Dear Readers of The Dirt!

I have been sitting in front of my computer, trying not to write about a very personal detail of my life. But this detail is occupying my mind to the extent that I can not really write about anything else.

My oldest child has been recently diagnosed with a "disability." Throughout this process I have experienced countless emotions. In some ways, it can be compared to the grief that comes with the death of a loved one. I think it is partially as a response to grief that many parents go looking for the "cause" of "disability." Last week a friend asked me if I suspected vaccinations to be a factor.

I don't want to belittle the power of toxins in the environment, (which are so pervasive as to be present in the mother's milk of polar bears) in that they can and do cause birth defects, neurological damage, and disease. But one of the most empowering things I have been told throughout this experience is that what our society calls "disability" is actually just part of the natural variation of what it means to be human. "Disabilities" have been present throughout human history (we just did not call them that). All species (plants as well as animals) have individuals who are not average. This is normal. This is nature.

Unfortunately, we live in a society, which has a pretty narrow definition of "normal." And most of our society's infrastructure is designed to only accommodate that narrow definition of "normal." Every day, we go out in the world and negotiate a rigid and dominating built environment (busy city streets designed for cars, not humans and big box grocery stores for example) as well as a highly bureaucratized social environment.

I get so angry when I flip through the pages of curriculum designed to teach my child to function within the bounds of normalcy. This is an environmental issue, because it is a diversity issue. The type of thinking and design work that goes into marginalizing people is at its source identical to the logic of clear-cutting a mixed-species forest and planting a monoculture of Douglas firs. Diversity is one of the cornerstones of ecology. Diversity gives us flexibility. Diversity gives us beauty. Diversity makes us strong.

Enjoy this week's edition of the Dirt! and don't bother trying to be "normal." It's not worth it.

Cheyenne
Spreading Roots, Spring Forth