270

 Everyday activism

At times, when I refer to my everyday sustainability practices as everyday activism, my fellow humans feel uncomfortable. They wonder if it is really activism. There are different perspectives on what constitutes activism, what qualifies as activism. For some, it is participating in protests, for others it is intense presence on social media and advocating for some cause. For yet others, it is something entirely different. As an introverted human being with sensory processing sensitivity, I feel overwhelmed by protests. I avoid, whenever possible, large gatherings and events. Personally, I feel uncomfortable with taking part in what's become known as hashtag activism as I would not feel that I am doing enough, especially when I do not take part in any protests. I believe that there need to be different forms of activism so more humans with different conditions, preferences and personalities are involved in making the world a better place, in advancing ecological and social causes. 

I find everyday activism an effective form of activism. This is especially so considering that I am in academia. Much of my work is theoretical and abstract. Manifesting in my practice, in my everyday life the values I advocate in my research, showing how I do it, how I make mistakes and so on, is a way for me to connect my research and practice, to engage fellow humans in conversations on sustainability, to make a small difference in the world. I've had countless, wonderful and deep conversations with fellow humans from different walks of life about sustainability practices. Some of those fellow humans were the ones who read my autoethnography. Others were my students. Yet others were fellow humans who were interested in something I was doing and that they observed. For example, once a fellow human at a hospital asked me why I used a cotton pouch instead of a wallet. 

Framing one's simple, everyday practices (both spiritual and material) as activism helps. It allows one to see oneself as a political person, to remember that everything we do either reproduces or transforms social structures. Overall, when I see myself as a political person, I feel more responsible and motivated to do my best. I am not waiting for others to address ecological degradation, I am trying to do it myself in very small ways. Naturally, I am hoping that others are doing it too to the best of their abilities and will do even more as they learn about various possibilities. Taking responsibility makes me reflect on different domains of my life, including consumption, teaching, writing and what I manifest in each of these domains. 

269

 Contemplating sufficiency again

I contemplate sufficiency very often. Recently I was thinking more about it in relation to the book I'm working on. Sufficiency is one of the core values that underpin my sustainability practice. Even though I often refer to my lifestyle as minimalist or extreme minimalist, at the heart of it is not living with the smallest number of possessions. Rather, it is living with what is enough or lagom for me. I know that I could live with even less, but I live with what feels comfortable, though in my case it is much less than what is the norm in our society. 

Sufficiency, in my view, is a positive and gentle word. It is absolutely not about self-limitation, deprivation or sacrifice. It is about self-love and self-care. It is about love and care towards human and non-human others and nature. It is about seeing oneself as enough, one's possessions as enough, rather than seeing oneself as always lacking in something and one's space as lacking in stuff. It is about feeling love towards one's region, seasonal and local food. 

Advertising seems to be based on creating and nourishing insecurities in humans. I often think that without a worldview to which love (towards the self, human and non-human others, and nature) is central, this is how I would be interacting with countless and forceful advertising. I would feel not beautiful enough, not slim enough, not wealthy enough. My hair is not smooth enough, my eyelashes not long enough, my nails not colourful enough. My home is not trendy enough. My underwear is not sexy enough. My clothing is not new enough. The gifts I choose for my fellow humans are not acceptable enough. I'm not seeing enough of the world. These adverts are not there because those businesses care about my wellbeing and want to improve it. They are there so I choose/feel motivated to spend money to address the insecurities and what corporations present as my multiple deficiencies. Not to donate this money to a cause. Not to save it for the future. Not to give it away to those who are genuinely in need. This is not to say that all products are useless or bad. But it is to say that inviting products into one's life requires contemplation. 

I was also thinking about my stepchild and other children her age in the area where I live. The little girl is currently 4. Buying objects is seen by so many as a manifestation of love and care. I do not see sufficiency being manifested at all. In my works, I say that higher education needs to change so that sufficiency is included as a value. I say this because I'm in academia and feel that at least to some extent I am familiar with this industry. At the same time, not every human being wants to be in higher education. And it is naïve to expect that some lecture on sufficiency or ethics will transform fellow humans' worldviews. Worldviews take so long to develop. I'm not entirely sure how, but it feels important that sufficiency is talked about and practised much earlier than when a human being studies at a university.