Earth’s Wisdom

Growth

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:47:10 -0400

I have to come to realize that almost everybody I’ve come across disagrees with me on this issue. I am talking particularly about economic growth. Why do we always have to make more money? Why does a business have to keep growing to be successful? How could endless growth be sustainable?

It’s not. Particularly because endless growth does not exist and most of us end up in a “rut”. But the underlying issue is, if you are wired to never be satisfied and always want more, could you possibly be happy? This endless hunger for more money and economic growth is unhealthy. Native Americans quickly found out that when their tribes grew in numbers, so did their problems. Native tribes around the world end up living in harmony with nature and maintain sustainable population levels.

We all have goals and dreams in life. The problem arises when our goal calls for always growing financially. It can only lead to unhappiness; either by getting so rich that money and life lose their value or by never being happy with what we have.

Growing intellectually, emotionally and spiritually is something we can do till the day we die. Growing financially until we die is certainly doable, but unnatural and highly unlikely to result in happiness. Unsustainable economic growth equals unsustainable happiness.

Harvesting Ramps Sustainably

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:46:31 -0400

The goal when harvesting wild edibles is to harvest at a slower pace than the plant replenishes itself.

Ramps have become scarce in many areas due to over harvesting as well as poor harvesting technique. One of the most important things you can avoid doing to assure the survival of the plant in your neck of the woods is not to harvest from small patches such as this:

Instead, try to find a patch like this:

Also, when it comes to ramps you will be eating mostly the green leaves, not the small bulbs. Sure, the bulbs are nice and it’s ok to get a few but the focus should be on the leaves. However, if you cut all the leaves from a bulb, you’ll essentially starve the bulb. What you should do is harvest one leaf and leave the other one behind. Like this:

Since you’ll want a few bulbs; harvest it from plants that are glowing very close together and be patient and avoid damaging the bulb growing next to the one you are harvesting. If you follow these simple steps you will ensure that the plant continues to thrive and that future generations can also enjoy it.

God, The Meaning of Life and Religion

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:25:35 -0400

Disclaimer: The article below describes my view of religion. I would suggest that you don’t read it if you feel that my views could be insulting to you.

I have no problem with any religion; but religion often has a problem with me. I don’t dislike or like anyone based on their religious beliefs, but some people dislike me because of their religious beliefs. In fact, I think it’s great that if having a religion, improves a person’s life and happiness. However I would strongly disagree with anyone who insists that everybody should have a religion.

An undefined God is one I can feel closer to each day. There are questions in life which will always remain unanswered, even though many will try to convince us that they have the answer. We are faced with either having faith and accepting an answer or leaving the question unanswered, I choose the latter. Who is God? Is there anything after death? What’s the meaning of life?

Let me take the question we are faced with every day, what’s the meaning of life? Imagine if we actually had an answer, imagine how boring our lives would be. Having new experiences, new interests and caring about new things each day are not only part of life, but can be defined as “living”. Things we do that make us feel meaningful add value to our lives. On the other hand, when we choose to be destructive, it works the other way around. Everyday we have both positive and negative experiences. Everyday we are both constructive and destructive. Hopefully as we grow older we can achieve a balance and hold on to what’s important to each of us in life. It’ll vary from human being to human being, but I certainly don’t mean to disregard the fact that we all have a lot in common. I am simply addressing another issue; the gift of individuality which makes each of us unique.

If I read in a book what’s supposed to be meaningful and important in my life, how could I possibly be happy? This is why I don’t believe in having the big questions answered by a book, a religion or someone else. I’d rather live and find my own answers.

Prejudice based on religion or a lack of it exists in every way possible. There are people who look down on Christians, Muslims, Buddha, Hindu and just about every religion. There are people who will automatically assume someone is an atheist if that person doesn’t have a religion. Assumptions are nothing more than what they imply.

