Final thoughts and definitions: It's time to get serious

But not this serious.

Spending this semester studying sustainable communities with a diverse group of individuals and a diverse range of topics in a new community has provided a wealth of opportunity for reflection that are all over the map.

First, on a very basic level, this has been a fantastic opportunity to become intimately acquainted with Bloomington and to feel as though I'm a community member rather than some imported Southwestern hack. By considering the facets of the community here, their goals and barriers, working with the Commission, and being involved in university activities, I feel closer to calling this town my home. This is probably made easier by the fact that Bloomington is a relatively progressive and connected city. While it's by no means perfect, I'm thoroughly impressed. And while this all may sound quaint or dull, developing one's sense of self within their environment is a central tenet in building on social capital within a sustainable community.

This course also allowed me to build on my theoretical, academic, and experiential understanding of just how sustainability works and just what it is. It's so easy to get up on our academic/ethical high-horses and hurl fist-fulls of jargon at the masses with the hope that this will inspire us to be better (I know it's easy because I do this every morning out of my window before class). But after getting to interact with individuals in the community and hear from thought leaders on sustainability issues, I'm coming much closer to understanding what's at the heart of these issues and how to connect to people who aren't getting to spend their afternoons studying what I am. Being from such a disconnected metropolitan area I didn't know this was even feasible.

Moving into the heart of sustainability, it's such a confusing topic because the political is personal and vice versa (though we don't need to go burn our bras, that would release toxins). A significant amount of introspection and honesty is needed to assess what we need as a community, what's feasible, and what's the correct thing to do. And I've been having a doozy of a time trying to figure out my personal philosophy beyond these issues are not black and white, but we're in a lot of trouble if we don't do something quick and what my role is in the bigger scheme of things. The insights gained from spending time at the class events in Indianapolis and hearing from Wendell Berry and Scott Russell Sanders were particularly helpful in processing these things.

Berry's provided perspective on what sustainability means. It's simply the principle that we need to conserve and encourage frugality for the same reasons we used to. That's the basic principle and the one that is most intuitive. Sanders gave guidance regarding what we can should do on an individual level. We need to clearly identify what it is we care about and then behave accordingly and let the way we live speak to our principles. The perspectives of these two individuals, coupled with the readings and discussions we have had in class have brought me long way to forming my own narrative about sustainability, and more importantly life.

In the interest of not reinventing the wheel, I would like to reuse a definition of sustainable communities given by Sanders in his presentation at the Themester closing ceremonies - that I have every intention of adopting as my elevator speech for sustainability. Sustainability is the pursuit of thriving within our means. This can be applied to our behavior as individuals, communities, and beyond. I think this beautifully sums up the road we're attempting to venture down - one that increases our quality of life by taking care of our home.