This In(ter)dependence Day

Let's Celebrate a Reality Check.

Photo by Martin Baron on Unsplash

Have we been sold a myth in America? A glittering, gunpowder-scented lie that freedom means going it alone? Well somehow it has stuck. Because both as a nation and as citizens we seem to cling to the stubborn belief that our strength can be measured in how little we need from one another. It’s very cowboy, very “American,” very romantic B.S. and every day we seem to perpetuate the dupe in the “Land of the Free, Home of the Brave.”

I see the willful ignorance everywhere. It’s evident when an F-350 Super Duty crew cab dwarfs a parking spot outside an upscale grocery store. The driver drops out of their vehicle acting like they’re a homesteader with a cow to slaughter by noon, spitting on the sidewalk hitching up their distressed blue jeans, feet clad in tapered leather boots like they were just hopped off their saddle. They’re tapping their iPhone (with parts produced all over the world and assembled and imported from China) shopping for vintage Stetson online. They step into the supermarket like it’s a saloon instead of a fairyland of possibility where rotisserie chickens act like dancers in a peep show first exposing their plump breasts, then shying away from view as they rotate ad nauseam upon the spit. Where juicy olives marinate in aged barrels and there are at least seventeen types of milk to choose from. Where it’s all been magically stocked by elves(?) the shopper doesn’t know, the thought’s never even crossed their mind. They simply put imported blue cheese, truffle oil, and ramen into their hemp bag, and make their way to the Self Checkout line. Are they considering the farmers, veterinarians, and ship captains who made their purchase possible as they scan? Hell no. In fact they congratulate themselves on their self-sufficiency, after all no one is helping them with their transaction. They don’t notice the person wheeling their cart back inside as they rev their turbo diesel V8 engine. Nor the family trying to cross the road as they race their three items back to their so called “Ranch” which sounds fierce but is actually only a cat, a dog, and a goat on a half acre. Nevertheless, The Ranch is where they conquer the wild, then watch cable. Up here they clean their guns lest anyone step on their property. They are radically alone. In 24 hours our intrepid suburbanite has only interacted with the Uber Eats guy (he dropped off three meals), the gardener (who clipped the hedges), and Spirit Weaver (who delivered the THC). On the 25th hour our rancher declares their lifestyle wholly Independent and seriously considers building an underground bunker and going “off grid” by Christmas.

They’re not independent, they’re delusional.

But they’re not alone. Americans have built an entire holiday around an illusion of separation - and have you seen our government’s international agenda lately? It includes building higher border walls and protecting ourselves with a Golden Dome defense shield. We are conditioning ourselves to fear connection and to celebrate isolation not only on the 4th of July, but every day. We don’t have the budget for permanent Independence Day, people! It’s unnatural and unsustainable.

Plus there’s an easier way: accepting reality.

This looks like accepting the fact that our lives overlap more than they diverge. Just like the roads that connect our states, we have so much in common. Think about the thoroughfares those trucks use to transport the potatoes from the cooler states to the states with access to seafood. We actually want to share, don’t we? Because when we exchange we get diverse foods, sure, but also great ideas, and amazing innovations. Most importantly we start to value one another. We stand closer and we want what’s best - for all of us.

So on the day after the pyrotechnics and performative patriotism, let’s not return to this selfishness as a badge of honor nonsense. Let’s strive to stay in relationship with ourselves, our communities, and with the rest of the country, too. Consider it practice for the bigger relationships we must nurture. Because we still have friends to make across our self-imposed borders and around the globe. I could end this here, but I won’t. Because I truly find all this celebration of autonomy and differences petty and ridiculous. We are a single species, after all, and do you know the single most important connection we ALL share as a human family? It is our utter dependence upon our home planet, Earth. I’d like to see us act like revolutionaries in the way we approach this planet. I’d like to see us all behave as if the Earth was not to a land to be conquered but a sanctuary to be cherished, a home to be revered, and a place to live in peace.

Happy Interdependence Day ~

xoxo.

Hilary