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Monday, March 14, 2005
it's that time...
for those who have done gradiated...remeber the hours and days spent writing, gathering, designing and producing the big one? the senior portfolio. oh yeah. beth martin birkey asked us in class last tuesday if any of us could try to hand our portfolio in early so she could show it to the accreditation people this morning. what with opera, record and compiling the portfolio, i've been, well, engrossed. i finished the majority of it and turned it in this morning after tracking down where the meeting was taking place. i first looked all around newcomer. then i went to the church chapel. i was determined to turn in this project. a very nice woman--my angel for the day--wandering in the halls of college church told me to go to the nursing building. then another nice lady told me the meeting was in room 214. she said she would deliver my portfolio to beth for me. i watched her enter the room.

i've pasted below the introductory essay to my portfolio. this past year i've enjoyed thinking and writing so much, i might try to make some money after college doing the same. fancy that.


going slow into the sunless day
The writings within are born of a life lived in the slow lane. Those who choose to go slow make the decision again and again, each sunrise and sunset, to speak with their body and actions for a different way of approaching the human experience. Going slow is as simple as walking to work, or taking an hour or two to prepare a meal for phriends or family. Going slow is simple and yet it is extremely complex, for the moment one decides to slow down you begin to notice the details in life, and begin to analyze what you see, hear, touch, know and feel.

For many people, winter is cold. This is a true statement. However, for those who walk or bike as their primary means of transportation, we know the small differences between 30 degrees fahrenheit and 38 degrees fahrenheit. The former requires an extra layer of clothing There is beauty in knowing and experiencing these small details.

Living slow and eating slow ultimately results in more time: to be with people, to think, to process the day's news, to find the connecting threads in our daily lives.

I've been going slow since june 2004. In the past ten months I've begun to connect my world travel experiences -- iridescent ponds in the banana plantations of southern China; the free trade zone factories east of santo domingo, dr; and fair trade coffee cooperatives in el salvador -- with my life in the united states because I've had time to think. It's built into my commute and lifestyle.

There is a common thread; it's me, the "consumer," one who has purchased products from these three regions. Each time I swipe my credit card or put a dollar down I'm voting "yes" and giving a nod of approval to those involved in the process of producing my product.

The problem is our daily economic votes are destroying the environment; ruining our relationships with family and phriends; and ultimately condemning ourselves and our happiness as we place our future hope in the dollar, social security and the stock market. Each of these three systems have either crashed completely, destroying an entire generation's life savings, or are nearing a critical point in their cycle: e.g. the dollar's future is tenuous as there is talk about dumping the dollar for the euro as the primary oil currency, from petrodollar to petroeuro; and social security is, well, not so secure to say the least.

As a young person who thinks critically about the systems in operation around me, taking into account history and what it teaches us, how society tells me i can find happiness and my intrinsic belief that the american lifestyle cannot be supported for generations to come, i'm compelled to stand up, take a stance against that which is leading us to destruction. What is this thing? It's the short term quest for profit; a desire for instant, personal gratification; and ultimately our collapse as a person when we watch all that we have worked and saved for dissolve before our very eyes. Capitalism, brother and sister, is all too happy to supply the products and capital to see that these two objectives are met, with each new day, and our continued economic votes in support of this system will lead to the result of such time, money and personal investments.

By the time you have read this essay, I will have completely divested my stock portfolio and cashed in my gold. Ethically and spiritually i cannot continue to invest in the market or precious metals as they place profit over people. Socially conscience funds invest in companies whose purposes are at odds with my desire to base all that I do and am on face-to-face interactions and living a sustainable lifestyle. Gold remains one of the most sought after metals, and yet, its production wreaks havoc on the land and it?s associated history shines a darkened red, with connections to apartheid, greed and countless of broken bodies.

Two popular companies often found in socially responsible portfolios include mcdonald's and coca-cola. The former seeks to profit, and does, from exploiting both human labor and animals. The latter is connected to human rights abuses in Columbia.

More progressive companies like "tom's of maine" do treat their workers well, give back to the community and produce with sustainable means of production. But I ask myself while brushing my teeth with my favorite tom's flavor, gingermint, "how many people can afford to spend 5 or more dollars on a tube of tooth paste?" The answer illuminates the differences between the "haves" and the "have nots". Sustainable products, healthy foods and strong bodies are available to those with extra money or time, both of which are born out of holding a job that pays enough.

But for many living in the united states, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is not an option as they must work two or three jobs to support themselves and family. Essentially giving of their body and labor to support a system which is already balanced in favor of those who can afford expensive toothpaste and deodorants. That said, those who buy expensive personal care products also lead unhealthy lifestyles as they've committed themselves fully to a lifestyle that ensures they are able to afford the organic pineapple or imported extra virgin olive oil at the cost of relationships and awareness of themselves.

You are probably asking yourself now, "well, how do you plant to retire? do you think about the future and how you will support yourself?" My reply is a resounding - yes! To the seventh generation and beyond do i base my each decision i make about the future and it's a bright future if i may say so.

In our country we are trapped to live a life defined by the car, informed by a media concerned more about profit than international news and placated with trinkets and the newest "insert favorite product". Go slow and think!

We must begin living beyond ourselves. We need a radical, cultural shift away from a consumptive/industrial lifestyle to that which is sustainable. We must begin to work with, rather than against nature, empowering ourselves to feed one another both physically, emotionally and spiritually through "protracted and thoughtful observation of nature rather than protracted and thoughtless labor," claiming the words and ideology of permanent agriculture proponent, bill mollison, who studied in depth the practices of the indigenous people in australia and how they survived in the "outback".

"The difference is like that which exists between the [a]boriginal and the ploughman: the latter is seen as one who would cut open his mother's breast to obtain the milk; the former takes only what is given freely, and takes it with due reverence," wrote mollison in his book "permaculture two".

We must realize as a culture, a government, a people that our way is not best, but in fact, leads us towards famine as we continue to extract the fertility from our prairies only to flush them down the toilet in our homes, disrupting nature's cycle of growth, death, decay, and life. We must consider daily the cycle or circles we are involved in. But since so many americans are too busying paying for cars, too large of a home, they will never understand.

My college career draws near to a close and i believe with my entire body and spirit that i am called to educate my brothers and sisters about the path we are walking. The path is mined with countless uncertainties, each at the bidding of markets, analysts and resource consumption.

For myself, and hopefully for others, i will invest in another system, one that places nature, human beings and animals at its core. With the dollars i have divested i will reinvest them in that which is not affected by global economics. Rather than stocks, mutual funds, 401(k)s, permanent agriculture, a sustainable home and relationships with people shall be my investment. By doing so, I can assure myself that no matter what the cost of gas climbs to or how scarce natural gas becomes, or if another hurricane destroys a primary source of vitamin-c, i can say, with each rising of the sun, that my life will go on.

And if for some reason the sun does not rise one day, well then, we all have a problem to think about while getting to work or school in the dark.

All content ©2009 Shoup Productions [get your shoup on].

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