Sustainia

SUSTAINIA  NEWSLETTER

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"Make It Beautiful"

Her name is Maria. She has lived in Sustania for the 15 years that she has been alive. Her father and pregnant mother decided to move to the Bay Area right after the 2050 Collapse of Oil. They have told her this story many times with the hopes of teaching her a lesson that so many still fail to see: “Love and care for Nature more than anything, for it is what will sustain your children as well.” Even now, 15 years after oil depletion, groups of people are scavenging the world like addicts searching desperately for their hidden crystal meth. They search as if an additional drop could be the key back to their addictive past of consumption. What those people still do not realize is that those times are gone. That life is gone, because the world that they all thirst for and crave is also gone. Maria was always fascinated by her parents’ stories, just like small children are of fairytales or mystery novels, but she was glad that she wasn’t surrounded by people who favored destroying the Earth’s resources anymore. She recalled some of her classmates that didn’t care about their communities and seemed to prefer alienation from others more than being neighborly… this made Marias’ neck tighten to be later relieved with a shrug; her world was different. 

She knew so much about agriculture, how to capture energy from the sun and wind and how to look and learn from the magic in nature. Her absolute favorite thing, even as a little girl, was to make a delicious meal with crops that she grew with her community in the garden. She felt so much satisfaction from this that it is when she felt most love for Nature. Seeing the whole process of the growth from a seed to a juicy strawberry or a plump heirloom tomato and then taking it, grateful to the earth and the water that has helped it grow, and sharing that nurturing piece of love in a meal with your neighbor. 

Even though her heart was farming, she enjoyed playing with the goats and chickens that were allowed to roam parts of Sustainia. With a breathful sigh, Maria sometimes wished she could’ve met those exotic animals her grandmother always told her about; those that lived a few decades before she was born. Maria heard stories of huge white bears that lived in the poles of the Earth where there used to be a lot ice and something called snow. “Snow is like cold white rain that falls softly onto the ground” said her Grandmother.“It sounds so magical!” Maria exclaimed. Her grandmother just kept telling the story almost as if she had to pass it on like a small treasure: “The white bears lived on the huge pieces of ice that would float in the ocean; just like ice cubes in water” she said. Maria always giggled at this part of the story because she was never sure if her grandmother was serious. Bears on ice with soft rain all floating in water sounded very extreme, but she decided to believe it and Grandmother kept talking but more about huge birds with feathers that matched the primary colors from a place called the Amazons. These birds lived on tall skinny tropical trees in a land that was all green and the air was moist. “The Amazons had green covering in the ground and trees on the sides and if you looked up it there was an amazing canopy of even taller trees. Flickers of light would penetrate like dancing shards of lightning and that’s where the birds lived… along with other creatures of course.” Maria wishing she could be there said: “You’re so lucky you got to see that Grandma” Her grandmother smiled with love in her eyes and said: “Yes honey, but you are even more lucky to be alive and be able to value Nature for its blessings and cherish the life you live now. When all of these wonders disappeared or got destroyed so did the lives and hearts of many people. It was a very dark time. The ice melted, the forests and jungles were destroyed for their resources. We were all hurting very much because the things we grew up with were disappearing. Usually in life you realize you are truly getting older when your friends start dying or your body simply cannot stay healthy.” “For me,” said Maria’s grandmother, “it was not only the humans I knew but the wildlife and ecosystems that begin dying; I really thought it was over Maria.” Maria listened attentively holding her grandmothers hand as her eyes became watery but still being able to talk with her sweet voice that sounded like droplets of sunshine she said: “I’m glad we decided to begin farming and appreciate nature intensely. Even though the weather is not very predictable like it used to be, we are able to survive and enjoy life. We have lost many things and people like me will always grieve; it is our task to tell the story so the mistake will not repeat, but you sweetheart, you are here to make the present and the future as beautiful as possible.”