Thinking across the generations – the story of the trees of Oxford
This is the story of the oak beams at the Oxford library dining hall. A mythical legend about what we’d now call the green building, or thinking across the generations. I once found it a book and it made a deep impression on me. I think it may impress you too.
Sometime in the 19th century at New College, Oxford, the dining hall’s oak beams needed replacing. Now you should know that these beams were so large and thick they were incredibly hard, if not impossible to come by.
The library archives showed the College-owned forest land, and when the College Archivist was asked about this, he returned with the following information: when the hall was built (some 500 years earlier), a grove of oaks had been planted. They called in the College Forester and asked him about the oaks. The Forrester pulled his forelock and said, “Well sirs, we were wonderin’ when you’d be askin’.”
For five centuries, the plan had been passed down from one Forester to the next: “You don’t cut them oaks. Them’s for the College Hall.”
Global tipping point
We move further and further away from our natural state of being. We lose ourselves in the hustle of day-to-day life and get stuck in ‘survival mode’. Do you feel trapped sometimes? Like there’s no breathing space? Do you ever wonder why you’re here? Or have you turned into a dazed, half-asleep zombie, your life force slowly seeping out of you?
We’ve reached a global tipping point. Our politics, healthcare, education, and economy are sick. It’s time to realize the planet’s expiration date has long passed. That we must and can change. Solving the current crisis and protecting future generations is mainly a matter of mindset. It’s about being willing to change.
“The world has enough for everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greed.” – Mahatma Gandhi
A better world for everyone
I no longer want to be part of a world that only benefits a few. I want to contribute by sharing knowledge and skills. To a better world for everyone. I want to be part of a greater whole. I want to contribute to our project called Miti ya matumaini, or “Trees of Hope”.
Together, we form an ecosystem
Let’s think across the generations and take back our responsibility. Not seek it outside ourselves but within ourselves. Live a healthy lifestyle in which yoga can help.
Let’s spread awareness that we share a planet on which every human, animal, and creature matters. Together, we form an ecosystem, and it has become unbalanced. Let’s take a good look at existing structures and see how we can reorganize them.
Let’s think across the generations, like the trees of Oxford. And let nature be a huge source of inspiration. She invented sustainability, after all.
