Epiphany

Tonight I had an epiphany. Now, this might not sound like news to the rest of you...but to me, who had been really studying local food, environment, local economies, for several months going on a year (which I realize isn't a lot, but it is for me), I truly had an epiphany. It happened at a very odd time. I was washing my 16th pot/dish after a fabulous make-your-own-pizza dinner with friends (yes, we made them work for their food) at 11:30 at night and after 4-5 glasses of wine (maybe this was why I had an epiphany????), when I had it.

Here it is: my husband and I, by many, have gone from being what is considered (or what we would have considered in our past life) as being "low maintenance", meaning we would eat anything anyone put in front of us and enjoy it...to being "high maintenance", meaning we had special needs that our hosts would feel obligated to meet (even though we assured them we were fine without these special considerations). This is where it hit me. In terms of global energy, Josh and I are actually "low maintenance", meaning we use much less global energy in our dinners or other eating habits than most other people. However, because one has to output more individual energy in order to obtain the meal and prepare it (i.e. going to the farmer's market, washing the salad greens versus having already washed, roasting fresh peppers versus buying canned, making pizza dough instead of ordering pizza, ordering fresh pasture fed beef instead of buying grocery store meat....I could go on and on), one sees us as "high maintenance". Even though, from a global perspective we would be considered very low maintenance.

When was it that we decided that our own individual energy was more important than global/environmental energy? Our own energy is sustainable and renewable...as long as we eat and sleep (and exercise or stay active to some degree) we have abundant (practically infinite) energy in our lifetimes. But our earth doesn't have this same renewable energies...not when it comes to how fast we are using it and that we aren't feeding it or allowing it to rest or exercising it....we are simply using it and using it unwisely at a scary pace.

So, that is my epiphany...All of a sudden it hit me....why does our generation (or maybe even the generation before us) think that we, as individuals are more important than the whole? At what point did we decide that our watching 30 minutes more of TV was more important than preserving the earth? My guess is that it never crossed our minds...it didn't mine. I never thought I was choosing between convenience and the earth...I thought I was opting for more time with my family and didn't think I was sacrificing anything. How naive!

Our generation has come to believe that we ARE more important than the whole (or at least we don't consider the whole ... maybe that's the same thing?), therefore our personal time is the most important thing. Simply look at the booming businesses. Everything is about getting more personal time... a personal assistant, a personal shopper, someone to run your errands, someone to cook your dinners, Harris Teeter to go, anything to go. I am not trying to say that these things aren't helpful...especially to the working parents who have to squeeze every single minute out of their day. I am saying, however, that we need to remember, that the greater whole is more important than all of it's individual parts. we need to remember that a little more individual energy spent from each of us (no matter how small), is less energy spent (i.e. carbon output) for our world. It means that a little bit given from our personal energy banks could mean a better world for our children. Now THAT is something I am willing to sacrifice a little extra TV for...