Now to the only piece of advice I can offer (thanks to Thoreau). Don’t be too moral. In my case, the majority of my relatives and people I know happen to be Christians. That means I get together with the family during the Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter. To my benefit (but not to the benefit of religion), such holidays have been so commercialized that it is quite easy to participate without being religious. But even if they were more religious I would still be part of it as getting together with the people I care about is what’s important.

“Don't be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life” -Henry David Thoreau

If you are confident in your own beliefs and morals, then you will not feel threatened by someone else’s.

Society

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:59:15 -0400

I read the book “Into The Wild” many years ago. Thankfully I did not know the ending before I read it. It is a great book based on a true story, which last year was also made into a movie. Don’t get me wrong when I say it’s a great book, it is great beyond any entertainment value. Read it and you’ll find out why!

I recommend that the book is read before the movie is seen. The book gives you a better overall picture of what happened, even though there are many unknowns. Too many people are quick to judge Chris McCandless but I believe we are simply projecting our own fears and insecurities onto someone else.

Today I came across the movie’s soundtrack and I really like most of the music. I can only thank Chris, whose story has inspired the book, the movie as well as the music. Maybe there’s some irony in how his story has been commercialized but I try to look past it and focus on the good.

Here’s the song “Society” from the “Into The Wild” soundtrack:

Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 19:13:24 -0500

Last night when I was driving home I had a thought regarding my morals and ethics. I saw the difference very clearly between handling a problem by sticking with my morals versus handling the problem in a physical confrontation.

A physical confrontation will seldom resolve the problem and its impact is meaningless, while standing up for what’s right can change society for the better. Resolving an issue physically always results in loss of life even if no life is lost. It is also much easier to resort to a physical confrontation than to engage in a civil and truthful conversation.

When I feel I’ve been wronged, discriminated against or simply disrespected; more often than not I end up with an anger that eats me alive. An anger that is so negative I can feel the years coming off my life. My brain tells me that it’s not worth being so upset, yet my heart has an insatiable hunger for truth and fairness. Is it because my brain is corrupted by society in a way that tries to put myself first; and in my heart is the God given instinct for fairness?

So I feel the best way to heal such an anger is to deal with the issue in a truthful and fair way, even if the reason you’re upset in the first place is because someone was dishonest and unfair to you. If your morals are based on fairness and truth, then you can end the unfairness you are faced with, and that will ultimately change the world around you. There is a tendency to weigh the cost of standing up for yourself, but I can assure you that the gain is much more than just a personal one, and the positive effect will permeate through the world around you in ways you cannot imagine.

Written by Pedro Guimaraes on January 19, 2008

P.S: The title of this article is a saying by Henry David Thoreau.

The Moose Hunt

Wed, 9 Jan 2008 21:11:18 -0500

I just finished reading a chapter of “The Maine Woods” by Thoreau called “The Moose Hunt”. It’s only 25 pages in my version of the book, and in the first 20 pages, Thoreau describes the hunting trip and the eventual killing of a moose by a hunter.

What is so amazing about the chapter is his thoughts after the hunt. After one moose is killed, he chooses to stay behind while the others go hunt more moose. He lights a fire and writes down his reflections, which I and many others are thankful for. Sure, you or I may have had similar thoughts at times; but the ability to articulate complex thoughts into ageless writings as Thoreau often did, is pure genius.

“But, on more accounts than one, I had had enough of moose-hunting. I had not come to the woods for this purpose, nor had I foreseen it, though I had been willing to learn how the Indian maneuvered; but one moose killed was as good, if not as bad, as a dozen. The afternoon’s tragedy, and my share in it, as it affected the innocence, destroyed the pleasure of my adventure. It is true, I came as near as is possible to come to being a hunter and miss it, myself; and as it is, I think that I could spend a year in the woods, fishing and hunting just enough to sustain myself, with satisfaction. This would be next to living like a philosopher on the fruits of the earth which you had raised, which also attracts me.”

