Dignity3rdJune
This is not meant to make critique an individual. This blog is meant as a call to action to better care for one another. I have changed the names to protect even the non-innocent. An email Trackers recently received...
Hey, Do you do anything particular to help folks connect with their spiritual awareness and responsibilities in nature and in community. Or is it only about skills and having a good time till the next beer or so it would seem from some of your video's (free beer with a hair cut)? Thanks, John Doe
First off, I'm not opposed to constructive feedback. If I was offended by every critic or unclear inquiry then I would've stopped trying to make creative change years ago. I expect that they were referring to this video.
Obviously they did not choose to read this blog.
It seems that every time you finish an epic adventure in life there's always some bureaucrat around to talk to you about the red tape you missed. Barring a lack of sense of humor, which seems to be prevalent in us "save the world" types, this nitpicking stems from a lot of assumptions and no real desire to learn more. The email appears to completely ignore the links around the video...
About Us, About You
Being Truly Helpful
By the way, this is about "connecting to the Earth".
Again, I am not frustrated. As my wife Molly pointed out, this email could just as well been a really sincere question, someone hoping to learn more. It simply ignored one of my favorite quotes from the Dune series of books...
When strangers meet, great allowances should be made for differences of custom and training. -Lady Jessica, Bene Gesserit
My response to "John Doe" was very cordial, sincerely asking for more specifics while also pointing them to the links above. What this email serves to illustrate is not a problem with any one person but a challenge indicative to our culture as a whole. The query was limited to one sentence with vague statements. Then a second sentence which isolates a single video out of our greater story, removing the context of a greater ecology. It does not allow us to be diverse or complex. It interprets everything you see on the internet as an absolute as opposed to allowing diverse emotions and care with human beings behind them. I believe the individual that sent this email was not purposely trying to bring discourse to the lowest common denominator. I believe they were genuinely trying to do good. I'm more concerned about results: a lack of courting and care to truly learn more. The assumption can be made that since Trackers is a "business", that its always our responsibility to do the courting; even in the face of escalating belligerence. But I propose something different. Wherever you work, is how your family makes its livelihood. The more we directly sew and tie this into our joy and bliss of life, the less we parse what we "do for a living" away from how we "care for the land and family." When a person engages Trackers, they engage my family and even my land. And its a great family: one of irreverent humor and imperfections, grand adventure and quiet summer evenings of wild foods and BBQ. Its beautiful landscape: one of epic features, talking trees and excellent wild apples. For the people who don't like the realness of the life we lead combined with the excellence of what we offer, we're not good fits for them. For those that appreciate our "George Carlin" sense of humor, we may just be the right match. I would love to see the same for every person, family and community out there. One where we don't step into the tar pit of appeasing each critic, the masses or even the boss. Growing up, my dad was a working man on the railroad. He suffered all kinds of indignities and abuse in how he "won bread" for his family. Though he did it because he had no other choice, his bent back affected me deeply and I will never let that happen to my children. I will even pull by father from the hole our culture has dug for him (he's our goto guy at Trackers nowadays). Holding these boundaries of "right livelihood" for those we care about is vital. Though it will not happen by belittling a single email sender. Again, I don't post this as a critique back to "John Doe". I post this as a call to action. We need not suffer abuse to feed our communities. We can constantly explore more real relationships. These guidelines of discourse allow me to be complex, transparent and honest. In fact, whenever I make this nicely yet ardently clear to a breathless or eager critic, they often turn around and say, "Oh, I didn't realize I was doing that. I'm sorry." The quality of conversation then shifts to something that can inspire real change. We begin to ask one another real questions. Ones that show a genuine regard and interest to learn more about one another. The key is to not wait. To not suffer the abuse the and stew in your own indignities. To not call the person you are giving feedback to "bad" but simply inform them of what may work better for all of us. I believe that is what everyone really wants, simply to be appreciated and not attacked. Hopefully, that answers the question above, because its all I got for today.
Class roll...
Learn to find livelihood with healthy boundaries and connection to the land.
TrackersTEAMS Wild Immersion
Trackers Permaculture 1 year Immersion
