48 Comments to “Blog Action Day: Personal Environmental Action”

1. October 15th, 2007 at 7:41 am
   Jen / domestika said

   My knee-jerk reaction is that yes, we’re in an environmental mess because we humans as a species are too focussed on ourselves, on immediate gratification… but then, what animal isn’t? I heard the coyotes last night, yipping and squealing and chasing after deer: how different is that, from our single-minded seeking of comfort and convenience? Maybe you’re right, Liz. Maybe if we took better care of our personal environments, healed ourselves first as you say, it might create that calm centre of personal strength from which it becomes possible to broaden our vision. Maybe.

2. October 15th, 2007 at 7:44 am
   ME Strauss said

   Hi Jen!
   It sure is something to consider. Of course, ti probably has as much chance of survival as everyone doing anything.

3. October 15th, 2007 at 8:26 am
   Joanna Young said

   Liz, I know where you’re coming from. We can’t do anything much unless we get to a place of well-being inside of us.

   But you lost me somewhere with your last two questions. I think I might stop with did you ever love playing in the dirt?

   Because in a way I can’t quite find the words for, when we stop and feel the earth that we’re connected to… really feel it in our bones, breathe it in, let it fill our hearts, make us cry with gratitude - well that changes the way that we are about the place where we live - and it changes the way that we are.

   In can make us feel good - better than any other feeling maybe (well some others are pretty good, but a bit more short lived!)

   Those good feelings can make us feel better about ourselves, and also strong enough and loving enough to find strength to take and accept responsibility for what we can do. And taking responsibility in turn can lead to us feeling stronger, better, healthier, happier, more connected.

   I hope I’m not sounding too pie in the sky today and I’m sorry I’m not quite finding the words to say what I mean.

   Just that I think there are ways we can learn to work together and support each other in living in a different way - that will be good for us and good for the world that we live in (which is, after all, our one and only home).

   Joanna

4. October 15th, 2007 at 8:30 am
   ME Strauss said

   Hi Joanna!
   I’m right with you — if it’s pie in the sky . . . it sounds delicious to me.

   I really did end the piece with the dirt question. The two that follow are just my curiosity. Some folks can see that healing ourselves is a place to start. Some think that we’re already too selfish and shouldn’t be spending any more time looking at ourselves. It’s too self-serving.

   I was wondering which most folks around here were thinking . . .

5. October 15th, 2007 at 8:53 am
   jaihn said

   Thank you for this post, Liz.
   I’m meeting you today thru Blog Action Day.
   So good to be reminded of the joy of ‘playing in the dirt’. You might enjoy some of the gatherings in my post today, too. I’ll welcome your visit.

6. October 15th, 2007 at 8:53 am
   Ellen said

   Well, to me they are connected. I do think we should pay more attention to the earth we live on, make individual and collective decisions that will prevent destroying it (or parts of it). For our own sake, but certainly for our children’s sake.
   That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t also listen to our heart, cherish our souls, try and come at peace with ourselves.
   To me, we can do that by… finding that peace and quiet by taking a stroll in a beautiful park or forest. Really looking at beauty of the nature surrounding us. Respecting the people, animals and nature around us…

   Putting your own true feelings first, when you really listen carefully, is in the end something that won’t destroy our environment, but will cherish it. Our own true feelings don’t force us to take the steps were making that destroy the environment..

7. October 15th, 2007 at 8:56 am
   ME Strauss said

   Hi Ellen!
   Can we love the earth without loving ourselves? That’s really the core of my question. If we’re just doing what we’re supposed to . . . are we building a house of cards?

8. October 15th, 2007 at 9:33 am
   Aruni said

   I think part of the issue is that because we don’t always love ourselves that we can’t always love others (including the environment) to the best of our ability. I know that because of my insecurities about myself I find it hard to open up completely to others.

   There’s nothing like standing next to a majestic old tree and feeling it’s strength to start feeling the inkling of our commonality.

   I’m not sure if we love ourselves that will translate directly into love for the environment, but I think that if we start focusing outward instead of inward on the tactical things, we can do to help the environment that with time that outward focus can help heal us and help us move towards a path of understanding our tie to Mother Nature. I feel like I’m rambling. I have no idea if that makes sense or not.

   Anyway, I overcame my Bloggo Fears and wrote a post for Blog Action Day on Trees and Paper.

