I have always felt a deep connection to the Earth.
My first awakening experience was when I was around middle school age. I was a socially anxious and sensitive kid that really felt like an outcast. I feel like most people didn’t understand me or couldn’t relate to my worldview. I often felt lonely in a crowd of kids and would sometimes hike up the hill behind my complex into the woods and sit by a tree by myself. That’s when I felt what true connection actually is and when I realized we are the earth. And my loneliness dissolved in those moments.
All humans are a manifestation of nature. Yet at the same time, we treat the earth like an infinite resource and a garbage dump. We think we can continue abusing it and taking what we want without hurting ourselves, but that isn’t possible.
I grew up seeing others totally blinded to this truth and that felt lonely. And it’s frustrating that people can be so dismissive of that. But I have been blind to this truth too. We forget and become disconnected. Sometimes it’s painful to stay aware of it all.
The separation.
People who can’t see this make the argument that nothing matters because we’re all going to die anyway and the Earth isn’t here forever.
Sure.
I get that everything is temporary.
All the more reason to stand in awe of how precious a gift it is to be able to experience breathing the fresh air, drinking clean water, and learning from the forests how to better live in balance and cooperation. There is ancient wisdom in nature, deep and thick.
Yes, life is short and at times, painful.
All the more reason to respect what’s here now.
I can see that some in the environmental movement are speaking from a place of fear pretty often. It’s understandable that those who are not sympathetic to the cause and who do not feel their connection to the Earth would dismiss the issue as just another way they are being manipulated or controlled.
They may feel like those speaking against climate change or environmental destruction aren’t really that passionate and must be lying and getting something out of this for themselves. But as someone whose spirituality is deeply entwined with the earth itself, I can tell you these people are sincere if not at times misguided.
But I want to speak from a place of love rather than fear. I want to be part of the way we move humanity toward a more earth- and heart-centered approach to keeping the earth a beautiful place and making society a better place for everyone.
It’s a subtle shift from not just voicing what you are against but creating more of what you love.
So instead of joining only in protests against the destruction of the earth or another form of injustice, it’s about being for something. It’s about creating regenerative communities and gardens, engaging kids in consciousness-raising tools, or making gratitude and compassion a daily practice.
All tactics can be used but there’s no need to get swallowed up in the fear, blame, control, or enemy-making mentality.
We are all at different points in our journey and not everyone will see the value in the earth that you do. Maybe they never will.
That’s ok.
They have a different role to play.
Instead of letting that make you feel lonely, unheard, or attacked, look for the humanity and the beauty underneath. Everyone cares about something. Everyone wants to protect something.
Underneath the ugly and horrific things humans do, there is usually fear. A desperate protecting of something. And this lets us know that we are all scared and suffering.
We’re all in this together.
We may see things differently but we have to accept that we are all here with each other and we all have choices to make. I want to make choices that reflect my love for the earth no matter how long it lasts.
We are all going to die and someday the earth may even be swallowed up by the sun. But that doesn’t change that we are here now and we can choose with every moment the quality of the life we give each other.
<3
