Every Element Supports Many Functions

Wow. What a day for illuminating conversation. This has not been the case for me in the past here on Block Island. I used to silently berate my fellow winter islanders for not being interested in anything besides football and beer, but after eight winters, and much personal growth, I've discovered that the universe was bringing what I needed all along. My isolation was a necessary step in deprogramming myself from mainstream culture in order to learn this in the first place. I needed to work through bitterness and loneliness in order to open my heart fully. Maybe for some people, this happens naturally, and we are fortunate to have them here on earth to show us what an open heart looks like, but I can say, truthfully, that I am grateful for the lessons I learned from loneliness, and though I still carry it with me to some extent, I recognize it as a defense mechanism now--something that wants to stop me from growing, and know that if I am feeling shy or isolated, it is time to break out of my shell and stretch my wings, that something amazing is going to come into my life if I open myself to the possibility.

I no longer have a car, which can be a trial out here in the winter. If I want to see anybody, I have to go into town, which is only about two miles away. Those two miles, however, can be very windy. I tell myself how good it is that I'm not polluting the air and using up fossil fuels with my car whenever I get mad that my car died and I can't afford another, and am grateful that I live on a small island, and that I am healthy enough to walk or bike, and that I have generous friends who will give me rides after dark or when it's raining. Every morning I do a site analysis to see whether I can bike, or if it's too windy, walk, or if it's just awful, call someone for a ride. Site analysis is something a permaculturist does when planning a design. It involves taking a good look at the elements, both physical and abstract, that comprise the project, whether it be a garden or a curriculum. I want to talk more about site analysis in another post, so stay tuned.

My site analysis this morning told me, that while cold, there was no wind, and there was a glorious amount of sunshine. Perfect for biking into town if I bundled up, which I did, donning long underwear and wrapping a scarf around my nose to keep the chill off my face. I decided to "catch and store energy" for myself, soaking in the positive rays of sun to store up against the depression that so often affects me on the grey days of winter. Catching and storing energy is also something that is part of permaculture design. In a site analysis for a natural building, the designer would pay attention to how the sun hit the property and how much of it there was, the amount and direction of water flow, and the amount and direction of wind. In a project involving people, a permaculturist might take an inventory of group resources in a site analysis and figure out ways to catch and store the energy of individuals so as to best benefit the group. As I biked around the island today, even the cold was invigorating. I could feel it stimulating my brain, clearing sloppy thoughts away as it demanded me to be present with it. I ended up down by New Harbor, which in summer is full of hundreds of boats, but which today was providing shelter for one, lone sailboat, its hull bright white against the winter ocean, a blue so deep one can't see beyond its surface. I was checking out the sea ducks in an unscientific way, wishing Sonya from EAT (who knows everything ) was there with me to tell me what species they were, when a fellow biker approached me. There aren't too many of us out here in February, so I knew immediately we had something in common. It turns out he lived on the sailboat moored offshore, and had actually been on it for the storm I missed while I was in California, a storm which dumped two feet of snow on the island, and in which the wind was clocked at 100 miles an hour! He was quite stoic about the experience, which sounded harrowing to me, telling me that he was scared for the boat, but not for his own safety. As I asked him questions about living on a boat, he told me of seeing a huge pod of dolphins off Watch Hill, RI last fall, and I mentioned the great white shark that entered an inlet off Woods Hole, MA last fall, both unusual occurences for these areas. Since we were getting along so well, I mentioned why I thought so many of our brothers and sisters in the animal kingdom seemed to be in strange places today, namely that humans were affecting earth's atmosphere to such an extent, whether it be from underwater military testing which effects dolphin sonar, lack of food due to overfishing, interruption of migration routes from sedimentation of rivers or oceanic freight traffic, or from climate change due to global warming.

