Taking the Temperature on Our Emotional Climate
Two magical days that jump out to serenade me with their absolute magnificence and wonder are scuba diving on the abundant and fully alive Great Barrier Reef and, weeks before that, on the opposite coast of Australia, getting to experience wild dolphins coming in for a visit at Monkey Mia (located about 900 km north of Perth).
I was fifteen on this trip. The year was 1988, and I was sure I wanted to be a Marine Biologist. Besides the sting of a recent heartbreak in the background, life felt pretty simple in my little sphere, but I am aware that was not the case for many.
Fast forward 35 years, no, I never became a marine biologist, but I am still in utter awe of our Earth home and mystified by the many who do not view her with the same reverence.
As a result, things are far from simple, and instead of humanity making planet-first decisions from the start, we are now being forced to realign, rethink, respect and truly listen to her!
Many of us say harmony and health -others say money and stuff
It seems like the most natural thing to protect what we love and what sustains us. Though a large portion of humanity does not treat fellow humans, the planet and planetary inhabitants as sacred, valuable and important, incredibly, things have had to get this dire to wake and shake people up. Still, some are not buying it.
Yes, I find (and feel) it deeply sad, challenging, and unnecessary that the Earth has been forced to take this much abuse to which she says, "NO MORE!!"
How do I remain optimistic and cultivate purpose?
Like so many of us, I love to travel and see all of the incredible places, and I no longer feel peaceful with getting on a plane knowing the environmental impact of travel.
My reverence for the Earth impacts ALL of my decisions and actions. What and how I eat, where and how I live, what I focus my time and life force on, what I wear and consume. Therefore, my energy is aligned with my deepest passion(s) and what matters to me the most.
I educate myself, study and read. I use my voice and my vote. I can (and do) also vote in dollars spent for what I believe in and choose to support, as mentioned above.
I am excited about beginning a Permaculture Design Certification course (as a system for land design and water management) to learn the depths of working with and regenerating the Earth and re-evaluating how we live, and therefore, blazing a healthier and more abundant path for all.
Honouring and caring for our emotional inner world has been part of my career path and, more recently, switching my EFT Tapping focus to assisting others in safely processing and acknowledging our ecological and climate emotions such as fear, sadness, hopelessness, despair, etc.
The good of humanity and eco-innovators endlessly inspire me
Connecting with and supporting innovators, eco pioneers, educators, scientists, and earth ambassadors, create a state of hope and optimism about the future in me. So many passionate, creative, intelligent, and driven people create massive change and positive transformational momentum!
I am in awe of what can be accomplished with hearts, vision and wisdom moving in the same direction, the direction of change, switching from greed to love and community coherence.
Climate Optimism
I was so comforted to come across the words and energy of Anne Therese Ginnari on Substack, known as 'The Climate Optimist.' I read many climate articles and watch many documentaries and videos, as I said. I deeply appreciate her energy, positivity and sensitivity, providing her readers with a sense of ease and comfort amongst the tidal wave(s) of chaos and fear.
In her latest newsletter, Anne suggests that we stop looking at things as a fight or a challenge but a journey. She says:
"On a journey, you learn and evolve. On a journey, you allow for things to unfold as they should. And on a journey, you understand that if you've never travelled this path before, you need to embark with curiosity and an open heart. If you don't, it'll be hard to take in all the new and, most importantly — to let that "new" become part of your journey, to your story.
But that also means that we have to find the courage to embrace new visions, ideas, and ways of life. And the only way to grow and muster that courage, in my opinion, is by embarking on a journey."
Anne Therese Gennari
This view creates more ease and room for us to safely learn, grow, change and make mistakes as we find our way. It removes the personal pressure as we become easier on ourselves and others. In this scenario, we are in our power; we have not given it away to fear and difficulty, doom and gloom and the institutions that fight to remain in control.
We are all on a path that we have never been on before. It's easy to default to fear, but fear and fear-induced non-action are far from our only options! We have empowering choices and people available to us.
I also listened to a podcast with Anne Therese Gennari on Talk with Trace Podcast (Sept 18/22) —” where she says, "fear will not lead to positive action. You will need to motivate people with pride and positivity."
She speaks of the importance of imagination, saying:
"We can't just innovate our way into a different future; we have to reimagine our way into a different future and find the courage to question and embrace change!"
Anne Therese Gennari
The future we would like to see
We are being asked to grow, dig deep, reimagine, rethink and make our way back to the Earth reverence so many before us have embodied and shown us the way.
Who are we? What is really important? What is the future we would like to see?
I was saying to my friend Michelle the other day, "my soul just wants to be lighthearted and joyful and full of wonder on this journey and connect with this magnificent Earth and all her magical offshoots and the beautiful, compassionate souls that care for her and each other and live in harmony."
For me, it's pretty simple.
There are the words 'pretty simple' again. Hmmmm.
What have been your most magical Earth-day(s)? I would love to hear about it/them!