Escapism, for better or for worse?

There are two types of vegetarians.

There are the quiet, "I just don't like the idea of eating meat" for whatever guttural reason (pun intended) type and mind their own business.

Then there are the militant "I'm morally opposed to being vegetarian to such an extent that I will disregard the boundaries between my stomach and yours to make sure every ounce of pleasure that that oh-so-supple pork chop supplies is completely annihilated the mounds of guilt I will heap upon you for participating in the circle of life, you souless bastard."

After 3 weeks of a pretty intense learning experience at our township home stays, this weekend we had the amazing opportunity to go to Cederberg, a secluded nature reserve about 4 hours drive north of Cape Town. It is a place far from most of modern man's influence, for better or for worse. Honestly, it was a more than welcome reprieve from seeing some of the worst of modern man's influence: the segregation, the poverty, the desperation, the insecurity in Langa township. It was more than welcome to wake up to the sunrise over a beautiful lake surrounded by sparkling red rock instead of that very same sunrise over teetering one room shacks. What was welcome was an escape from the realities of our imperfect world.

In Cederberg, we were privy to a landscape of immense natural beauty. Saturday we hiked through a Mars-like red rock landscape (that is, if I mentally erase the trees, brush, birds...and water...well pretty much everything except for the rocks). Our day trip ended by a ...let's call it refreshing25 ft jump into a freezing river. It was certainly enjoyable but I'm not gonna lie, after I hit that bitterly cold water, I imagined those Martians had life pretty good on Mars without water...

Anyway, Friday and Saturday nights we (and by we, I mean Zed, our group leader) cooked out. Sitting out in the crisp, beautiful nights with good friends and good food, life seemed pretty simple. Strolling under the many stars that filled the night sky unpolluted by articficial light was something I particularly enjoyed. I feel very humbled looking up at the stars. It reminds me not to sweat the small stuff; seen from any of those stars in the beautiful expanse of our universe, complaints about imperfections in our lives and petty arguments seem insignificant, to say the least..

While you should have already drawn the connection to vegetarians, let me explain the link in my twisted mind, if you will indulge me. The striking juxtaposition of untouched natural beauty in a land of so many problems is not something I had to go to Cederberg for. I saw it on (or rather around) Table Mountain. I saw it in the beautiful tourist beaches in camps bay. In Cederberg, however, the contrast was so much more vivid because it was a trip specifically designed to get away from it all.

In everyday life, however we make efforts to get away from our problems. The oft used phrase out of sight out of mind seems to fit this build. I so often do my best to stay on the "right" side of the train tracks because it is so much easier to not confront the poverty of DC, for instance. My beautiful, mainly white middle-upper class corner of NW DC sure is an escape from the poor SE corner. The difference, however, is that this is a pretty permanent one.

However, the question that those vegetarians lead me to is where the balance lies between truly enjoying the finer points of life and remembering all the injustices and inequities of the world? Should your knowledge of the outside pain and suffering spoil the taste of escapist pleasures? Are those who relentlessly remind us of all that is wrong with the world ruining the wealth many enjoy? Are guilt tripping vegetarians are evil as I put them out to be?

Ubuntu is a culture in African communities that asserts that all human beings are connected and reminds us of our responsibility to treat everyone as a brother and sister. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with retreating to a simpler less worrisome life. I just think we, myself included, need to be sure to remember that there are those who do not have the option of retreat. They must be battle ready and charge in the face of injustice every day.

We must remember that as we escape from some of the realities of our planet, our sympathy, empathy and sense connectedness to those less fortunate should never be allowed to escape us. Most importantly, we must make sure we acknowledge that we are escaping from the realities of the planet. Cederberg was a retreat but an acknowledged one.

So yes, you can enjoy your lamb shank or pristine waters and crimson rocks over cloudless blue skies. Just don't forget where these opportunities came from and just because they are away from the realities of the Townships and heart-less meat-packing conglomerates, they certainly are not connected to them.