It was at times quite amazing how sparse and uninviting the nesting areas for the urban mockers seemed... narrow strips of shrubbery along freight railroad tracks; weed fields behind big stores. Yet they teemed with life , from a variety of other songbirds to butterflies, hornets and flies that lived on the cornucopia of wildflowers in harmony with rabbits and, in the larger puddles, frogs. The lesson is obvious, in nature Nothing goes to waste.
If so much was happening in second-rate urban habitats, imagine the life flourishing in more pristine areas. It’s a lesson that we could do well to emulate. Although some municipalities (including mine) have adopted some level of recycling programs, just how much more could we do with what we consider “waste.” What resources could we save by diverting all our metals or glass from the garbage? Moreover, what beauty and potential exists within the people on the outskirts of life that we have written off ? If so much can grow and flourish in a few acres of weeds behind a big hardware store, how much could we grow in those little bits of spare time or few extra bucks we have kicking around that we assume are of no use? Nothing is useless if we have imagination.
Nothing goes to waste. Everything has its use. If we really took this to heart, how much might we accomplish? Kyle MacDonald believed in this, and in thinking big , managed to own his own house after starting with nothing a year earlier.
Well, to be accurate,not “nothing”. He began with one red paperclip and his imagination. To many, Kyle would have seemed the prototypical Generation X 'slacker'. Out of work, living with his girlfriend Dominique in Montreal, not especially motivated to go back to work in some dead-end job. As he put it “I just wanted to do things. I wanted to explore. I wanted to play.” Yet he also wanted to provide and felt terrible about having Dominique pay the rent in their small apartment month after month. He looked at his resume, held together with one bright red paperclip...and decided to put it to use. Not the resume- the paperclip. He got it into his mind that he would trade it for a house! The craziest thing about this is not that he had the idea- but that it worked!
If so much was happening in second-rate urban habitats, imagine the life flourishing in more pristine areas. It’s a lesson that we could do well to emulate. Although some municipalities (including mine) have adopted some level of recycling programs, just how much more could we do with what we consider “waste.” What resources could we save by diverting all our metals or glass from the garbage? Moreover, what beauty and potential exists within the people on the outskirts of life that we have written off ? If so much can grow and flourish in a few acres of weeds behind a big hardware store, how much could we grow in those little bits of spare time or few extra bucks we have kicking around that we assume are of no use? Nothing is useless if we have imagination.
Nothing goes to waste. Everything has its use. If we really took this to heart, how much might we accomplish? Kyle MacDonald believed in this, and in thinking big , managed to own his own house after starting with nothing a year earlier.
Well, to be accurate,not “nothing”. He began with one red paperclip and his imagination. To many, Kyle would have seemed the prototypical Generation X 'slacker'. Out of work, living with his girlfriend Dominique in Montreal, not especially motivated to go back to work in some dead-end job. As he put it “I just wanted to do things. I wanted to explore. I wanted to play.” Yet he also wanted to provide and felt terrible about having Dominique pay the rent in their small apartment month after month. He looked at his resume, held together with one bright red paperclip...and decided to put it to use. Not the resume- the paperclip. He got it into his mind that he would trade it for a house! The craziest thing about this is not that he had the idea- but that it worked!