A Morning in the Gym

Notes on the Inimical[1] Nature of White Folks

The Routines. Like many of us who live a modern western deathstyle (excuse me) …uh …lifestyle, my daily routine is very sedentary. That means I sit on my backside all day. That’s right. I sit on my backside in front of a computer. Sometimes I talk on the phone. Sometimes I swivel my chair from side to side. Sometimes I stand up and walk across the room. But for the most part, I sit on my backside… all day. This is my primary routine. What is ironic about this routine is that very often at the end of the day, relatively little is accomplished. Perhaps, I've read and responded to some memorandum. Maybe I filed some documents, opened and discarded some mail, or sent mail to someone else to open and discard. But I won’t complain. We gotta eat.

Now, when I am disciplined and committed enough to do it, I sometimes develop a secondary routine… The Gym. At the gym my goal is to undo the harm that sitting on my backside all day is doing to my body. So I run in place on a conveyor belt for 45 minutes. I lift a weight-bearing bar over my head repeatedly until I can’t lift it any more. What is ironic about this routine is that at the end, again very little is accomplished. I step off of the conveyor belt out of breath, yet standing in the same place I was when I began. I didn't travel to a new place. I didn't meet new people. I didn't see new sights.

Natural Living. There’s something unnerving and unnatural in these routines. Nature has provided us with a system for meaningful work and maximum health. Natural-Man doesn't run on a hamster wheel. Natural-Man walks or runs for miles and when he gets there (wherever there is) he hunts, traps, forages or raises food. He then carries it back to others. Natural-Man doesn't need to run on a hamster wheel, because he didn't spend his day sitting on his backside.

A Lesson. There is a lesson in this for Afrikan people, a lesson that can (and should) be shared with Afrikan children. Although the Western deathstyle is normal (which means that everyone does it) it is not natural. It is not natural for humans to sit on their backsides all day doing less than meaningful work. Work that disconnects us from the natural world is typically not meaningful work. Meaningful work is growing food, building structures, caring for animals, and enhancing relationships. Meaningful work is inherently healthier than Western “work.” Meaningful work requires us to be active, to be outside, and to be fully vested. The outcome of this work has personal meaning to the humans engaging in the work. Meaningful work provides us with adventure.

Don’t Quit Your Desk Job. Keep doing it to the best of your ability. We gotta eat. However, try to find a place in the time that remains for meaningful work. If hunting moose or raising llamas seems too daunting, consider gardening as a more feasible starting point. If you are in the Indianapolis area, consider attending the Sankoré Institute sponsored Strategic Gardening Workshop.



Jomo W. Mutegi is a husband and father committed to the improvement of the African world community, an author of science-related children’s books, and an Associate Professor of Science Education. To learn more about Jomo’s children’s books, visit www.JomoMutegi.com. To learn more about Dr. Mutegi’s research visit www.ES2RP.org.

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[1] Inimical: Adverse in tendency or effect; unfavorable; harmful