I have a new theory to try out.
I decided last week that if 80% of my life was lived in the root rhythms our species has held for thousands of years then I would be living rather than surviving. Up to 20% is often variable due to the particularities of cultures, natural "disasters" or other unexpected upheaval. In these variables, our needs for predictability (among others) are not met. When our needs for predictability are not met, our needs for trust are not met. Ultimately, I define the need for trust loosely as the belief that I will maintain the ability to stay fully present regardless of my circumstances. When I lose my footing in this foundational need, I am likely to move into the realm of scarcity and fear.
A certain proportion of our lives cycling through the predictable feeds us sustainably even as the occasional disturbance of the earth at our roots brings needed bursts of fertility and growth. I liken this directly to my garden. When I dig, the oxygen and loosening of the soil for new roots offers a fresh supply of energy to seedlings. When I employ this strategy over and over, the herds of microorganisms which hold the soil together nutritionally become exhausted as they replenish and reorganize themselves over and over. Soil constantly worked loses fertility over the long haul.
In this way, I have watched the nouveau strike our culture at alarming rates. We travel faster and farther from our places of origin and our current homes. Our apparent ease in this is taken at great cost to our planet. If you would like a realpolitik example, try pushing your automobile around the block. How much energy does it take? Imagine a hundred horses (or more!) stomping and sweating to lug you in your finery to the store. As I drive my car once every week or so, I ponder it. Ouch.
We absorb change in other ways, too. Our food is processed beyond recognition. Our time is spent behind screens, keeping up in various ways with the sensibilities of our culture. We feel overwhelmed with how much there is to learn, to know. Most of us do not live in community or extended families anymore.
Some rhythmic variables (up to 20%, I think) would not be shared across all peoples. Nomads move their place (in human scale travel) but stay with their people. Others with a sense of place sometimes shift in people. Each of these challenges can be absorbed without living in a state of constant crisus (surviving) if there are not so many that the barrel overturns.
So here's the fun part: what is in the 80 list and what in the 20 as I make my way in the world?
I'm just beginning to figure it out, so I expect the lists on this post to grow over the weeks. Here are my initial musings:
Human Scale Sustainable Rhythms, 80% (goal):
*bike or walk to my destination (contact with earth in travel, human scale)
*live in a small house (clutter collecting deterrent) and smaller footprint
*awareness of energy usage in heating (I now am wood heated and in connection with that intimately as I prepare fuel for winter)
*eating food that I prepare or harvest
*doing my own laundry, dishes, housekeeping (natural daily rhythms)
*building long term relationships with people, plants, and animals, thus
*remaining in place or cycling through the same places over time
*working with the earth to grow my food
*sharing food, tools, children, space
Out of Sync (ultimately) 20%:
*typing this to me and you on the computer
*using electricity
*traveling by car, airplane
*living apart from my family of origin
*being in debt (still, ergh)
*eating out
*using the phone ("Poison!" calls Trinidad.)
*eating food that does not originate from my locale
*not being in touch with the make of my clothing
Please keep in mind that the "out of sync" is not necessarily "bad" or even something I want to change. Obviously the choice to engage in this list nourishes me in some way or I would not do it. Nevertheless, spending more than 20% of my life energy here is exhausting and mentally/spiritually debilitating in a chronic sense. My efforts to name it here are intended to meet my needs for awareness and understanding.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
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2 comments:
I like the thoughts - something mindful.
Small thought that does not directly impact what you have wrote but came up while reading... "Perhaps our need for predictability would always be met if we simply predicted things will change."
And phone - poison. I will have to contemplate that Trin, thanks for the provoking. I totally get the ratio and balance thing.
A recipe / formula for a mindful healthy balanced living with things always changing (many of which can be changed by our choice, others that are given) and our best to tweek things along the way.
Love you all,
shk
This is a fascinating concept, Kristin. I'm impressed, but then, I always am.
I love your lists. This is especially interesting to me as I am definitely not in that 80/20 balance you describe. The long time I spend in my windowless cubicle is a terrible cost to the "living" vs. "surviving" spectrum. Yet, my job feeds me in so many ways, and I really love it. For one thing, I gain some wonderful relationships there, so that fits into the "living" (preferably 80) category.
Anyway, some definite food for thought here. Thanks.
Sat Hari, I linked to your blog, but couldn't tell you as you didn't include email or enable comments.
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