LIVING ORGANICALLY IN THE 21ST CENTURY: A Personal, National and Divergent Perspective

We all make assumptions. Reading the above title some would expect an article about food or composting. Naturally, for we all bring the semantics accepted in popular culture to what we read. Language usage these days changes as fast as chameleons, in a sense its organic.. In this blog, I’ll incorporate the dictionary meaning of “organic” not often used, “Forming an integral element of a whole,”(Merriam-Webster Dictionary) with another usage often heard but not listed, “organic” implying “change.”  I interpret the adjective “organic” as being an integral component of Mother Nature and following a holistic path based on  natural rhythms. Earth’s rhythms, not what man has created, nor one group or individual. Only flora and fauna, together as a whole can determine the balance of nature, for nature is organic.

For centuries, mankind has tried to overlook the organics of environment by eradicating, manipulating, exploiting and purporting the rules by which humans and animals should live. Animals have been here to serve us, to dissect so that we may learn their secrets—for example scientists continue to explore the intricacies of vertebrates and invertebrates and behold wonders— and apply those new-found discoveries to ourselves, often and arguably for humane benefits. What has tied the historical roots of the ascension of the homo sapiens to our animal kingdom is our ability to evolve behaviors, and over the eons, mutate, change physically and mentally. Have humans improved? That’s another story. My argument, today, is that if you accept these concepts then you agree animals and people have pre-determined behaviors, are an integral part of a whole, along with having an innate mechanism to adapt to the environment around them, to change. Thus, all living things are organic.

Whichever doctrine you profess, evolution or creationism, the reader cannot dismiss the key word and the organic element of this blog: change. To live organically, is to accept this principle.

Moreover, societal rules that have governed cultures must adapt to our ever-evolving environment. The more people there are, the fewer resources, and the necessity for acceptance, tolerance and living organically. Each of us brings to the world, as adults, environmental and individual experiences that like fingerprints are never the same. We all “change,” to adapt to life’s challenges, for better or worse. One small incident can have lasting affect on how one person sees the world.  

I was raised in a patriarchal household. At times I adored and feared my 6’3 father with broad shoulders and a booming voice, volcanic when angry. In contrast, he would often read me bedtime stories, sometimes of his own imagination, when home from traveling for work. Complex would be an accurate term to describe my Dad. He raised me to believe I could enter any profession, yet he’d always encourage me to believe that the princes in fairytales shouldn’t be dismissed. “Wendy, someday you will meet your prince and get married.” Conversely, my mother would say, “You shouldn’t tell her that.” Her argument wasn’t with marrying—she “prayed” I’d meet the “right” man someday—but the fairytale picture my father had painted, misleading even to her. Luckily, I learned quickly to forge my way, to experience life, to work and enjoy independence. My parents wish for me, in whatever form, however, had become entrenched. Like Bridget Jones, I envisioned marriage as the final culmination. Unlike Helen Fielding’s character in the book and film, I realized quickly not to hold my breath.

Then, one day after years of knowing one man professionally, I began a relationship. Since we’ve met, our time together has been like switchbacks. Each stepping away for fear of being hurt, then reuniting when we accepted what mattered: our love has a basis in  companionship, passion, tolerance, mutual respect and independence. That last attribute has been the hardest for me to accept. My boyfriend has already lived the dream my parents had hoped would happen for me: marrying, having children (his are grown now), as he worked in a venerable profession. Ultimately, however, his divorce, later in life, shattered that respectable bond. More so, what he faced as a child and an adult I couldn’t possibly fathom I would have survived. Losing his parents, two siblings, racial intolerance and so on. I didn’t face family loss and traumatic rifts until much later. I consider myself fortunate.

But when I met this wonderful man I brought with me conventional expectations, confusing role models, and a firm plan as to how a relationship should evolve. Some friends knew my future hopes and encouraged me to remember my life goals, reminding me what I had told them. Not, however, without stating, “Men don’t change.” And that’s my tie-in to my initial discussion. I disagree with the former declaration. I’d rephrase the statement as, “People do change. Life experiences do not.”

