My small group and I met today and read this week’s reading. As usual, we all found the author’s words to be thought-provoking and resonating. Vivienne Simon’s words, we found, permeated our lives. We were able to connect her words to Facebook, to meaningful food, to the purpose of everyday life, and to what makes us work every day. Kerstyn, Tiff, Alyssa, and Leslie, you are all so awesome and I am so honoured to ahve you guys shre your great insights with me every week.
I loved that Simon put a great focus on individual efforts. I cannot change the world, I can only affect my actions. That is a constantly much-needed reminder. Although it may be frustrating or even devastating to have conversations where people are clearly not seeing things the way I believe they should be seeing it, their mindsets are out of my hands. I simply need to work towards making sure that my beliefs, my spirit, and my positivity is still there, motivating me to put my thoughts into actions.
So what am I mindful of?
I am mindful of the land, of course, now more so than ever. I am mindful of the things it produces, things that nurture me. I am mindful of the things I get from the land: energy, food, guidance. I am mindful of the incredible ability for the land to produce, I am mindful of its ability to graciously forgive, lest forget.
I am also mindful of the possibly irreversible damages we are doing to the land, as Simon mentioned. I am mindful of the depletion of resources, the forced, impossible productivity, the fact that we are slowly destroying the land to be independently be all the things it can be. I am mindful of the poisoning we do to the land. I am mindful of the horrendous things we pump into the land without considering the consequences.
Tying in last week’s talk given by Don with this week’s reading, I am mindful of the fear I feel for our land. I fear my inability to survive off the land. I fear the land’s ability to survive off of itself. I fear peak oil, I fear our tampering with the things the land produced, I fear the finite source of water, I fear the demise of “true” agriculture.
But at the end of the day, I remind myself that I can control my actions. And in this mystery of the stars, suns, and universe, I can choose to be more mindful of my actions and make sure they are as honest and positive to the land as I can make it. I am mindful that there are people, like those in the Spirit of the Land course, who have their own minds full of incredible, striking thoughts. I am mindful that, as cheesy as it is, the sun will rise above the land every day, the waters will still flow, the flowers will still blossom, and I will still be able to breathe, love, and be inspired every day.
I am mindful, I am fearful, and I am thankful.