I am an artist, gardener, humanitarian, mother, traveler… My life has been and continues to be full of journeys of all types, and every time I wake up, I am just as glad to see whatever weather and challenges the day will bring, as I am to see if I can get online (or not…).
For me, life is interconnected. Online and analog; sand, compost-soil-building and xeriscaping; humans and the multi-million other species also called “earthlings;” crisis-management, sustainability, and humanitarian projects; energy, the arts, memory and the future. I think the “Golden Rule” is a good thing; I wonder, if Archimedes had known about the relative powers of electricity, if he would have used a rod and fulcrum, or waves and a source-point?
English is my first language, the one I can usually spell properly. I have learned, of necessity, to communicate in various other languages, but do not claim to spell properly, nor always to use the most appropriate phrases. For me, language is like cuisine-- every nation, region, town, community, family has their own special ingredients to flavor their daily fare. Asian cinnamon is somewhat different from south American cannelle; the spice can be used in entrees, drinks and desserts, in dishes savory and sweet, or to preserve, scent, or color. The shades of flavor, scent, of words and intent, vary by culture, by access, by necessity.
And this potpourri of ingredients, the colors, sounds, scents, flavors, the memories certain incidents or articles evoke, make up the life I live, the lives we share-- here, in Edgeryders, here, online, here, on Earth. People have many pasts, many needs, many dreams for their futures. Our evolutionary paths have enabled us to visualize change, verbalize desires, achieve goals far beyond the capabilities of many of our fellow “earthlings.”
With capabilities and action come agency and culpability; with choice and access comes responsibility; with life-- knowlege that we have a past, must live through our present, and… expect, hope, dream for a future. People, indeed, all creatures with socially-organized instincts, seem to crave play, as well as survival-- of all species, we humans have found myriad ways to play, share, build, dream-- and as many or more to dis-include, denigrate and destroy. Even our games utilize destruction, and our arts and music, our myths, our media-- illustrate the depths of the human experience, as well as celebrate the heights.
“Lest we forget” and wreak such destruction against ourselves in reality that life becomes unsustainable, imperiled, extinct-- my “ryde” combines all that I can learn and do, to try to understand, bring peace, to reach, bring equity, to act, and bring… as full a life as I can, for myself and for those whom I meet on my journey. The flavors of a life-- dependent, interdependent, independent-- learned from local and global custom, leavened with individual creativity; the sun shines on us all, no matter how or where we spend our days.
So I try to remember my journey is both my own, and shared, in ripples near and, perhaps far. In the immediate-- I hope my children are enjoying this part of their own life-travels, as they share their time with me. And I hope I can teach them an appreciation of life, what it is, what it can be, what it might be.