Mamavism Monday: Oil
Every Monday I will have information to share about events coming up, groups and non-profits you might be interested in, green ideas to implement, people that are amazing me in their efforts; basically any actions I think will show off the true range and magnificence of MAMAVISM! It is so important for us to remember small changes make a big difference when done collectively. Our wallets, our choices, companies we support, ways we reduce at home, all make an impact in the future world our children will inherit from us.
So giddy up! Let’s take mamavism on the road!
MAMVISM MONDAY: OIL
I am trying to come to terms with this oil disaster in the Gulf. As the weeks wain on, I have to admit it is leaving me with an unsettling feeling I can’t quite put my finger on. Some sense that there is SO MUCH MORE that we can be doing, that we aren’t, myself included, to get off our addictions. All of them. Just not oil, but all of the things we buy because we think we need them or we think we will be happier with them…
Haven’t we figured out it doesn’t work that way yet?
I am just going to leave you with the images and facts that have been sweeping through my world the last few weeks for you to come to your own conclusion. But I feel a larger movement coming from this one, for this Mama at least. A big, big commitment to lifestyle changes I may have felt uncomfortable making in the past.
On my nightstand has been a book for like two years now, that I have yet to read. I am going to read it now. It is called Planetwalker and is by John Francis. I came across an article interviewing him last week on YES! Magazine’s site due to the fact that his book is about his 22 years of walking and 17 years not speaking after an oil spill in San Francisco Bay. From the interview by Madeline Ostrander in YES that you can read in full here:
“Each of us has to have that moment when we know that we have to do something.I said, “What I want to do is not ride in cars.” My girlfriend said, “Yeah, but we don’t have any money.” That’s usually what happens—you start thinking about practical realities—money, job. Those thoughts can dissuade you from making that decision at that moment.
It took a friend’s death to convince me that we only have right now—this moment. He died in a boating accident. He was about the same age as I was. He was a deputy sheriff, was married, and had a beautiful family and a house. He was living this dream, and all of the sudden he was just gone. It was irrevocable. He doesn’t get to come back and say, “Oh, there’s something I wanted to do.”
What I wanted to do was get out of my car and walk. I went on a walk with my girlfriend to commemorate and celebrate his life—20 miles to hear some music. On my way back I realized that there’s no guarantee that tomorrow is going to come or that we’re going to get it together. I told my girlfriend, “I’m already walking. I’m just going to keep walking.”
~John Francis
The time has come to commit to building stronger closer knit communities. Local and sustainable.
Take a moment and see for yourself…if the video isn’t working (as it seems to not be on a lot of sites as of publishing due to the techie party out in San Francisco) you can see it here from CNN.
The estimated gallons of oil flooding the Gulf right now just ticking away…it is shocking. It goes up a gallon a second. Here are their best guess statistics from the same PBS page gathered on May 14th from experts about how much oil is flowing into the ocean per day:
- NOAA | 210,000 gal/day
- USGS (Added May 27) | 504,000 to 798,000 gal/day
- Outside Estimates | 1,050,000 gal/day
- BP (Worst Case as of May 5) | 2,520,000 gal/day
- Experts’ Worst Case | 4,200,000 gal/day
Visit Boston.com to see the photos of birds in the Gulf by AP photographer Charlie Reidel. Here is one, but I implore you to go to the site and see the rest of them. A picture captures the truth in ways that words never can.
Take time today to find out your own info on this oil spill. Take some time today to look into your heart and see where you can make changes in your life. Take time today for hard choices.
Spill it: How do you feel about the current events in the Gulf? What changes do you think we need to make as individuals or as a society to create a real directional shift for our collective future?
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June 7th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
I’m with ya. Let’s hope that many, many people also see this as a personal moment of crisis. One in which we go from clucking our tongues and saying that “something should change” to actually having the courage and the political will to CHANGE.
June 8th, 2010 at 8:43 am
For me. I must. The life we are leading is so empty in so many ways when all we focus on is what the next achievement is and what the next thing I can buy is. All of this is leading me in a direction I hadn’t counted on exactly, but takes me back to my environmental roots!
June 8th, 2010 at 9:14 am
Well, I’ve been trying to bike lately. I’m really hating driving more each day that I see something about the spill. I have a new phychotic addiction to that live feed that you posted – I’ve been looking at it everyday since whenever that was last week that I posted it on facebook. I guess it’s sort of like watching a train wreck, as they say…
So, yesterday I rode by bike all around town: to a play date, to the park and to our swim lessons. It was torture. I thought for sure, at least once, that I would have a heart attack. It was hot. I was so exhausted. You know, the kind of exhausted you feel after riding your bike all day in 95 degree heat? I seriously considered going to bed at 6pm – and leaving my family to eat cereal for the 3rd time of the day – because I was so exhausted.
On Sunday, I went on a great ride, too, but was very nearly attacked by rattlesnakes. I was terrified.
But, it’s probably more about me being out of shape than it is a statement that biking is a bad way to travel. It was ok. But my knees are hating me today.
I’ve also been thinking of other (less showing up everywhere covered in sweat) ways to travel, but haven’t come up with any yet because apparently there is no mass transit that comes within walking distance (for a 4 year old) of our house. And I’m pretty sure that the bike thingy they have on the front of the bus is not intended for a bike, tag-a-long and trailer. So, yes, there definately needs to be some “larger” change in order to make our society more eco-travel friendly.
Oh, and while I’m writing a novel here – what’s up with the greenway being flooded??? Who designed all these underpasses instead of overpasses??? Boo.
June 8th, 2010 at 10:18 am
AMAZING! I have not hit the “I am going to bike everywhere with two kids” stage yet. But I could certainly drive A LOT less between writing groups hours away and Run for Congo meetings an hour away. I think it does have to be a whole lifestyle.
It is why I haven’t actually figured it all out yet…I just know there is this feeling welling up from my heart of movement…in a direction…that I just can’t name yet….
GREAT job! I would NOT have biked in 95 degrees all over town. I would have passed out. For sure. I would at least had to have been eating the entire time to ensure NOT passing out!