Miriam Jangles
On Sunday 6 December, Miriam began a fortnight's fast. From then until the end of Copenhagen on Friday 18th, Miriam intends to consume only water.
"Fasting is an act of solidarity with the millions of people who are already going hungry... and the millions more who will... as weather systems change and collapse and agricultural land is degraded, desertified or drowned. If climate change is not stopped, hunger will become the norm for humanity. I hope to experience a little of that, to highlight the issue, and to stand beside and honour those who already face this reality.
Fasting is symbolic of what we are doing to this planet. In 2005, we consumed 1.4 planets worth of resources, and have consumed more since. We are literally starving the planet with our greed, and that is not a sustainable model. It is literally biting the hand that feeds you. My fast is an act of solidarity with the planet and the biosphere itself, a sharing in its pain, and through that, an attempt to bring myself closer to the planet, to the earth, to all life on it, and to recognise that, contrary to the scientific, economic and philosophical models of modern years, I am one with it, and cannot be separate from its suffering.
Fasting focuses my mind on the issues. I am made aware of my cravings, my greed, my unnecessary consumption and the way that the same processes in the overarching culture of our world impact on me, and on all things. I am made aware of all the things that I miss... tea (god how I miss tea), the almond biscuits at work today, a bag of cashews on the train – and am made aware that if the issues aren't addressed, then soon I will be going without these things permanently, not just for a fortnight. Equally, I am made aware of the rich and varied provision and nature of this world, of what a precious gift it is, and the need to preserve and honour it.
Fasting is a move towards simplicity. It is a direct contradiction and challenge to the practices and ethics that cause climate change and a refusal to accept them. It is a sign of the simpler lifestyle that we all need to adapt to, and that if this is done willingly rather than through having it forced upon us too late, then it is a healthy, holistic, liberating and positive response.
Fasting is a means of clearing away the rubbish. As I simplify, as I go without the things I dont need, as I remove distractions and waste, I highlight the need for that to happen globally, and by acting alone or with a small group, I begin and add to the same processes on the worldwide scale.
Fasting is a means of expression. It is a way of stating the unspeakable, the depth of my feelings, fear and love, and of the degree to which I need to respond to the enormity of the consequences we are facing.
Fasting is a form of protest. It is an act of non-violent direct action, of bearing witness to my authenticity and objections and the depth of my feelings and beliefs. If it becomes public, it becomes a pressure tactic, a means of raising awareness, and as such effects influence. The line between the fast and the hunger strike is a thin one.
Fasting is a call on a higher power than my own. Through risking my own strength and that of my resources, I cannot rely on that, but instead highlight the dependence of myself and all of us on the sustaining nature or spirit of the earth and learn to rely on this. Call it Gaia or God, we lost this relationship long ago, and it is only by restoring this that we can begin to reverse the devastation we have wrought by the violation of this relationship. We need to learn that we don't rule this earth, but rely on it, that we are not apart from it, but a part of it.
Fasting is an invocation. Many of those involved come from various spiritual traditions. All spiritual traditions speak of the value of fasting. Often coupled with forms of meditation or prayer, it has long been believed that the devotion and intensity of the act adds impetus and as such, achieves much by way of spiritual – and growing out of that, physical – change.
Fasting is a means to an end, and that end is change. Whether it changes only me, or whether it also changes or others, or even, along with the efforts of thousands of others, whether it changes the world, remains to be seen. What is certain is that there will be change, and that change will be for the better of myself, and therefore and also for the world at large.
And so, given the above, I have made a start, and await to see where it leads..."
