Humanity’s Visible and Ambiguous Maze
“I am tired, every day I must believe and hope, there is a moment where you say, I am tired” Jury, local biological produce market owner of Tierra Una, expresses with her voice and eyes.
Jury, is one of the many business owners suffering from raising rents and prices in her local neighborhood, situated on Rue de la Fontaine Au Roi, Paris, France.Where she will possibly be having to soon close after being open for 10 years.
Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 11E district of Paris, France has been identified as one of the many districts in Paris, to be facing gentrification, displacing low-income families and small businesses; in her own words, “a capitalist system only looking to conquer and destroy.”
However, she explains not only the notable physical changes occurring in the area, but the problems within the mindset of her local neighborhood.
The food industry has been her passion for years. Stressing that people need to wake up and question what kind of world they want to live in. A world in which we reduce our consumption in order to care for it, where quality is truly over quantity.
“I don’t have access to media” Jury, expresses that the media only controls and manipulates to the advantage of big name corporations; where it is not important for the economy to produce life, but to produce money. For this reason, hormones are being used to produce milk, and tomatoes are being sold during the winter, when they clearly are not in season.
“A lot of people love money, but not enough love water, forests, the planet we share.” Jury. These new changes occurring in her neighborhood will affect her directly; she expresses how these types of movements, regarding food and agriculture, don’t interest the government enough. We are in need of living in one world, not a world of rich and poor, splitting ourselves into two instead of one.
John Elstob, working at The Grail Garden, a local boutique, biological bar, and cultural activity site located on Rue Des Bornes, also in the Rue Jean-Pierre district, also expressed similar visions of his community in Paris.
“What can we do now?” he raised the question as he expressed his feeling of sensitivity towards the recent changes. “Who is directing all of that?”
He voiced how people are constantly believing what they hear, living in fear, and constantly searching for more in desperation, instead of finding a way to create something new.
His shop focuses on the importance of meditation with the help of natural plants. However, many people are not aware of these natural remedies, due to the lack of education upon the issue, and what the media is portraying and advertising, such as commercials shown on the local channel TF1. Where many are simply led to different places, stuck in a maze, and loosing identities.
John elaborates on “the fire of the spirit” we all hold and need to attend to. He is also a squash coach, where he is able to teach people how to react under certain conditions through the art of sport. Many have expressed to him how they have learned more about themselves throughout the training process, realizing there is something bigger than them needing to be released.
As he coaches, he asks “not for people to believe me, but to experience something else” John.
Notably, many like Jury and John, are questioning the world around while dodging the punches being sent from outside factors. The question as to where humanity is going remains, not just in Paris, France, but world-wide.