Why?
Invariably, this is the first thing that comes out of just about everyone's mouth when I tell them that my family is visiting (and hopefully moving to) an ecovillage.
It's a reasonable question. Making such a move means rejecting absolutely every aspect of consumer culture. It means losing out on pop culture, Tosh.0 and Jersey Shore. It means opting out of being a market share, brain share, commodity, demographic. It means letting go of the phony nonsense that the world tells you you're supposed to care about. And if you let go of that, you suddenly have to really think about what matters.
I have really struggled with trying to come up with an answer that is simple and concise, yet can still convey how strongly I feel about this. I don't think there is such a thing. I think if you really want to know why, it will take a little while.
I'm struggling now. There are so many disconnected reasons.
There is a quote that I am fond of: It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
We live in a profoundly sick society. And I am not well-adjusted to it.
I cannot be well adjusted to the idea that my comfort comes from an Indonesian child's labor for pennies a day, that the food I buy has been modified on a genetic level and farmed in a wasteful and ecologically destructive way before being shipped from Chile and trucked 2,000 miles to wind up on the shelves of the supercenter up the road. (Never mind the damage the supercenter causes...)
I cannot pretend that the world begins and ends at the borders of the US. I can no longer be ignorant to the havoc our way of life plays on the rest of the world.
I want my child to understand that his choices impact others. I want him to see where his food comes from. I want his food to be real, un-fucked-around-with food. I want him to grow up with a sense of interconnectedness and interdependence. I want, more than anything, for him to grow up with a feeling of community, and to live in a society that respects the basic humanity in him, regardless of his age or size.
So...we come back to it. Why?
Because I don't like stuff. Stuff distracts us from the reasons why we are here – love, community, compassion.
Because I need a sense of belonging. While I have never felt like the most social person on earth, the truth is I crave the comfort of being in a room full of like-minded people.
Because I'm tired of competing, and I'm ready to contribute.
seriously. this quote "Why?
ReplyDeleteBecause I don't like stuff. Stuff distracts us from the reasons why we are here – love, community, compassion.
Because I need a sense of belonging. While I have never felt like the most social person on earth, the truth is I crave the comfort of being in a room full of like-minded people.
Because I'm tired of competing, and I'm ready to contribute."
that, really hits home.
I am so truly proud of you, Mac and Iz. I feel proud to know someone being so brave and bold to step out and do what they think is right. Dammit. Godspeed. If you can't make it, who can? I wish you the best of luck and hope to someday be asking your guidance in moving along this same path in some way. :]
Mrs. Kessey
Mrs Kessey-pants, you don't know how much it means to me that the people we care about are behind us, even to the point of being proud of us. And yes, I would love to be your guide if one day you and man decide that you want to check out of this mess as well. The irony of making this decision to seek out like minded people shortly before *finally* meeting someone who is of a similar mind is not lost on me.
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