Wednesday, May 14, 2008

fragments

As I sit outside on my parents patio enjoying the beautiful pleasant weather, I can't help but worry and feel depressed for all that is going on in the world:
Myanmar cyclone and a military regime refusing to allow aid
China earthquake
Chili volcano eruption
Iraq...
Food riots as prices spiral out of control in Africa
India terrorist bombings in Jaipur
Heat waves
Tremors
Floods
Droughts
Death
Destruction
Where does it end?
It's difficult for me to enjoy how much we have and the small pleasures that are occurring in my tiny world when all I can focus on is the chaos that has befallen humanity.  Events like the above make me question if I really ever want to have children in this fucked up world.  As I tried  to sleep last night, my mind reeled.  Where can we place the blame for things of this nature?  There is no one person that can be blamed, but abstract concepts: 
Greed  
Patriarchy
Lust
Domination
Conquest
Hate
Fear
Capitalism
How do we fight something that has no face?  no body?  no origin?  How do we right the wrongs that have developed over centuries?  How do we fix the damage originating with our ancestors use of colonialism and imperialism?  Issuing a public apology is no longer enough.  Nor should it be.
Breathe
Remember there is beauty, good, and love left in the world... right around the corner.
Love will win in the end....


Right?

2 comments:

Liz said...

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/05/08/africa.farming.ap/index.html

I don't know if this is really an answer either...

Erin Curry said...

liz I don't know if you looked beyond the cow jaw at the website I sent you last night, but the site also has a blog you may find interesting, it's about sustainability and the idea of post industrial revolution in our future.
http://alabamastudiostyle.blogspot.com/

in regards to your concerns. I strongly believe that those terrible faceless things are less large than we give them credit for. I believe the vast majority of people want to live in grace. I am increasingly coming to believe that it begins with local sovereignty which is in turn supported by a global information infrastructure. This begins for me with food and then the objects I surround myself with. In a capitalist culture, your dollar is your vote (even when you have only a few), your dollars should be spent with the demand for information and morality that we demand from our politicians, WHO made this, grew this? WHERE is this from? HOW was this grown, transported? WHAT is it made of? WHAT was its life like? WHY was this made this way? Your voice is your influence, your actions are example.
Last night Tommy, Colin, Hannah I shared a meal of one of those chickens (fried like my grandmother makes it) from Branford , fried green tomatoes and salad from Lauren's garden. The only things I didn't know the direct origin was the salt pepper, olive oil, and flour. I believe in meals like that. Responsible eating, sharing, loving. That meal lasts more than just the hour it takes to eat it (or fifteen minutes Beastie eats it). Did you know when we say our thank yous to each other when we sit down to eat, that is our version of saying grace? Perhaps we will readopt a wider thank you.

I believe that to change one person's life for one hour, one week, one month, one year, a childhood (your child? my child? teaching? helping parents feed educate? convincing one father/or mother that to educate his/her daughter is worthwhile to his community?) reverberates throughout the world. Little things count. If you have loftier goals, recognize the importance of small actions and achievements. Those girls you spoke to in the workshop were affected positively by you (what was it? an hour?). Cheerfully opening a door for a man affects him in a positive way, even if he hesitates one second. Recycling, reusing, thrifting, all are small actions that have meaning when done over periods of time.
I believe we all have to start looking at those people over there as our brothers and sisters, to demand as you do that those around us speak with respect about people who just want to live with grace, whatever that means to them. Demanding our local, state, nation, and national unions spend money to help others maintain peace.
I also believe the world will never be perfect. . .within each of us is the ability to succumb to apathy, hate, torture. Those things are in us all. . .
I believe if you and I can overcome those human flaws, we are not alone, we are already two. Two becomes easily four, or rather more likely twenty.
Do not despair, two do not have to save billions. We only have to brush one another.


These clumsy things I write are things you already know, I am just reminding you.