Into the New Year with Green Living, Green Heart, and Green Spirit
At the end of one year and the beginning of the next, I would like to thank those of you who have taken the time to read my peculiar scribbles. My intention over the past year, actually less than a year, was not to convince you of the rationality of my opinions—nor was it to instruct you regarding the great issues of the climate crisis (of which I have a negligible grasp). Rather, I simply wanted to give my readers something to think about, and to suggest sources where they might find reliable information regarding the climate crisis. Simply stated, my primary wish has been to enrich the lives of my readers, and, while I'm at it, enrich my own life. Seems rather an arrogant wish, doesn't it, thinking that I could achieve such a lofty aim.
I have found that I am changed by my awkward attempts to send words out into the world, and I like to think that the world also might be somewhat changed by what I have written, whether or not the words are electronically disseminated or presented on paper. A queer notion, wouldn't you say, the cockeyed supposition that what I write is imprinted on universal consciousness. In her fine book, Living by Fiction, Annie Dillard says it far better, "Thoughts count. A completed novel in a trunk in the attic is an order added to the sum of the universe's order." Words and ideas seem to inexplicably spread, as if alive; so it is that the idea of green living has become ubiquitous, that it has spread with the intensity of a whirlwind through populations worldwide.
The problem is to keep the green movement alive, to take the essence of green consciousness into our hearts and spirit. Keeping it alive requires more than outward manifestations of personal commitment. Changing light bulbs, driving fuel efficient automobiles, and outfitting our homes with solar panels are laudable practices, but we also have to change our perceptions of what we are in terms of beings existing in the totality of time and in tune with the rhythms of the universe. We are each a part of a system composed of elements and particles that exist throughout the universe; we are beings that recapitulate on a smaller scale the essence of the whole. Everything we do has some effect on the fabric of life. I would therefore argue that a good beginning for nurturing a green heart and green spirit is to cultivate reverence for all life.
Into the New Year with Green Living, Green Heart, and Green Spirit
Given ample opportunity to spend time out of doors, children in the early years of their sojourn on the planet have not yet established ego boundaries, so they quite naturally apprehend their inclusion in nature and their environment. For them, life is magical, but soon becomes corrupted when they encounter the artificial constructs of the modern world—the asphalt underfoot, the distractions of entertainment technology, the noise and alarm of urban life. I am not advocating that we abandon all of the conveniences of technology. No, I am merely recommending that we become more gentle, more contemplative, more appreciative of our identity with all of the life that shares the planet—that we take time to revel at the snowflakes and raindrops on our cheeks, that we enjoy the flight of birds, the mysterious life of insects, that we delight in the earth between our bare toes, that we enjoy the silence of solitary outings in the woods, that we become aware of the life cycles of green plants and trees.
I had naturally cultivated a green disposition as a child, because I grew up in rural Indiana, spent days camping, fishing hunting, hiking, and camping I know how it is to dip a paddle into the water of a wide creek and move silently over the water, I know what it is like to marvel at the stunning display of stars where city lights do not shield the spectacle, I know the exalted feeling of discovering how to make a fire from a bow drill, I know how to forage for wild plants, and I know what it's like to purify myself by sitting in a sweat lodge and later cooling off by a moonlit dip in a cold river. From the top of my head to the tip of my toes I have owned a green disposition. Sadly, after too much time earning a living in the warrens of corporate America, I have occasionally allowed that green disposition to languish, but invariably something always happens to restore my green spirit. One time it was restored by a chance meeting with a prominent botanist. We became very good friends and remained so until he passed away a few years ago. He was the man who could give the common and scientific names of every plant we passed while hiking together in the woods. He had lived a long and active life as a teacher, painter, and outdoorsman, and he had developed a unique personal philosophy that one day I expect to share with the reading public. The two of us were concerned about the sorry state of the environment, and we decided that, together, we would write books that would galvanize public action to save the environment—and our slogan became, "We will write our way out of this mess." Unfortunately, the green once again leeched from my soul after the death of that dear friend.
Duane Dahl's EarthLab project has been the latest development that has restored my green inclination, so that, here I am—born again green. The situation with our planet on the occasion of this personal rebirth is more critical than ever. My hope is that each of you will enjoy a productive New Year, and that you will continue to dedicate yourself to improving your personal environment and to supporting this new green revolution. I ask you not to falter in your dedication, and I will continue to try to launch my mental hot air balloons into the electronic firmament. I urge each of you to continue to cultivate a green heart and a green spirit, and to become green men and green women, plucky and perseverant.