“She meets her true self”

The wisdom and life experience of the people I work with has taught me that there is great value from finding joy and satisfaction from the simple gifts of this world. The value of human connection and relationship and just how much we miss out on when always stuck glued to our phones, searching for how to better our lives through material add-ons. There is a deep sense of calm that comes when we resist the pressures of consumerism at the touch of a button. Through this art piece, I call on the viewer to consider how the Shmitah year implores us to take a look at ourselves and reflect on our values around consumerism and environmental justice; to pause and internalize how much natural beauty and gifts of vitality the world has to offer. These gifts of the natural world nourish our souls deeply and create connection and relationship without competition, jealousy and greed; attributes that are deeply connected to the consumerist lifestyle. My prayer for the Shmitah year is that not only do we let the land rest from work, but that we let the environment rest from the mass production and destruction that consumerism produces. Shmitah can be a time of reflection on our shopping habits that leed to great amounts of toxic wastes and bi-products and the environmental and social injustice that results from production of key materials in poor countries to satisfy desires of mass consumerism. I pray that we are able to recognise G-d’s blessings through what we have already in our homes that can last us for the 6th, 7th and 8th year in the Shmitah cycle as the Torah explains G-d will bless us with.