Sunday, April 20, 2014

Musings: Everyday People

Spent the better part of yesterday having my faith restored in human nature as I collected donations for the Hawaii Foodbank – Kauai Branch at Kukui Grove and saw folks smile, share, give — even those who looked like they could least afford it.

Perhaps it was because at one time they'd been on the receiving line themselves, which always increases empathy and compassion.

We were just about to close up when a man who appeared to be a tourist, given the cleanliness and design of his tee-shirt, walked up pushing a shopping cart packed full of groceries from Times.

I'll make you a deal,” he said, and removed a small bottle of dish detergent, a tube of toothpaste, from the bags. “I'll keep these and you keep the rest.”

It was so generous, so surprising — emotions that no doubt played across my decidedly non-poker face — that he burst into laughter, as did I. And I felt happier than I had in a long time.

On the way into town, I'd chatted on my cell phone — hands-free, of course — with Farmer Jerry, who had marshaled 50 guys on Thursday to set up the Garden Fair and was gonna be there all day on Saturday, until it was time to break it down again.

And I was reminded anew that when it's not scrapping, this community shares a lot of its heart and soul, which is why, on the way home, I found myself singing exuberantly along with the radio, “We are family....” Though as is true with my own large family, there are some I like better than others, some I'd prefer to avoid. But still, there's no denying that we're all connected.

Which got me thinking, this morning, of another song:

I am no better and neither are you
We are the same whatever we do
You love me, you hate me, you know me and then
You can't figure out the bag I'm in
'Cause I am everyday people

In recent months, as I've criticized the anti-GMO movement, found a few things to like about KIUC, declined to denounce the dairy and called to task and account politicians I previously favored, I've had folks express bewilderment, even fury. One woman, who has perhaps exchanged a dozen words with me, said she could only surmise I'd suffered a brain injury, I was so changed. A man said that more and more of his friends — though not mine — were “increasingly distraught” that I seemed to have gone over to the “dark side.” Another woman left a flaming attack comment that ended with the query: “What have you done with Joan Conroy? [sic]”

What I have done with Joan Conrow is allow her mind to continually question, open, reflect, ponder, broaden — a process that makes it painful for me to keep living in the duality mindset of me good-you bad, me right-you wrong, me pono-you hewa. We are all — every single one of us — complicit in the problems we face, the “ecocide” we are currently waging against Earth. And we are all responsible for the solutions, or lack thereof.

We can't blame government, or even corporations, because they are merely a reflection of us. We've created them through our belief systems, our voting, our consuming and lifestyle choices. Nor can we expect those entities to fix anything for us. We've got to engage in the hard, dirty work of conscious change ourselves.

As Luke Evslin states so well in his thoughtful blog, which always inspires me to be better and kinder:

We're in this together. We need a true dialogue. We need a solutions based conversation. We need a vision for the future and we need to pave a path forward. The status-quo isn't working and the quality of life on Kaua'i is steadily declining.

Though he references this little world onto itself that is Kauai, his message encompasses all of humanity, the entire planet. It's up to us, and the more we know about the big picture, different points of view, the better our solutions, the clearer our path, will be.

This blog has always been, and will continue to be, an independent, informed voice. Despite assertions to the contrary, I've never taken any money from biotech, KIUC, Ulupono or any other corporate interest, and in fact, none of them have offered.

But I hope that you, dear Reader, will. I've added a PayPal donation button to this site. Or if you prefer to remain anonymous, you can send a contribution to PO Box 525, Anahola, 96703.

Mahalo for reading, for the words of encouragement and support that always seem to arrive when precisely when needed, and most especially, for caring. Because if you didn't, you wouldn't be on this site. 

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

"...it is a human story. It demands from all of us a commitment to engage in the issues of our community, to be vigilant against the abuse of power,and willing to stand for what is pono, what is right, despite intimidation and threats. And to act wisely, we must stay informed.We may not always agree,but we need to keep talking-to discuss and debate the issues and insights..."

