By Friederike Uebel
Another week of pondering on the impermanence of life and the interconnectedness of all things goes by. Through life’s up and down’s I find peace in this knowing.
Trusting that there still are more interwoven relationships keeping another in check, than we are collectively destroying. I am thinking of how silly we are when we believe we know it all and own it all. When somewhere in the depths of the ocean an octopus is building a protective dress out of shells to hide from its predators, we think we can save us by disturbing and destroying whole ecosystems building solar farms for our good conscious. (Gende, Edwards, Wilson & Wipfli, 2002)
Sometimes I dream of the north coast of British Columbia.
Where forest and ocean meet a direct link has been found between the presence of salmon and the abundance and diversity of coastal forests. Hemlock trees growing happily with a fair amount of nitrogen coming from salmon being spread by water movements and activities of terrestrial consumers. (Turney & Fthenakis, 2011) I think of it as an uninterrupted system, hoping that it will stay peaceful and respected.
I know you know too, there is a lot we cannot grasp yet. But can you understand that we have been trying to answer the wrong questions, still hoping of saving our dear luxurious life? If we can take our hemp shopping bags to the supermarket, we might trick ourselves a bit longer into believing we are doing enough.
Analytical brain.
Should we blame?
What was my neighbors name?
“…I mean it’s the right pay.”
Traveling far away
And living it up in the city.
Instagram feed needs to look pretty.
“It’s not me, it’s them!”
Continued projection.
Let’s restore connection
Sources:
Turney Damon, Fthenakis Vasilis. 2011. Environmental impacts from the installation and operation of large-scale solar power plants. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,Volume 15, Issue 6. Pages 3261-3270
Gende, S.M., R.T. Edwards, M.F. Willson and M.S. Wipfli. 2002. Pacific salmon in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. BioScience 52(10):917-928.
