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• “How the Japanese art of kintsugi can help you deal with stressful situations” (Tiffany Ayuda; nbcnews.com). “Many of us break a bowl or vase and think: garbage. But the Japanese art encourages us to the see potential for beauty in reconstructing the broken pieces. … Kintsugi is the Japanese art of putting broken pottery pieces back together with gold — built on the idea that in embracing flaws and imperfections, you can create an even stronger, more beautiful piece of art. Every break is unique and instead of repairing an item like new, the 400-year-old technique actually highlights the ‘scars’ as a part of the design.”

• “I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” — Marilyn Monroe (possibly misattributed?); goodreads.com

• “The Goddess of Never Not Broken” (Julie JC Peters; scienceandnonduality.com). “‘Ishvari’ in Sanskrit means ‘goddess’ or ‘female power,’ and the ‘Akhilanda’ means essentially ‘never not broken.’ In other words, The Always Broken Goddess. Sanskrit is a tricky and amazing language, and I love that the double negative here means that she is broken right down to her name. But this isn’t the kind of broken that indicates weakness and terror. It’s the kind of broken that tears apart all the stuff that gets us stuck in toxic routines, repeating the same relationships and habits over and over, rather than diving into the scary process of trying something new and unfathomable. Akhilanda derives her power from being broken: in flux, pulling herself apart, living in different, constant selves at the same time, from never becoming a whole that has limitations.”

• “Our physical selves, our limitations can help us find meaning” (Ray Waddle, guest columnist, Nashville Tennessean; in Daytona Beach News-Journal). “Death and decay insult the human spirit. They also contradict the latest predictions that humans will eventually halt cellular aging and find a kind of immortality through a succession of organ transplants. Or at least some people will, those rich enough to afford a fresh pack of viscera now and again. Similar dreams of death defiance seem to animate the new endeavors of privatized space flight, the urge to escape the poisoned earth and head for the great interstellar beyond. Escape this planetary predicament. Escape ourselves. The universe apparently isn’t impressed. The laws of life and death, order and entropy, remain noticeably in place. Is God the creator of all this? If so, then God created mortal bodies too. Maybe to do God’s work on earth. Maybe to keep us seriously engaged, keep us in the game — this enterprise of living abundantly. The life of friendship, music, food, compassion, praise and prayer is more urgent when the clock is ticking.”

• “Instead of hiding rips and tears, the visible mending movement turns them into art” (Meghan Racklin; vox.com). “Born from the Japanese art of sashiko, visible mending enables crafters to eschew fast fashion and make mistakes beautiful. When Jessica Marquez’s boyfriend ripped his favorite jean jacket, he asked if she could fix it. Marquez, a “visible mending” maker, teacher, and author, began researching hand-embroidery techniques she could use to fix the rip. She came upon sashiko, a Japanese mending technique involving a running stitch and geometric patterns. As she practiced, she realized that she wanted to start using the same technique on her own clothes. A favorite pair of jeans now has four mends, each rip patched up with darker denim and beautiful square fields of bright white cross-stitching. … In this way, visible mending is the antidote to fast fashion. Instead of seeing clothes as disposable, visible mending values sustainability and suggests a different way of relating to our clothes.”

Someone is a local citizens’ group on FB just now was trotting out that old widespread fallacy, about how we have to “find balance” between “the environment” and “the economy.”

Sorry if I sound impatient here, but I am!

This is a sad and deadly false dichotomy. A popular fallacy, among both officialdom and everyday citizens, is to pit “the economy” and “nature/environment” against one another. When in fact, not only can they go hand in hand — they MUST go hand in hand.

For any city or region, continuing down this road will ultimately trash your local natural beauty and ecosystem health (if it hasn’t already). And will harm wildlife, ultimately leading to mass die-offs of your local beloved animals and plants (if it hasn’t already, as with the mass die-offs of our beloved manatees here in Florida). And it will trash the health, both physical and mental, of local humans too (if it hasn’t already).

And in the long run, on a macro level this deadly and selfish dichotomy is what will lead to the extinction of the human race if we continue down this path.

It is not a choice between two “extremes.”
One prime example of the overlap between environment and economy is agriculture; we need to support our local farmers, local agriculture industries. And we can’t have local food resilience if we’re paving over most of the land, and spraying the rest with lawn chemicals and other poisons.

And regarding the challenge faced by elected officials and other leaders who must balance the various demands of their constituents … When it comes to ecosystems and carrying capacity, and having respect for our nonhuman brothers and sisters (or even having respect for all of our fellow humans), we passed “balance” many long miles ago. If I’m a city or county official, and some of my noisiest constituents are calling for things that keep my local region on a self-destructive course (in terms of nature AND ultimately in terms of the economy also), then it is my job as a leader to stand up for what’s right, even if it means temporarily enduring some disapproval from people who don’t have the collective wellbeing in mind.

Oh, and by the way, regarding willingness to deploy financial resources: If in our human shortsightedness we somehow cannot “come up with the funding” to address environmental urgencies, Mother Nature will be more than happy to take care of that for us. And then we’ll see what REAL expensive is.

