Don’t Rush It. Dig In

Don’t Rush It. Dig In: Defining Advice for the Possibilities Ahead – CommonDreams.org

So this is the point in the article when I am supposed to give you alternative solutions. Excitingly I have many. They are not original, most have nothing to do with large-scale national solutions to environmental problems, and they require an active imagination:

* Turn your lawn into a garden.
* Quit your job if you hate it and start doing what you’ve always wanted (after all if McKibben is right you’ve only got about a decade).
* Look at what you do on a daily basis and ask yourself is this harmful to me, to others, to the planet? Act accordingly.
* Learn how to can and preserve to eat locally year round.
* Turn off your T.V., Computer, cell phone.
* Read a book, play a game, dance around a bonfire.
* Install a grey water system to create a closed loop for your water use.
* Be dirty more often.
* Use rain barrels.
* Find a place you love outside; visit it often.
* Learn the names of trees, shrubs, birds, say hello.
* Stop blaming: We are they, they are us.
* Start a conversation with someone who intimidates you.
* Cross neighborhood boundaries, be uncomfortable.
* Never ever drink out of a plastic straw again.
* Carry a mug, a re-usable bag, a water bottle, plate, and fork with you at all times.
* Unplug, unplug, unplug.
* Make a leaf collage
* Compost (1/3 of the household waste in landfills could have been composted)
* Trust that what is happening will unfold well if we keep working on it.
* Do not try to do this all at once. I did and it wasn’t pretty.

Finally, I end with two of wisest pieces of advice I have ever received about how to change the world.

The first is from a man named John Francis, also known as the Planetwalker. He spent 22 years walking all over the country, 17 of them in silence. His advice, also at the Great Turning Conference, was this:

“Ask yourself: what is your dream, say it out loud, and then begin taking steps towards it. Don’t rush it.”

The second is from Winona LaDuke:

“Get some place. Stay there. Live in a way that is peaceful to that place. Dig in.”

This is what, each time that I panic, draws me back from the edge. It is trust in the universe, the will to follow my dreams, and the knowledge that I am not alone, far from it. There are millions of people out there making the world better everyday; my guess is that you are one of them. So Don’t Rush it but Dig In.

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3 Responses

  1. I’m going to print this list up and try and makes more of these changes. I’m not even halfway there. Recently this one: “Find a place you love outside; visit it often” came home to roost when the best day I had all year was spent in just such a place. All I had besides my friends, family and dog was a water bottle and a couple of sandwiches. And it was the best. Digging in is a lot harder when you have a restless temperament but I understand the wisdom. I just need to find the place, 🙂

  2. I rose early this morning, as I do more and more with age, and looked about disgusted with myself.
    My house if full of bunches of glowing little lights, eating electricity without doing me, or anyone, any good.
    My lawn sprinklers were going, I’d “forgotten” to turn off the automatic cycle after days of rain. The rain gauge, required by code when the house was built, doesn’t work, doesn’t save me the titanic effort of walking outside to throw a switch.
    I need to get over my self-congratulation about buying a hybrid car and dutifully recycling cans and bottles and putting in a few flourescent lights.

  3. You’re doing a lot, gerry, really. If everyone did at least that much, we would be in better shape.

    Our big thing this year was putting in a tankless water heater. So now we’re not burning as much gas, which is good. Maybe soon we can add solar or wind power, but that will be at least next year’s project…

    One thing at a time is all we can do….

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