'Life -----'
'Life affirming ----'
Here on the organic eco micro-holding (small smallholding) in the UK midlands in early/mid April, new life is burgeoning, with plenty of flowers - daffodils, dandelions, magnolias, azalias, daisies to name a few - now adding vibrant colours to the greening countryside, the 'green and pleasant land'. Quite a few of the numerous hedges hereabouts are now in new leaf and the fertiised grass in the adjoining fields is a vibrant emerald green - walking in this countryside makes it hard to miss the seasonal changes and hard not to catch a thrill of expectancy that seems to come with the emergent 'new life'. Most trees are at the 'new leaf' stage , bar the ash, which is generally later coming to leaf. The swallows arrived back via their epic 6,000 mile flight from South Africa - amazing or what? - at midday on the 16th of April - two of them, and goldfinches have been busy crafting a tiny 'cacoon' nest in the magnolia tree.
'Life supporting -----'
Most of the micro-holding 'major' crops have now been planted, and some are emerging, such as potatoes (planted early under plastic), onions and, of course the planted-out broad bean rows, as well as a couple of promising rows of early peas. The autumn-planted onion sets have put on a spurt, as have the spring cabbage, planted out last September, overwintered, and now growing well after a slightly puzzling slowish start, to start to be used as 'spring greens' in 2 - 3 weeks time, covering an otherwise fairly lean spell for fresh veg. If a criss-cross cut is made to the top of the stalk after cutting, they then re-grow, providing useful 'greens' for next winter, providing they are 'de-caterpillared' in the summer (a few are sacrificed to the cause of the caterpillar). Early 'Little Gem' lettuce plants, grown in one of the green houses, didn't last too long on being planted out in open ground - obliterated, with snails, of which there seem to be quite a few about, being the most likely culprits. Their replacements, now sitting in a hopefully snail-proof little enclosure, then got beaten down by a heavy downpour - the trials and joys of growing stuff, never a dull moment. Lightened, too, by the recent bonfire of tree prunings, making useful potash fertiliser for the veg growing ground.
Fortunately, the chalet and shed both in need of roof re-felting to make them watertight again were attended to at the end of a recent drier spell and just before some heavy-ish rains came - the countryside hereabouts in early April has been pretty wet with some flooding of the local lanes. No more rain, though, for a good spell during April; good then to have a warmer spell which together with the high moisture levels has for sure accelerated plant growth pretty well. Great time of year - so much to look forward to, particularly for growers, gardeners and nature lovers.
'Life spirit --- ?'
In the modern western-type secular, materialistically and scientifically orientated world, maybe it can be easy to drift apart from something as nebulous as 'spirit' - ? Perhaps it's not too surprising, given the nowadays emphasis on 'large': 'economies of scale', large organisations and 'big' government, for instance. But equally, maybe it's important to remind that 'spirit' is important to many, even if it may be less definable. Sir Bradley Wiggin, for instance, the recent 'Tour de France' bike race winner, rates it as key :
'When you've got spirit, and a bit of soul, you can do anything'
Henry Cole, the laid-back 'sorted' motorbiking presenter on TV of 'Great Motorbike Rides' talks about a lake location in the U.S:
'A place to sit and regain a sense of spirituality in this relentlessly secular world'
Henry also talked about an American city he was keen to quit, in which, he said, behind the upfront smiles, lay a steely effort to relieve a person of her/his money. Things 'spiritual' are maybe then pretty important to many people, experienced, though, at the individual level( - ?), a situation maybe unlikely to be made prominent in the age of 'large', the age of 'power and money' - ? In too, an 'age of accountancy' , focus seems to have been, maybe not unnaturally, beamed mainly onto 'measurable results', with the result that by default, less concrete areas such as 'spirituality' could have then suffered 'demotion'. Will, though, such a take, prove over time to be too 'one dimensional', too limited - ? It could be said, for instance, that a similar fate has befallen social considerations, in a climate that's strongly emphasised personal gain, and that some of the modern limitations and problems have resulted from a lack of 'individual/social' balance - ?
