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Words...

3/29/2011

4 Comments

 
Language is so tricky, isn't it? 

I think about this often when I hear talk about getting out into "nature," or saving the "environment." Language is tricky because we humans are not separable from "nature" and the "environment." It is not an us-them situation, where people are standing outside of nature, making choices about whether to protect or destroy an environment that is not us. It is all ONE - we are all ONE. In fact, we humans are so deeply embedded in and inseparable from our environment that we are utterly dependent upon the breath of trees and the water and food in the rivers and the vibrant soil that feeds our veggies and fruits.

Questions -- how would you describe your own personal relationship with the earth? How do you feel about nature? What are your beliefs?

How we answer these questions will help us understand how we have gotten where we are, and how to get to a better place. What is our relationship with the earth? Do we see ourselves as caretakers, benevolent aunts and uncles who act as protectors? Do we see ourselves as masters of the universe, entitled to do what we wish with the earth's bounty? Or do we see our relationship with the earth as a reciprocal one - where there is interdependence? 

Do we feel scared, or awed, or curious, or angry in relation to nature? Or indifferent? Or grateful?

Do we believe that there is an endless supply of all that we need, that what we take from the earth will naturally or maybe magically regenerate or be replenished? Do we believe that there are limits? Wow. Limits. That's a topic for another day.

So much of how we answer these questions depends upon what our own lives have been like. Someone who has experienced Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana or the recent devastating earthquake-tsunami-nuclear crisis in Japan will answer the questions differently from someone who has never been without access to safe food and shelter. 

How we answer these questions collectively will directly influence what happens in the present and future. 

I am curious about how a healthy collective vision develops, particularly in the bitter bi-partisan atmosphere in our own country. I am curious about this, and I suspect, I hope that a healthy collective vision grows from the ground up. From parent to child, neighbor to neighbor, community to community. This gives me hope.

Yes, language is tricky and it is powerful. Think about the words of HOPE, ONE, NEIGHBOR, COLLECTIVE, SAFE, HEALTHY. Feel the words -- hold them in your heart and share them with others and see what grows.



4 Comments
Julie Mannarino
3/29/2011 04:13:45 pm

I'm POY mommy! XOXO

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Barbara Barry
3/30/2011 01:13:57 am

Excellent job, this leaves me with much to ponder.

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Jen
3/30/2011 03:12:03 am

Mary Beth-

This is so thought provoking - thank you! How do I feel about nature and my relationship with the earth? Well, while I may spend more time considering this, just off the top of my head my response has to be... "I am a part of..."

Throughout life's ups and downs I have always found joy and serenity in reconnecting with the gifts of the earth - whether it be the sunshine, the trees, the breezes, or the many variety of critters running around!

I sleep with my window open and eagerly await the sounds of the birds' first chirps in the morning... and when they start up (at precisely the same time every morning) I say to myself "There they are!" And it brings me peace.

We owe it to ourselves to care for and preserve what has been given to us - because nature, I believe, has a real purpose in our lives.

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Leah Prewitt
3/30/2011 05:43:25 pm

I had a similar experience to the one you wrote about. A friend from New York City & I were teaching in Fallbush, KY at the state's conference center which is out in the middle of nowhere. I suggested a walk after dinner. We are walking along a gravel road and I look up and can see the Milky Way for the first time in years. I am awed. I feel so blessed to be here. Then a barn owl hoots and the man I'm with jumps and even when I tell him what the noise was, insists we go inside. He walks down Broadway at 3 a.m. but an owl is too much for him.

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    Author

    Mary Beth Mannarino is a licensed psychologist who provides coaching in the areas of leadership, career, life, and parenting. She is also an environmental and climate educator and activist. Dr. Mannarino is professor emeritus at Chatham University where she continues to teach courses to students in health professions related to environment and well-being.

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