9. October 15th, 2007 at 9:38 am
   ME Strauss said

   Hi jaihn!
   Welcome!
   Thank you for the comment and for the invitation! Playing the dirt is still one of my favorite things!

10. October 15th, 2007 at 9:41 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Aruni!
    This sentence is a wonder!

    There’s nothing like standing next to a majestic old tree and feeling it’s strength to start feeling the inkling of our commonality.

    I had to stop to remember all of my favorite trees. What a joy that was! Thank you for bringing that to me.

11. October 15th, 2007 at 10:09 am
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12. October 15th, 2007 at 10:17 am
    Reasonable Robinson said

    Lack of environmental awareness is a failing of ’systemic’ thinking, the inability to grasp the interconnectedness of complex systems and our gullibility in believing that ‘delays’ in the system means that nothing is happening. We just need to take the morning ’shower test’ to learn what is happening. Just stand in the shower and turn on the hot tap only, then stand there and turn on the cold tap - how long is it before it takes effect…then what happens!! If we can’t the shower temperature right we ain’t gonna get the environment right are we!

    To put things right we need to re-engineer our ’selfishness’ and ‘gullibilty’ memes

13. October 15th, 2007 at 10:22 am
    Mother Earth said

    hey liz i never would have known about blog action day nor participated had I not seen it on loosely speaking from your SOB list from saturday - thank you!!

    i use to roll in dirt as a kid and eat it too - oh no!!

    my dog looks at trees with great wonder or regard perhaps (?) when we walk - i speak at her tree, cat, squirrel, sit, and sometimes wonder if the words compute in her vocabulary

    she has favorite trees - and i have to say that in the neighborhood they are my favorites as well

    kindred are we and trees

    this summer 6 were cut down and I was crushed i thought where is the ceremony that honors the life of that tree

    i had my own

    hey see you later OK??

    Mother Earth aka Karen Hanrahan
    http://www.bestwellnessconsultant.com

14. October 15th, 2007 at 10:22 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Reasonable Robinson!
    Welcome! What a fabulous brain! I love the way your mind wraps around the problem. Still, I’m not comfortable with “re-engineering’ me. Would it be okay if I choose to learn instead?

    I want to know I get to stay a person in the process.

15. October 15th, 2007 at 10:36 am
    Mother Earth said

    oh my gosh i just read reasonable robinsons comment about the shower — it’s a classic

    a year ago green was not a trend, now it’s this look good thing that i fear will lose it’s truth and essence - i love how you combine it to the person you want to be - and that you remind all to keep that in mind

    greenness to me is about belief, earning alot ( and there is more to learn than I ever knew) and not caring a darn what other people think

    hot topic for me

    Mother Earth
    http://www.bestwellnessconsultant.com

16. October 15th, 2007 at 10:43 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Mother Earth,
    If we care about ourselves, we care about where we live, how we live, and the things we surround ourselves with. Every decisions becomes focused and easy. It’s a matter of self-respect, care, and love. That’s just how I see it.

    Sort of like when you buy a home and have “pride of ownership.”

    I like your solid belief system.

17. October 15th, 2007 at 10:44 am
    Reasonable Robinson said

    Yes, you’re absoulutely right of course that learning is how we should do it! I reckon that any new of ’seeing’ a problem re-engineers our mind though. However maybe the issue is with my use of a techno-scientific metaphor. Perhaps the adapation of a flower / organism to new environmental inputs is more appropriate? Mind you I suppose it all depends on how we ‘construct’ the problem that faces us…(so, after Grint et al) is the environment a ‘tame’, ‘wicked’ or ‘crisis’ problem? If we see it as ‘tame’ then we are predisposed to offer traditional solutions to what we characterise as a ‘known’ problem, if we see it as ‘wicked’ then we will be pre-disposed to not having answers and encourage debate and innovative problem solving, if we ’see’ it as a ‘crisis’ then that justifies us throwing due process in the bin and telling people what to do regardless of personal sensitivities and even legal precedents…a sort of Code Red mentality (guess who was watching 28 weeks Later last night LOL) The critical line of thinking would be to ask - ‘in whose interest is it to pose the environmental challenge as a ‘crisis’ rather than a ‘wicked’ or ‘tame’ problem’………..spooky eh!

