Feigning it.

You know which word could go extinct? Probably many, but the one bothering me recently is clutch. Clutch as a noun, the purse. The imagery drawn up, due in part to the verb, is contradictory to the object. What is intended to describe an elegant evening, compact purse instead provokes an image of a clawed hand demonically grasping an item, never to be relinquished. Ugh, I shudder to think this is what I look like whenever before I have been the unfortunate bearer of "the clutch."

Another recent idea, and by this I mean not necessarily current but an idea now coming to growth in my mind after being planted some time ago as a baby inkling, a seed, is sustainability. An interesting idea due to its binariness. In a recent documentary, "Dirt" the cinematography explores many supporters of sustainable farmer and its benefits, especially in opposition to the drawbacks of globalization and capitalism. The drawback of the film was that it referred all of us "little people" as hummingbirds placing one drop of water at a time onto a massive forest fire. That is the effort we can make, in this way we would be doing out part. It was meant as an encouraging statement. I wonder though at what point is this not true, wouldn't it have been better to show which areas can be improved in ever individual's life, so that at least we know our efforts are not in vain? The book I'm reading, Sustainability Radical Solutions Inspiring Hope, does indeed inspire hope. One man built an entire jungle on an L.A. high school's property to encourage the community and to teach the students. I love that. It gets me thinking, if he can do that, what else is there to do? The hardest part of this thought process for me is buying into the idea that processed food really is "bad." To be honest, I love doughnuts, not the crap you can buy at the grocery store, but the ones from a Mom and Pop bakery, fresh and made with love (they are- I can taste it). So, while I support "enlightening" others about the ground breaking information of eating fresh and locally, I have to get over a twinge of guilt I feel at not tyrannically supporting my own rules. Locally, I can fully support that. I like the idea of buying what those around me have struggled for. Yet, would other countries really be okay if the American government stopped importing their crops? It seems a little cruel to quickly pull away support in favor of the souls closest to you. I know that isn't the idea, I know that ideally the far away countries would become self-sustainable and then reach out as locally as they were able. It would be an adjustment and one that the detriment of our economies is probably making worth the change. So, perhaps this will be one more hummingbird effort I can make, more conscientiously buy local. Buy American made products and keep hoping that this country will come back together before it is too late.
The important thing to remember here is that it isn't a move of elitism. It isn't that I find American culture superior to any other, but if I don't work for improvement here, who will? Worse yet, if I don't work for change here, where else does that put me and what ideals will I ever be able to fully embrace?
Sometimes I think for this time in my life that these thoughts are too heavy, too much for someone of my age. Then I remind myself that I'm old enough for everything else, thinking should definitely be on that list and it isn't as if I am alone in these thoughts, hence the books and documentaries. In fact, given those materials and the countless people who are able to intelligently discuss such topics, I'd say I might be a little behind.