Shakespeare, Sonnets, and Stewardship: Why Ecological Problems Require Poetry

Yes, this is the role of the human and this is the choice of the dramatist—to see truth, to witness its drama, to accept the opportunity, to have great power, to hold loosely its abiding weight, and then to trip headlong into the boundless triumphs and pains and beauties made and gifted everlasting in the love of land, of the all of us.

The curse of competence

While I was eventually able to get off the treadmill without too much of a stumble, I think human society is facing a similar dynamic, and I don’t know how graceful our collective dismount will be. More than anything, I want my friends, family, and neighbors to understand the consequences of our collective trajectory. The technical name for the ratcheting-up, “curse of competence” dynamic is the Jevons Paradox.

Visit to a future sustainable neighborhood

As I took my first breath in this future neighborhood, the air had a fragrant quality that I didn’t recognize. I could hear a person shout something, maybe a block away. It’s much quieter than the world I left. There’s certainly a smell of home cooking in the air. And there’s a lot more plants of all sizes and description wherever I look. That’s it! The air carries a mixture of fruit scents.