It may not be “Earth Day” but to me, every day is a day to celebrate the Earth.
I found these powerful words etched on a plank of wood at the entrance to a hike in Roxborough State Park right outside Denver proper.
Take care of the land. Someday you’ll be a part of it.
I needn’t write it down as the message resonated enough to remember till this day. It is a simple message: treat mother nature as you would your own mother.
And just like the billions of mothers around the globe, mother nature gives and gives and gives without asking for anything in return.
And yes, we should give a damn about this world simply because we are a part of it. When we mistreat or more accurately turn a blind eye to the Earth and we mistreat ourselves.
This is a posture of waste vs frugality. Developed countries have taken so much waste and undeveloped countries are subjected to a life of frugality.
Use what you have, finish the food on your plate, fix the thing that is broken, and shop at the local thrift store; this is how I grew up.
As we began to tread the trail, we noticed signs of all kinds of plants along the way, a subtle nod to the diversity of the area.
This diversity reminded me of the difference in all life; from humans to bacteria to types of cells in our bodies to parts of our brains.
All life is connected, made of the same matter, and all working in sync, except for us. Well, most of the time at least.
If we are the only creatures on this planet to question our own existence, then we will question our purpose, but on a very basic level, we all have a fundamental purpose: to serve each other, the environment, and take care of ourselves.
On a very basic level, our animated flesh and bones are made of mostly carbon, the building block of all life. As with all things on Earth, from dust we came and to dust we shall return.
This stresses the importance of synchronicity with Mother Earth, its rise and fall to the sun, its reaction to the changing of seasons, its slow, steady hum that connects every living thing.
And the only way to observe, learn, and absorb this synchronicity is to immerse ourselves in nature: camping under a canopy of trees, bathing in the sounds of nature, swimming in the ocean, diving deep under the waves, stargazing in the desert, barefoot on the sand.
Take a moment today and tonight to appreciate nature and all the life it provides, jot down a few words about this powerful force.
Three More Things: