The litter principle
Published: Fri, 01/20/17
When, I am staying with my mother in Epsom, something I do fairly regularly these days as she now needs quite a bit of support and help, I still keep up my training regime. There is a local local recreation ground about 10 mins walk away. I like to get round there at sunrise and do stances and weapon training, staff, axe or cudgel. Although I am still in a built up area the space is wide and open and surrounded by trees. I am also far enough away from busy roads to be very quiet. There is a path across the recreation area which is used for dog walking and by children on their way to school but the route does not come anywhere near the corner I use. The ideal place for training, kindly provided by the local authority.
There is one small catch. While I nearly always have the space to myself first thing in the morning. (Occasionally there may be someone running laps of the field but there is plenty of space for both of us.) At some other time, I assume after dark, someone, or more likely several someones, gather to eat fast food, drink cans of beer, smoke, eat sweets and, on one occasion, scattered a dozen or so tiny co2 canisters (I think the type you use for carbonating drinks.) How do I know these nocturnal activities go on? Because of the rubbish that is left lying around when I arrive in the morning. This is in spite of there being a perfectly good rubbish bin within 50 yards which is emptied regularly.
I could have a rant about littering but either you would think I was making a fuss about nothing, or you know what it feels like to see a favourite place desecrated with carelessly discarded rubbish. So I don’t really need to add anything. So, what do I do about it? I spend a few minutes picking up the rubbish and putting in the bin. I know that it isn’t my responsibility and I could argue that the council pay people to do things like that. I guess it is just my way of honouring the spirit of the place, a small way of saying thank you for a quite place to stand on the earth with the sky overhead and do my practice, especially the stances aligned with the rising sun. I am sad that others have so little respect for either themselves or a place that they can’t actually put their empty beer cans in the rubbish bin that they have to walk past to enter or leave the space. However, there is no purpose in being upset about it. I guess
different folks have different ideas about what a recreation ground is for.
There is also an example of principle, technique and method there too, the theme of tomorrow’s course in Crewkerne. If principle is that it is good to leave situations better than you find them then clearing up rubbish makes sense. Method? Find some plastic bags (always a couple left among the rubbish). Technique? Fill bags and put in bin. Of course there are other principles that could be applied, I could just ignore the mess and tell myself that it has nothing to do with me. Method? Ignore, technique? Just look away. I might be making a fuss with the council to send some one round to clear it up. Method would involve correspondence and communication. Techniques might include email, writing letters and telephone calls. Or I could take it upon myself to apply the vigilante principle and visit the recreation ground each evening and try and persuade anyone there from leaving a mess, anyway you get the idea.
A specific issue, various principles which can be applied, each one requiring different methods and techniques to be used successfully. The important thing is to know what matters to you and why and then recognise that there are various options for achieving what you want.
Stav training is about knowing your options for one of the most important issues of all, your personal safety. Stav is also about applying principles to all aspects of life.
This is what we are going to be looking at tomorrow through Close Quarter Combat and on the 25th of February with weapons. I will explore a similar theme in Minneapolis in May. See the programme at http://www.iceandfire.org/calendar.html
regards
Graham