Audacious People Upsetting Folks

This orchid was a stubborn one. I had to patiently learn what it likes. It likes the sun, but doesn´t need to see it all day. It likes water, but it also likes to fully dry out and have some days of dryness.

It likes to be propped up with sticks when it starts to lean one direction or another.

It likes it when i add organic items to the soil.

And so it is with finding new and sometimes radical thinkers.

Some of them really rub me the wrong way. They do not speak the way I do. They use language and take actions that I really would not consider. BUT, yet they qualify for a spot on my shelf, to live and learn from....to sift through their ideas with my soul and my spirit and my heart.

Wangari Maathai was a legendary ambassador of ¨all things tree related¨ and she founded a tree planting movement that has planted so so so many trees.... that the global ¨green effect¨ may be viewed from space! Yes, the green space on earth has been improved by global tree planting efforts. Yes, you can make a difference.

Yes, admittedly, Wangari was not the only eco warrior planting trees and inspiring others to do so....but still, she played a key role not only in Kenya, but on the world wide stage.

Then there is the even more controversial Indian environmental activist by the name of Vandana Shiva.

She does not apologize for her ¨anti-corporate¨ teachings. As for myself, who enjoys the stock market, it is difficult to hear her rage on about corporations and the power of shareholders. But, again, speaking for myself, as someone who connects so deeply with nature, with trees and seeds and gardens and the soil itself..., I find myself listening quietly....trying to learn more from Vandana .....more than what my upbringing can bear. I am learning to stretch. I must stretch.

I must admit that Vandana Shiva has done an incredible thing by empowering small farmers and regular citizens to fight back against genetically modified seed monopolies. She and her organization have empowered many thousands and thousands of people to build seed banks and acknowledge their quiet grassroots power. She is the embodiment of food sovereignty. She empowered the humble small plot Indian farmers who felt bullied by the GMO seed corporations that were trying to take over the agricultural industry in India. She made them feel heard and recognized the legitimacy and power of small plot local farms. She defended the rights of those who pressed their own seed oils in small scale local oil production shops. She fought against media that was skewed in favour of large corporations and sought to defend the rights of the humble farmers. She made subsistence farming seem cool again and important and nurturing.

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The notion of food sovereignty was probably first introduced to me through another radical thinker by the name of Robin Greenfield. (he has  gotten rid of all his government ID) and most modern ways of living. Although some of his choices quite annoy me, to be frank......his lifestyle is  so focused and simplified, to the point where you know, he can only go ¨up¨ from such a radically intentionally impoverished position in society. When someone refuses modern distraction and allows himself to become intentional in almost everything they do, from the homemade shoes he wears to the way he has created a community of like minded supporters who follow all his radical life experiments.

I began to see, through Robin Greenfield´s videos of homegrown veggie gardens and free seed banks and local foraging, that by encouraging one another  to be able to grow their own food, or at least a significant portion of their own foods, they were taking some of their own personal sovereignty back from the corporate ¨overlords¨. By refusing to spend money on sugary processed junk foods, and learning to grow and forage for natural fresh foods, one can feel more truly welcome in one´s own land and connect more deeply to the earth. The vigorous health he seems to enjoy further promotes his teachings to levels of reasonable legitimacy.

Well, that concludes my sharing of 3 names of some of the most radical thinkers I am personally and currently aware of. I know that Wangari Maathai is no longer with us, but her books and organizations and ideals live on. Vandana Shiva is very much alive and one can find her speaking engagements and writings easily on the public web. Robin Greenfield is currently on a walking tour from Canada to somewhere in the USA and he has been making youtube videos about his somewhat spiritual quest.

My point is this. If you take the safe route and only read books and watch videos that are deemed ¨safe¨ or politically correct.... you are not necessarily going to find anything really interesting to study and sift through. I am not endorsing radical living for the sake of just being radical. I am, though, endorsing the pursuit of knowledge and learning, as the God of the bible, through our lord Jesus, endorses.

Jesus was not known for hating on scholars and those with higher learning. He did however, learn to have informed and healthy discussions on all the current social questions of His day. He demanded we be gracious. He demanded that we learn to forgive. He expects us to prepare ourselves for whatever is around the bend. He is wise. 

In all your learning....seek truth. In all your walking, seek grace.

Peace, my friends, 

Carla.