18. October 15th, 2007 at 10:47 am
    Reasonable Robinson said

    hey Mother Earth - go for Turquoise or Coral - Ken Wilber rules

19. October 15th, 2007 at 10:52 am
    Joanna Young said

    Liz, I think I’m still trying to answer your question. Or not answer it. I kind of want to say - it’s not either or. It’s both.

    We can’t fix the planet without loving ourselves. Some of the ways we’re currently living (and therefore also thinking) are part of what’s wrong.

    You describe that as ‘thinking too much about ourselves’ but that’s only part of it - you could say we’re thinking too much about some aspects of ourselves but enough about others, that some of the ways we think about ourselves don’t seem to be working so well when so many people are stressed out, unhealthy, tired, depressed, anxious, exhausted, burning out. If we had “thinking of ourselves” sorted would we be experiencing all those things?

    So if we found a different way to be loving to ourselves, not just to be thinking about ourselves - might that be part of the answer?

    You can see I’m really trying to find a both/and here.

    Joanna

20. October 15th, 2007 at 10:57 am
    Mike said

    Hi Liz,

    “Self-respect and a shining vision on so many hearts, just might be the gentle rain we need to heal the world…without a word, a law, a cause.”

    When I was young, we lived in a growing neighborhood, so I spent most of several summers perched atop what seemed like mountains of dirt. That was the life!

    The quote above (from the post) is probably the most profound thing to be written for blog action day (and the most likely to succeed).

    Mike

21. October 15th, 2007 at 11:10 am
    Mother Earth said

    hey reasonable robinson - i so don’t get the turqoise or coral comment and have no idea who ken wilbur is — sorry

    there is someone who i admire greatly who simply states

    malnutrion = violence
    nourish = peace

    that comment speaks love to me

    if i ponder it globally it gets too big

    if i think i have enough love in me to share - wouldn’t that speak to blogging and meeting new people

    sharing the message that is you???

    that’s who you are liz!!

    Mother Earth aka Karen Hanrahan
    http://www.bestwellnessconsultant.com

22. October 15th, 2007 at 11:21 am
    Sara said

    Hi Liz and everyone else!

    I’m glad I read the comments first because they were as important as Liz’s post. Also because I would have parroted Joanna almost word-for-word.

    If someone is stuck and can be unstuck by focusing on themselves for a bit then they need to take that step. Sure, there are people who are just plain lazy or don’t care or can’t see the immediately affects of their actions. So they leave the hot water on all week (to steal Robinson’s metaphor) and then those of us who do care have to take cold showers to compensate.

    On the other hand, a person who is honestly suffering from depression will appear to be that same lazy, noncaring person when they are infact “stuck.” So, yeah, I think Joanna hit it on the head when she said :

    “you could say we’re thinking too much about some aspects of ourselves but enough about others, that some of the ways we think about ourselves don’t seem to be working so well when so many people are stressed out, unhealthy, tired, depressed, anxious, exhausted, burning out. If we had “thinking of ourselves” sorted would we be experiencing all those things?”

    I think that if we focus on those people who are stuck, but - with a bit of help - could be unstuck, then we would have a lot more people willing to fight the green fight. And, as pacifistic as I am, I honestly consider this a fight.

    Sara

23. October 15th, 2007 at 11:30 am
    How Can We Help Save The Earth? : Freelance Folder said

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24. October 15th, 2007 at 11:34 am
    Blog Action Day: Leave That Which Makes You Doubt... » MonkAtWork.com said

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25. October 15th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Yeah, Joanna,
    I can see. I’m not saying there’s an either/or choice. I was asking a question. Questions have plenty of room for answers in-between.

    Though problem with the view that some take is that this issue is flat and has only one answer — a false sort of arrogance. Despite all the damage we’ve caused, if I had to bet whether we’re in control, I’d bet on the planet 100 to 1. It’s outsurvived ever species that’s ever lived. That’s not to say I don’t want to take care of it, only that I’m not so sure that what I do won’t make matters worse. . . . think of the information people will have in 100 years that we don’t have now.

    I do know that working at cross purposes person to person isn’t the answer, just as working at cross purposes inside myself only makes me less of what I could be.

26. October 15th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Mike!
    A view from atop a pile of dirt . . . you must have “sitting on top of the world.”

    Thank you for noticing the one sentence it took me an hour to write.

