Pondering the Meaning of It All

Stem to stern, we need to take inventory of what is still working for our planet

A planet beset by multiple crises brought on by a single species

So, here we are - on planet Earth - the only one we know of as being able to support life - a single species, and we are creating all kinds of difficulty for ourselves and for other species in the bargain. Nature has its ways of counterbalancing our trends. The times we are living in are, for want of a less-overused word, unprecedented. So what?

Now what?

I can only tell you how it seems to me. It seems to me that we, collectively, need to inhale and perceive what it means to be alive - to be here now. Exhaling, we can appreciate our ability to repeat the cycle. Now, we can start to do an inventory. In my case, there is nothing in my immediate environment of which I am aware that means that I have to move or lose my life - so I am operating from a position of safety.

Not only that, I am operating from a position of privilege as well. I was born a caucasian, with all that entails here in America. I was born in Williamsburg, Virginia. As I was growing up, I had a set of stackable plastic bears - I left some of them outside and when I rediscovered them after some passing storms, where paper or wooden toys might be ruined, I noticed that these were none the worse for wear. I asked my mother if they would not also decay and she assured me that they would not. I remember seeing this as something of a problem. Precocious kid, I was. I never forgot this “disquiet” which plastics have always engendered in me.

As I grew older and had my first experiences after my education had been completed and a Bachelor of Arts was earned in German Literature, I took jobs in my hometown’s main employment center, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. I worked initially as summer help at the Powder Magazine during college and then at the Foundry after graduation. That turned into an apprenticeship and then, after a brief stint in the Gunsmith shop, I went behind the scenes as a conservation technician. There I learned a great deal about material sciences and the principle of “reversability” meaning that any treatment applied to an object in the Conservation Labs needed to be, insofar as possible, reversible. It never is, but it is a goal to which one strives. Again, exposed to materials that were toxic and seeing just how adverse to change the field of conservation is, I returned to my study of literature, earning an MA in German Literature at the University of Pittsburgh, but then returned to Conservation at the Carnegie Museum of Art. While preservation of material culture in the form of decorative arts, painting, works of art on paper, and sculpture, was and is a worthy cause, I again found myself aware that we could never actually achieve our ultimate goal. Change is the one constant. All we could do was slow down the inevitable dissolution of all things.

That’s the the thing. All species either adapt through evolution to the change in their environment or they go extinct. At this point in history the activity of a single species of primate is causing other species to go extinct. We are inextricably entwined with each other though, all life on earth is. We need to be awakened and made increasingly aware of the effects of every one of our choices on the world at large and all life that is impacted by our activity.

So these are some thoughts that are with me today. To inventory what we have to work with, I’ll start with language. We can talk to each other. We can remind each other that we ought to be very thoughtful about how our choices today ripple out into the future. For now, that’s probably enough to get some conversation going. Please leave a comment and subscribe if my writing resonates with you and we’ll go on a trip together exploring this and other matters of existence.