To reiterate, what I’ve seen in my lifetime doesn’t compare to my boyfriend’s challenges. He may have forged ahead, but the stains of trauma will never rub off completely. How can I expect him to knock down the wall he’s built in order to survive? Only as life continues, will he be able to chip away the concrete and soften his hardened edges. The wall will never go away; however, he’s made it clear he will strive to become a better person. What shaped the man I love is one part of the organic whole. We all grow, reshape, change to live with others, but ties to our past will never completely be severed. My relationship will not be dictated by what is expected, has been, but what life brings over time. I will finally live, not retreat. Accept change as it comes not force it to my will.

Organic living also means being ready to adapt to evolving cultural mores. Animals must do this or go extinct, and we humans aren’t too far away from that possibility. Our country has never been more polarized. I won’t assign blame or toot the liberal horn. I will say that those who resist the evolution of societal norms and adhere to outdated viewpoints, are keeping our nation from growing, moving forward. 

Albert Einstein’s ubiquitous quote: “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination,” has foretold the political quagmire which exists in Congress and among state politicians: too little imagination, lots of unsubstantiated “facts,” and an inability to move with the staggering economic and environmental challenges, not only in the U.S. but our global community. Unless, these men and women see the world for what it is now, forgetting what has been, being open to what the country could be and change, our nation will stagnate, deteriorate and die, as do all living things that are unable to evolve organically.

The line between organic and technological blurs when scientists discuss improving DNA, inserting microchips into the human brain or genetically altering cells to become stem cells, really a union of organic chemistry, genetics and micro-technology, much of which benefits people.

With that said, technology allegedly keeps humanity moving forward. I disagree. To quote Einstein again: “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” I’d like to take liberties with Einstein’s chilling prediction and qualify his assertion:  Dedicated, functional technology has separated the humane from humanity. Man from nature. I’m not going to harp on the etiquette expounded by pundits everywhere—although I wholeheartedly agree with their call for cell phone/smart phone restraint. What I’m alluding to is that the gadgets and devices we use in our everyday lives dismiss our ability to adapt, other than to learn the latest versions of i-Phones or i-Pads.

What happens when the lights go out and you have no generator or cell tower?  Friends, family, loved ones have lost personal fortunes or sacrificed others’ needs so that they could buy a widescreen television, a new smart phone, or a better digital camera every year. When will it stop? A denim jacket I bought in Finland thirty years ago has lasted longer than my laptop computers, needing replacement every three years. We may have modern gadgets at our fingertips but they don’t withstand the sands of time.

More so, there are many who don’t have access to what we consider to be basic necessities, nowadays, including cell phones. Consider the people who need to escape the relentless bombardment of our modern world. Not contestants on “Survivor,” but those who, once a year, get to live closer to nature during the summer. City-folk get it, especially the poorest, e.g. children in New York’s Fresh Air Fund. These girls and boys clamor to smell flowers, climb trees, and swim in cool lakes. Most of these kids don’t take nature for granted as they are burdened the rest of the year with the endless cycles of “must haves” when they would be happiest being able to just survive. How can these children keep up with the latest advances in technology when they don’t have enough food on the table?

Whatever the age, there are also those who resist adaptation. Change frightens people. They’d rather languish than allow for or adapt to nature’s ever-changing world. More scary, however, is that people who hide their heads in the metaphorical sand will encounter catastrophic change as never before, when it will be too late to adapt. And, to live organically, means to live with constructive change, accept change of which we have no control, and not pushing the limits of change to dire consequences. Whether it be relationships, politics or technology, we must return to the building blocks of life. We are one part, in the fundamental whole that is Nature.

We must learn to reassess our viewpoints about our desire to return to the past, to regress and not allow modern developments to smother our imagination. James Lovelock, the English writer, said: “Nature favors those organisms which leave the environment in better shape for their progeny to survive.” Those organisms work with nature, change and adapt for the next generation. They live organically.