I wanted to have another look at the architecture there and in particular at one of the churches that has the largest and nicest barrel vaulted brick ceiling... I dont know why I like it so much but I do :)
Im afraid that with the low light, my little camera doesnt do it much justice, but the scale of it has a lot to do with it :)
After that, I hit the road again and headed North along the PanAmericana Highway... Slowly eating up the seemingly endless miles of "nothing".
They really know how to "do" desert here!
Im not kidding at all when I say its quite possible to ride at highway speed for hours in this area without seeing a single living thing... Not even so much as a blade of dry grass! It is absolutely stark....No other word for it, and again, its something that a camera really has a hard time capturing... again because of the scale involved.
And over the next few days heading North as I slowly pulled in the distance, I had the occasional little thought about that "police issue" that I mentioned in the previous post. And I thought to my self... "Run Rabbit Run"...Lets see if there is a little surprise waiting for me at the boarder :)
But it also lead me to thinking about "running" in a broader way... You know, the avoidance of things that we humans are so adept at. I thought about my own avoidance of "work" for the past three years, and my attempt at evading the aspects of modern lifestyle that I didnt like by "opting out" and living in Guatemala, and how thats really what almost all the expats there are trying to do... In fact most expats in most developing world locations are really just trying to avoid their old lives... They still want the western income though as Ive mentioned before, Ive only ever met one person who derived their income in these places from locals rather than from tourists!...
And then, as I rode along past the ever present and oh-so abundant litter strewn along every road side in South America (and no doubt most of the roads of the rest of the world too), I thought that this was really just another aspect of Human avoidance...
And with that, I realised that we humans seem to have developed the absurd idea of "Waste"!
I mean, really it just doesnt happen in a world without humans... Nothing is ever wasted in nature. Its all put to good use, and it all feeds back into the system to be reused and recycled... Not 90% or even 99%... Its absolute! Its 100% without exception... There is no such thing as waste! I guess when you are as old as "Mother Nature", youve had time to learn that as far as matter is concerned, the Earth is a closed system (OK, a few gas molecules do escape the atmosphere, and a few meteorites do come in, but its a minute quantity and its NOT waste) and if you produce something that is "toxic" then you cant hide from it... It will come back and bite you... EVERY TIME!
So, as a life form, if you do produce something that is toxic to yourself, then you better hope that there is another life form (or chain of life) that transforms that toxic stuff back into a non-toxic form and then back into the materials that you started with before it was toxic... If not, then you are headed down a one-way road to extinction! It may be a long slow journey there, but its destination is inevitable!
Its really that simple.
... And it seems that we humans have not yet figured that simple fact out.
It was fine when we lived simple lives and worked with earth, wind, fire, and water, grew our crops and raised our animals, and reproduced at a rate barely greater than the mortality rate. ... It was all organic, and mother natures recycling systems were already there to "process" and recycle the resulting "used" materials... All good stuff :)
But we humans became industrialised and we started playing with chemicals (not to mention atoms!)... And we produced some really cool and useful ones that we could make all sorts of neat things with... But in doing so we produced some others that were really not so cool and that we had no use for... And even the ones that were useful to us were only useful in the short term, and then they too became "not useful".
... And thus the human concept of "Waste" was born
But we didnt develop a new strategy for these not-useful things, we just dumped them where ever they happened to fall like we had for aeons before, and thought no more about it.
But, unfortunately, mother nature does not have the systems in place for dealing with all these synthesised, non-organic chemicals. So, they dont get recycled and returned back to their useful forms (well, not on anything like the time scales of the organic system cycles)... They just accumulate!
And after a while, we humans started to notice that this "waste" was a bit of a problem when we just left it where it was....
So, we figured the best solution was to put it somewhere that "we were not" and then it wouldnt be a problem any more. So, we did that for a while, and it seemed OK.
But then, there were more and more of us humans about and we produced more and more of this bad stuff, and what one group of people discarded in a place they were not using, effected the group of humans down stream etc... And pretty soon, everyone was effecting everyone, And again, we were all living in our own waste!...
So we figured, Well, we need to be a bit more careful about this and we really need to put all that waste where we are not (Well, "we" being the humans that we care about... Our people!) and also where Our food and drinking water are not...
And so, when we had to, we would carefully bury the bad stuff or we would dump it in a river or the ocean where it all got washed away... Whatever was the easiest solution :)
And thats about where we are now... Still dumping our "waste" only as far away from ourselves as we absolutely have to... Minimum effort always.
But. It will never work!
And, as there are now more humans than ever on the planet, and as we are producing more synthetic "wastes" than ever before, its becoming harder and harder to find places where we can dump this bad stuff without it coming back on us. And the supplies of fresh water and clean air that have in the past seemed endless, are now turning out to be rather more limited than we had hoped... And we are starting to see the problem... Just starting mind you... It hasnt really hit home yet... But it will... It will!...
But, "We" seem to be steadfastly refusing to learn the blatantly obvious lesson that nature has been patiently trying to teach us for centuries....
You can run but you cant hide!... You are just running from yourself!
