4th Stepping Stone
Harmful Connections |
_From having thought openly on Diversity from the previous stepping stone, you may have begun the to realize aspects that will be further described in this stepping stone. The things I am referring to are harmful connections - meaning anything that damages or disrupts an ecosystem, preventing it from being healthy and thriving.
Throughout the time of working on this stepping stone you should steadily learn about a new group or creature in your surroundings and community until you understand and are able to know everything you pass by or could pass by in your community and local environment.
The virtue of this stepping stone is Diligence.
Throughout the time of working on this stepping stone you should steadily learn about a new group or creature in your surroundings and community until you understand and are able to know everything you pass by or could pass by in your community and local environment.
The virtue of this stepping stone is Diligence.
The Psychological
In seeing how everything connects to one another, there may be somethings you interact with that conflicts with another thing you rely on. Try listing somethings you literally cannot live without, i.e. water, air, food, etc. Somethings will vary in this list depending on possible medical needs and the environment you are surrounded by. As an example, equatorial regions may not require clothing for survival, unlike more temperate regions where half the year you cannot be outside without clothing unless you have a death wish.
To learn the impacts of your resource connections, start by going through what you are using and doing from the beginning to the end of a regular day. As you go through your day ask the following questions:
For each question consider if there is
toxins, worker’s rights, living wage, sustainability, and biodiversity?
1) What is it?
Find out each ingredient be it plant, animal, mineral or something else.
2) Where is it originally from?
Where did each ingredient to make it come from? Do the people and the land have legal protection and are those laws followed through with?
3) How was it cultivated and/or harvested?
Are the management practices sustainable and the ecosystem diverse?
4) Are the ingredients finite, endless, or replenishable?
Finite: Useable only once
Endless: Reusable/100% recyclable/cannot be used up
Replenishable: A bit of both – it can be used up or be reused/remain if used sustainably
5) How did it reach its final form I found it in when I got it?
Where and how did it come together for manufacturing and packaging? Are there any manufacturing by-products? What are they and what is done with them?
6) How did it get to the location it did before I got hold of it?
Who and what transported it? What are the effects of that form of transportation and its route? Was it nearby/long distance, efficient, or through sensitive areas?
7) Where was it purchased from?
Was it from a big box store or local store – where is the money going? Where is the store’s location? Was it near/far? Is it occupying sensitive land? What are the effects of the store’s operation?
8) How is it used and what is its end of life like?
How long does it last? Is it disposable, recyclable, reused? Heirloom quality/lifetime/years/months/days/hours/minutes? Where does it go when you’re done with it or die?
Disposable: Can only downgrade, not recyclable – such as petroleum based plastics. All petroleum based plastics eventually end up being disposed as small particulate pollutants that can’t be recycled back into the ecosystem.
Recyclable: Can be completely recycled into the same product again and again – such as aluminum or glass. Or it can become recycled nutrient for life – true compost.
NOTE: Biodegradable includes things that are only downgradable – breaking down as to no longer be seen but not able to be recycled in the ecosystem
9) Why do I have it? Would I be better off without it?
Is it something I actually need or do I barely even use it?
A general guideline is if you don’t do anything with it within a year its something you can do without, including sentimental items. Sentimental items can be altered into something that will be used such as a quilt of shirts you no longer wear but can’t give away because of what is on it. Having less stuff can bring about a more interactive, engaging lifestyle where you go out and do more things with others rather than work more to have more things you don’t even need or really ever use.
By the time you reach the end of your typical day you’d likely accumulate a large list of things you don’t know much about. Then there are the less frequent activities and items you use to consider. By now it can be pretty overwhelming, but it can be satisfying to put the pieces together and see where you stand with your impacts. Just through these things, it is pretty amazing how much of an influence you have on the world.
After having your impacts fleshed out, take an outside perspective; from your current impacts what can you infer on what your worldview is? Studying these impacts can sometimes reveal some uncomfortable realizations, particularly what we believe to be our worldview may not be what is expressed in our actions, and may instead be expressing an entirely different worldview from what we had believed. But it is by looking at how to obtain our resources in a way that conveys a healthy planetary worldview that you can change the outcome from oblivious exploitation to symbiotic interaction.
By the end of this you may also notice and realize how somethings you interact with and use are truly not needed, and how other things that potentially were regarded as unimportant, are suddenly in the forefront of your mind, or even the other way around being thought of as important and found to be ultimately unimportant. That there are layers of importance with your connections, and many things don't even make it to the bottom. List which ones are important and unimportant in your daily routine in the grand scheme of things.
The Physical
Now, you are challenged with figuring out how to ensure you only have harmonious connections, by either changing your harmful connections to be harmonious or removing them altogether. How are you going to ensure the finite things you work with will remain, and the things that replenish are used in a sustainable manner - even if they are distant connections? How are you going to ensure your requirements for survival connect with you in a safe harmonious way?
When looking into a new item to use in place of the old harmful one, make sure it doesn't have harmful connections either. You can also be proactive in contacting a business about having their products harvested, made, packaged, transported, and hosted in a harmonious way.
Now, you are challenged with figuring out how to ensure you only have harmonious connections, by either changing your harmful connections to be harmonious or removing them altogether. How are you going to ensure the finite things you work with will remain, and the things that replenish are used in a sustainable manner - even if they are distant connections? How are you going to ensure your requirements for survival connect with you in a safe harmonious way?
When looking into a new item to use in place of the old harmful one, make sure it doesn't have harmful connections either. You can also be proactive in contacting a business about having their products harvested, made, packaged, transported, and hosted in a harmonious way.
End Result
The end of the stepping stone is reached when you have:
- A mature house plant grown from seed collected from a native variety in your region that is healthy and vibrant
- Sincerity, Gratitude, Impartiality, and Diligence
- Had three harmful connections altered to be harmonious or removed altogether from your life for over a month's time
- Recognition all the flora & fauna family groups in your immediate environment
- Recognition of all the community groups in your immediate environment
By the end of this stepping stone you have a complete understanding of your connections in life. You should know where there is disharmony in your connections and be making continual changes to create harmony in all your connections. After making harmony with three connections that were either disrupted or conflicting, and having done so for over a month's time, can you then move to the next stepping stone. So long as you continue to work on ensuring harmony with all your connections. Ideally this would involve a list of things to work on.
It may take weeks, months or years before completing this stepping stone. But once complete, the other stepping stones will come to you easier through your experience. If you skip past a stepping stone to the next, you will have a harder time achieving the next one and each following that due to not having a foundation to build on, and not fully understanding the message. Reading ahead may also cause confusion as to what is being taught, losing the value of the lesson.
- A mature house plant grown from seed collected from a native variety in your region that is healthy and vibrant
- Sincerity, Gratitude, Impartiality, and Diligence
- Had three harmful connections altered to be harmonious or removed altogether from your life for over a month's time
- Recognition all the flora & fauna family groups in your immediate environment
- Recognition of all the community groups in your immediate environment
By the end of this stepping stone you have a complete understanding of your connections in life. You should know where there is disharmony in your connections and be making continual changes to create harmony in all your connections. After making harmony with three connections that were either disrupted or conflicting, and having done so for over a month's time, can you then move to the next stepping stone. So long as you continue to work on ensuring harmony with all your connections. Ideally this would involve a list of things to work on.
It may take weeks, months or years before completing this stepping stone. But once complete, the other stepping stones will come to you easier through your experience. If you skip past a stepping stone to the next, you will have a harder time achieving the next one and each following that due to not having a foundation to build on, and not fully understanding the message. Reading ahead may also cause confusion as to what is being taught, losing the value of the lesson.
Copyright Rua Lupa 2012