So here’s something interesting… a word about activism.
My brother tagged me in this photo on facebook, knowing well my passion for an active and environmentally aware public. I wanted to share it.
Sure, it’s a little “extreme,” but you get the point.
It makes sense, though, as we are one body acting in concert, and must approach living harmoniously as such; holistically. We may look to the great eastern religions for advice on such matters:
“Like the waves in the ocean, the worlds arise,
live and dissolve in the Supreme Self,
the substance and cause of everything.”
“Who burns with the bliss
And suffers the sorrow
Of every creature
Within his own heart,
Making his own
Each bliss and each sorrow:
him I hold the highest”
“Where there is unity… that is the word of Brahman. This is the supreme
goal of life, the supreme treasure, the supreme joy”
And here we are…. Why not protect and serve? Just as white blood cells protect and defend the body, as will humans protect and defend the earth: acting as stewards, cultivating and regenerating mother nature and her creatures, big and small.
But just to be clear, activism doesn’t solely mean you and your friends tying yourselves to red wood trees, causing hell for a logging company in California, nor does it mean buying a patch of land in northern Wyoming to live off the grid in an utopian society, nor does it necessarily mean starting the gargantuan task of aiding in the dissolution of Wal-Mart or Monsanto…
… but it does mean buying locally grown food, growing a vegetable and fruit garden in your back yard (instead of watering a bunch of grass), turning your lights off when unused, investigating solar panel energy for your home, buying products from brands that align with your values, being a politically aware voter, and so much more “little stuff.”
On a second point of clarity, I do encourage the larger activity: get people together, join a nonprofit organization combatting human trafficking, talk to your representatives about climate change (and let them know you’re watching!), picket for the rise of the minimum wage, or do whatever it is that lights a fire inside you. We don’t have to fight the same causes to be doing the right thing. And that’s a good thing.
I’m in agreement, then. Activism is my rent. And, perhaps that’s as simple as it need be. Other than having an obligation to serve as a consequence of existing, there is no deeper truth needed. 🙂
So, wake up. Go and be active. Start small. Persevere.
Lets go Activists, lets go.
People and Planet 