The warm, easy vibes between me and my new friend ended immediately, and then I saw that the universe was "stacking functions" for me. Not only was I enjoying a sunny day on my bike, I was being given the opportunity to clarify my views to an extremely dubious audience, a person with the exact opposite views of myself about the state of earth and our reason for being here. But, and this is what made the conversation so exciting, the universe brought me someone with an extremely well-developed philosophy who had thought long and hard about the same issues that I had. On Block Island in February! I tried not to reel in shock when he told me that he thought that when animals showed up in strange places it meant that they were coming back to a place where they had been before, that this was a sign that the environment was healthy, or when he justified humans wasting resources by telling me how bears only took one bite out of a salmon before tossing it aside, or when he said the purpose of life on earth was to use the resources of the planet to get to another one because we were going to be hit by an asteroid, or that John Stossel reported on TV that there was plenty of room in the land fills and that we didn't need to worry about waste. His belief in social Darwinism was complete and his knowledge of the chemical processes which make up life was impressive. He was an articulate exponent of science who could not be swayed into considering that the instruments which we used to measure "evidence" could be infallible in the first place, or that there was anything beyond the physical, although now that I think of it, I wish I had thought to bring into our discussion the scientific fact that we can't see anything on the cellular level without a microscope! Telling him that I knew people who could "see" these things with their inner eye wouldn't have worked. I knew that this was not the right audience to introduce the idea that intuition is sometimes just as valid a way as gathering information as science. In doing so, I took timing into consideration, another factor in site analysis. A permaculturist takes timing into consideration when coming up with a design, creating a timeline based on an observance of the site in all seasons.

In this case, I knew that the timing to reveal much of what I believed wasn't right. I was able to recognize that the purpose of this conversation was for me to learn how to stay grounded, to connect with that neutral state that Starhawk told us about and not react emotionally to what he had to say out of anger or frustration, and with respect to him, he was a good listener who let me speak, listening to ideas which I knew he thought were ridiculous. I really felt like I was interacting with someone who genuinely wanted to engage. We weren't opponents, which has so often been the case for me in the past, we were two different paradigms clashing on the dock while the sea ducks quacked beneath us. Because I stayed neutral, I was able to "observe and interact," instead of becoming furious and storming away. I know I am stronger for it.

After this invigorating interlude I rode my bike to command central BI--Club Foster, we call it, the home of my friend John whose place is a hub for me and my friends. John does the layout for the BI Times and is truly "wired." If we need something, whether it be information, mechanical aid, or as so often happens at Club Foster, entertainment, we climb the stairs behind the newspaper office and enter his lair. My friend Abby was lying on the couch reading Bernard Malamud, which she kindly put down to chat with me. Abby is a reporter for the paper, a brilliant analyst and synthesizer of ideas. As someone who has to sit through hours of tedious meetings and make it comprehensible to the common reader, she has to be. She has had the opportunity to see what is missing from the various committees which run our town. The town board are all focused on reacting and containing, not in creating a vision for what their boards should and could achieve. What they need is someone to formulate this vision for them. Which got me to thinking about a project I want to start here on the island, something James Stark, co-founder of the Permaculture Institute and a guest speaker at EAT, mentioned during his talk. James encouraged us to think long term, instead of just focusing on the immediate problem on hand. He actually mentioned creating a 100 year vision for our community. Although I am not sure yet how to do this, ideas are fomenting in my cold-stimulated brain. I know that I don't want it to be my vision, I want it to be our vision. So I am going to keep thinking about how to go about doing this and do it! I am so excited!

Another conversation I had to today involves a dear friend of mine who moved away from the island last fall. I learned today that she has stage 4 breast cancer. Emily is someone who has been so important in my life and to many in our community. For me, she has been the living embodiment of The Goddess. A wise soul with the far-seeing eyes of an owl and the grace of a swan. My introduction to earth magic and ritual came from her. I felt like when she left, that a good deal of magic left Block Island. Many of us view her as our fairy godmother. Whatever happens to her, I know she will meet it with strength and grace. I ask all of you who feel moved to to send her healing energy. Blessed be.