Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["linda" <lindai81@comcast.net>]

I agree with you, we may not have time. Probably don't actually. People are
so self-absorbed and wandering around in meaninglessness wondering what
happened to feeling some sense of fulfillment. They think that the large
houses,  that money is what makes them worthwhile,  that being a good
consumer is the key to happiness. (that is what they are taught in public
schools and by our government) And facing a sense of disillusionment and
lack of meaning they flounder looking for something to give them back that
sense that life is meaningful, that they can make a difference, that they
are free, something they lost when small. Instead they are swamped in the
realization that they are drones, slaves to a system and just another cog.
To try to avoid that they just keep marching on, trying to shut it all out,
in denial. They keep on keeping on with the very things that are not only
destroying the planet and other people around the world, but behavior that
is destroying them.

It breaks one's heart to read and realize the devastation that is being
wrought around the world today. I was reading this morning about the culling
of the seal harp is going to continue  despite the fact that the numbers are
down since the ice floes are disappearing and the mother seals have to have
them in order to nurse their pups. Insanity breeds insanity.

My daughter has long maintained, since very small, that it will take a major
catastrophe for people to wake up. I have come to believe the same way. I
think that the saying that one can only change one's self is true for the
most part, but think of the people that have changed other people, that have
changed the world....they first changed themselves and then worked to
enlighten others and offer them opportunities to change themselves and their
world. Sometimes it does seem hopeless though, everything appears to be
cyclic. People and things change continually, seemingly going from good to
bad and then you look down the road and see the change didn't stick. Maybe
that is just what it is supposed to be. But if we don't try,  since we are
aware, then we are the bigger part of the problem. I think that living the
way we find rewarding, that puts meaning back into our lives, is the biggest
thing we can do. Changing people by example, one at a time. I still believe
that Gandhi had it right when he said "What ever you do will be
insignificant and it is very important that you do it." That is what makes
our own lives centered and not discordant.

This has been a very nice discussion, very respectful.  It is also wonderful
to be reminded on a daily basis that there are real people out there on the
same page. Oh, by the way, I bought my  computer in 1998..same keyboard too
which is kind of dirty and some of the letters on the keys are bloto, but
hey, it works! <grinning>
linda
linda's organic gardens: http://photos.yahoo.com/womyn47

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>

> Points well taken, Linda, thanks. I paint with a broad brush and rely on
> others to question. Hope you're right about consciousness raising. Surely
> you're right about starting somewhere. Folks can't suddenly go from total
> denial to getting the big picture and acting sensibly. It takes time for
> hard facts to sink in, but it may be time we don't have.
>
> Someone said, about changing the world, that in the end the only person we
> can really change is ourselves. I for one admit I'm only partway there,
> driving too much, using too much utilities; yet we're living in a second
> hand mobil, buying at thrift stores, growing a commercial garden more
> sustainably, and running a seven-year old computer on dialup -
periodically
> upgrading hard disks, replacing keyboards, mice, etc.
>
> Someone also said, make your battles small enough to win and big enough to
> matter.
>
> paul tradingpost@lobo.net