ValleyZen Shuts Down for Earth Hour
Subtracting superfluous energy.
Removing excess light.
Entering the void.
Those ideas resonate with us at ValleyZen.
So, in harmony with millions of others in 25 cities around the world, at 8pm we’re shutting down—for one hour. A small dewdrop of a gesture inside of a larger collective ocean-size gesture.
Earth Hour exemplifies a core Zen tenet—wabi. Representing independence from material things–wabi means poverty. How can poverty be a good thing—-especially in a “more is more” world where amassing as many things as possible is the goal? Turning towards Zen wabi may not only be good, it may be crucial–as mankind races against time to solve the global climate crisis. Tonight, robbing ourselves of the luxury of artificial light, is a Zen act.
Earth Hour has already encountered criticism, ridicule, technical problems and a few hiccups.
Imperfect?
Yes.
Zen?
Yes.
In Sydney, Harbour Bridge was late, blacking out at 8:05 and other key buildings sputtered out unevenly all the way until 8:15. I thought this was a great reminder of the Zen asymmetry of Earth Hour. Perhaps it shouldn’t have a clearly defined START, and definitely not STOP.
The painting above is North Tower Piercing the Mist – inverted for Earth Hour. ValleyZen can’t throw the switch on the Golden Gate Bridge, the Colosseum or the Sydney Opera House, but symbolically we support Earth Hour. Blacking out icons of civilization globally has more than shock value. For ValleyZen, the black void may hold the answer.
Bill Fenwick & Drue Kataoka
Drue, I promptly turned off the energy at 8 pm. I feel proud of it and more content. People in the States were required to turn off energy for only an hour- which is nothing. There are so many people in other countries who don’t have electricity for hours!
Most of the people in my neigborhood didn’t turn off the lights, sadly…even though the city (St. Louis, MO) had signed up for it. Hopefully, people will become more aware.