In a comment to my previous post, Grace mentioned "the theory of anyway." I wanted to tell you something about that and give you a couple of links, in case you haven't stumbled on it yet.
Some time back, on a couple of Internet forums on the concept of Peak Oil (the idea that the globe's hydrocarbon resources will sooner or later be depleted), Pat Meadows wrote about this idea: that whatever we need to be doing to meet the coming crises of energy depletions, we need to be doing anyway, if we are moral beings who care about others, who care about living lightly on the earth. Not long after, Sharon Astyk picked up Pat's idea and elaborated on it, in a post on her blog, Casaubon's Book. After that, Pat wrote about Sharon's post, on her own blog, in a post called "The Theory of Anyway." (If you're thinking that what goes around on the Internet certainly comes around, I couldn't agree more!)
I have long been a believer in the Theory of Anyway, and I'm grateful to Pat and Sharon for articulating it so well. I am especially grateful to Pat for this paragraph:
I think there's a terrific psychological difference determined by the frame of mind in which one takes certain actions. Supposing, for example, you are going to cover your windows with clear plastic in winter, to save on energy.
Well, you can think of yourself as being forced into this act by Peak Oil, by Global Warming, or for economic reasons. There's not much joy in taking defensive actions.
But if you can think of it as contributing to "the repair of the world," then you have a totally different view of the action. Now you can really be happy about it: you have made a difference (however small) by this action. You have conserved resources for those who desperately need them (especially if you contribute the money that you save to a charity), you have lessened your contribution to Global Warming and to air pollution and you have used less fuel. Wow! This is a good thing to have done: I can be happy about this.
Yes. There are many things we should be doing anyway. Things that we can be happy about. Things that our governments (national, state, and local) can never do for us.
Thank you, Pat, for naming The Theory of Anyway. Thank you, Sharon, for elaborating on it. And thank you, Grace, for reminding us here on this blog.
I'm leaving New Mexico and heading back to Texas on Monday, August 25. I'd love to stay where it's cool, but my fall kitchen garden project needs tending to. I've left some tomato, broccali, and cabbage seedlings under grow lights, with a home-made self-watering arrangement. I'm curious to see how this has worked out. I'm not counting on this garden to feed us this fall, although I'm sure we'll enjoy whatever it produces. It's an experimental plot, where I'm growing some heirloom varieties that I hope will do well in our Texas climate. I'll have more details about it later.
Reading note. When we comprehend our actions over time, we see what we do in terms of a story. We see obstacles confronted, and intentions realized and frustrated over time. As we move forward from yesterday to today to tomorrow, we move through tensions building to climaxes, climaxes giving way to denouements, and tensions building again as we continue to move and change. Human time is a storied affair.--Donald P. McAdams