“Strange that so few ever came to the woods to see how the pine lives and grows and spires, lifting its evergreen arms to the light,-- to see its perfect success; but most are content to behold it in the shape of many broad boards brought to the market, and deem that its true success! But the pine is no more lumber than man is, and to be made into boards and houses is no more its true and highest use than the truest use of a man is to be cut down and made into manure. There is a higher law affecting our relation to pines as well as to men.”

“A pine cut down, a dead pine, is no more a pine than a dead human carcass is a man. Can he who has discovered only some of the values of whalebone and whale oil be said to have discovered the true use of the whale? Can he who slays the elephant for his ivory be said to have seen the elephant? These are petty and accidental uses; just as if a stronger race were to kill us in order to make buttons and flageolets of our bones; for everything may serve a lower as well as a higher use. Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine-trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it.”

“I have been into the lumber-yard, and the carpenter’s shop, and the tannery, and the lampblack factory, and the turpentine clearing; but when at length I saw the tops of the pines waving and reflecting the light at a distance high over all the rest of the forest, I realized that the former were not the highest uses of the pine. It is not their bones or hide or tallow that I love most. It is the living spirit of the tree, not its spirit of turpentine, with which I sympathize and which heals my cuts. It is as immortal as I am, and perchance will go to as high a heaven, there to tower above me still.”

A Review of 2007

Wed, 2 Jan 2008 19:54:12 -0500

I think I grew more in 2007 than in any previous year. The year was very balanced with many good things happening but also many bad things; in some ways it was the year of extremes for me. Almost like a manic depressive year but that sounds too negative. So this review is going to focus mostly on the positive, not because there’s no growth in the negative but because as we look forward to a new year it helps to focus on the positive.

I finally found a way to express my hunger for artistic expression; nature photography. The shot at the top was taken in March 2007 at Campgaw Mountain during a snow storm. It made Kodak Picture of the Day for April 11, 2007. Check out my best pictures of 2007!

I was on an early spring hike in April when I heard a group of frogs singing away in the woods. That’s when I came across a body of water (which I later found out was a vernal pool) full of wood frogs singing away and mating. Read the blog entry and see more pictures here.

I came across a patch of ramps (wild leeks) during a hike and discovered this great wild food source that I will look forward to every spring. Just another activity that will have me participating in nature and getting closer to the natural world.

Also in early spring I began reading the best book I ever read; Walden by Henry David Thoreau. I am still amazed by his wisdom and feel truly thankful that he decided to share it with us. If you haven’t read it, you should. It’ll open up your mind to new ideas and concepts, and hopefully you will disagree with some of his ideas which will then inspire you to develop more of your own.

Amazingly enough a black bear showed up in my backyard as well. Sadly the same day, one of our cats, Precious died in his sleep at the young age of 4.

Spring didn’t end there! I was looking for fawns in the woods (for photographic purposes) when I came across young coyote pups which provided me with lots of photographic opportunities and close-encounters with the amazing creatures they are. Check out the Coyote Tales page for more info.

In the summer I stumbled across chanterelle mushrooms in the woods and discovered a few other species. I will continue to study and gather these wild treats for years to come.

During a rainy and very dark day I spotted this beautiful Eastern Newt on a rock when I was about to sit down to rest.

In the fall I wrote what I think is one of my better essays. It was written from thoughts that I had while laying in the grass in the woods. I’ll leave you with the essay and have a wonderful 2008!

The Art Of Appreciation
Written on October 14, 2007

More important than owning or even experiencing something is being able to appreciate it. If you know how to appreciate a wood fire, its smell, its beauty, then you can feel good just by thinking about it. Yet if you don't know how to appreciate it, but it is present in your every day life, then its presence is only physical and meaningless. This is a prime example of how not having can be more than actually having.

Autumn is a beautiful season to reflect on everything spring and summer has brought us. But Autumn itself should not be overlooked as it has many gifts; the sun warming your back on a chilly morning, the sound of the leaves dancing in the air, the beauty of every leaf as it changes colors, are among the countless blessings that are freely available to all of us who know how to appreciate it.

