How to not divide the Sustainability world into 0s and 1s
Jeevantika Diaries is an attempt to share the vast amount of learnings I’ve gained over the years. My first article is a small but hefty one.
Wait, what’s Jeevantika?
I’m glad you asked. Jeevantika (means life-promoting) is a series of personal experiments on Conscious Living.
Driven by immense love for nature, my wife (Sakshi) and I embarked on a journey a few years back. We traded our urban, corporate lives with the simplicity of living in a small town and working on a farm.
No, we don’t wish for everyone to leave their jobs and start farming. We’d rather see a world where people have the ability and space to become more conscious. They should be able to listen to their intuitions and make small-yet-meaningful changes.
Sustainable Living is not a Switch to turn on/off
When I moved to a small town 4 years ago, the last thing I saw coming was the wave of unsolicited advice.
One of our primary reasons to move was to practice regenerative farming. A lot of people believe that they are qualified to mentor us without any ground experience. Over the years, I’ve learnt to filter out a lot of uninformed nuggets of wisdom. But, a recent remark from a senior Forest Officer got me thinking.
“I can’t believe you’ve done all this good work and are not using Solar panels yet.”
It reminded me of my own transition. For example, it used to be annoying to see self-proclaimed environmentalists not cutting plastic out of their lives. I’m very thankful that I’ve grown out of this habit now because I’m not perfect either. I can list out many habits that are a part of my lifestyle that would not qualify as environment-friendly. At the end of the day, Sustainable Living is a continuous journey. It includes roadblocks and tough terrain, but I look forward to the path ahead.
Good vs Bad = Ugly
I’ve met a lot of people in a similar pursuit of a life in harmony with nature and have come to have a good grasp of the community at large. While there’s a lot to say about the kindness and consideration of the people I’ve met, there are times of less empathy as well.
We introduce more obstacles instead of bridging gaps for those who are trying to be a part of the community. When one makes a genuine effort to change their lifestyle, they don’t need a constant reminder of their imperfections.
Like everything else in life, we tend to view things as binary (Right vs Wrong, Smart vs Stupid) in the realm of Sustainable Living too. This limits our perspective. There are endless debates where environmentalists are trying to take each other down despite a common end-goal.
Experience has taught me how futile this is. It has now become easier to appreciate people in different stages of their journey. The community needs to stick together more than ever before. We need to celebrate change instead of delving into petty dissents.
Stay tuned to read more of Jeevantika Diaries.
