An Inconvenient Life: Rumination #11
See that washed out mugshot? That’s me. All in all, I’d say my life is pretty good. I live in a nice place with nice people and we all try to do nice things. I enjoy what I do - working to help people and companies increase the sustainability (oh the quagmire of the definition of this word!) of their activities. I have an amazing family. I am part of the small percentage of the global population who doesn’t have to daily fear war, famine, disease and myriad assorted brutalities. Believe me, I am every day grateful for each of these things.
Yet.
This business of every moment trying to do the right thing for the global community can be a bit of a ball and chain. I can be a bit of a buzzkill around family and friends with my “Is there chicken stock in the soup?” or “Sorry, I can’t come to that fabulous event because the sponsor company supports Arctic drilling.” My penchant for screening all consumer purchases with tools like Alonovo (LINK: ALONOVO.COM) and analyzing origin source and chemical properties of my foodstuffs certainly allays some of the instant gratification that would otherwise be associated with consumption. With family in Hawaii and Australia, I worry about how to visit them now that I’ve sworn off jet travel (LINK: JETS SUCK). While I endorse a move back to the 55-MPH speed limit as a way to cut oil consumption and reduce emissions, I know damned well that I will chafe at the bit. With a four-year-old son (LINK: Justice Brilliant) to whom I feel great pressure to act a perfect role model, the heat is on to lead by example.
If you’re slogging through this waiting for a nugget of profundity, I’m sorry to disappoint. The only thing I have to say is: It’s awfully hard to do the right thing even when doing so means only giving up luxuries that were inconceivable as little as fifty years ago. I’ve been conditioned to expect easy comforts: instant heat, year-round blueberries, hourly flights to New York. Educating myself that these comforts are not only trivial but harmful is one thing. I can accept this academically and even spout my newfound education with much passion. Practicing what I preach? Not impossible, but more difficult every day.
Do you wrestle with similar issues?
Song o’ the Day is my personal theme song. “Be Thankful for What You’ve Got” by William DeVaughn. It’s in my top ten, all time.
Tags: Inconveniences, Ruminations
I struggle with it all the time too. I just wonder how so many rationally thinking adults in America can have no struggle at all (or at least one they admit by their actions). I always try to keep the optimistic approach though. Thank you for your inspirations.
Tod, You remind me of an open-faced sandwich; no piece of bread on top to pry off to find out what’s inside. I appreciate your candidness, i.e., your willingness to share with the rest of us your struggles with being a “good enough human.”