Dear Design Wild Friends & Loved Ones,
I hope you are all well and that you are cheerfully moving into the winter and holiday season. Over here, I have been thinking a lot about BUGS... oh, just me? Did you catch the article 'The Insect Apocalypse is Here' in the New York Times this Nov? Our insect friends are quietly disappearing in staggering numbers and, incase its not clear, our whole world rests on their work, from the base of our wild food system to decay and natural recycling, to over 60% of all agriculture. They provide all these service and far more for free. Humans have also been covering the earth in insecticides and pesticides for nearly 70 years so I’m not sure what exactly we thought was going to happen. Our work at Design Wild by its very nature is rooted in our environment. We do this work for the health of the whole system, humans and communities, cities and neighborhoods, but also (sometimes covertly) for the insects, the birds and the worms!!
We see climate change all around us these days, insects going quiet, storms, fires, the movement of people, the displacement of populations. We know that all of this will continue to increase. Have you read the new reports out? This all is scary for sure but let this not lead you into fear, despair or scarcity mentality. We have an opportunity, a necessity, to restructure our world and we are all, every one of us, affected. This revolution is not optional. And we must jump in with joy and grace. As the Talmud says ‘Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.” Or if you prefer from Alice Walker ‘For we can do nothing substantial toward changing our course on the planet, a destructive one, without rousing ourselves, individuals by individuals, and bringing our small imperfect stones to the pile’. With this in mind my heart is deeply grateful for all those (human, insect and others) working hard on change, for joy, for collective health and global solutions.
Today, we dedicate our Updates From The Understory to our insect friends.