pane windows are now standard for new construction, and Canadians use them already extensively.  But here in the US energy awareness is still in its infancy and we kept being asked “what do you want to do that for?” In comparing windows, I found that Canadians build better frames, which makes a big difference, and they use orientation and climate specific glazing for optimal energy savings.  European casement windows have a much tighter fit than the double-hung windows typical for here because of the different frame design.  Passiv-Haus windows are the platinum standard, it tops them all (price included!).

Thinking ahead, Germans are already talking about quadruple windows!

the power of the positive

I was very saddened this morning by a short video that was circulated on Facebook on the far reaching (literally and pun intended) consequences of our garbage culture.

We create our reality through all the thoughts and beliefs we generate, either the fear-based ones about everything we don’t want, or alternately the ones that were not thought out carefully enough, such as  "more and more stuff."

Watch the video: the situation is the result of a culture that keeps wanting more and more in disassociation with nature and our fellow men.  I had to remind myself of the power of positive thinking.  Only when we begin to formulate in our minds the kind of world we actually do want to create, and when it is formulated in cocreation with nature, can we turn this ship around.  The thing is that it starts within each of us.

make love, not war

"Make Love, Not War."   John Lennon

working smart, not hard

This country was built on the hard working pioneer spirit that persevered over adverse conditions with dogged determination.  Stretching the workday to all hours, eating lunch at the desk, refraining martyr-like from taking vacations, are all still remnants of this dedication.  But times have changed and we know better now.  Working smart, not hard, is the new paradigm.  Recent research, as reported in the NY Times, suggests that we are much more productive working in a few 90-minute intervals with breaks in between, taking our vacations, and getting enough sleep and recreational time.  This mirrors what spiritual disciplines mean when they say that we need to “slow down in order to speed up.”

sitting and more sitting

Of course I am also guilty of what I am going to say next.  In the recent past we have culturally regarded thinking professions - our parents wanted doctors and lawyers, not farmers or workers - more highly than doing professions.  But already the ancient Romans acknowledged that we need exercise to think clearly and stay healthy when they said “mens sana in corpore sano.” Between our sedentary professions and farming out snow shoveling, cleaning or lawn mowing, we find ourselves having to get the needed exercise elsewhere.  It is quite ironic that we work long hours and don’t have time to clean or walk the dog, but then rush past dinner to catch the next exercise class or run to the gym, all the while spending precious money on all of the above.