Speaking as someone who has lived most his life in the Seattle area, the looming presence of Mt Rainier is a constant reminder of impermanence. Not a month goes by when there's not a slight shaking somewhere in the Salish Sea to remind us that we sit on major fault lines. Those of us old enough to recall Mt St Helens know that the Cascades are a volcanic range. The beauty of the mountains we have around us (and I consider the PNW one of the most beautiful places to live in the U.S.) comes only because they are impermanent and always changing, as various tectonic plates slam into each other beneath our feet and push up our volcanic peaks. When 'the mountain is out' (a common phrase that means it's not being hidden by grey clouds), we are reminded of the impermanence of even something as majestic as Rainier.
I cannot help but think that we humans are doing our level best to behead the world. It feels deeply comforting to me to know that eventually we will collectively answer to the strength and cycles of the earth, however much we fancy it to be the other way around.
"I cannot help but think that we humans are doing our level best to behead the world" This is a brilliant line, Jan. It sums up the activities perfectly.
Where I lived in Silver City, New Mexico until 2018, I was in the shadow of the largest strip mine in the US. It had consumed a whole town in the 1960’s and it was massively deep, wide, ugly. But it kept producing gold, copper, uranium. So they kept digging. Unfortunately, a sacred mountain to many indigenous peoples in northern New Mexico, Mt Taylor, is being ‘eyeballed’ for uranium mining. It matters not to the capitalists, industrialists, oligarchs that it’s the burial site for thousands of Native Americans for thousands of years. All ‘industry’ sees is money flow.
Capitalism and its twin, consumerism are to blame for a great deal of the destruction we see. There’s this pervasive ‘need’ for more that’s been slowly indoctrinated into all, especially in the American culture. And it’s been at the expense of our environment, our entire world.
But IF we try to make conscious choices and then subsequent changes, we can affect the outcome of what damages we are inflicting. We each can have an impact IF we but pay attention…
Impermanence, permanence are two sides of the same coin. And although we blame 'those over there's for their destruction, we are all ultimately responsible as the consumers of that which requires the energy released by coal.
Indeed, this is a point that Wendell Berry makes, and why he has taken the principled stance of not writing under the glow of a lightbulb - for the energy powering the bulb comes from the mountain top coal he has written so vehemently against. We all may not take the same stance that Mr. Berry does, but it is something to think about for sure.
Speaking as someone who has lived most his life in the Seattle area, the looming presence of Mt Rainier is a constant reminder of impermanence. Not a month goes by when there's not a slight shaking somewhere in the Salish Sea to remind us that we sit on major fault lines. Those of us old enough to recall Mt St Helens know that the Cascades are a volcanic range. The beauty of the mountains we have around us (and I consider the PNW one of the most beautiful places to live in the U.S.) comes only because they are impermanent and always changing, as various tectonic plates slam into each other beneath our feet and push up our volcanic peaks. When 'the mountain is out' (a common phrase that means it's not being hidden by grey clouds), we are reminded of the impermanence of even something as majestic as Rainier.
I cannot help but think that we humans are doing our level best to behead the world. It feels deeply comforting to me to know that eventually we will collectively answer to the strength and cycles of the earth, however much we fancy it to be the other way around.
"I cannot help but think that we humans are doing our level best to behead the world" This is a brilliant line, Jan. It sums up the activities perfectly.
So much to think about and ponder as ever. Thank you
Where I lived in Silver City, New Mexico until 2018, I was in the shadow of the largest strip mine in the US. It had consumed a whole town in the 1960’s and it was massively deep, wide, ugly. But it kept producing gold, copper, uranium. So they kept digging. Unfortunately, a sacred mountain to many indigenous peoples in northern New Mexico, Mt Taylor, is being ‘eyeballed’ for uranium mining. It matters not to the capitalists, industrialists, oligarchs that it’s the burial site for thousands of Native Americans for thousands of years. All ‘industry’ sees is money flow.
Capitalism and its twin, consumerism are to blame for a great deal of the destruction we see. There’s this pervasive ‘need’ for more that’s been slowly indoctrinated into all, especially in the American culture. And it’s been at the expense of our environment, our entire world.
But IF we try to make conscious choices and then subsequent changes, we can affect the outcome of what damages we are inflicting. We each can have an impact IF we but pay attention…
Certainly speaks to me
Impermanence, permanence are two sides of the same coin. And although we blame 'those over there's for their destruction, we are all ultimately responsible as the consumers of that which requires the energy released by coal.
Indeed, this is a point that Wendell Berry makes, and why he has taken the principled stance of not writing under the glow of a lightbulb - for the energy powering the bulb comes from the mountain top coal he has written so vehemently against. We all may not take the same stance that Mr. Berry does, but it is something to think about for sure.
It is indeed a principled stance and I well remember my own exploding awareness moment that shifted my thinking and assumptions dramatically.