If my intention is to be a good ancestor, walking in this life with my work truly being an offering in service, what ecocultural identity do I need to unearth?
First, what is eco-cultural identity? In a paper prepared for and presented at Cultures and Environments by Adrian Ivakhiv, ecocultural identity was defined as “relations between different modes of human interaction or ‘immersion’ with(in) nonhuman nature (via productive labour, leisure, scientific research, religion and myth, etc.) and the politics within which these are imposed, resisted, legitimized and/or marginalized.”
What does that even mean?
Ecocultural identity is a basic consciousness of one's own specificity amongst other peoples, in terms of living habits, customs, language, and values and also how they live amongst animals, spirits and all forms of nature. The modes of contact matter – stories, ritual, tradition, ceremony, prayer, daily work and just ‘being.’
So what happens when we no longer resonate with our culture? What happens when these social constructs are no longer in line with our personal values, or begins to lack meaning? What happens when you don’t pass culture onto the next generation?
When we start feeling like we no longer belong, or our spiritual connection wanes, or our connection to the natural world dwindles, we begin to wonder if we are living a life with meaning. We seek substitutes that will temporarily ease the longing. Corporate culture lulls us into world of over-consumption as we attempt to compensate for the causes of our separation rather than deeply question the root of what we are feeling.
No amount of any pacifier will ever be enough. The result is cultural, moral and financial debt. Scarcity mindsets emerge from fear, which leads to division and competition, obesity, addictions, mental illness, climate change, ecological disasters deeper separation and severed connections from what really matters.
This is a time to stop pretending everything’s okay when clearly it isn’t – and we all know it. Deep down inside each of us, we know the dominant global culture is irreparably broken. In the face of this overbearing corporate culture, choosing authenticity is an absolute act of resistance.
Choosing to live within the confines of our own individual values is an act of defiance. Choosing permaculture values, slow food values, indigenous values and rejecting Fast Food Culture is the start of disruptive engagement. Choosing all of the above is constructive chaos.
Going against the ingrained, accepted and deeply flawed dominant social culture will provoke severe consequences. For those who are concerned with doing things the way things have always been done, attempts to mess with tradition are met with distrust, suspicion and criticism.
Elle Luna, in describing the difference between what we feel we “should” do and what we feel we “must” do, said, “Should is how others want us to show up in the world how we are suppose to think, what we ought to say, what we should and shouldn’t do. 'Must' is who we are, what we believe and what we do when we are alone with our truest, most authentic self. 'Must' happens when we stop conforming to other people’s ideals and start connecting to our own.”
After breaking up with FFC, I was left with the question: “What are my musts for regenerative living in terms of self, food, water, health, education, business and economy?”
The starting place was clear: self-love. Women, myself included, generally do not make this starting point a ‘must.’ We don’t know how.
If you want change in your life, you’ve got to do the work every single day. You need uncover your eco-cultural identity: to connect to your values, be mindful of what matters, have conversations (some of which will be difficult and/or with yourself), and hold space in your life for people, ideas and feelings to just ‘be.’