A Mother Earth – Child Reunion
September 8th, 2009Ever try changing a habit?
You quit smoking for awhile, then you cave to the craving. You eat less for awhile, then feed your hunger. You’ll take care of your procrastination soon. Promise.
People succeed, but the habit never really goes away. It’s a lifelong commitment, and requires eternal vigilance. And people keep vigil by becoming more aware in their existence. With awareness comes a sense of richness that wins over your appetite.
So it is with Sustainable Living, except it’s not one habit, but a horde of habits. An army, a legion. How in the name of Heaven and Earth can such a life be possible?
It has to start within you. It has to be such a core value that taking the actions, making the decisions, and living in awareness becomes habit rather than effort. You can’t do this by choice, it has to be involuntary. It has to happen to you.
Nice words. I could make a living as a life coach with language like this. But if you read it again, you feel a sense of hopelessness and you ask, spitting the words out, Now what do I do?
That’s easy. Take up gardening. You, your spouse, and the kids.
Got a patch of ground? Till it. Got a community garden? Join it. Google organic farming and do it right.
Then grow something. Something to eat. Something you’d like to eat. Something you’d really like to eat. For me it was asparagus and peppers.
Take care of your garden every day. Do everything deliberately, take your time. Enjoy the sun, the wind, the smell of dirt. When it’s ready for harvest, eat. Cook it up fancy, or cook it up simple. Or just eat the fruit (or vegetable) of your labor.
Your Mother Earth feeds you. You planted a seed in the ground, you worked the soil and took care of your garden, and Mother Earth fed you.
There is no value more core than the food you eat. There is no better way to feel, not intellectualize, that the Earth sustains you. And that by killing the earth, you’re shutting off your food supply.
And for Children, who are still naturally curious, they witness the wonder of a plant unfolding from a seed. The symmetries and color and design. They will grow up with a respect for the planet we aim to save.
It’s the bond between you and the Earth that makes it possible to take on Sustainable Living. It is impossible to do it out of obligation to Mother Earth, but impossible to live any other way if it is when you love the Earth as you love your mother.
Web developer based in Santa Clara, CA