“As a poet I hold the most archaic values on earth . . . the fertility of the soil, the magic of animals, the power-vision in solitude, the terrifying initiation and rebirth, the love and ecstasy of the dance, the common work of the tribe. I try to hold both history and the wilderness in mind, that my poems may approach the true measure of things and stand against the unbalance and ignorance of our times.” ― Gary Snyder
I’ve no doubt the rubric is replete with a bushel of well-authored material and behoves all of us to seek it out in these anthropocentric times; but I’ve this sense that, like so much of the grief literature, it’s something to get over, get from under or bypass in order to get on with our well-mannered lives.
Sure, there’s a bit of grandstanding and glib expression-making in the foregoing but I am not aware of anyone in my small circle of friends, family or ‘colleagues’ expressing any reservations, deep-seated or otherwise, about our comfort-seeking ways which, sadly, are the driving force to the 6th mass extinction. In fact, they’re much more apt to talk about anything other than our collective mindset/behaviour that’s driving us to the cliff edge of extinction. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of people who are dying under the toll of the ecological grief that hangs heavy right now in whatever direction you care to look – e.g. the desecration of the seas, the obliteration of insects and the loss of habitat (where will all those houses get built) – but it doesn’t appear to be among us, as it rightly should, or not to make a difference.
If I’m right in my nascent analysis of our disconnection from ecological grief – I’ve much work to do in this area – then I wonder what it says about ‘us’?
Does it evince of:
A complete disinterest in the natural world?
A solipsistic view that can’t see the cause and effect of our modus operandi?
An industrial mindset that sees the earth as a resource to be consumed? (The term sustainability is an oxymoron.)
A general fatigue with the state of the world – i.e. I don’t know which way is up, down, North or South?
Our God-like qualities – i.e. as the Crown of Creation we can and should live the best lives possible?
None of this matters because we can geoengineer or AI our way out this shit?
None of the above?
A slight segue: my wife says I’m angry nearly all the time. She’s probably right. It’s my cross to bear; but it’s not just the Anthropocene that arouses my chagrin with all things ‘human’ (imagine if we were more humane), it’s the fact that we’re sleepwalking or so disinterested in the state of the world – and I include our unholy fascination with work and what it’s done and is doing to us – to the point where we’re not just stealing the future, we’re stealing the now. Not just that but it’s like we’ve some murderous intent and our only defence is, which won’t wash in any court of law, “so what!”.
Then again, I could have this all wrong and I’ll be shown up as someone who’s depressed; but I’m not. Yes, I have my Black Dog days and can find myself in a slough of despair but my life, the one that I’m on the receiving end of, doesn’t want me to let this alone – i.e. I still feel, desperately so, that I’ve work to do. And I don’t mean, in case it’s not already obvious, the same sort of moribund affair I’ve endured these past 44 years.
Back to the matter at hand.
Imagine if we suddenly and without explanation were poleaxed by the weight of the devastation that has and is being wrought in the name of keeping the good ship ‘progress’ afloat. What then?
Could we ever return to our old ways?
Would we stop fouling our nest?
Would we do everything in our power to break asunder the dominant narrative?
You know the answer, surely?
No.
Why?
Well, and this will sound a little tendentious, because you only have to look how little we change or are changed when someone or something dies – and I’m not just talking about a loved one – to recognise or realise that it’s going to take a helluva lot more than an awakening to how bad it it is for us to change our comfort-seeking ways.
For the record, I don’t expect many people to agree with me on this point. They’ll say that when they lost someone they were forever changed. I don’t doubt it; but from an ecological perspective, we’re killing billions of sentient beings who are, surely, our brothers and sisters and it’s not made a happeth of difference or not one that I’ve noticed.
OK smart arse, what’s the answer?
I don’t know.
I really don’t.
Or more to the point, and I wrestle with this conundrum every single day: what has to happen for us to change that might give the earth a chance to, if not recover, at least repair a little of the earth-shattering damage that we’ve wrought against her?
Take care.
Love,
Julian
Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash
I worry every day and I constantly asked myself what would we do if we lost this? As in lost the Earth. I feel some are too distracted, to pre-occupied. I hold retreats and bring nature and the seasons into to support people to reconnect with themselves and develop and deeper sense of interconnectedness to nature. Whether it makes a difference I am not sure but I like to think I'm helping a little