When I started this blog, I wasn’t really sure exactly where it would lead. I felt like I had to say something about having cancer, or surviving cancer. Or both. I wanted to say something that was meaningful, useful. But I never really knew what it was. I guess I still don’t. Just today, however, I happened upon a letter in the “The CCPA [Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives]Monitor” that caught my attention. It was a response to an early article citing a 2000 study and claiming that cancer is almost wholly the result of environmental pollution and, thus, avoidable. Now, I am not going to try to defend this argument, or pick it apart, but it did cause me to reflect on the issue of pollution, toxins and “green” lifestyles generally.

I feel very strongly that we are polluting our planet in a way that is both highly toxic to us and also highly unnecessary. At this point I am not basing this on any specific evidence, at least not that I could marshal in an air tight argument to defend this point of view. But I have seen evidence over the years, and my accumulated experience and awareness tells me this is real, and a serious issue. It also tells me that it is central to so many of the serious problems, environmental and otherwise, we are experiencing today. And it tells me, unequivocally, that I can do something about it. That I must.

Yes, very easy to say, isn’t it. And I’m not sure what form my role will take. Understanding cancer and it’s causes is important. I know that I have a strong interest in organic agriculture and the idea of a secure, healthy food system. I also know that green, smart, natural architecture and building turns my crank. And I do know that I believe strongly in the power of local economic development and cooperative ownership. Perhaps I can blog my way to an new synergy of these interests, and make my own contribution. Or perhaps it is just a matter of working my way to finding those who have already contributed and are contributing, and to join my energy with theirs.

Or perhaps I am falling into my usual trap of trying to see a complex problem where there is a simple solution. Perhaps the secret isn’t in trying to do it all, but to find my way to one that I can do well.

And most of all, maybe the fun and satisfaction will be in the search, rather than the solution, which is something I don’t think I appreciate often enough.