I loved the quote that Kira's Dean at Princeton used at graduation from John Adams that actually brought me to tears as I thought of my own father's hard work as an immigrant to this country:
"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain".
John AdamsUS diplomat & politician (1735 - 1826)
Wow! The light went on here for me. My dad came to this country to join the American dream of freedom and opportunity, paving the way so that I would have choices. David & I---both immigrant children, and we have the privilege of going to college (me being the first to graduate in my family), have the chance to have professional careers and to own our own home. This was a dream that was shared with me: physical and emotional security; stability that I could give to my children! And we did this in 2 generations. This allows a few of you (Kira, Gabe, Yasi) to have the "options"---such as art, music, going to Princeton---and philosophizing on how the previous generations screwed up the environment, should have done a better job (duh), how we've ruined it for your children in such a short time.... Our parents were involved in survival---putting a roof on our heads and food on the table sprinkled with some culture and hope. David & I were given a ticket and place in line to create something new. We got on board with things like: intentional marriage, intentional parenting, job security, owning a home...which gave us some rest---so that we could then gaze out the window and take note of peace & justice issues...and then have the strong foundations laid so that we could venture out and actually work on them to make a difference... I remember spending many hours in the dining halls and at Bible studies with David discussing our involvement with "saving the world"--- lots of "Big Things" (remember this was a time of political unrest, Vietnam, SLA, the Beatles, "love the one you're with", Nixon...)...but can you love your spouse, children, neighbor? Are you a "peacemaker"? Maybe it's the "Little Things" that count, that then add up to the "Big Thing". Maybe it's the conviction to move in a direction...like faith...like swimming upstream...
Moving right along, when I told David I would list the things that I had "52 More of..." he said it sounded like an "anti-Blog". He's right. The spirit of this is so important---but I have already failed in "52 Less Things". Unless, I lived on a self sustaining compound, off the grid, off somewhere...I don't believe this is possible. [By the way, I think you should all seriously pursue this---"build it and they will come"]. Sanely---can 52 Less Things really matter if the question of "what 52 Things are you acquiring" that offsets the point of 52 Less? I gave away 52 things already in 2008, but I have replaced them all and then some. Needs...wants? Some of both and somewhat relative.
Kira made the statement the other day to me something to the affect: By purchasing that I am saying that my family time comes at the expense of another family's time together since that Mom or Dad had to leave their family to go to work to make this thing so I could buy it. Wow---I hadn't thought of that exactly. I just figured it's called a job---which we should all have---since it contributes to your personal well being (food and shelter) and the well being of society (goods and services that ideally improve quality of life/health). I think we were talking about a bicycle for Pace or something. Poor kid---you could teach him to scoot around on a cardboard. We used to slide down grass hills this way---maybe he won't ever want a bike. Maybe you should sell all of your jewelry too and fund the bicycle making family for a year and they could have quality time together...and they could go out and buy a plasma screen TV... What are we talking about!? If you went to the grocery store this week, someone left their family to plant the crops, pick, pack, deliver, stock the shelves and sold it to you! Kira, we talked about this later and I used the words "torment"---although I agree apathy and resignation are not helpful, but let's not torment ourselves this is also a form of indulgence.
So, before I get to "action points" let me just mention a few of the 52 more people part of this: Joyce & Genevieve who sold Girl Scout cookies to us when we were at Kira's; Kalyan Rai the artist from Park City who is a Tibetan who grew up in India, speaks fluent Hindi and asked me to help his friend Rajdeep Moktan (also from Tibet) who lives in NY get into BYU---emails, phone calls, networking, etc.; Ilsabeth, as well as Kathrine West (Episcopal Rector) & Karen Cope---great little, but serious chats after our yoga classes; Saroj, Grandma's pharmacist who is Sikh/Thai; Linda & Sharon both service folks who wanted to talk and connect about their grandkids, husband's health, etc.; our crazy neighbor Bruce who came over yesterday to resolve a fence issue---just in the nick of time since I wanted to sue his _ _ _---all brief encounters but meaningful. I also avoided people: Margaret Hundal (Uncle Harold's widow) who calls often and must have Alzheimer's, Lash who called Sunday while I was at REI shopping and I haven't called him back yet, many others who are always asking me to attend one more meeting or volunteer for one more thing...
So here are 2 Action Points:
1-Save money, that you have obtained legally, to buy land for the family compound that incorporates the ethics and values you hope to model. In the meantime, identifying the location and what it might look like in practice are good to pursue.
2-Have a "Bloggers Retreat". Perhaps, Ruby's Inn at Bryce Canyon National Park at least 3 days in late spring or early fall weather. Hiking the hoodoos is humbling and needless to say puts all of this in perspective. If you make it down, we can help with some food and lodging. We would need to pick a date and have firm commitments.
Well I am signing off now til next time. I love and respect you all dearly, looking forward to the many new things I continue to learn. As the great Irish poet Oscar Wilde (since it was just St Paddy's Day) said "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
Here's to hope...Cheers! Lakshmi