And, it struck me that thats where "We" are as a whole, and that even though some people do see the "lesson" and would be willing to sacrifice the convenience and ease of our disposable lifestyles for one that is sustainable instead... Its not enough...
The days of the idea of "Save Yourself" are long past... Its no longer an option!
We will all "go down together" (even the ones who see the lesson) unless we ALL change together !...
It doesnt matter that some of us "get it"... We can run, but we cant hide from the effects of those of us who dont get it! We are all in it together... There is nowhere left for the rich ones or the smart ones or the peaceful ones to run to in this world... We are stuck sharing it with the poor ones and the stupid ones and the violent ones!
And no matter how much we as individuals, care for the "commonwealth", there is nowhere that is free from those that would turn it into the "individual-wealth" of themselves and the "common-poverty" for everyone else!
So, while as individuals we may be willing to "face the music", As a whole, We humans are still very much "Running from Ourselves"... Run Rabbit Run!!
But lets face it, even as individuals, thats what we ALL do (myself included)... We dont want to be around the loud ones or the dirty ones or the ugly ones or the uneducated ones or the obnoxious ones... or whatever... We all use the "avoidance" tactic every day in almost all aspects of our lives...
And avoidance works in its way, but only ever temporarily!... Ultimately, as it gets harder and harder to avoid the unpleasantness of others, we will have to turn and face the problems of the greater "Us" and find Real solutions...
... And so, the ONLY solution for our problems as individuals and as a whole that can ever possibly work in the long run is that we have to stop running!
We have to all sit down together and help each other grow!...
And you cant FORCE those other ones to "do the right thing"... It wont work that way!
If we do that then the lesson is not learned... The undesirable behaviour that we force others to stop is only temporarily stopped... As soon as the force is removed, or the vigilance of the enforcers falters, or the force ceases to be enough of a threat... The undesirable behaviours will return... The lesson has to be learned willingly by the student!
Note: Mother nature is the only one who can use Force with impunity- When we humans use it, the results are flawed... Just as our human understandings are flawed :)
Force or coercion by people can ONLY be effective in the short term!
It can be used to gain a respite but in that respite, Teaching and learning must be happening without force or its all a wasted effort...
And IF force is used to gain that respite, then its virtually guaranteed that there will be a negative back-lash against it in some form... No one likes being forced to do anything!... And we humans have a proven track record of "holding grudges" for generations!...
So, if we want to use force to solve a problem then we need to be willing to accept that large and unpredictable back-lash... and using force against that will just lead to a perpetual struggle of escalating forces... Sound familiar? :)
It seems to me that we MUST avoid force unless there is absolutely no other choice!!!
It seems to me also that as far as changing or collective attitude toward "waste" is concerned, the changes must happen gently by our own hands or they will be enforced on us cruelly by the hand of nature... and the clock is definitely ticking!
... And I suspect ultimately that it will be a combination of both effects that will eventually prevail...
And so it seems clear to me... Running will not work....
Avoidance is doomed...
We must face our problems TOGETHER!
And so I accept the bigger picture and then I reflect it back down onto myself as an individual...
I need to find a way I can live in "the world that is"... With all the poor ones and the greedy ones and the stupid ones and the obnoxious ones and the sad ones and the angry ones and violent ones... And all of it!... It means that I need to try to use the "avoidance" tactics much less.
And I need to find a way to contribute to Us all Growing and reducing, in some small way, some of those negative human behaviours that are so abundant in our societies...
... It doesnt have to be big or important, I dont need accolades or recognition for my efforts, but I need to feel that Im helping in some way.
But I also know that I am often wrong myself and that I too need to grow and learn and be more gentle with our "commonwealth"... With our collective future!
How then should I contribute? What efforts of mine can I be sure are not flawed and making things worse rather than better?
...Im not sure... But I think Ill figure it out as I go... And I hope my "contribution" will avoid the use of force, and I hope it will involve teaching and learning... with a gentle hand :)
At this stage, my best guess about how to do it are to not "Tell people how to lead their lives" ... That almost always leads to resistance and anger.. and the "doors" close!
And so evangelising and crusading will I think not be my style...
But perhaps, rather to "Lead by example of how I live my life" and then others can see and make their own choices... A slower, gentler way... Seemingly less effective; But in the long run, I think actually More effective :)
And, neither do I believe I should "follow" others doctrines or ideas like an acolyte!.. For everyone else is flawed in their ways and ideas too... For me I believe that the only following I should do is to "Follow my own heart"...and again with a gentle hand.
And Im certainly no saint... Im just as flawed in my thinking and understandings as you or as the person down the road, or over the ocean. And my view of whats right and wrong is just my view... It is not law and it is not righteous! All I can do is try my best and try to learn and grow as I go.
I expect that the changes in my life-style will not be that dramatic and that I wont have big effects on the rest of the people in the world... But Ill try to do my bit... In my way
So, Im not sure about much of the detail but I am definitely starting to feel ready to "re-engage" with "the world that is" again and to cease this game of Rabbits!
... and beyond that, my future is Open :)))
And that, was what crystallised out of the long and not so empty miles of the Peruvian desert for me :)))