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Joan for crediting, Luke Evslin on his solution seeking Blog.
I value your writing, incite on Kauai and disagree, but respect most of your opinions. You have achieved a Kauai rarity. Large readership, researched articles and unpredictable subject matter.
The comments by your readers also enhance your Blog.
Methinks, I will drop a 50 toward your Kauai Eclectic.
Me allsothinks, that some will feel that your work should be altruistic. Shucks Ma'am, a lifetime of developing fine writing skills coupled with surgical translation of Kauai politics deserves some brown rice and Tamari shoyu in your bowl.
Of course, on the other hand this is also an opportunity to collect big time from many who will pay big bucks just to be sure they do not get inoculated by Kauai Eclectic.
Shazam ma'am, expect a check. Thank you-

Joan Conrow said...

Mahalo for your words!

But cash cannot buy inoculation.

Anonymous said...

http://orgcns.org/1paAI1i

Vermont passed a "clean" GMO law…tons of dialogue, great rebuttals, yet in the end it was passed 26-2.
live and Learn Kauai!!!

Anonymous said...

Vermont isn't Hawaii and there are powerful well-connected players here that have a vested interest in the status quo. This began in 1893 when the Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown and our land has been in the hands of a few white elitist Plantation owners and their descendants ever since. These same players remain in control of vast areas of land to this day with the help of our puppet government.

Luke Evslin said...

...continually question, open, reflect, ponder, broaden — a process that makes it painful for me to keep living in the duality mindset of me good-you bad, me right-you wrong, me pono-you hewa. We are all — every single one of us — complicit in the problems we face, the “ecocide” we are currently waging against Earth. And we are all responsible for the solutions, or lack thereof.

We can't blame government, or even corporations, because they are merely a reflection of us. We've created them through our belief systems, our voting, our consuming and lifestyle choices. Nor can we expect those entities to fix anything for us. We've got to engage in the hard, dirty work of conscious change ourselves.


Thank you for those words. I really think that those two paragraphs cut to the heart of the issue. While we're all complicit, we should be inspired because that conversely means that we can also be the solution. We can make this work, but we have to do it together.

I just (literally, 5 minutes ago) happened to read a timely quote from Dominican Author Julia Alvarez:
"Todo lo que se sabe en el mundo se sabe entre todos." --- All the knowledge in the world is a sum of what we all know put together.

If we have any chance of solving the myriad of problems that we're facing on Kaua'i, it's by doing it together, as a community.

Imagine a day when we can work past the polarizing rhetoric and have an actual solutions based dialogue?

(And thank you for the kind words about my blog.)

Anonymous said...

Happy Easter God has blessed us with the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Anonymous said...

Excellent post. Your ability to look at a situation and evolve your position honestly while using real facts and not the rhetoric is what keeps me coming back. Keep it up Joan!

Tim Bynum said...

Agree, (and I often do), disagree, (and I often do), challenged (and I often am), upset or outraged (sometimes), moved (often), and (confused) (occasionally) are the thoughts and feelings I seem have when I read your blog (almost everyday). Thank you for the invaluable service you provide for our community,
Sincerely,
Mahalo and Aloha!

Anonymous said...

Gosh, what a revelation that life is often a conundrum, as well as a contradiction. It's just that we don't have to be lairs,hypocrites, and holier than thou about it.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous April 20, 2014 at 5:48 PM


You're only partly correct. The plantations lost their power when Hawaii’s soldiers, mostly of Japanese descent returned from WW2 and took over the State government is what is known as the “quiet revolution”. They boosted the Democrat party with their numerous voters and elected a new labor government. They began enacting laws restricting land use and business. While the large landowners still owned the land, the State government via its laws and regulations passed by the majority Asians in the Legislature insured that if you wanted to do something with your lands, you have to now come to the government (State & County) for permission. Try reading Land and Power and learn a little history.

Anonymous said...

10:17
Oh yea, the politicians really took the power from big land owners? Re-read Land and Power.
The new breed of young politicians worked mostly on education, health and inserting their power with the ILWU. The Big Five and ILWU may be gone, but now we have Big Government which is way worse. Bring back Sparky Matsunaga, Jack Burns and Jack Hall.

Anonymous said...

Right, they conceived of zoning all on their own to mess with the haoles. It had nothing to do with the national trend towards urban planning.

Anonymous said...

No worries Japanese folks. The haoles have taken over again with Abercrombie and Schatz who btw are of the same ethnic background.