Commitment over consistency
Please, for the love of yourself.
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l rarely talk about consistency. Instead, l talk about committment.
Consistency, at least as l understand it, holds an energy of continuousness. Ad infinitum. For me, it feels like a line, unbroken that stretches onwards.
But is that nature?
Does nature continue on indefinitely?
Not in that sense. It ebbs and flows. And it doesn’t forget it’s essence. It stays committed in it’s very it-ness.
I took this photo on a hike in Nepal. When l rounded a corner l saw this tree and had a proper divine moment. The picture doesn’t even do it justice. This tree is wholly in its essence.
In the past, I’ve subscribed wholeheartedly to the idea that in order to ‘grow’ and improve (both understood in the modern world as ‘continuous growth’ — an altogether ludicrous notion) the single most important factors were discipline and consistency. I’d say l did an excellent job at embodying those two qualities in various aspects of my life.
I have generally been able to be disciplined and consistent even if, or more accurately, when, it had to be forced. I would work myself to the bone. Ignore my natural rhythms, cycles, and feelings.
Over the last five years or so though l’ve been really trying to evaluate my worldview and the discourse l participate in. See, discipline, consistency, and growth as linear concepts that are always a graft is an incredibly human-centred way to think about life, and are the result of capitalist and patriarchal systems, structures, and discourse.
Instead, if we use an ecocentric lens and regenerative discourse, then commitment to the cycles is more important than discipline and consistency.
Growth is a spiral, sometimes forwards, sometimes backwards, turning around and it is not linear. Growth doesn’t always mean improvement. In this worldview we consider the interconnectedness of our evolution instead of only personal growth.
That doesn’t mean YOU don’t grow as an individual — I’d actually argue that’s where it starts. What l mean is that we focus first on cultivating our own little environment to flourish AND THEN look how we can be part of the wider ecosystem we exist in.
Committment, as l understand it, is holding the essence of you, while you spiral forwards and backwards.
This approach might be better termed, if we want to get really into the depths with our language, adaptive stewardship.
At this point you might be wondering, does this have anything to do with home cooking and meal planning, Rachel, because it is feeling a little bit like an impassioned speech at this point?
Yes, it does.
Social media frames home cooking and meal planning as things you have to be good at or constantly improve. It also sets us up to think that we need to cook elaborate meals all the time, often making us feel inadequate. And there it begins again. The feeling that we need to be disciplined to do better. Try harder. Clench your hands and be more consistent.
Adaptive stewardship in connection to home cooking reflects a values based committment to nourishing yourself and your family in ways that are responsive, flexible, sustainable, and even regenerative. Rather than focusing on consistency and rigidity, being an adaptive steward means being attuned to seasonal shifts and produce, family needs, and what’s readily available in your kitchen and local area.
How about we ground ourselves by figuring out what our values are and then make small commitments that align with our values? That might look like:
Cooking two simple meals a week at home.
Using a meat and three veg framework if that works for you - nothing wrong with that even if it seems that the world suggests there is. We don’t all need to be masterchefs. The simpliest of meals cooked with love is better than a three course feast begrudgingly plated.
Making kitchen mistakes and turning them into funny stories.
Knowing that our willingness to eat seasonally brings us into greater connection with the cycles of nature.
Nature does not blindly forge ahead.
Nature is responsive.
And you are nature.
So why are you whipping yourself with the lashes of discipline and consistency?
Commit to living your values and then you can ebb and flow with responsiveness.
At least, that is what l am trying to do.
I know my niche over here talking about home cooking and meal planning is a little different — it’s very much me. If this resonated with you, I’d love to know!
From one adaptive steward to the next,
Rachel x
