Beamspun 4: 10th May 2020

Intro

Local sunrise / publish time: 0417 UTC (-12m)

It is strange to hear talk of easing lockdown restrictions at the moment. Part of me is wondering what it will be like - not the practicalities and the guidelines, but the sense of return.

I vividly remember coming back to the airport after a week's walking in the Alps. Heated wine replaced rapidly by giant TV screens. The meandering path substituted for signs and clocks with seconds on. I remember that moment more than many parts of the walking, and more than the air flight home.

The return is not important. Where we have been is not important. Right now, one thing matters - that we take the sense of confusion and disruption all around us, and drive it home. We explore it and use it as a tool to question ourselves, to cease our habits and to gaze into the deep, dark folds of our imagination.

For what? For something different. Something we've forgotten.

Links

• #longreads: This is a very good exploration of the politics and future that solarpunk tries to explore. I say "explore" rather than "strive for", because I am a gloomy realist. As the long read article says, "good science fiction must be more than daydreaming".

• #longreads: Less specific, but also worth a read, is Kim Stanley Robinson's New Yorker article, The Coronavirus Is Rewriting Our Imaginations as a reminder of the moment we are in, and what we can re-assert over ourselves in the months to come. "How we feel is shaped by what we value, and vice versa."

• #trees: What can a tree teach us about understanding "deep ecology"? From roots to branches and fruit, we can try to remember that all organisms are systems, and all systems depend on relationships.

• #stories: If you're not too late, Solarpunk Stories are running a live reading session on May 28th which could be fun.

• #stories: Also there is now a tiny baby reddit subforum for solarpunk writing prompts. Let your ideas out of your head.

• #music: Ultrasonic by Field Works is "perhaps the first-ever album to use the echolocations of bats as compositional source material."

• #community: War-chalking wild plant names is a great idea for bringing attention to the green around us. Remember: Names are power.

• #plug: Over at my 6suns blog, I've been trying to figure out what the core values of a more minimal sustainable way are. Resourcefulness, Nurturing, and Appreciation are what spring to mind immediately. Now to turn them into action...

Solnotes

I'm losing track of weeks, although this is apparently beamspun edition 4 which is about a month in "real people" terms.

Each week has felt very different so far, depending on what links are coming up, regular and seasonal cycles, and my own time to dig into things. However, after a month, I do find I'm reading more, thinking things through more, and finding a way forwards.

This is good, this is what I wanted. Not just to post links, but to explore the ideas out there, find inspiration, and just know that this ... thing, whatever I'm aiming for, is Possible, capital P.

I've been wondering what this newsletter's tagline would be if it had one. "Grow the Future" sounded like something capitalist (but made me re-think the idea of 'de-growth'; maybe it's just the wrong kind of growth we have in the world). "The Art of Nurture" seems closer but vaguely used a thousand times before. "Future Nurture" is hard to type and quickly turns into "Furture". Ugh.

I'll keep thinking. Til next time.

Get in touch

For any feedback, suggestions, broken links, comments, or general 'hi there' type stuff, leave a comment, or you can find me hanging out in any of these places:

• Mastodon: @scribe@mastodon.sdf.org
• Gnu/social: @6gain@loadaverage.org
• Twitter: @6loss
• XMPP: 6gain@xmpp.zone
• Email: beamspun (at) exmosis.net - until the spambots find me

I'm also documenting my own 'everyday solarpunk adventures' over at the 6suns blog.