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My life is not righteous. I do unnecessary harm daily through thoughtlessness or laziness or ignorance. I know this to be true. But have you noticed how often people try to use the gap between hope and execution to invalidate counter cultural ideas? As if one cannot be an idealist and fallible at the same time. As if one cannot be hopeful and human. Earlier this week I was, reluctantly, trying to explain anti-consumerism to a skeptical acquaintance. “You drive, right?” No, not really. “But you have a cell phone?” Yes. “Well then, you buy things.” Never mind the absurdity of the statement--of course I buy things--that was the end. Idea refuted. Q.E.D. In the moment, I was annoyed and defensive, but by the time I was trudging through the market bake yesterday I was curious about his conclusion to the conversation, and my own. Our lives are complicated and contradictory. To live entirely without hypocrisy, it seems to me, we would have to be cynical or apathetic. As long as we believe strongly, as long as we are curious and kind, as long as we work to do less unnecessary harm, isn’t that a good beginning, rather than an end to the argument for living thoughtfully? “My ideals are often one step ahead of my ability to fully embody them,” activist Mark Boyle wrote, “and that is no bad thing; in fact… I wonder if hypocrisy might be the highest ideal of all.” Off to load up for market. See you soon. Sophie Owner | Baker TODAY AT MARKET Red & White Oat & Honey Mountain Rye Vollkornbrot Seedy Buckwheat Malted Chocolate Chip Cookie Bittersweet Chocolate Cookie Gingersnap Oat Scone Gingerbread Cake Apple Cake with Cultured Cream Shortbread Buckwheat Crisps FALL BREAD SUBSCRIPTION 10 weeks remaining Every Wednesday, OCT 2 - DEC 18 Pickup downtown, Birchwood, Fairhaven This week: Mountain Rye, Red & White, SMOKY OAT Comments are closed.
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