My approach to eco-activism is to try to get people to see their self-interest in conserving resources and protecting ecosystems, via their daily household habits.

I’ve often heard it said that it’s easier to motivate people to change their behavior than it is to motivate them to change their attitudes or beliefs. What have you noticed about this? It does, for example, seem to be pretty easy to get people to recycle when there’s actually a bin for that. Same with composting.

In some countries, such as Japan and England, it’s just naturally easier to lead a low-footprint life than it is here in the USA, because of how things are set up. Streets; living spaces; public transport. You can be green without thinking about it. Imagine if supermarkets just didn’t give out plastic bags! We’d all instantly have a lower footprint by default.

Besides our everyday physical surroundings, another force that can prompt green choices is if we get people to 1) see their self-interest in doing something (or refraining from doing something), and 2) make a pledge to do (or refrain from doing) that thing.

According to a talk by Erik Thulin, “Saving Nature with Behavioral Science,” local fisher folk were motivated to self-limit their take to sustainable levels, once 1) they were guided to see their self-interest in limiting their take; and 2) they took a public pledge to limit their take.

Further Exploration:

• Saving Nature with Behavioral Science (TEDx Cambridge Salon talk by Erik Thulin on YouTube).

“When I retire …”

This deadly mentality is skewing our economies, hollowing out our Main Streets, wrecking people’s health, setting a bad example for our youth, and contributing to the demise of neighborhood cohesion. And it’s keeping a lot of people’s creativity tied up, which could be channeled into pursuits that would enrich our own lives while also helping to restore ecosystems and address longstanding societal inequities.

If you want to do something, start right now. Even if it’s just on a small scale at first. If your job keeps you from doing what you are really longing to do but are putting off “til retirement,” then either find another job or make your own.

If you are harboring this “When I retire” mentality, get free of it now. My book, and the resources I recommend here in this blog, can help you. And you are always welcome to contact me directly too. I’m here to support you — I mean that!

On this DEEP GREEN blog over the past year, I’ve written a fair amount about schooling and working from home. And I have shared what I hope are helpful resources for households and communities to manage this balancing act and reap the benefits that come from being able to spend more time at home. Today, I’m honored to bring you a guest post on this topic.

(Fellow bloggers and activists, if you have ever been approached by someone wanting to guest-post on your site, you know how great it feels — not only for the implied compliment to your site, but also for the opportunity to connect your readers with an additional source of support. Recently, DEEP GREEN blog seems to be getting more such requests, and some other forms of unexpected recognition as well. This site seems to be getting more widely known than I had thought! I take it as a wonderful sign that the #GrassrootsGreenMobilization is growing bigtime!)

And now without further ado, I present to you Cherie McLaughlin of CouchBasedBiz.com, on ways to balance work and remote learning in your home. Enjoy! And I hope you will visit Cherie’s site, and contact her to ask questions and thank her for this chock-full-of-resources post.

These days many parents are doing three full-time jobs— and feeling the stress of each one. Many are working from home while also supporting their children as parents and in remote learning as teachers. This can make home life very complex and complicated—but with the right organization and preparation it doesn’t have to be.

Are you struggling to find ways to create a new normal at home? Here are 5 tips for balancing remote work and remote learning.

Get the right technology for everyone

Sharing a laptop? Causes stress. Spotty wifi? Causes communication breakdown. Not enough headphones or earbuds? Causes distractions. Reduce your stress by making sure everyone in the household has their own personal remote work and learning equipment, but do so in an eco-friendly way. You can score major deals on tablets, laptops and other computer accessories by shopping on sites like Gazelle, which retails used devices so you can shop sustainably. If you’re getting rid of any tech pieces in favor of upgraded versions, know that while you can sell these items, giving them away is much more fulfilling. After all, there are many families right now that can’t afford to buy new or even used pieces, so knowing that you’re making a difference in their lives will also have a meaningful impact in yours.

Step up your coping techniques

Not only are you going to have to find new ways to cope with the new stresses, but you’ll likely have to teach these new techniques to the rest of your family. “Do as I say, not as I do” is not going to work here. Take advantage of the resources out on the internet to help you balance remote work and remote learning, such as podcasts like 10 Minutes to Less Suffering and The Less Stressed Life. Most importantly, cultivate an attitude of gratitude so that you can stay focused on all the good things happening in your life right now.

Make a clear schedule

Write out everyone’s schedule in a clear, organized calendar where everyone can see what is going on. This way, you can make sure you don’t schedule your first post-COVID performance review right when your kid needs to log on for a math test. While sticking to the schedule is crucial, being flexible is even more important. Roadblocks and challenges will happen, so it is important you stay flexible so you can adapt and adjust to keep everyone on track.

Make education fun

With so much time spent online, remote learning runs the risk of becoming boring and banal. That’s where gamification comes in. Investing in technology like VR (virtual reality) or enrolling your kids in extracurriculars like coding camps can boost your kids’ education and entertainment. Just be sure you get the right kind of internet speed for these online activities to avoid frustrating slowdowns. With more and more people working and learning from home, the internet has become an even hotter commodity.

