COMMITTEE MEETING
Dan Schmidt
INTERCONNECTED



I have heard about how we are all INTERCONNECTED for years. I understood it to mean people are INTERCONNECTED and I could understand that. I have recently read a marvelous book called The Invention of Nature by Alexander von Humboldt. I had never heard of him but, oh my, he was a brilliant scientist naturalist, environmentalist, teacher, author, on and on. He was born in 1769 in Germany and spent his life traveling, writing, exploring connections, mountain tops, volcanoes, tiny plants, insects, tropics and forests. His writings and descriptions influenced famous people like Thomas Jefferson, John Muir, Charles Darwin, Goethe, and many more. He was a true visionary and environmentalists today regarding him as the ‘founding father’.

This man was focused beyond the norm, dedicated and devoted to uncovering the mysteries of the planet. I was totally inspired to read about his awareness of INTERCONNECTEDNESS and how important it is for all of us today to NOTICE. It can be so overwhelming to think of EVERYTHING being INTERCONNECTED, but I’m seeing that it is true. I was particularly impressed with his intuitive feeling and knowing that when there are forests destroyed it interrupts and harms all the vegetation around the trees and the wildlife. (I clearly remember many years ago in California driving on the freeway and seeing this whole swath of land cleared for homes! I promptly burst into tears.) Oh! It was so insightful and revealing what he discovered and foresaw.

I felt a deep appreciation for the ways things were before machines and industry. I have taken so much for granted in my day and age but it has taken its toll on society. I for one would not like to be living with no running water, electricity or cars but at least I will pay more attention to all the conveniences I enjoy and minimize where I can even more.

The book also made me realize and appreciate my love of plants and gardening. That is a way I give to the world. It satisfies me and brings pleasure to whoever sees it. It is comforting to me when I realize how any effort to creating beauty and order contributes to the whole.

Humboldt realized:
”that colonies based on slavery, monoculture and exploitation created a system of injustice and of disastrous environmental devastation, so we too have to understand that economic forces and climate change are all part of the same system”.

It is reassuring that there are people who knew, know that all is INTERCONNECTED and it gives me a ‘hook to hang my hat on’.

“There is in fact no distinction
between the fate of the land
and the fate of the people.
When one is abused.
The other suffers.

            Wendell Perry
Farmer and poet




BLESSINGS

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