Labor

The labor of daily living breeds consciousness and humility. Modern life has distanced urban dwellers from some of the routines which can keep the mind in touch with life's simple physical realities. Maintaining even a humble patch of soil or pavement informs. 

Grass growing between cracks in a sidewalk or driveway eventually deteriorates the surface. Nature taking hold over human contrivance slowly and persistently. As a contriving human, I must then pluck the grass out to preserve my contrivance for easy access to my home. The grass grows back vigorously. I remove it. It returns. What does this say about my relationship to Nature, to the Universe, to other forms of life?

Does my human existence necessitate my contesting with Nature? Why should it? What we identify as civilization has pitched this battle. Could we have evolved differently? Can we try consciously to do so?

The labor of tending my patch opens my mind to more questions than answers. The answers are usually temporary solutions to problems presented by my battle with the forces of wind, water and other species. The questions open my mind to accepting and even appreciating the forces I am battling in this human folly. Perhaps this is a gentler version of the journey of the warrior.

Energy spent with concentration on maintaining a simple life of health, function and self-sufficiency is never wasted. It is the work of a human laboratory, wherein all the mysteries of what we do not know become evident and intriguing. This feeds the skepticism and curiosity which is essential to a humanist practice.