Invest in our survival
Our survival as a species depends on our ability to reject the stories of monoculture and dominance, and to invest our work in the as yet unseen beauty and harvest of the next season.
On a cool autumn morning, when the day breaks slowly, holding the promise of afternoon warmth, it is easy to consider planting for spring and summer color and harvest. The next season is all anticipation, all open, all imagination, requiring only our willingness to invest in the unseen, and our patience to wait for it to manifest.
It might be difficult to recall that a year ago, as October waned, we were in the throes of a contentious election season. Our anticipation was mixed with dread. Our work was urgent and imminent.
The year since then has been full, as they all are, of hopes realized, of losses grieved, of new growth and learning. Attentions turn, novel challenges arise. We have been through so much. More awaits.
Our work is still urgent and imminent. The threats to democracy and civic life have evolved and deepened. The pandemic continues. Too many folk are left out of prosperity, too many folk operate out of fear and the anger it breeds.
In a landscape, monoculture is typically the most difficult to maintain over time. It is easy to plant and harvest, but fragile and susceptible to quick demise from a single pest or blight. We plant for diversity and allow the natural interactions of flora and fauna to create the balance for long-term thriving.
In our communities, is it not the same? The story that monoculture - the dominance of one group, ethnic background, gender, economic status, etc. - is the natural way of things is a lie. It leads to fragile communities, easily parched by the drought of fear.
The natural order is one of deep diversity, in which every being, every participant, plays a vital role. Our survival as a species depends on our ability to reject the stories of monoculture and dominance, and to invest our work in the as yet unseen beauty and harvest of the next season. And the one after that. And the one after that.
Everything we do matters.
Thank you for continuing the work and sharing the journey.