Appreciation leads to less consumption. The world moves towards more and more consumption everyday and of course, less appreciation. We are supposed to buy and not be satisfied, but want more. If we learned to appreciate everything we already have we wouldn't waste so much, and need to buy more to feel content. Having should not be about how much physical matter is around you.

It is a cultural issue that has spread to be a world wide problem. The good old days when people were truly thankful for the food they got at this time of the year; the food that would get them through the winter are long gone. It is now work to be appreciative of things and much easier to say give me more!

The good news is that when we learn to appreciate something, it most often stays with us. And it is one of the many things that can add fulfillment to our lives and lead to overall happiness. Very few of us can appreciate the most basic things such as every breath we take. It is much harder to be appreciative of something that is always there, even though that something may be essential in keeping us alive.

Doing nothing can lead to appreciation as well, sit on a log in the woods and let nature over power all your senses. This is the perfect time of the year to do this. On a chilly morning when the air is biting your skin, the sun warming your back and the wind and the trees singing a song just for you.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this.

--Pedro Guimaraes

“If I seem to boast more than is becoming, my excuse is that I brag for humanity rather than for myself; and my shortcomings and inconsistencies do not affect the truth of my statement.” --Henry David Thoreau

Happy New Year! One little thing that may protect you...

Tue, 1 Jan 2008 16:15:52 -0500

First, I hope that all of you out there have a wonderful new year and that you are blessed with lots of good health. I’ve had lots of challenges in 2007 but I have also grown a lot. I hope that 2008 is less chaotic.

Everyday we are faced with new health threats from new technologies we develop. Sure, medicine is more advanced each day, but many of the health problems we face today were created by us. I’m a believer that technology has no place when it comes to our food. We should not be using any pesticides or herbicides, synthetic fertilizers and we should also not add any chemicals to our food. Why do apples have to be coated with wax just to look shiny?

Another major threat to our health comes from electronic devices such as the computer I’m using to type this blog as well as many other devices including what everybody seems to carry these days; the cellphone. I am guilty too. Last year I finally got a cellphone and it does have its benefits. But at what cost?

Nobody really knows. Some claim that cellphones are harmless, some claim that it causes cancer. I don’t r know either. All I know is that I fear that the radiation my cellphone emits damages cells in my body that can someday lead to cancer.

So I’m writing to let you know about these products that may protect you from your cellphone as well as from other electronic devices. Does it work? I can’t guarantee it, but the answer I was given by the person who gave me one of these products is good enough for me: “If there’s a chance it works, I’ll wear it”.

Biomagnetic Research Inc. developed beads/resonators that you can wear or attach to electronic devices to neutralize detrimental electromagnetic radiation. For around $20 bucks you can buy something that may potentially protect you. Here’s text directly from the website:

“Biomagnetic Research, Inc. has created a unique ceramic based material which alters the resonance of most harmful environmental radiation that accompany normal electromagnetic fields. From this they have developed affordable tools, chiefly their Crystal Catalyst Dielectric Resonators, to help neutralize the effects of these energies upon yourself and your surroundings. Crystal Catalyst Dielectric Resonators are fired in a special energy field, resulting in a honeycomb structure. This field realigns molecules so that they absorb the energies that strike them, and pulses them out in a beneficial form. Dielectric resonators are not electrical conductors, but are the strongest known collectors of electromagnetic energies. Our newest product is the Clear Field Resonator, the most effective tool we have tested for clearing harmful effects from power line radiation in the last 35 years.”

Check out this website, http://www.essenceofthings.com/BiomagneticResearchProducts.html to read more about the products. You can also purchase them through the same website.