Join a support network

You aren’t the only parent/employee going through this. Millions of Americans are learning how to work from home, while also keeping their kids on track. Reach out to other parents at your work and in your children’s school. Join or start a Facebook group for working parents to share ideas, ask for advice or just vent. Believe it or not, just the simple act of giving grace and support to others will help you have more grace and compassion for yourself.

Many parents, especially in the United States, are already devoting more and more of their time and attention to the emotional and physical well-being of their children. Balancing work and parenting with the addition of remote learning can add a new level of responsibilities— and that also means stress. Just remember there is support here when you need it.

The story of how Puerto Rico lost its food sovereignty is a familiar one, echoing a tragic pattern worldwide. We might call this pattern “the arc of colonialization.”

Food sovereignty is probably a pretty good indicator of economic sovereignty in general. A place that has to rely on imports for most of its food, probably also is having to import other basic stuff such as household goods.

In the old days, communities were able to get almost all their needs met locally. This was the only alternative, as people didn’t have access to cheap fossil fuels, which in turn enabled centralization, globalization, widespread use of large mechanized equipment, and so on.

The article and video linked below answer a huge question I had about Puerto Rico’s suffering after hurricane Maria. I wondered how did it get to be that the people weren’t growing their own food in that abundant land, and how it was that they didn’t have fresh water from cisterns and were dependent on bottled water. As I suspected: It was the legacy of colonialism, corporate profiteering. A deadly “hurricane” that hit many decades before Maria.

Many places (maybe even most places nowadays) have suffered a version of “economic colonialism.” We all face the task of rebuilding our local food sovereignty, and taking back our local economic sovereignty in general. This doesn’t necessarily mean having to give up imported goodies entirely; it just means not being forced to depend on imports. And, it means being responsible about our import purchases, so our “treats” are supporting the wellbeing of everyday people in the source country, rather than adding to human suffering and environmental degradation.

Further Exploration:

• How Puerto Rico Lost Its Food Sovereignty: The young Puerto Ricans returning to the land (YouTube video). Starts with a succinct summary of how this situation came about. Then follows with the good news about the grassroots regenerative ag movement that seems to be building momentum. Very inspiring; I loved seeing the young Mom and other young women building a career path they love.

• A Local Food Revolution in Puerto Rico (foodtank.com): This article also offers a “bad news followed by good news” story: “The story of Puerto Rico’s food production is also the story of the island’s own colonial history. Large-scale plantations replaced native farming during Puerto Rico’s days as a Spanish colony, resulting in the consolidation of agricultural land and landholding, as well as the number of crops being grown on it. When the United States took over the island in the wake of the Spanish-American War in 1898, economic restructuring meant that the remaining agricultural activity focused only on cash crops like sugarcane and coffee. Then, in the 1940s, Congress launched Operation Bootstrap, a campaign to overhaul the Puerto Rican economy that focused on manufacturing and tourism—moving even further away from agriculture. Subsequent tax breaks and economic initiatives to encourage investment in these sectors solidified these moves. Deliberately, over the course of years, an import-driven food system was put in place in Puerto Rico, and all other farming fell by the wayside.”

(For USA residents — everyone else please pardon the USA-centricness of this post, and of my blog in general. But hope even those of you outside the USA will find this post helpful somehow):

Are you getting a stimulus payment? If so, how are you investing it? Someone in the Socially Conscious FIRE group (on Facebook) just asked this question. My response:

I am investing my stimulus money in:

1) Purchases supporting things that will help my household & community become more resilient to pandemics, extreme weather, and other disasters. So: Rainwater collection, native plants, food plants. And most of all: investing in my continuing education in my field (permaculture design, community organizing). Most of the classes I’m taking (which are online) are either free or cheap. And I have already reduced my overhead expenses super low in order to devote many hours a week to classes and community work. But since my overhead is so low, the stimulus gives me a big boost!
It’s basically a month of free income for me.

And

2) Buying from friends’ micro-kitchens and other micro-businesses that they started in order to get free of dependence on a corporation for their livelihood.

And come to think of it, #2 is boosting my community’s disaster-resilience also!

Building local economies is essential. So is restoring the health of ecosystems. If we don’t take care of our communities, or the planet that is our only home, no amount of financial gain or stockpiled money can save us.

Additional notes: I do not invest in Wall Street stocks or other nonlocal financial instruments. In my opinion:

• Such investments have an unacceptably high opportunity cost, in that every dollar we invest on Wall Street is a dollar not being invested in our own local Main Street.

• It’s too hard for me to find, and keep track of, the impacts of faraway, centralized, impersonal investments. And according to my research, those unseen impacts tend to be very negative (both environmentally and socially) in comparison with any benefit they produce, either to me or to my community or to society as a whole.

• Direct investment in ecological restoration, disaster-resilience, and in supporting local people and local businesses, is a better bet than any mainstream financial instrument I know of. The monetary ROI may be less (or sometimes even zero), but it’s still a safer bet all-around.