Recently, I noticed a somewhat dejected sounding comment from our member Shane Hughes in another post where he said “Transition Bedford has all but stalled and in need of new blood.” It’s true we’ve been bumping along a rocky road over the past year. For several of us, “life” frequently got in the way. One of our members is dealing with a recently diagnosed case of breast cancer. Another just had a baby and has her hands full with two very small children. Others of us (like me) just got very busy. Life happens.
Our “initiating group” is collection of about a dozen of us from diverse fields who got together because we had a common insight: that the world needs to pay attention to our oil dependency and make some significant changes soon, or things are going to get out of control in the very near future. For some of us, the driving force was on the knowledge that oil is running out (hence the term “peak oil”), and that there are some pretty hefty economic and social imbalances that will occur when it does. For others, the passion was more about the negative environmental impact our petroleum dependency has been creating (climate change). For others (like myself), while the other two areas are certainly a part of my personal concern, it is more of a spiritual issue. And by spiritual, I simply mean that has to do with our own humanity.
Our dependency upon oil has made us disconnected from the Earth and the ultimate Source of Creation in just so many ways. Most of us in “developed” nations (an irony) don’t grow our own food and have become dependent upon big businesses and mass transport (i.e., supermarkets, trucking, air freight) for the very basics that keep us alive. In the past, all we were dependent upon was the weather for our “daily bread”. But nowadays, we are dependent not only upon the ever-changing weather patterns, but also upon oil, but global economies, foreign policy and corporations. What a vulnerable place in which to be! And to me, as someone who works with people and their emotions on a daily basis in my work as a life coach and teacher, I know the emotional and physical impact of long-term vulnerability. People begin to feel helpless. Helplessness leads to fear. Fear leads to depression and even disease. It can also lead to violence and crime.
Furthermore, being dependent upon food from distant places means that we rarely, if ever benefit from the full nutritional value it has to offer, as it loses both its richness (what to speak of its flavour!) every day it is away from the farm. We have also lost the tendency to “eat with the seasons” and hence we are “out of synch” with our planet, and quite possibily hampering our immune system as a result. And this is not even taking into account the amount of pesticides, genetic modification, hormones, etc., regularly being used within the agriculture industry. Is there any wonder why there are just so many immunity related diseases, including cancer, rampaging our western society in recent decades? The truth is, every single one of my blood relatives in my parents’ generation (roughly 1920s-1990s) died from cancer, and not ONE of my blood relatives in my grandparents generation died from cancer (roughly 1880s – 1980s… yes, they lived longer lives overall).
But lastly, and I feel most importantly, we have lost our emotional and spiritual connection to the Planet on which we live. How do I know this? Because, frankly, if we had a deep love for Mother Earth, we would never even dream of littering, consuming non-degradable products, pumping oil out of the earth, messing with the food supply, dumping waste into our beautiful water supplied, strip the land and forests…. Well, you get the idea. If you love someone, you would not abuse them in this fashion.
So how in the world did we as a society allow ourselves to become so helpless? It’s not the “fault” of big business. We have surrendered our power to this system we, as a society, have created. If we keep pointing fingers at big business and government, we are only deepening our dependency and helplessness.
To me, the core need is for us to fall in love again with our World, and cultivate a loving relationship and harmony with her, the way cultures did in the past, before we brought petroleum-based economy into our lives. It’s not that we should toss out all our technology; it’s that we should find a way for it to work with our planet and not against it. It cannot come simply from making laws and resolutions. It can only come when we FEEL that connection as a society.
And for me, the one thing I have been doing is a “Garden Share”, where I have opened up my back garden to a local musician and Alexander Technique teacher, Rosamund Hoskins, who had no land, and she is growing fabulous vegetables on it. These past few months I have been delighting over the incredible courgettes, potatoes, carrots, corn, spinach, rocket (and more) and now am looking forward to the leeks, peppers and other delights (you can see one of our courgettes here).
What is even more amazing is that this little project has stirred the hearts of several other people. Many of Rosamund’s friends and relatives have donated seeds and starter plants (and tips!). My downstairs neighbour, who has the garden in front of mine, has given us HIS plot to grow more food. He regularly helps with weeding, and comes out to speak with Rosamund when she’s working. Here’s a man whose wife died a couple of years ago and he has been very isolated ever since. When he comes to work on the garden, he’s full of life and personal stories, and you can see it is a really healing activity for him.
I cannot tell you what a delight it was when I took my 4-year-old grandson out to our garden and “picked dinner” with him. It was magic sticking my hand into the earth and pulling up a lovely potato. I feel it is an essential part of his education, and something I never had when growing up (in the US) in the 50s and 60s.
I am so inspired by this simple project of sharing a garden. It “ticks” all the boxes for me: spiritual, economical, environmental, nutritional AND societal. It not only re-establishes our connection with the Earth, but it also helps to build community as well, which is something we humans desperately need.
I believe our Transition Bedford (or any Transition Town project) can only take place if each of us as individuals connects to a particular project or idea that makes their own heart sing. For me, I am organising to go speak at some of the Bedford Schools later this autumn, about the idea of the Transition Bedford Garden Share project. My idea is to “match make” children and their parents with seniors in the community, who might have a garden and the “wisdom” for growing food, but not necessarily the physical strength or money to do it on their own. Think of how much such a simple idea could change our town, at so many levels.
If you know of anyone (either families with young kids or seniors with wisdom and a garden), please drop me a line via the contact form at http://spiritauthors.com/contact
I am also meeting with the media students at Bedford College in early October, about making a documentary film about our fledgling organisation, in hopes that it will inspire other Bedfordians, as well as other towns, to take ownership of the future of our planet.
Of course, Shane is right. We are in need of “new blood.” This project called Transition Bedford CANNOT happen with a handful of people who meet at the local pub every few weeks. It has to be something owned and embraced by the entire town of Bedford. If you want to get involved in any way shape or form, please do contact me using the form above.
