Monthly Archives: March 2013

Limits

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Once you get past the limits, the game changes.

For example, the major limitations for breeding rabbits in Texas is the heat. Rabbits have a body temperature over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The head scratcher is that everyone I know that breeds rabbits has a hutch that is above ground. Basic lesson in science tells us that heat rises. The major limitation for breeding is now confronted with a huge hurdle that we created for ourselves by working against nature, creating homes for rabbits above ground when heat rises. To overcome this hurdle, people freeze bottles of water and allow it to melt next to their bunnies with fans blowing on them.

This is hell for a poor bunny.

Questions begin to rise about how rabbits take care of themselves during our hot summer heats. The answer is surprisingly simple. We look at nature and observe how these geniuses survive. They live in the Earth.

By digging a home in the ground, rabbits keep cool with the blanket of the soil and the Earth. By doing so, they can maintain homeostasis (their body temperature).

If we overcome the limit of high temperatures, rabbit breeding will reach new heights.
The same is true for every industry. Deconstruct the game, find the limits, and change it.

Suburban Gardening for the Future

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The future of our suburban areas is going to rely on urban gardeners and farmers.

This reliance though is not just a task for the people to undertake. We’re going to need animals to help restore the land to its previous state. Through the use of intensive grazing and holistic management, the reversal of desertification in our blackland prairies will be guaranteed.

The limiting factor that is preventing this from moving forward is our social systems. Having large amounts of cattle roaming along a highway would cause many civilians to get agitated while driving. Attempts to change this paradigm would have to be large scale education and information. Small scale plots could be used to further educate the public on the potential of electric fencing.

In time, the opportunities to test these practices near Fort Worth and Dallas will prove to be the tipping points to enact this type of action. It’s inevitable.

Game Changers

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Imagine life when we did not have irrigated fields of food and we were hunter gatherers. Food had to be identified, found, prepared, and cooked. Sometimes, this required a nomadic way of life or one that was always on the fringes of survival. Getting out of the game requires that old rules be broken and new ones formed.

For the hunter gatherer, getting to know a plant would have provided many clues on forming new alliances with the natural world. Plants can propagate through many types of division; stem, root, leaf, seed, and today cells. Even domesticating animals would’ve been considered crazy. Humans crawl, walk, and run. It takes us time to travel far distances. Imagine the first person who decided they wanted to get on the back of a large animal and ride it across the world. Crazy. I know.

The games we’ve created for ourselves are many. The great news is that we can change the game, make a new one, and create new rules. The game of gathering shifted to the game of gardening, a new game with new rules. The rules now are to learn how to cultivate plants instead of just finding them. As rules change, our knowledge grows and expands to encompass new areas. With the birth of a new idea, more possibilities are available. For example, with gardening came the sciences and the arts. We had more time to waste looking at the stars building civilization as we know it instead of looking for things to eat. The advent of the internet allowed for commerce through online stores rather than a physical one; now, you can shop from the convenience of your home instead of going somewhere.

Game changers create a new way of life, some better some worse. The key is finding a way to change the games you’re in and make it better.

You Only Live Once

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I hear it all the time.

The mistake is acting like you only get to live for today. I understand the appeal of being present and living here, now. However, the idea of being present is misunderstood with actions that destroy the possibility of the future.

Indulging in any activity for a moment because you only live once is an escape. It’s an excuse to fulfill actions that are very short lived.

The perspective is changed when “you only live once” is within the realm of fulfilling a legacy. A legend is not just a pool of people that are near you, but the ocean of life that extends beyond the present and far into future generations that have yet to come.

The choice then is to decide whether you want to occupy a moment and a life that is short lived or a story that will last for ages. It’s your story and your life. Make it the one you always wanted to live; you only live once.