Its 3:23 in the morning
and I’m awake
because my great great grandchildren
wont let me sleep
my great great grandchildren
ask me in dreams
what did you do while the planet was plundered?
what did you do when the earth was unraveling?
surely you did something
when the seasons started failing?
as the mammals, reptiles, and birds were all dying?
did you fill the streets with protest
when democracy was stolen?
what did you do
once you knew?
(Hieroglyphic Stairway by Drew Dellinger)
Probably not enough! Its no easy task to be mindful of our impact on the planet and living in a society that places value on material stuff!
I agree with you Lynn that it is difficult when our society treasures material consumption in lieu of material sufficiency, but a small action every day does wonders for the spirit.
Gav x
Every Day Gavin… I try and I do something every day… great poem.
Cheers Wendy. It really struck a chord when I first read it. I was how I thought some days.
Gav x
Started changing our lifestyle majorly. But as Lynn says, probably still not enough. I have started attending protests in my forties and I take my kids as well! I want them to be aware that change is in our hands!!
Hey Linda. You do heaps! BTW I linked to your fantastic blog in my blogroll.
Gav x
We have strived for decades to live sustainably, one day at a time. Our goal has been to lead by example in the hope that people around us will be influenced and change how they live their lives. We want to do out bit towards passing on to our children and grandchildren a planet that is able to sustain them and those that follow them. in the 30-40 years that we have followed the ‘eco warrior’ path we have felt good knowing that our lighter footprint was making a contribution for the greater good. The truth is that we are facing a climate emergency and our approach of reducing and living sustainably is not going to get humanity over the line in time. The time has come for people to take a risk and like Linda stand in a protest line, lobby financial institutes to move money out of coal investments and be actively political to secure urgent change to re-newables.
Thanks Anon. I agree. Many more need to get politically active to show that we mean business. After all, governments only follow the will of the people. They only care about what is the hot topic of the day, so lets make our topic the hottest.
Gav
Greetings from Finland! I and my husband live as sustainably as we can, and try to make small improvements all the time. We grow and preserve fruits and veggies, heat with wood, make soap etc. We also strive to make our little patch of land a haven for local wildlife and participate in citizen science projects (eg. count birds and butterflies in national events in order to provide data that can be used for conservation efforts). There is always room for improvement, but even smallest changes cumulate over the years. My motto is, that little is always better than nothing.
I also blog and participate in local politics. Being a professional philosopher, I am also able to promote green values through my work. I try to represent simple lifestyle as fun, comfortable and money-saving alternative to consumerism.
The challenges facing us are enormous, no question about that. But all over the world, people are working for the better future. That is very encouraging.
Hi Saara. Thanks for your comment. Great to hear from Finland, and that there are sustainable folk over there as well.
Thanks for dropping by. You are right, the challenges ahead of us are large, but not unsolvable.
Gav x
My great grandchildren don’t keep me awake at night with their voices, but their granparents do! 😉 Yes, literally and figuratively, the voices of my own children keep me awake, worrying over one thing or another, the immediate parental concerns and the environmental ones too. Are we teaching them enough, what more can we/should we/could we do? Some days I feel satisfied that we have put in a good effort (never enough) but other days the guilt over each little thing wracks me and those voices are long and loud.
The world will change, no doubt about that and I can’t wait for society to wake up and smell the locally grown organic coffee but I hope and pray it’s not a crisis moment when it does.
Absolutely brilliant poem and thanks for sharing.