First Day of Summer, and ‘Surviving Progress’ – the Movie

Vegan life keeps getting better and better: lunch today is a mango chickpea curry with basmati rice

Saw a great movie this weekend. The documentary ‘Surviving Progress’ looks at the material culture that drives everything that’s destroying ourselves and Earth, and discusses ways we could change the game and reverse the trend. I recommend this film.

Some big minds are interviewed for this movie, including Jane Goodall, Margaret Atwood, and Steven Hawking. And the consensus is the same: we as a culture define ‘progress’ as economic increase and industrialization, with a goal, whether we know it or not, that financially benefits a fraction of Earth’s population while driving the rest of us into debt and despair.

'Progress’ has grown out of all proportion to natural evolution. We are wiping out nature’s capitol - that is, the clean air, water, uncut forests, and rich farmland that Mother Earth has produced. All just so that we can have more things. More stuff. And we’re so hijacked by this material culture that something as non-essential as a $50,000 bathroom remodel has become a life-affirming thing.

I could make this a lot more coherent, but the message of the movie is that this ‘progress trap’ has us all believing that the God called ‘economic growth’, which we’ve been brainwashed into believing is a great thing, is in fact destructive because it’s not socially, economically, or environmentally sustainable. And if we don’t fundamentally change the game, we’re going to go the way of all prior civilizations that also didn’t realize when enough was enough.

Heavy stuff, right? But you may particularly relate to the part of the movie (as I did) that discusses who actually profits from this runaway train of modern industrialization. Not you, not me. Not anyone we know or love. The old monster corporations that drive spending, debt, and environmental ruin have been and always will be the culprits, for no other reason than financial gain. Their gain. Not ours. Watch the movie.

As if overnight, the food gardens have spread their wings. The tomatoes have flowers all over them, summer squash have tiny squash poking out everywhere, pepper plants are flowering and there are tiny peppers visible, kale has suddenly become mammoth, and green beans have tiny flower buds. Soon, we’ll have lots of fresh, homegrown food to eat and share. The growing season is shaping up to be a good one.

Today is the first day of summer! This weekend, I made a yummy fruity and spicy vegan chickpea curry and basmati rice. It’s appearing as lunch again today. I got a great watermelon Friday, and spent the weekend slurping cold cubes of it whenever I felt parched. It’s such a sweet thirst quencher. Our dogs love it. 

Got sunburned again yesterday. As bad as they say it is for health, this girl loves the sun. My husband is deeply tanned now (he just gets darker and darker). Our amazing dogs played, then stretched out in the cool grass yesterday, with their rest broken by occasional mouths full of cold watermelon. So they slept good and happy last night. They’re the best. I love them so much.

While poking around my Mom’s basement Saturday, I found an awesome, large, rustic, bark-rimmed, sustainably-sourced mango wood bowl I had bought probably 10 years ago, stored downstairs, and forgotten. It’s our ‘new’ fruit bowl in the kitchen. Wood is the best vessel. It’s a grounded, high-vibrational substance that’s beautiful while being useful. Gifts from Mother’ Earth’s hands - nature’s capitol.

Live in peace.