It’s peak season at the markets.
Often, we get so swept up in the convenience of grocery store culture that we forget that food grows when it’s warm. And that Ontario is where food comes from.
Put those two together, and you quickly remember that there is a season when things are just at their best.
We feel it’s important to remind our kids that somebody actually digs in the earth to plant things we can eat. There are people there who spend the long weeks of spring and summer tending to plants that produce the food we need to live.
This lesson extends beyond the produce stalls though. There are bakers and makers of all kinds. People, not just stores. People, not just disembodied digital entities. The things we use, whether they be for living, playing, or simply having, are the results of people…
…people who live, play games, work hard, cry sometimes, sing songs, get sick, drive kids to school, buy things…
People.
When we understand that the things in our lives are the results of the efforts of people, we can relate to them. We can value the things, but more importantly we can value the people.
Then, when fortunes impact our neighbours, we can empathize. We can understand their struggles. We can even help if we’re called to do so. But the most important takeaway, for us at least, is fostering in our kids the understanding that no matter how hectic life gets, no matter how convenient our acquisition of things, no matter how intelligent — artificial or otherwise — our technology gets, at the heart of everything we have, see, use, consume, do, and are, are people.
And they all want the same things we do: something to eat, somewhere to live, a reasonable sense of security, and a place in this world.