I find myself with a growing sense of unease, as we come into the 43rd Earth Day. Earth Day was started with Senator Gaylord Nelson, and spread within the youth and concerned people in the 1970's.
Unease at how we tend to greenwash our daily lives, and pat ourselves on the back, for all that we are doing to "save" or protect the Natural Environments of the Earth (through consuming of course), which sustains ALL of our lives. We dive our Prius, and buy organic, perhaps, and underneath it all, we are still primarily, consumers. We are leaving little in our wakes, aside from auto and airplane exhausts, as we habitually, just hop in turn the key and go. Leaving environmental wastelands and landfills, filled with the remains and consequences of our ever hungry consuming lifestyles.
Unease at the spent and fresh, highly radioactive fuel rods, hanging precariously 100' in the air at Fukushima as a "Nuclear Sword Of Damocles" and ready to tumble with a roll of the dice, or a 6+ earthquake, unleashing 40+ Chernobyl's on the whirled. All other issues on the globe at this moment, take the back seat, as there is a little more time, perhaps, and for this one, why are we not mobilizing globally? Are we that far gone in denial, comfort, or overwhelm? Are celebriated events more newsworthy and important? How's their hair look?
Unease at how we allow endless wars and homeland insecurity to be the normal everyday "values" which we continue to allow, through our apathy, through our ignorance, through our "taxes" and through our reduction of every environment and every living or inanimate thing, to a $ value, to be exploited for our mostly individual profit.
Unease at how little heart or action most of us put into ensuring a healthy future for all future life.
The commons of nature, do not belong to us, unless you consider "ownership" to be in the destruction of the living natural systems. What we appear to value, support, and propagate, are endless wars, and profiteering at the expense of Nature, and all future life.
Whoever wrote this, be it Chief Seattle, or some white dude in the 70's, it sums up our manifest destiny and relationship with nature well.
So happy Earth Day, 2012! How did you come to be where you are, today, right now? After you pat yourself on the back, perhaps give an honest look, at how you got to and lived yesterday, last week, last year, or how you are going to live tomorrow?
How large IS our footprint?
We can change. We can demand changes in governance and policy and an end to highly destructive and toxic practices such as Nuclear Power/Weapons, Fracking, GMO'S, Endless Wars, Homeland Insecurity and corrupt political policy which values $$$ over a livable future. We can even stabilize and deal with Fukushima, before, Oops, sorry, happens. We all know what the stakes are. Are we willing to make some sacrifices to our consuming comfort and change our whirled folks? Or consume along to the liquor and drug stores, with our hands on the remote?
Happy Earth Day, every day, with every breath, may we be alive and live, with childlike awe, wonder and abandon, with some sparkle and joy.
And with huge amounts of love, within, and for all of our communities and ecosystems, which are the real wealth and security.
Some call me cranky, crotchety, etc, and I am. I am, because I both care, and believe that we can clean up and repair the mess we have created. Impatient because while everything IS perfect as it is, as well as totally screwed up at the same time, time is short. Lives are passing. This time. Our time. What do we choose to do with our limited time. The here, and, right now?
The future IS being created, through OUR actions. What are we choosing?
We really need to curtail our ignorant egosystems, and rebuild the ecosystems, eh? With love and Tikkun. (Just imagine...)
Perhaps we can quit greenwashing and imagining and make it so?
We have work to do folks, and no shinyteethed politicians are going to do it "for" us.
The work of giving back and being kind. The work of looking out and seeing the world as it is, and as we are, and choosing differently. The work of ensuring that policy and practice foster and build healty ecosystems, and not continually consume them.
Earth Day Every Day? With every breath!
