The numbers of 7 generations
The idea of thinking 7 generations ahead is not a new concept, yet it is still largely ignored. I want to hash out some thoughts here...
Just curious if anyone has thought of this:
I am 1 person born in the 1970s
I have 2 parents born in the 1940s
I have 4 grandparents born in the 1910s and 1920s
I have 8 great-grandparents born in the 1880s-1900s
I have 16 great-great-grandparents born in the 1850s-1880s
I have 32 great-great-great-grandparents born in the 1820s-1840s
I have 64 great-great-great-great-grandparents born in the 1790s-1820s
If I have the math right...That is 127 people, not including all of the siblings, aunts/uncles, nieces/nephews, great aunts/uncles, second cousins, etc., who have all lived on this earth and participated in the shaping and molding of the world I live in today. Their families all came here from Europe a couple of generations before these 7 generations. They sought out a new paradigm, a new way of thinking and living that surpassed the rule of greedy kings and warfare. They wanted a new home and a place for their children to find themselves a new identity. There seemed to be no avoiding the ideals that came out of this mindset. Beyond being free from reigning kings, the settlers of the infant United States focused on survival. These needs were hard to come by in the harsh environments of the great plains and prairies. People began to seek new ways to survive more efficiently and reduce the burden on the backs of so many people. Thus, the industrial revolution became a steady influence in my great-great-great-great-grandparents lifetime. They were embedded in it but not wholly aware of it. Think of the current world population of 6,767,275,807 (~6.8 billion) people. All of those people have an ancestry line of the same number of people. That is 859,444,027,489 (~859 trillion) people who have all been a part of this unfolding life on earth for the past 220 years (once again, not including extended family). They all were shaped, influenced, and carried by the ideas of progress, manifest destiny, colonialism, scientific discovery, and the disenchantment of the natural world.Now, in the present day of 2009, I am part of a generation that is forming the environmental consciousness revolution. This is our answer to a calling of the earth to remember our ancestors (all beings, not just people). I have just begun to remember my ancestors and reunite my connection to the land.
We have spent so much energy getting away from the "soft animal of our bodies" and have forgotten that these animal bodies are of the earth and for the earth. The following poem speaks of this:
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
Love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
Are moving across the landscapes,
Over the prairies and the deep trees,
The mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile, the geese, high in the clean blue air,
Are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
The world offers itself to your imagination,
Calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
Over and over announcing your place
In the family of things.”
~Mary Oliver
I cannot fault my ancestors for the journey they were a part of. Believe me, I am thankful they took the steps they did, for otherwise I would not be here. Which is why I want to ensure that I make decisions that take into account seven generations in the future. And that does not mean just buying 7thgeneration paper products. It is so much more than that. I cannot even begin to speak of it yet, but it is all there waiting to come out of me and into the future.
Just curious if anyone has thought of this:
I am 1 person born in the 1970s
I have 2 parents born in the 1940s
I have 4 grandparents born in the 1910s and 1920s
I have 8 great-grandparents born in the 1880s-1900s
I have 16 great-great-grandparents born in the 1850s-1880s
I have 32 great-great-great-grandparents born in the 1820s-1840s
I have 64 great-great-great-great-grandparents born in the 1790s-1820s
If I have the math right...That is 127 people, not including all of the siblings, aunts/uncles, nieces/nephews, great aunts/uncles, second cousins, etc., who have all lived on this earth and participated in the shaping and molding of the world I live in today. Their families all came here from Europe a couple of generations before these 7 generations. They sought out a new paradigm, a new way of thinking and living that surpassed the rule of greedy kings and warfare. They wanted a new home and a place for their children to find themselves a new identity. There seemed to be no avoiding the ideals that came out of this mindset. Beyond being free from reigning kings, the settlers of the infant United States focused on survival. These needs were hard to come by in the harsh environments of the great plains and prairies. People began to seek new ways to survive more efficiently and reduce the burden on the backs of so many people. Thus, the industrial revolution became a steady influence in my great-great-great-great-grandparents lifetime. They were embedded in it but not wholly aware of it. Think of the current world population of 6,767,275,807 (~6.8 billion) people. All of those people have an ancestry line of the same number of people. That is 859,444,027,489 (~859 trillion) people who have all been a part of this unfolding life on earth for the past 220 years (once again, not including extended family). They all were shaped, influenced, and carried by the ideas of progress, manifest destiny, colonialism, scientific discovery, and the disenchantment of the natural world.Now, in the present day of 2009, I am part of a generation that is forming the environmental consciousness revolution. This is our answer to a calling of the earth to remember our ancestors (all beings, not just people). I have just begun to remember my ancestors and reunite my connection to the land.
We have spent so much energy getting away from the "soft animal of our bodies" and have forgotten that these animal bodies are of the earth and for the earth. The following poem speaks of this:
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
Love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
Are moving across the landscapes,
Over the prairies and the deep trees,
The mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile, the geese, high in the clean blue air,
Are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
The world offers itself to your imagination,
Calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
Over and over announcing your place
In the family of things.”
~Mary Oliver
I cannot fault my ancestors for the journey they were a part of. Believe me, I am thankful they took the steps they did, for otherwise I would not be here. Which is why I want to ensure that I make decisions that take into account seven generations in the future. And that does not mean just buying 7thgeneration paper products. It is so much more than that. I cannot even begin to speak of it yet, but it is all there waiting to come out of me and into the future.