Along the Road - A Curious Cow
Every aspect of our lives is, in a sense, a vote for the kind of world we want to live in. Frances Moore Lappé
Lappé’s words landed in a deep place a week or so ago when I first read them in our local food hub’s newsletter. They came on the heels of words spoken by an associate during a Zoom call early one morning. “We’re all complicit,” she shared, not referring to any particular crisis or issue.
I was reminded that EveryThing we do, think, speak matters in this interconnected world that we are each a part of. And of how many choices -some conscious, others not- I make every day, each a vote for something. Am I voting for what I truly want – the more beautiful world my heart knows is possible? Or …
I thought about the motto of our local Valley Roots Food Hub that each week aggregates and delivers locally grown and produced foods from dozens of farmers, ranchers, and producers in our region: You have three votes every day!
The choices we make about what to eat each day – breakfast, lunch, and dinner (not to mention snack time) – are votes we cast that make a difference in our personal lives, in our community, and beyond. Each vote says something about the quality of health that we want for our bodies. Each vote says something about what we want for the vibrancy of our local community. Each vote says something about how much we care about our neighbors, the soil and, indeed, our precious planetary home.
As much as possible my food votes are for local, organic, regeneratively grown foods and products. I see them as votes for my health; a more vibrant, sustainable local economy; and for the health of the soil on which we depend.
But what about other areas of maintaining and navigating life? What do our purchases of clothing, household goods, and such say about the world we want to live in? What do they say about the degree of care, fairness, and economic justice we want for workers in the world? About our care for the environment and our planet? About our tolerance and acceptance of war and violence? What do our investments say about these issues?
In asking questions such as these, I awaken to my complicity in how the world is. It’s easier to blame others for the world’s multiple crises. I wonder whose interests are served by our finger-pointing divisiveness? Do we want to live in a world of blame with each side aiming to punish the other in endless cycles of war? What choices might I be making that unknowingly support the terrible suffering that the world of blame and separation create?
I find in these questions a deep spiritual essence. Questions that are integral to raising my level of consciousness and to clearly align my daily choices with the values which I claim are important to me.
The choices go far beyond economic choices of course. We choose to smile or not. To be patient with another or not. To be generous, kind. To listen deeply. To be curious. To be willing to learn. And more. Every thought, word, deed is a choice - a vote for how we want our world to be.
What world are you voting for in the choices you make today?
In the Woods …