"Little Boxes" a song written by Malvina Reynolds in 1962 (which is the year I was born) that lampoons the development of suburbia and its conformist values. The song is used as the opening theme song for the hit Showtime television series Weeds. In my opinion, the show is actually more of a commentary on the bankruptcy of soul in suburban culture than a show about weed.
If we look at the spirituality of Jesus, it is quite easy to see that Jesus lived with a rhythm of movement between an urban setting and a natural setting. You might find him at the sea, or on a mountain, or in the wilderness. The next day you might find Jesus back in a city or village to be among the people. If we examine Jesus’ words and actions we can see that he is very comfortable in both settings and has the ability to see the sacred in both the natural and urban environment. I can not help but project that the balance that Jesus held between the two environments was a way in which he kept his soul fresh and alive.
Historically, there were two kinds of people, city folk and country folk. It is interesting to note that it was a regular phenomenon for the urbanites to take their vacation time and go to the country. And, the country dwellers would load up and take their vacations in the city. It is quite possible that this is the human soul’s intuition working to maintain balance and to nourish itself from these two differing spiritualities: Urban and Natural.
Decades ago, after centuries of our species living primarily in urban or natural settings - we created a new habitat for ourselves - Suburbia. Little boxes, privacy fences, closed garages, and uniformity which on the surface all looked convenient, safe, and wonderful. This, new place for us to dwell, was no longer wild or natural. And, it also did not have the energy, creative, diversity, and sense of community that urban settings have. What we created was a kind of neutral zone that did not have the ingredients to nourish and keep our souls alive. The result has been the rise of depression, addiction, and obesity. Also, we have watched as authentic spiritualities were replaced with pseudo-spiritualities. The rise of fundamentalism, the religious right movement, nationalism, and partisanism have all thrived in the suburbs.
Our soul’s intuition and wisdom tries to guide us if we would just listen. Have you ever noticed that almost no one travels to the suburbs for their vacation (unless it is to visit friends or family). All most exclusively we will use our leisure time to move back into a natural setting or we will visit an urban setting. We will travel to the ocean, the mountains, to the wilderness - or to the city - our soul knows.
It is my opinion that much of the despair that exists today is directly connected to the lack of heart that exists in suburbia - this new habitat that we have created for ourselves. What can we do about it? For starters, we can get out of our little boxes - we can get back outside and walk or ride our bikes - we can be intentional about placing ourselves in diverse settings - we can have the courage to move out of our comfort zones and away from the status quo - we can hang out with artist and creative folk - we can start to make and create things again - we can start to think and feel again - we can take holidays to natural settings - we can visit cities - we can become participators instead of spectators - we can get off the couch and put down the remote control.
Your soul and the soul of our culture might just depend on it.
_________________
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
And the people in the houses
All went to the university,
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same,
And there's doctors and lawyers,
And business executives,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry,
And they all have pretty children
And the children go to school,
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university,
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same.
And the boys go into business
And marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one,
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same.
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