Notes from the Peanut Gallery

When I was a child, I remember my Mom walking with me into the large public library that was in the next town over. Our town just wasn´t big enough at the time to have a big library... so Mom took the time to invest in us and the whole family by importing books from the library and taking us there to visit.

Somethings we can learn by hearing and somethings I learn by osmosis.  I learned to love libraries by the time I spent soaking it all in. The words on the pages have a multitude of tiny voices, that shout ¨come hither....we have much to talk to you about..¨ The clean couches and spotless floors were always inviting, sometimes imposing, but always a place I wanted to be.

We learned how to search for books, how to use the card catalogues housed in antique looking wooden cases. We began to understand the power of ¨alphabetical order¨ and the Dewey decimal system. We enjoyed watching the clerks use the clicking machines to officially log our ¨borrows¨. 

The city that the big library was in, also had a concert size grand piano in a small venue in the basement down a winding marble stair case. It became a place I would visit for recitals or Kiwanis festivals. I recall usually placing 3rd place in the piano. That mystical marble stair case was the stuff that dreams are made of....my dress shoes made tapping sounds upon each step.

In middle age, there comes more time to just think and ponder one´s own life and the lives that came before it.

My late Mom was born in Holland, and immigrated to Canada with her siblings and parents when she was only 12 years old. My Mom struggled with adapting to the Canadian school system, although literature and creative writing became her passion...not because it was easy, but because it beckoned. I am sure that Mom wished that college or some other kind of higher learning had come at an earlier age, but when it did arrive, later in life , years after having 3 children, the victory was sweet. The lack of early formal higher education did not prevent my Mom from pursuing growth and knowledge, no matter the cost. Mom was willing to pay the price of time and effort and inconvenience. Mom spent good hard earned dollars on the books she learned to love. She never resented the financial cost of supporting the authors she valued.  A great book, was of equal or greater value than a great concert. Learning to recall her favourite authors´ names and their best book titles was part of that legacy. 

When Mom passed, we were able to bless those who attended the funeral, with a copy of book of poetry that Mom published. Perhaps that love for the written word and the creative process could be passed down to more folks than just her children and grandchildren.

Mom didn´t take education for granted. Books were life. A new book was more precious than the latest fashion or a fancy watch. 

I look back and am more deeply grateful for the time I was given at libraries. And it wasn´t even that I was dropped off there. Mom´s life epitomized a love for learning and a profound respect for those who carried knowledge. Learning was not limited to classrooms or sunday school. Learning was part of travelling and part of every day life.

Pretty much all the time, Mom was in a state of wonder and highly impressed by something someone else knew. Perhaps Mom didn´t realize how much was taught to us just by her choices, and actions and the environment that was curated in our home. It wasn´t perfect, but it was rich and colourful.

I was talking about the public library in our city some time ago, just to another regular member of my current city. The spaced out look on their face....and  non interested vibe I sensed took me aback. I had forgotten how little many adults really respect a great library system. I had forgotten how much we take ours for granted.

What we don´t celebrate diminishes. So, I will do my part to celebrate all things ¨library-ish¨. I will celebrate borrowing books with their new policy that cancelled late fees. I will celebrate how they do extra research for me, at no charge, to help find books I am seeking at other libraries across Ontario. They have fetched these interlibrary loaner books for me several times and without complaint regarding my plethora of interests and curious pursuits. I hope they know how much I am grateful. I try to give encouraging feedback when they send me surveys or invite my comments.

Public libraries in Ontario, and I would assume, all across Canada are funded by taxpayer money.  I am assuming that generous benefactors also play a large part in funding the luxuries I see across my region´s libraries. There seems to be no end to what they offer, the services they are willing to undertake to serve our towns and cities and the money that they are willing to invest to support these resources. And then there are the well educated staff that take care of and dispense these resources. Most of them are kind, and all of them are hard working.

If any of you who read my humble blog, are ever in a position to give a donation of money or books or more to your local public library, I hope you will do so. It may feel like a gift given in silence, solemn and un-exciting. But these gifts grow and develop a life of their own for years to come and generations to come.

For those of you, who may work at a library, or volunteer there, I want to send my sincere Canadian thank you. Thank you for the time and quiet earnest work that is done to keep things flowing smoothly. I do not take this access for granted and hope I never will.

Peace, my bookish friends.

Carla.

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