The world that we inhabit is extremely complex. So complex in fact that fully understanding all of what goes on here is still outside of our grasp. Though we’ve come one heck of a long way we have yet to even fully understand how our own brains work. What we have come to understand on a more basic level about our brains is that we’ve got what essentially equates to a super computer resting just above our shoulders. With complexity comes problems.
There are 8.7 million different species on this planet and each and every one of those exerts some type of influence on it. As humans we have expressed our influence to a staggering extent. It is estimated that we produce 4.4 billion tons of concrete annually, with that number projected to rise to as high as 5.5 billion as less developed countries begin to become more urban. That concrete is definitely going somewhere and that’s not the only statistic to be found in our wake. Some of them can be quite grim while others leave us feeling rather hopeful and inspired.
Regardless of what we do as the human race there is one fact that will remain unchanged. What sits just at the center of everything is planet Earth. It seems that right now in the Western world and in many other areas of the globe we as a society are quite fascinated with our technologies, gadgets, and doodads. All the well! We should rightly be proud of the advances we’ve made as a whole. The blank screen of our smartphone was designed to reflect unto us a quick vision of ourselves in the palm sized slate colored mirror we hold to remind us of ourselves before we are sucked into a bright activated phone screen created by Steve Jobs. He said that he hoped that in some way this would remind us of our fleeting time here and bring attention to how we are spending it.
We now live in a world where we can so easily separate from the things that surround us every day of our lives. One can go an entire lifetime without understanding the very soil beneath their feet. The soil has quite literally spun the world round with all it has to offer us yet we forgo our understanding of it. I feel that our collective misunderstanding and ignorance of things like this, the most basic earthly unions, is a large contributor to the environmental problems we face as a society today. The secrets are no longer inaccessible or out of reach to us.
In coming to understand even the basics we can bring healthy and robust foods to our table and the mouths of our families. We can reconnect with what has always been there for us and in doing so we are able to cultivate not only food but lasting satisfaction, memories, and maybe even insights into the very nature of ourselves as a being on this earth. This planet has much to offer us and sometimes all it takes is beginning.
Take care of yourselves and discover how to cultivate peace of mind.
Jordan Hutchison 