Time to change

I saw this film and suddenly felt an urgent need to write something. Here goes.

I recently read Sarah Wilson’s ‘I Eat The Stars’, another call to accept that we are past the point of avoiding a collapse of the systems supporting our human lifestyle - in the developed ‘Western’ world at any rate. Over-consumption and a belief in endless growth will be our downfall.

Like most of my fellow humans I’m inconsistent, hypocritical. I like my surroundings to be beautiful or at least pleasantly comfortable. I’ve reduced, renewed, recycled, re-wilded, taken part in protest marches, tried ‘leading by example’, shared facts and warnings via social media, travelled less, turned to a more plant-based diet, built a vegetable garden without pesticides and a garden ecology that I hope will look after itself. I do my best, but I also eat dairy and some meat (I tell myself that if I only eat non-intensively farmed meat, that it’s ‘ok’). I haven’t divested my pension or bank account in favour of ‘greener’ accounts (I’m financially dyslexic, avoiding such tasks). I haven’t risked being imprisoned for non-violent civil disobedient protest. And - my husband works for Calor Gas! I shop frequently on Amazon and in seeking out affordable prices I am guilty of supporting less-than-ethical manufacture. 

I find myself drawn to pretty things, loving carefully crafted items and art, but in the act of doing so I am helping to add to the growing pile of stuff that we humans have cluttered our planet with.  A friend called me out on this when I persuaded her to come to a local community market and I ‘supported’ a couple of artisans by buying a few things that their creative talents had produced. ‘Why do you need that?’ she asked, and the only answer I could give was that I like to support local whenever I can. The old guy with a tableful of polished wood items had told me that he doesn’t need the money but his creations were cluttering up his garage so he’d brought them out to sell. His hobby kept him active, mindful and sane - worthy of support in itself, but nevertheless a deployment of activity that simply adds to the clutter mountain.

And now, having seen a film called The Peoples Emergency I am REALLY pulled to attention! If we don’t change our ways, there is no hope. Our obsession with consumption and how it has, and is, burning the planet is bringing about a domino-type collapse of every aspect of our lives - food security, health, social cohesion, the economy, national security….. Business As Usual is NOT an option, however many solar panels you have, whether you’re already vegan, drive an electric car or grow your own organic veg.  If there’s a showing of the film near you anywhere, you really must see it.

I’ve maintained in a few discussions with others that whatever disaster may befall us we must face it with a sense of awe and I am moved by finding that there are others, like Sarah in her book I’ve mentioned above, who feel the same way. And like my feisty great-aunt who, when told to retreat to the basement as a hurricane approached, said “If this is the last thing I ever see, I want to see it”. Life is a gift and maybe we appreciate it best in those awe-ful moments. Also, if I am at all reassured about our human resilience it is because of our ability to rise to the occasion when required, to properly step up together, supporting each other - it’s where hope lies.