Living with stones and learning from them
On this path of trying to be in the world differently, more sustainably, I am learning that a more sustainable life is a dialectic of growth and reduction. And it is not necessarily so that growth is all good and reduction is all bad, or vice versa.
Stones collected locally by myself in nature are the only decorations I use in my home, but I felt that I needed to return some of them to nature. I never intended to "own" them and keep them forever. Now my collection is contracting, I decided to keep only three of them, one from Finland, one from Denmark that was a gift from my fellow human, and the stone I brought from Sweden which is in my office. In the grand scheme of things, such changes and decisions feel insignificant. In terms of sustainability, more significant decision relate to, for example, car ownership, sources of energy one uses, belonging to and supporting certain social movements, and even one's diet and voting. Since I made many of such decisions already (e.g., to not own a car), I have been thinking more about very small, everyday aspects of my life, as each of these small aspects is a manifestation of a mode of relating with the world. It feels like keeping my finger on the pulse of life, as it unfolds.
I learn a lot from contemplating smaller things, and important insights often arise from these contemplations. I observe that such reflections can be practised only when my life is simplified as much as possible, for instance, in terms of the size of my home, the number of possessions, and the time I spend with my fellow humans.