27. October 15th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Karen,
    Thank you. We can only be a good version of who we are. I know I think I’ve probably tried to be everyone else . . .

28. October 15th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Sara!
    I had no idea that those two little questions would cause such powerful thinking. I was trying to make room for people to talk. Guess I managed to do that well enough.

    Now that I ponder what everyone is saying. I’m back to the same place, we should be looking at each other, not ourselves. Holding love in our heart for ourselves and giving it away is the best we can do to keep from becoming the center of a false universe.

    In a false universe, the world becomes a possession that we can fight over, not a home that we love, cherish, and tend like something brave and gentle in our safekeeping.

    Who knows where those words came from?

29. October 15th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
    Pamir said

    Further definitions from Gary Synder:

    “…the word ‘nature’ is best used in its specific scientific sense, referring to the physical universe and its rules–the ‘laws of nature.’ In this use it is equivalent to the Greek physis. In other words, nature means ‘everything.’”

    “Ecology…has the Greek oikos as it main root, with the simple meaning of ‘household.’ It referred originally to the study of biological interrelationships…In recent years it has become a popular synonym for ‘outdoor nature.’”

30. October 15th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Pamir!
    Thank you for adding that information. It rounds out the rough edges on my thinking.

31. October 15th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
    Pamir said

    Hi Liz and everyone,

    I don’t feel we can separate human healing from Earth healing. It’s a symbiotic relationship. By that I mean a relationship of mutual benefit or dependence.

    Please discover more here.

32. October 15th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Pamir!
    I think that’s what we’re all saying in our own ways.

33. October 15th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
    Mike said

    Liz,

    That’s why I said it was the most profound think likely to be written today! You have that power with words.

    Mike

34. October 15th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
    Aruni said

    Hi Liz - I’m glad I caused you to think of the majestic trees in your life. We live in an older neighborhood so we have a bunch of tall, wise oaks surrounding our house. The kids (as well as the squirrels) love to pick up the acorns and collect them. We have a bowl full of acorns sitting on the kitchen counter.

    Hi Joanna - thanks so much for stopping by my blog and commenting on my Rocks. Paper. Scissors post. I really appreciate it! Liz is a fabulous conduit, isn’t she?

35. October 15th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Thanks, Mike!
    Now if I could only get those commas straight!

36. October 15th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Aruni!
    I use trees as a metaphor often. For the same reason that you speak of them. I think softly on the trees I’ve planted and seen grow.

37. October 15th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
    Aruni said

    Well then…thank you for taking time to plant a seed in me.

38. October 15th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
    Joanna Young said

    Hi Aruni

    My pleasure.

    Yes she is - conduit, tree-planter, rain-maker extraordinaire

    Joanna

39. October 15th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
    ME Strauss said

    But it’s you and Aruni that I hug.

40. October 15th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
    reasonable robinson said

    Hi again, Just a quick ‘:)’ for Earth Mother - apols for the short message earlier I had to rush to get a train. Turqoise and Coral are two colours that Ken Wilber (Integral Thinking and Spirituality) uses to decribe ‘levels’ of consciousness (after beck and cowan and Clare Graves. These states transcend and include the green meme. Folks reading this conversation might find Wilber’s thinking helpful ref: the complexity of the environmental issues facing us and the need for an intergral approach - both objective and subjective - mind and matter.

41. October 15th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
    Coach Anne | AmpleAliveness said

    Hi, Liz,

    Thank you so much for this post this morning. It helped me know on a deep level that what I wanted to post on my blog today — about gratitude as a step towards repairing the world — was the “write” thing for me, for today.

    I hope it’s OK that I quoted you (with a link, of course) there.

    With AmpleAppreciation,
    Anne

42. October 15th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
    Who and What They Said on Blog Action Day | Blog Gigs said

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43. October 15th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
    A Day for Gratitude | AmpleAlivenessâ„¢ said

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44. October 15th, 2007 at 10:33 pm
    ME Strauss said

    Wow! Joanna!
    You are the generous one who brings so much to the table. No wonder turqoise and coral always seem so earthy.

45. October 16th, 2007 at 5:07 am
    ME Strauss said

    Hi Reasonable!
    Integral thinking sounds like a good thing. Anything that gets folks to know an issue from many points of view raises the consciousness and possibilities of understanding the people who bring different hopes and needs to solving the problem.

46. October 22nd, 2007 at 9:43 am
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