Dave's Anatomy: My History As a Writer, #46: "Sustainability"

Writing about music is a thing that never leaves me. I began to learn guitar from my father when I was fifteen and soon was in a garage band. That was the age of the British groups, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Kinks; and of the great American bands like The Byrds and The Doors. Everyone started a band. We did covers for high school dances and the county fair. Being a local musician gave me some of the inspiration for the story, "Sustainability."

If you keep up with current foodie, gardening and ecological literature, you will undoubtedly run across the term sustainability. One dictionary definition pretty much nails it for the way I used it in this particularly story. It is, "the maintenance of the factors and practices that contribute  to the quality of environment on a long-term basis." Books like Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and Bill McKibben's Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future use the term this way and it's very common in the world of community farming, farmer's markets, and the whole community that centers around food, health, organic gardening, and all things "green."

But sustainability has to develop in other areas, and this is what gave me the idea for the story.

It centers on a musician, Justin; his wife, Cynthia; and their girl, Emily. They have gone through a divorce and live separately. Justin has given custody of Emily to his wife, and the girl, on the edge of adolescence, visits him. But there is a great deal of contrast in their lifestyles. After many years of playing bars, dives, and local events, Justin has made it as a musician and now has the status of star, hit records, money, and connections. Cynthia, however, has maintained their old lifestyle of simple living, localism, producing a lot of one's own food, ecological thrift, and a mindset for sustainability.

The contrast that split up their marriage is not one that divides them after their separation. Justin provides well for his family, has an amicable relationship with Cynthia, and does not fight over her about custody arrangements with Emily. They get along and he in fact looks forward to seeing her and is careful to provide for her needs and support her in her child-raising efforts. But his daughter, Emily, is not happy. She wants to bask in the luxury of her father's celebrity lifestyle and increasingly despises the simplicity her mother wants her to live out.

When she goes away for a week with Justin and Syrithe, his actress girlfriend, she is elated and incessantly complaints about the lifestyle her mother wants her to live. She wants to live with her father and says so in no uncertain terms. Syrithe thinks the young girl's situation is not good. Justin does not want to hurt Cynthia or create conflict by insisting that Emily come to live with him.When he returns her, he notices how haggard and thin Cynthia is. He wonders if she is ill or has developed some wasting disease. She says they need to talk, and during their conversation he understands what is troubling her. She realizes she has lost the affection of her own daughter. Emily, Cynthia knows, wants to live with her father and decides he should have custody of her and she should visit her—the reverse of the arrangement they have now. He objects, says their daughter, as she heads into adolescence, needs her mother to guide her through those difficult and important years. Cynthia replies, "For me to do that there has to be a relationship. I think it could happen if she lived with you and visited me, but not the other way around. And you have your girlfriend—Syrithe? You two lived together, don’t you? She would be there for Emily."

Sadly, Justin sees the truth of her words. His wife has faced a tough reality. He agrees to her proposition. Throughout the story, there is "play" with the word sustainability. Agriculture and ecosystems must be sustainable. But so must a relationship, whether it is husband and wife or the various configurations of parents to child. If conditions are not connected, and if they cannot be adjusted and modified, the same thing will occur that occurs when a system in the natural world proves dysfunctional. It comes to a halt. It does not produce a fruitful harvest. It becomes toxic and harmful rather than life-giving.

The story appeared in The Green Silk Journal, still an active publication. Follow this link to read "Sustainability" (note: this journal has a "straight-line" format; another story is on top of mine and you must scroll down to get to "Sustainability"--but it is there!)

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