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Day 19: A – Z Challenge
“We live on a blue planet that circles around a ball of fire next to a moon that moves the sea, and you don’t believe in miracles?”― Unknown
Today is Earth Day.
Here’s what I am thinking: remembering and revering the planet once a year doesn’t cut it. Every single day should be Earth Day. We should be consciously thinking about the impact that we have on our only home every day. We should be coming up with innovative and creative and brilliant ideas for how to live more reverently, softly, and sustainably every single day.
We cannot continue to behave like a cancer, unconsciously eating up the world as though resources, water, and breathable air are limitless.
They are finite.
And so are we if we do not change.
Bless the Beasts and the Children.
“Let us remember that animals are not mere resources for human consumption. They are splendid beings in their own right, who have evolved alongside us as co-inheritors of all the beauty and abundance of life on this planet.” ― Marc Bekoff, Animals Matter: A Biologist Explains Why We Should Treat Animals with Compassion and Respect
We are currently experiencing mass extinctions of animals all over the world. Human beings are responsible for all of it. We are deforesting the planet. We are fracking the planet. We are dumping garbage and carcinogenic waste everywhere. We are using plastics, petroleum products, antibiotics, and GMOs. We are spraying our yards with RoundUp. We are fluoridating our water, draining our aquifers for agribusiness and oil and gas, and killing off the wild as though it is unnecessary for our very survival. And the list goes on. We are murdering ourselves — committing slow suicide — with a rapacious unconsciousness that indicates both extreme hubris and willful blindness.
How dare we do this?
What sort of world are we leaving to our children? Why do we think we have the right to be so wasteful and greedy?
“Let’s be clear. The planet is not in jeopardy. We are in jeopardy. We haven’t got the power to destroy the planet – or to save it. But we might have the power to save ourselves.” — Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park
It’s Time to Wake Up.
It’s time to do something — drop by drop by drop — to change the tide.
It’s time to ask ourselves why we are here. Why out of all the times in human history are we here now?
Could it be that we were born to pour our lives into solving these problems?
Are we change-agents disguised as human beings?
“At some point, one asks, “Toward what end is my life lived?” A great freedom comes from being able to answer that question. A sleeper can be decoyed out of bed by the sheer beauty of dawn on the open seas. Part of my job, as I see it, is to allow that to happen. Sleepers like me need at some point to rise and take their turn on morning watch for the sake of the planet, but also for their own sake, for the enrichment of their lives. From the deserts of Namibia to the razor-backed Himalayas, there are wonderful creatures that have roamed the Earth much longer than we, creatures that not only are worthy of our respect but could teach us about ourselves.” ― Diane Ackerman, The Rarest of the Rare: Vanishing Animals, Timeless Worlds
It’s time to learn from our mistakes.
It’s time to stop taking this planet for granted. It’s time to really see humanity’s gaping maw for what it is: a destructive force that needs taming.
We’re creative. We’re gifted. We possess the biggest brains of all beings on this planet. We can choose to exercise our spiritual, conscious souls.
If we choose to use them.
If we choose to use them.
We can’t use up the world without using up our opportunity to stay alive.
So, what can we do?
How can we change?
How can we turn the tide?
Become aware. Become conscious stewards of the planet.
Think globally. Use less. Walk more. Drive less. Eat less meat.
Grow organic food. Recycle and re-gift and reuse whatever we can.
It sounds simple. It sounds like too little, too late. However, if everyone starts to carry water, we just might pull it off. We just might put out this fire.
And by everyone, I mean everyone.
EVERY person and conscious entity, not just individuals.
That means corporations, countries, governments — everyone must act to stem the tide. Capitalism must be transformed or be dismantled. Politics as usual must change. Blind harkening to our rosy past must stop.
While we’re still standing, let’s take an activist, change-agent stand to build a better, more sustainable home.
Let’s do it — together — before it’s too late.
© 2015 Shavawn M. Berry All rights reserved
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