Time for Rejuvenation
by Ruah Swennerfelt

All of us are affected by the current pace of living and the toll it is taking on our planet. It seems we have no time for rest, reflection, heart opening or spiritual deepening. Our society and our own cultural expectations seem to require us to live in “fast forward,” asking more of us than we can sustain over time. We are using ourselves up and our planet up. Everything seems accelerated.
Rainwater (which long ago sank into the soil), streams and water tables now rush across paved-over lands, erode stream banks and cause floods and subsequent drought. Similarly, we are deluged with incessant information that does not sink into us to become knowledge and eventual wisdom.
Children are too often rushed from one activity to another without time to play in the sand or discover shapes in the clouds. Because of busy schedules there are fewer family meals, thus depriving children of shared “wisdom time” around the table.
Summer has traditionally been a time for rest and renewal. Summer evokes images of family vacations, children at play, long walks, bicycle trips, boating on the lake, barbeques and so much more. We continue to fill our days with busy-ness and, anticipating the future, shortchange our experience of the present. When fall comes around again, we wonder how the summer slipped by.
This is why the coordinating group of the Charlotte Sustainable Living Network: Nancy Severance, Ruah Swennerfelt and Cara Taussig – our friends and neighbors--were all feeling more stress than joy over scheduling and planning summer events. It was clear to us that, if we wanted to bring fresh ideas and programs to our network, we needed to follow our own advice and take a break.
So the CSLN is on vacation for the summer! We’ll come back in September refreshed and renewed and ready to give it our best. We have some great ideas for the fall and winter and would like your ideas for programs. (Contact me at ruah@peaceforearth.org.) It’s so much fun when we get together and share local foods, learn new information and share ideas.
We will begin in September with a new regular monthly meeting day. Throughout the coming year we will meet on the third Monday of the month at the Charlotte Town Hall (note the change of venue—we may get back to the Senior Center, but that’s on hold for now). On September 15 at 7 p.m. Cara Taussig will talk with us about keeping her new dairy cow and friend, Dawn. She has lots of great stories and may have some photos, too. In October the Conservation Commission will help us understand the revised and updated habitat map of our town, created to replace the current map in our Town Plan, which will be up for a vote in November. It will be great to learn more about the natural features of Charlotte.
Have a wonderful summer, and I hope to see you hiking, or biking, or playing at the beach.