Happy Earth Day!
If you do not change direction, you may end where you are heading. - Lao Tzu
Yes, that’s right ‘Happy Wednesday!’ Happy Earth Day! Happy New Moon! And, welcome to The Pivot, a new name and a stronger intention for my weekly musings to provide inspiration and intelligence to support a shift in consciousness – mine, yours, and OURS.
I believe in my heart that it is only with such a fundamental shift that we will create new stories for a what Charles Eisenstein calls “the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible”. Perhaps such a shift is what Albert Einstein had in mind when he said, “The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
Sobering and humbling to consider that ‘we’ created ‘this’. We’ve ‘ended up’ where we have been heading for quite some time living in our world created from the underlying stories of competition, right/wrong, good/bad, win/loose, have/have not. Language that separates and generates fear in humanity. That fear has led us to plunder the planet to a point that she seems to have said, “Enough!” And, it has led we humans to injustice, polarization, and war over points of view different from ours. Perhaps this pause is the time for many more of us to say “Enough!”
In the few short weeks that much of the world has been on pause, we witness how quickly Mother Earth is restoring. Stories abound: clear water in the canals of Venice, children in China seeing blue sky for the first time in their lives, the sounds of birds being heard in dense urban areas, wildlife wandering in what was once its natural habitat. This is the language of the planet’s love and our growing understanding that Mother Earth is a living being and she is our home.
We witness too humanity at our best: cooperation, caring, sharing, sacrificing, encouraging others, generously giving: the language of love based on our growing understanding that we are in this together, we co-habitants of earth. We are not separated. We each have essential roles to play in the world’s story as it is today and in evolving new stories.
A few weeks back, as the pandemic pause began, I suggested seizing the opportunity to ‘think deeply, then pivot’. In the intervening time, I’ve read, explored and thought more deeply about my life, lifestyle, my habits of consumption. I’ve come to a better understanding of old story underlying my choices. I’ve wondered ‘where might I pivot?’. For a while, I’ve been considering letting go of ‘The Zone’ as descriptor of my work. That is the genesis of The Pivot.
This shift to The Pivot renews and strengthens intention to inspire change, in me and, hopefully beyond. Toward that aim, I’ll continue exploring and share my introspection along with the inspiration and intelligence that I find along the way. For now, that is the path I see ahead.
So here we are. The 50th Earth Day. A new moon that calls forth new beginnings. Wednesday. Such auspicious signs in the midst of a global pandemic invite us to consider the possibility that new stories can, indeed will, lead us in new directions. As was true 50 years ago when a youthful generation organized the first earth day, new youthful generations with new thinking hold the potential to lead the way. May we listen, encourage and support them. May we pivot, individually and collectively. For ourselves; our children, our grandchildren and generations beyond, and for the planetary being Mother Earth, our blessed home.
Celebrate well this Earth Day! Get your juices flowing toward a new story with this song from the amazing singer/songwriter Jenny Bird. If you can hug a tree or two, do so. Or, if nature is beyond your reach, close your eyes and take yourself to your favorite beautiful place in nature’s presence. Put a joyful tempo in your heart and share it all around!
A quiet stroll where the deer once roamed - Japan. Credit: Jae C. Hong/AP Photo