Allow me, if you will, to digress a bit from what we typically call “energy”. Certainly, Sean and I write a lot about solar power, geothermal power, energy incentives, carbon offset programs, and all the rest – but there’s another crucial component in the move towards sustainable action that seems overlooked, perhaps because it’s not well-defined (or even really mentioned) under the heading of “sustainability” or “the green revolution”.

After working at Evergreen’s Writing Center for several years in various roles, as a writing tutor and now as their Information Technology Manager, there has been one thing that has been hammered home to me about the way people write: we go through cycles. Now, I don’t mean “cycles” in the sense of write/review/rewrite/review/repeat, though that’s certainly an important one; the one I mention here is the energy carried by the writer that exhibits itself in their writing. For several months, the energy that I have that allows me to write about a topic and to feel like writing has been almost nonexistent (which explains why none of my blogs have been updated in a while).

A lot of being able to practice sustainability has to do with managing your own beliefs and manifesting your energies towards creating a better world for everyone else and a more healthy, enjoyable environment for yourself. I’ve been doing this a bit lately by trying to get rid of things – part of it is spring cleaning (a little early), but part of it is my dissatisfaction with my material approach to life. Of course, I say this realizing that I am very materialistic and that attempting to minimize that impact can be hard if not impossible in your mid-twenties.

My energy towards writing, I believe, is beginning to creep upwards again; as a writer at heart and as someone who knows that writing will always be central to my life in some form, this is encouraging and invigorating. My energy towards sustainability and thinking about ways to further enhance my own work never faltered. As we exit 2006 and enter 2007, I can only hope that the sustainability movement gains even more momentum. This momentum, in part, will be widely due to the efforts of people like Sean, myself, and you.