New and Renew
by Carolyn Chase
ith a new year before us, old challenges still remain.
The vision of SDET is a healthy, prosperous community of people living
supportively within the natural world. A critical part of that is having
a sound economic base. If you'd like to work as a salesperson, as part of
the team making this vision a reality, call us at 272-7423.
We're continuing to evolve here at SDET.
New regular features we are pleased to introduce this month include the
new comic "New Think" by local artist Bob Ocegueda (see back page);
the start of a series on what you can do to "green" your home
or office, by architect Lynn Froeschle; gardening tips courtesy of Grangetto's;
and a regular focus on health and well being by Catherine Kineavy. In our
next issue, we will begin a restaurant feature which will include restaurant
reviews by Michael Oshman.
The Earth Talk radio show has completed its
season at KCEO. Bob Nanninga and I learned quite a bit about radio! Now,
Bob is off to England for a few months to study environmental media. Meanwhile,
I am working on a new format for Earth Talk - and looking for a new radio
home.
I used this year-end to reflect on the state
of the people and enterprises I care about. It was sobering, and sometimes
depressing. It's a good thing the source of my happiness is not wholly based
on the facts of the natural world: the human assault on the environment
continues at almost all levels, with only a small percentage of people trying,
rather desperately, to turn the tide.
Nonetheless, I see a consensus forming between
people of good will to build a better world, more aware of our impacts on
the world and each other. I took the time to read several books on personal
and spiritual growth and the human condition. I recommend M. Scott Peck's
most recent book, Personal Growth in an Age of Anxiety, and the two provocative
novels Ishmael and The Story of B. by Daniel Quinn. Perhaps the most provoking
of all was the latest issue of the Green Cross Newsletter, with an essay
entitled "Human Image, World Image: Sacred Cosmology and the Ecological
Crisis" by Philip Sherrard.
All of these authors reported on the nature
of humanity and how we relate to the world through our desires, needs and
wants. Some of Daniel Quinn's analysis can also be found on his website
(www.b-network.com) where, using the Industrial Revolution as a model, he
outlines the conditions of the next revolution required to save mankind
and much of nature as we know it today:
"... it won't take place all at once; it will be achieved incrementally; it will be led by no one; it will not be the initiative of any political, governmental, or religious body; it has no targeted endpoint; it will proceed according to no plan; it will reward those who further the revolution with the coin of the revolution (those who give much in the way of support will receive much in the way of support)."
Just striving to achieve community-hood will
give us a new way to live. Remember the model of the Industrial Revolution:
the workers in that revolution didn't have in mind some final state of industrialization.
It was conceived as a process of making things better. That's what we're
looking for: a process that will make things better - for us and for the
world." Please join in!