Ignorance, Distortion and Prejudice

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:35:45 -0500

We live in a very complicated world that is faced with many challenges which often result in conflicts between people and sometimes nations. Many ongoing conflicts have their origins in the fight for wealth, ideology and ultimately self-interests of nations and/or corporations. However, I am writing to address a totally different conflict; the one that arises between people of different ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, skin color, economical backgrounds, etc...

In this day and age that so many call the “information” age, there’s more room for misinformation than ever. The media is constantly providing us with wrong information and it’s becoming harder and harder to distinguish between fact and fiction. Politicians are constantly distorting facts to suit their agenda no matter what the human cost may be.

Lately the media and politicians have decided to pick on “illegal aliens”. Politicians have distorted the facts to the point that some people believe that “illegal aliens” get more benefits than they do, are a burden on society and are hurting the American worker. What they are trying to hide is that the people taking our benefits away are the same politicians who accuse illegal aliens of doing so; the people hurting the American worker are the corporations that hire the illegal aliens (directly or indirectly).

Since the majority of the illegal aliens doing the crappy jobs nobody else is willing to are Hispanic, Hispanic people all over the nation, legal and illegal are suffering the backlash and prejudice. And while most of America is Christian, how come so many Christians are not adhering to one of the most fundamental teachings of Christianity; caring for the less fortunate ? Instead too many people bash the same people who do the dirty low -paid jobs so that they don’t have to.

Take for example this ridiculous statement made by the Vice President of the New Jersey Hospital Association, Ron Czajkowski:

“"We're beginning to hear more and more from hospitals about illegal aliens basically taking a flight in, being treated and taking off back home and leaving hospitals with the bill,"

Source: Bergen Record

Why is this statement ridiculous? People who fly in need to have a visa to enter the United States, therefore they are not illegal aliens. I wrote to the Bergen Record but they did not respond.

A report by the Pew Hispanic Center has also found that life is becoming increasingly harder for Hispanics due to the political fight over immigration.

Source: The New York Times

I’ve had these thoughts about this issue for awhile now. It took an incident at work to push me to write this essay. I truly believe that the source of my conflict was prejudice. However, due to the fact that I believe in JUSTICE and hate being accused of something I am not guilty of, I chose to give the people the benefit of the doubt even though the facts point to prejudice. I was afraid of filing a complaint against the individuals because often enough the victim becomes the problem and ends up suffering the consequences of standing up for what’s right.

I encourage anyone who suffers any prejudice to report it no matter the cost. However, I’d ask anyone to be very careful to not try to fix an injustice with another injustice. If you feel someone has treated you unfairly, give them the chance to explain themselves and change their behavior or you may end up becoming what you despise.

Standing up for what’s right can sometimes affect the individual who does so in a negative way, but it always has a positive effect on humanity.

Winter Solstice

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 20:19:18 -0500

Winter Solstice marks the longest night of the year and consequently the shortest day of the year. It has been celebrated by cultures all over the world for thousands of years. And in my opinion it is a celebration of the Earth and the natural world.

I dream of a time when I can honor this Earth event by dedicating more effort and time to it. Unfortunately all I did this year was spend time thinking about it when it was happening and how I wish I were outside in the cold next to a nice warm fire glowing in the darkness. But I realize that the most important thing is that I can do is think about and honor such an event. And since it’s a personal thing, having a celebration in the physical world is not necessary but would certainly add to the experience.

I truly believe that Winter Solstice is an event that could bring more people together due to the fact there is no religion attached to it. Sure, to some there’s an spiritual aspect to it, but I don’t see how it could cause a conflict with anyone’s religion. How can anyone go wrong with celebrating “God’s” creation?

Every year I ache for more when it comes to my connection to the natural world. And I hope that this ache never goes away and keeps pushing me to find ways to get closer to the Earth. I guess you could say it is one of the few true spiritual connections in my life and I hope that it only grows as I get older.

I am thankful for living in this day and age when I still can experience what I fear some will only be able to read about in the future. I am thankful for whatever time I have left to live life in this wonderful Earth that we belong to. Thank you.