Little farm, big world

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference. — Reinhold Niebuhr

How do we know the difference between the things we can change, and the things we can’t? The things we can’t change individually, can we maybe change them collectively? And in this big world in which we are just a speck of dust, where do we focus our attention?

First, I want to apologise that I write this newsletter in 30 minutes on a Monday morning. This means half-thoughts and typos.

The first half-thought is that the internet means that we’re constantly hearing about big things we can’t always do much about, but which we may want to do something about.

In the face of large cataclysmic events, the dirty dishes wait. And that’s a huge mental chasm for our brain to constantly straddle. The scale of our lives is no longer intertwined with the 150 people geographically closest to us, as was the case just a couple of thousand years ago. The scale of our lives is: will humanity go extinct? How do we stop genocide? And there’s no doubt these big questions also have real daily implications, most obviously in the prices of stuff.

And perhaps at the same time, most of us are just trying to take care of people— maybe our parents and our kids, not use too much plastic, and occasionally have something to look forward to.

What are the things we can change, and keep changing?

It’s tempting to either switch off in order to go about our day as normal, or be fuelled by outrage and pessimism. My best guess is there’s a third way that’s worth seeking.

Somehow, this third way involves holding some awareness of the big problems and questions, caring for our bodies and minds, and those around us, growing, and staying connected to the small things.

Rather than asking questions that make us feel guilty about whether we’re doing enough in the face of cataclysm, we can just take a moment to ask: what are our values?

We can be really honest. If our values include caring for people who are suffering, we can do something right now to live into that value. There is always something tiny that is possible here, now. If our value is trying to live morally or sustainably or with fewer resources, we can dig into that a little more. If our value is being true to our responsibilities, that’s also something we can act on.

Growing is always something you can act on

I think it’s worth shrinking our actions and recognising our smallness, while keeping in mind that our smallness is fundamentally the same as everyone’s. A million small consistent actions, taken collectively with others, adds up.

If you’re planting this week, there is always something you can do to make things a little better: whether eating what you grew, planting one more seed, or removing something that’s harming your growing.

I hope you can grow this week in a way that connects your growing to your values, and even to the big things in the world that feel heavy.

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