Tag Archives: environment

To Be Like Trees

31 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by in Uncategorized, writing

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I read this article a couple of days ago  and it led my husband and me to have a conversation about Americans and spirituality.

The trees have social networks. The trees take care of a sick neighbor by feeding them sugar water and can keep them alive for decades.

If the trees are social beings and care for one another, it seems like these things would be at the core of our being, too. I think greed and selfishness are the difference, though. People put money before human beings – profits before people. We also see human beings ask questions like, “What is in it for me?” Of course, there are also people who deliberately injure or kill other people.

How is it that the trees are more loving and noble than many people?

The other day my husband and I went to see a retirement planner and she was talking about the stock market. She said, “The stock market isn’t reacting to the economy right now. We know the economy will grow as long as people spend money.”

We are taught to spend money. We are taught to want and buy and buy and buy. This behavior doesn’t consider the resources that go into the products we buy like wood, water, gas, copper, steel, and human lives. Many people don’t consider what they eat – the fact that they are nourishing their bodies with cows, pigs, chickens or the milk or eggs of these animals.

There is a disconnect between people and the natural environment and other living things. I think when we are so cut off from the things that sustain our lives we become sick in our spirit, and that sickness is apparent in the way we treat the planet and other human beings.

Very few of us still hunt and fish or farm our food, so we don’t have a relationship to the things that keep us alive. We don’t often think of trees helping us to breathe. Some of the same things that separate us from plants and animals also separate us from other people – the convenience of modern living- cars, computers, refrigeration, heat, air conditioning, grocery stores, and shopping malls. We don’t think that our lives are dependent on others, but they are, we just don’t see the people who we need. We don’t see the farmers in the fields, or the people overseeing the washing of fruit in factories, or the truckers bringing food to the market, and on and on.

Today, I am in awe of the tree. There are so many lessons they have to teach us, and I hope we learn them soon because using them as an example would ease so much suffering.  Who knew that along with giving us oxygen, trees could teach us how to live and care for each other when planted side by side? Trees make excellent neighbors, but do we?

Thinking About People And The Environment Over The Holidays

30 Monday Nov 2015

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This is the time of year that we think more about other people. No matter which of the holidays we celebrate most of us will probably end up buying a least a few gifts for family, friends, or coworkers.

There are a couple of ways to make the holidays better for people you don’t even know. There are ways to touch the lives of others and increase their wellbeing.

Something I bring up frequently, because I am highly aware of it, is buying socks for the homeless. While you are out shopping this year, if you happen to see some nice thick socks on sale, buy a few (or a dozen) and deliver them to your nearest shelter. I frequently find them at Costco and at the dollar stores.

Of course this time of year, it is easy to find places to give to – you can give your spare change to Salvation Army as you leave major stores, you can give a toy to Toys For Tots at most malls, and many offices and churches adopt a family and buy that family the items on their wish list.

Because most of us will be shopping more than usual, there is a huge way to impact other people’s lives – people you probably don’t think about much, and most likely will never meet or see. You can refuse to buy products that are made by child labor or in sweatshops. People are dying from working in factories in many places in the world – they are using toxic chemicals, working in dangerous buildings, etc. If you can help it, please don’t buy the products made by the companies that hire children and don’t consider the health or safety of their workers.

How can you avoid buying these products that are literally killing people? The best way is to buy used because that way you are protecting people as well as the environment (no new resources were used in creating the product). You might wonder how you could give a gift that has been used. I wouldn’t give used clothes for a present, but I would give a used vase, painting, jewelry, collectable, etc. You can find great used things at shopgoodwill.com and possibly at your local thrift store.

Another way to avoid products where workers are being harmed, and to help your neighbors, is to shop locally. Buy products like soap, food, clothing that are made in your city or state.  Again, this is beneficial on many levels – you aren’t buying from products made by child labor or in dangerous factories, you are helping your own local economy and you are lowering the environmental impact of the products you buy by reducing shipping (boats, planes, trains, trucks, etc.)

One of my favorite ways to help small businesses is to buy from Etsy. I buy handmade recycled and repurposed clothes from people sewing those clothes in their own homes. My favorite pieces of clothing have come from Etsy. I have also bought handmade journals, ceramics, jewelry, etc. from shops on Etsy.

And when it comes to chocolate and coffee, buy Fair Trade – buying Fair Trade will help the farmers make a living wage.

There are so many ways to give to people, care for the environment, and basically be a great global citizen during the holidays and every day. I’m not perfect about these things, and I am always learning new ways to vote with my dollars, but this is a case of every little bit helps. I hope you will decide to help too.  If we make a few changes, we can feel good about what we purchase all year.

 

From the Universe to the Personal: How Big is Your Worldview?

29 Tuesday Sep 2015

Posted by in mental illness, schizophrenia, writing

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Two nights ago I stood on the roof of my building with my husband to look at the moon. It was a pinkish orange color. It was the first time in my life that I saw the moon look like a basketball that I could pluck from the sky. My husband thought it looked like a balloon. On every other night that I have seen the moon it is like a flat disc cut out of paper and placed on the sky. Two nights ago, you could see that it was round and full and three dimensional. I was also lucky enough to see a shooting star for the first time in over ten years.

Climate change is a threat to us all. We need to work together to lessen our impact on the environment. We need to pollute less, plant more trees, practice sustainable agriculture, walk more, drive less, stop buying, buying, buying.

There are wars in various parts of the world. People are frightened. People are dying. People are running to save their lives. We need to teach children about peace, harmony and tolerance. We need to curb power hungry people, greed, and extremism.

In the United States the stock market has been falling for over a month. The government may shut down again in a few short days. We owe billions of dollars to other nations. People live in the streets. Children go hungry. We imprison more people than any other country. People don’t have access to the health care they need.

In California there is a drought. There are wildfires. There is supposed to be a heavy rainy season that will bring floods and mudslides. There is always the risk of sink holes and earthquakes.

My mother has leukemia. My husband has an autoimmune disease.

I have schizophrenia.