We Are All Interdependent

Yesterday was Earth Day and that got me to thinking (again) about how interconnected everything is on this planet. We humans depend on each other for our survival and even for the simple, everyday necessities we take for granted. It doesn’t matter what our background is, or our gender, religious belief (or non-belief), political affiliation (or not), age, or ethnicity.

Our interdependence is not limited to humans. We depend on the survival of all living creatures, including plant life and micro-organisms. Mother Earth is a living organism. She reminded us of that a few weeks ago, right here in Orange County. She is constantly working to maintain balance.

I wrote about this recently on my personal blog (with regard to my dependence on other humans) and I think it’s appropriate to share with you here. After all “the personal is the political.”

“I have been practicing mindful eating lately, especially breakfast (which is the same thing every morning: two pieces of Ezekiel Raisin toast smeared with raw almond butter and coffee with soy cream and one teaspoon of raw sugar). The past couple of days I was thinking about all those persons involved who made my breakfast possible … the people whom I take for granted. I never really thought about that before. Have you?

Its like connecting the dots. If you think about it, there could be hundreds, if not thousands of separate beings who work at different jobs, doing a job that alone doesn’t seem connected, until we see the end result — my breakfast.

It can be mind-boggling when you think about how many people could be involved making my breakfast from start to finish. Let’s take a look at a small sample of how many people I’m talking about:

• The person who sold the seed to the wheat farmer
• The farmer
• The baker who made the bread
• The person who supplied the ingredients to make the bread
• The one who packaged the bread
• The person who worked the machine that crushed the almonds
• The persons who made the glass jars to put the almond butter in
• The truckers who delivered the products to the store
• The farmers who grew the soy plant that would become soy milk
• The workers in the warehouse where the food was stored before it was shipped

That’s just a small “taste” of how many beings made it possible for me to enjoy a delicious breakfast to start my day. I think it’s easy to forget all the things we take for granted everyday. Everything in my home is here because someone whom I never met made it possible. I am fortunate enough to live in a place where I do not have to make my own bread daily. I turn on the faucet and clean water comes out that I can either drink or bathe in. The majority of people in the world don’t have that luxury. I have so much to thankful for.

I think if I just watched television (which I used to do) when I ate my meal, I wouldn’t have thought about our interconnectedness and how much I need others to make my life easier. I am reminded of the quote by English author, John Donne “No man is an island.” That is so true.”

The Great Bell Chant (The End of Suffering) from R Smittenaar on Vimeo.

I plan to write future posts about communities that are working together to do something positive for the planet and future generations. Maybe I will write about a group here in Orange County that you might want to join. Or you will be inspired to start your own. I think it’s good to debate about things that we care about but I think it’s even better to share ideas that we can agree on and put those ideas into action.

Namaste