Thursday, March 18, 2010
The Friday Challenge - Sustainability
my dear Marion caught looking at the light out the window on Monday
surf, trees, light...The Friday Challenge - Sustainability Boy, I bet that title really rocked your world, eh? I mean how often do you see it - only about a gazillion times a day if you're any sort of media hound. Funny thing - we never heard it as children. And now it is all but leached of meaning by being used for almost anything or idea that people are trying to sell you. Let's look it up in the dictionary - I'll grab the one on my desk - The American Heritage Dictionary - my personal favourite even though they spell favourite wrong. Wait a sec - have to get my loupe out. I'm getting old but then we'd established that, hadn't we.
Here we go...uh, no we don't.
sustain (tained, taining, tains) 1. To keep in existence; maintain. 2. To supply with neccessities or nourishment; provide for. 3. To support from below; prop. 4. To support the spirits, vitality, or resolution of; encourage. 5. To endure or withstand; bear up under: sustain hardships. 6. To experience or suffer (loss or injury) 7. To affirm the validity or justice of: sustain an objection. 8. to prove or corroborate;confirm.
The words with sustain in them that are mentioned are Sustainable, sustainer, sustainment BUT not sustainability. Now the latest copywrite on my dictionary is 1985 so we can guess that I did not, indeed, hear the word sustainability.
Why am I going on about this? Because my dear hearts - I want to know what the 'sustainability' of your practice is. How do you support your creativity - supply your art with neccessities or nourishment, support from below - how do you support the spirits, vitality or resolution of your art or spiritual practice or mothering or partnering or being a citizen in a democracy? How do you affirm the validity or justice of your considered approach to life?
Just as our living in the materialistic world has become unsustainable and we need to prove sustainability for our habits in the free world - our lives as householders, artists, creative types, parents, partners, etc...also needs to be 'prop'ped up, nourished, etc...
Your challenge this week is to suss out FIVE different ways you support your choice to be awake in your world! Because this is a tough one (or I think it is and anyway what sort of 'challenge' would it be if it were too easy?) I will give one example - I support my desire to be an awake artist etc...in the world by going out in it as much as possible - especially the natural part of it.
I look forward to reading your FIVE supports!
1 comment:
Thank you so much for these challenges! I put together a poem collage from an interview with Robert Bly. Great material to work with of course. I was quite pleased with the results. I'll post it later today.
Will definately put the five sustaining practice to paper (screen) as well. Thanks for the challenges.
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