On Place, Pace of Life, and Vegetables
(This post is written by IEC co-creator, Theodore Tolan)
Towards the end of May this year I returned to the United States from my time as an undergraduate student in Shanghai. The State of Michigan has become a second (or third, or fourth) home for me in my many travels around this little blue planet. This land is known as “the great lakes state”. While this nickname certainly refers to the lakes on Michigan’s borders that are larger than up to 10 US states, to me it also means that the smaller lakes, like Torch lake, are just as great.
As I have transitioned into my work at summer camp for the 6th year in a row, I am once again struck by the immense effect that the place I am in has on my pace of life. I wake to the wind off the lake as I step out on the porch of the log cabin within which I dwell. I walk along sandy trails amidst sloping pine hills on my way to the dining hall. I stand behind my chair and be thankful for the food before me all while I am surrounded by photos of others who have cherished this place, its wildness, and each other.
In Shanghai it’s quite hard for me to find a tree that is taller than the buildings, but here in Michigan it is hard for me to find a building taller than the trees.
The first group of campers that our summer camp serves arrived on Sunday. During the time spent training new staff and preparing for the summer in the weeks before, stress always seemed to creep into my skin. A sense of uncertainty and tenseness was hard to shake. However, when the campers arrived, like every summer, this place came alive. Joy is in the air and my skin feels calm as now the goal isn’t preparing and training, it’s making sure everyone has fun and feels supported this summer.
As campers have arrived I have also begun to recall other communities I’ve cherished. The Inclusive Ecology Collective is one I am especially grateful for. Here at camp we eat together at circular tables like a family, and it reminds me of the times I have felt like I was eating with family in Shanghai. At the Yungu community eco-village we would always spend time cooking our own food using ingredients we just picked out in the garden/farm. It always feels so special to know where my food came from, and what I’m really missing right now is the kind of food grown with love and care.
A little less than two months ago, Junjun (another IEC co-creator) and I were able to perform a kind of magic: giving without expecting anything in return, a kind of magic I learned at Yungu. Thanks to the support of NYU Shanghai, Professor Liangliang, our good friend Zehao from ECNU, and community members from Yungu, Junjun and I got a boatload of vegetables of all different varieties delivered to NYU Shanghai’s Qiantan Campus for the Greenfair event.
On the 3rd Tuesday of April, the Environmental Sustainability Committee, part of NYU Shanghai’s Student Government, hosted the Green Fair event on campus. Junjun and I were pleased to host a vegetable distribution station with the simple goal of providing fresh organic veggies to our community. (Thank you to Zehao and Yungu for helping us get the vegetables on time!)
As the event started we set out a bunch of vegetables on the table and started exclaiming, “Free vegetables! Come play a game to win free vegetables!” Several people came up during our event and did not believe that this much produce was for free. Similarly, many people declined to come to our table because they knew they wouldn’t use the veggies or didn’t cook at home. However this was actually totally in line with our one rule: please only take what you will use!
The games that I referred to just now were twofold. First there was the game where potatoes and taro filled a box and our guests would reach their hand into the box without looking to try to guess what they felt via their sense of touch alone. Our second activity was focused on the guests using their imagination. I filled a box with all kinds of leafy greens, colorful onions, taro, and potatoes all to create some kind of abstract veggie art within the box. Next I cut two slits in the box for the guests to look in, and covered the box so that only a fraction of the light was getting in. I wanted to remove some of the clearness of the image so that their brain might be able to imagine what was in the box to a more creative extent. Each participant was asked to describe what they see using their imagination. My favorite responses were:
•A purple giant cabbage attacking little potato villagers
•A nativity scene
•Mountains of lettuce with potato and taro boulders
•A jungle with Dinosaur eggs
•An ocean or aquarium with little fish swimming around
As the rain came down, it was lovely to see people’s faces light up when they took in the sight of so many vegetables on our table. Coming from a habit of ordering waimai at least once a day, it was so refreshing for me to provide others with food they knew they could trust, food that is nourishing and food that is healing. In settling into my role at camp, I wonder what kind of service I can provide that will be equally nourishing and healing to our campers here. Campers’ arrival has made camp feel simple again, just like handing out those veggies reminded me how simple life can be.
Whatever kind of place you are in, whatever kind of speed your life moves at, and whatever kind of way you feel, be reminded to seek out simplicity in your ways.
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