'Life meaning ----'
Once material needs are catered for, whither ---? There would seem to be several paths to chose from for the individual. The 'more, more' track could be one route, which seems to have been the one of choice in the mainsteam western-type materialistic cultures. Henry Cole again, though, had a different take, maybe feeling that the 'chasing the dollar' route could be an entrappment, like being on a treadmill, the inherent danger it being then difficult to get off it - ? :
'Looking after my needs rather than, cajoled seemingly by everyone, pandering to my wants'
Commercially, it could make sense to have the populace 'ambitious for more', but if such a route doesn't lead to a fuller fulfllment, then could it provide a limitation for the individual, especially relevant for the 'freeranger' - ? (and, over time, culminating possibly in a less rather than more, harmonious society - ?) Some, if not many, work situations appear these days to be proving demanding on people, work-based suicides being recorded, for instance, in recent years. One new top boss (of Microsoft), recently publicly pledged to 'work to facilitate staff finding real meaning in their work'. Such a 'socially responsible' management position is also illustrated by another 'top boss', the CEO of 'Aviva', a large UK insurance provider :
'As a UK business with long-term customer commitments we cannot just focus on today. We must be a good ancestor.'
Maybe, as developmental psychologists such as Abraham Maslow have in the past postulated, life meaning for the individual is 'maximised' from the meeting of the fuller set of needs - ? Maslow, from his researches, came up with his 'hierarchy of human needs' in which the individual's 'first' priority is to meet survival and security needs, which once basically met, then change into a set of varying social needs, which then in turn develop further into 'personal fuller development' needs. Some have suggested that it's at this point that the possibility of leading an essentially spiritual life becomes the possibility, connecting to a larger, universal reality and energy - the whole process being of the 'personal journey' variety, therefore being only facilitated at the individual level - ?
Such a possibility then 'adds value' to the small (in power terms) micro unit that is the individual, in that the process could then be key to 'life meaning' for individuals, who then make up a society, which potentially then has the ability to be of the healthy, productive variety - ? One author, though, responding to being asked to make suggestions for suitable books for prisoners, strikes a note of warning. Her book of choice was 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley, and she was concerned that things could be heading down Huxley's 'few large power blocks' path, not necessarily good news for 'freerangers' and individual fulfillment. 'We need to be careful' was her warning.
'Life meaning (2) ----'
Connection with 'nature' and things natural may then be part of the 'life meaning' process of 'connecting with larger reality', 'higher' energies - ? Growing and gardening may then have added meaning and stature, also not being part of any 'money and power' process - ? Being able to live in a 'nature oasis', as the micro-holding here can be, is then a benefit at quite a few levels - practical (survival), physical (health), social (helping with food supplies) and spiritual.
'Connection with nature' also seems to give a feeling of 'roots', of 'having a place in the scheme of things', which could for some be more elusive in more urban surroundings - ? One drug-dependant 'drop-out' now turned author found the urban environment to be a somewhat cold and hard 'alien' place, but was then befriended by a male cat, who immediately brought more meaning to his life by him having to look after his new friend. This started a new more productive phase to his life and this author credited Bob, the cat, as being the main promoter of it, a life and nature affirming story. ( A Street Cat Called Bob, James Bowen, Hodder)
Might it be yet important for some at least to take and connect to , a 'bigger view', which perhaps has been somewhat obliterated by the strong emphasis on ('small view') 'self' in recent times - ? Might in fact both be needed, as the CEO's quoted above appear to suggest, resulting then in viable individual/social working balances - ? Rural independent businesses have tended to have the advantages of both working within 'nature's context' and also within a social context, given local small, close community living, another condition which may help people in their quest for 'life meaning' - ?
B owned and ran a largish mixed (crops and livestock) farm in the south of the UK. His consultant analysed the financial performance of the farm and advised that the overhead costs, particularly labour costs, were too high. B, though, was ahead of him, and had already devised an 'elegant solution' ( a solution that satisfies several varying priorities at once) to the problem. In a couple of years a couple of the older, less technically versed staff would retire, and at this stage B would reduce the staffing from five to three, then 'mechanise up' to match the reduced workforce. In the meantime, the two older staff would be put to good use getting the farm in high order, work that they also naturally enjoyed.
They had worked for B and his father before him for nigh on forty years and B had no desire to 'send them down the road' a couple of years before their retirement. He could afford to repay their loyalty to him - his business was in a healthy financial position - and he also valued his local social standing, an important priority for him and his family. He would make less profit in the short run but could anyway recoup via longer-term lower farm maintenance costs, and longer-term strong motivated work performances from his remaining staff, who he knew would rate his sensitive handling of the situation.
'Life as is known ---- '
Ah well, time for 'action', time to get the hoe out and hoe the onion bed - with a 'new' antique long-handled small type of onion hoe, purchased for £12 the other day at a plant fair, and which performs brilliantly at close quarters - right tool for the job. Growing stuff to eat seems to have as an activity a certain basic 'feet on the ground' connection and meaning - good earthy stuff-? Maybe to avoid 'eating the menu', as Zen people say, activity could be a key - ?
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