In this world, there are things that inhabitants do on a regular basis:
be it routine actions or practice.

Every time they act they can ask themselves:
“What do I legitimize with what I’m doing?”

Example 1. When you’re reading this text from the screen of your iPhone or any other device you are legitimizing several things and processes: the fact that information is transmitted to you over the internet, using the infrastructure of several companies, which you are supporting while using their services; the process of extracting the elements, which the device is made of; the process of knowledge transmission; the device itself as a source of information or entertainment; the faculty of English language to communicate certain things in a way that produces meaning.

The second question is:
“What do I cultivate with what I am doing?”

Example 2. When you’re washing dishes you cultivate your ability to clean dirty stuff, you are also cultivating cleanliness in your environment. You might have a special way of washing dishes where you cultivate your acrobatic skills while playing with the plates or where you meditate while doing it. In those cases, you also cultivate acrobatic and meditative skills. 

Some actions are such that when we answer these two questions we realize their effect on the world to such an extent that we don’t want to do them any longer.

Alternatively, some other actions are such that when those questions are asked, we can continue performing these actions with much more focus and awareness than before.

Cover image from the Erosion Series by Tamsin van Essen