On a blog such as this one, you would expect the writer to celebrate Earth Day. And I most certainly will.
However, what I plan to do tomorrow is no different than any other day. Good deeds and activism only represent a part of the power of the event. In addition to how one acts, it’s important how one thinks.
In a culture that relinquishes power to greed, unselfish Americans tend to believe that they are a minority. Meanwhile, it is often said that nature has no voice. It quietly continues in the same way those who care about it quietly walk through the woods.
Meanwhile among those who shout in defense of the earth, bullhorns are always at the ready, filled with messages of everything that is wrong and all that needs to be fixed, conserved, preserved, protected, and changed and all the enemies who need to be regulated, fined, exposed, fought, and stopped.
For some this inspires action, but for many it causes despair. And whether wrong or right, theirs is not the only message.
And nature DOES have a voice.
It speaks to each who listen. It communicates through every curious thought about anything it offers, whether it be miraculous or commonplace, beautiful or ugly, complex or simple, and peaceful or violent. It speaks every time a tender wildflower makes you smile, a pine’s perfume reaches your nose, a bird’s song enters your ear, a rhythmic wind brushes against your skin, and a spectacular cloud captures your imagination. Nature is heard when these things–things that are right–touch your heart.
Earth Day perpetuates the positive thoughts of these millions of gentle, powerful, like-minded individuals who care very much but don’t like to shout or fight. It tells us that we are not alone. It reminds us that this planet is not being taken for granted, and as long as we continue to care, Nature will continue to speak.
