Ed. — From the Sunday, Oct. 17, print edition.
BY J.D. WILSON
VIRGINIA BEACH — We are well past the point where wisdom seems available in the sea of information technology provides so readily. I struggle sometimes with what we digest by digital means, the vast sea of minutiae that isn’t as filling as what real-world experience teaches.
I recently had a conversation with Bonney Bright, a longtime southern Virginia Beach resident known as a businessperson and farmer. Our discussion included older folks and the wisdom found within their hearts and minds.
Bright told me stories he had heard from elders earlier in his life, and I greatly enjoyed our conversation – and that he passed these stories along. Now that I collect Social Security, I suppose I should develop wisdom. I hope I live long enough to do so.
Information obtained in sound bites on the news or online can lead a person to a very incomplete picture or a jaded perspective. It takes effort and an open mind and heart to look deeply into any subject. The results of seeking wisdom can be very rewarding and sometimes unsettling.
One must be able to abide a larger, nuanced, even contradictory story to achieve something deeper and truer. It may be uncomfortable to allow challenges to our biases and opinion-based soundbite thinking. You know I am talking to myself here.
I had a period in my 20s when, following self-created trouble, I spent a lot of time in the mountains. I lived without electricity or running water or any amenities. Well, there was running water in the stream nearby.
But I stayed warm and well fed there through a cold West Virginia winter. I had time to just be, and I rearranged my life and thinking. I observed nature. I befriended birds. I watched shooting stars in a perfectly clear sky. I had time to allow my busy mind to settle down.
This allowed for the wisdom of nature to begin seeping in. We all need some time to allow for deeper thought. And it doesn’t require living alone in the mountains. It takes intention and a little time. We have two eyes, two ears and one mouth for a reason. That’s four parts input and observation and one part speech. Don’t worry. That’s the end of the math in this column.
It helps to consciously ask ourselves to be open and discerning in our thinking. I saw a bumber sticker once which read, “Don’t believe everything you think.” I really love that thought.
And, of course, don’t believe everything you read or hear. There is also a time to stop what you are doing and consider alternatives like I did in the mountains.
This brings me to agriculture. I propose we rethink what is immediately expedient versus what is wise. Our ag education system is supported by corporate entities. They shape a lot of what we learn. This is not necessarily wisdom. Wisdom asks us to consider what kind of farming will sustain us for many years, even generations to come. We know some of the answers.
I have written in this space about the need for more soil carbon capture, soil microbiology, trees and shrubs, biodiversity on and around the farm, cover cropping and compost. There is lots of work to do, knowledge and techniques to discover. And we need to observe nature more. This is the original system of a long-lasting ecosystem.
However the birds learned to fly and the shooting stars decided to streak is way beyond my paygrade. But there are farms of many acres which coexist with nature – all the trees and shrubs, wildflowers and wildlife living side by side with a modern farm producing lots of food and thriving financially. Really, they do more than coexist with nature. They learn from it.
There are also old books written by farmers and keen observers who learned in a slower version of life. They taught some of the wisdom I speak of. There are practitioners of such practices today. I aspire to be one, which is why I practice and write about sustainable practices.
Now back to my habit of seeking out elders with wisdom about the work of making food. You can seek out their words for yourself. One of my favorites is Wendell Berry. Others include John Ikerd, Fred Kirschenmann, Eliot Coleman, Vandana Shiva, John Jeavons, Gabe Brown and more. And, of course, there are others who don’t write, but you are lucky if you find them. They are right around the corner sometimes. They quietly do their work in sync with the rhythms of nature.
Don’t forget the elders in other walks of life like the grandmothers who quietly pass on their wisdom by example or simple deeds. Let’s slow down, listen to the elders and use our own discernment to decide who to listen to.
Not all live in wisdom. There is much to learn online, but we can learn more from the land and the people who work it.
I hope we’ll plan for resilience for the next seven generations.
© 2021 Pungo Publishing Co., LLC