Strange Times & New Habits
This certainly is a strange time. On one hand it is springtime. The weather is beautiful, gardens are coming alive, and the sounds of birds are plentiful. On the other, we are still right in the middle of this whole Covid-19 saga. One hand offers abundant life, joy and sunshine while the other is still throwing stress, fear and uncertainty into the mix. With two such conflicting influences on us, it is important that we be mindful of what habits we consciously or inadvertently are developing.
With me starting my first garden ever this year, I have been doing all kinds of research on companion planting, cultivating healthy ecosystems and raising happy, healthy animals. You see plants grow better when grown around other plants. The pests attracted by one plant ends up taking care of the pests attracted by another. The soil that feeds the plants is healthier in the presence of animals. The manure of cows and other ruminant animals naturally fertilizes the soil and then birds like chickens and other fowl scratch and till the manure into the soil and eat up more of the pests. Together they form a natural system that helps develop a healthy ecosystem for them all to thrive in. However, our food system mostly tries to alienate each of these by raising them in isolation. Feedlots for cattle, chicken houses, monocropping only one type of plant at a time. This all leads to needing to medicate each part of this ecosystem with pesticides and antibiotics and it ends up being a terrible environment to raise anything healthy in.
As I’ve done my research on growing food, I couldn’t help but notice the similarities of raising healthy plants and animals with that of developing a society full of happy and healthy people. We are social animals after all. We crave companionship and community for the sake of our overall health. We thrive better when we can spend time out in natural environments. When we are isolated, you see drastic negative effects on our mental health, immune system, and our sense of wellbeing. There is no faster way to destroy a healthy body than to isolate it and prevent it from experiencing any bits of nature, thus leading to a need to medicate to make up for the lack of a healthy environment.
During this disturbing Covid-19 saga, we have seen both ends of the spectrum in our society. On one hand, depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide are all rising at drastic rates. This is on top of everyone affected by the virus itself and the millions affected economically from this. On the other hand, there have been some glimpses of beauty in this darkness. We live next to a park that has some wonderful hiking trails through beautiful rolling fields and peaceful forests. The number of people that have been hiking these trails the last three months easily outnumbers the total we saw the entire year prior to this. My mother lives with a lake behind her house. She said she had never seen anyone fishing out there before, but during this quarantine, every night of the week there have been whole families out fishing and spending quality time together safely outside. We have heard constant stories of how people are using Facetime and Zoom to reach out to friends and loved ones more than they ever had before.
Does it really take a pandemic to get us to go hiking, spend time with our families and reach out to those we love? We know our habits will dictate who we are, how we live and what we accomplish. What habits have developed for you during this time? No matter where you stand on how we handle going forward with Covid-19, lets understand that we need each other. Let’s never forget the feelings this isolation time has brought on us. Let’s cherish every moment and interaction we do get to have and never take that need for community for granted. Let’s keep spending quality time outdoors and with our families. Not because we are forced to, but because it is what is best for our lives, our health and our society. Let’s make sure the habits we are developing are improving our lives and of those around us, so as we go forward in this saga we do so while LIVING FREE!
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