Day breaks in the woods out back.
So many of us believe that we’re impotent when it comes to solving the larger problems of the world. Yet there is nothing impotent about the human mind. Even if you’re not the type of person to write letters or join protests, if you feel deeply about an issue, you can dedicate a period of time every day – five or ten minutes, sixty seconds even – when you sit still and send out your objections in a thought process. Then hold in your mind a feeling of appreciation of, respect for, and harmony with the Earth. Gregge Tiffen (Life in the World Hereafter - The Journey Continues)
I started to do something, take action, try to make a difference instead of sitting in despair. That changed my life. It gives your life meaning... To know you can have impact, it makes you feel a lot better. Greta Thunberg
Among other reflections, experiments and adventures this week, I’ve continued to consider how I will cooperate more fully with Mother Earth. I started to write ‘how can I’, but that’s a cop-out. There are unlimited ways that I ‘can’, but what ‘will’ I do gets to the heart of the matter.
‘What will I do?’ is a question for each of us to ask. It matters not how big or how small our actions are. EVERY action we take, EVERY thought we think matters.
While Gregge Tiffen imparts the wisdom of the ages, Greta Thunberg inspires with her youthful caring and wisdom. She’s turned despair, fear, and anger into love in action. Listen! I chuckle as I notice that both share the initials GT. Then, I return to what really matters: their calls to action. And, to the Global Climate Strike, a focused week of action beginning tomorrow, September 20, 2019, and continuing across the globe through September 27.
How will I honor, not the event as an event, but the heart (and the future) of these young people, who are boldly challenging the establishment (and each of us enabling that establishment) to take action?
The nearest climate action event is some 60 miles away, so it would be quite incongruent to drive 120 miles to participate. I don’t have a ‘job’ and I’m not in school, thus I can’t walk out. So, how will I strike?
I begin to design my actions, starting with Day 1, September 20. I’ll unplug from all electronic connection for the day (no email, no Facebook, no phone). I’ll spend time (at least two hours) in the woods out back, listening to the trees, the rocks, the land. I’ll thank the Earth. I’ll return to reading Charles Eisenstein’s Climate: A New Story. I won’t shop or engage in any business activity. So far, it’s a pretty easy list. I add that I’ll eat raw (no cooking on the gas stove), and I’ll turn in when the sun sets.
Then, as I decide that I won’t use the car, I remember a physical therapy appointment scheduled weeks ago. I find myself face to face with how my schedule, my habits, my consumption, conflict with my desire to participate and to be more collaborative with the Earth. I’m reminded again that my choices contribute to Mother Earth’s stress. EVERY thing matters. We hit such conflicts whenever we aim to change. They are the places that can stop us, and the places where we get to choose what we value most.
In this case, I choose my health and well-being. I recognize that today, it’s a conscious choice, while most days I choose based on habit and convenience and with little awareness. I wonder about possibilities for future choices that honor both my well-being and the planet.
I’ll add this to my reflections in the week ahead. I’ll spend time each day reflecting on my commitment to collaborate with Mother Earth. I’ll find more places to shift, where I ‘will’ act. I’ll participate virtually in this event created by Listening to the Earth [Listening to the earth meditation] just before the UN Climate Summit begins. You can learn more about this group here.
Most of all, I’ll aim to make choices with greater awareness, doing my best to mitigate the negative impact and expand the positive. However you strike (or not), hold in your mind a feeling of appreciation of, respect for, and harmony with the Earth. That’s a positive contribution no matter what other choices we make.
Grateful for the water, the trees, the rocks, the sky … the beauty along the Arkansas River