Earth Day 2009 has become a memory in the landscape of the human consciousness. Now, we can look ahead to the wonders of Earth Day 2010. The fortieth anniversary of this spectacular celebration for the planet, that we call home, can serve as a reminder of how we need to celebrate ourselves on a daily basis. For what is an awesome party, if you do not have an awesome host? It is imperative that we all take on the challenge and the responsibility of celebrating who we are, which allows us to celebrate the Earth in proper style, with a deep respect and love that the planet has not seen for decades.As indigenous people, we were all in tune with nature and understood its power and self mastery. Living to its rhythms was instinctual and necessary for our survival. Then, along came marked periods in human history that gave us a greater objective understanding of ourselves such as the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment. Simultaneously, increasing one aspect of our awareness while leading us away from the knowledge that though we are all individuals we must remember to live as one with each other and the planet. The green movement guides us back to living in harmony with nature; the music of re-connecting can support the celebration that we each hold for ourselves and others. How will you choose to celebrate you? How will you choose to celebrate your connections with other people and the planet?
While pondering the details of our grand party and how our individual growth has brought us to where, who, and how we are now, we can reflect on the green movement. Described through an American lens, in-line with the maturation of the United States, this movement has evolved through several distinct phases. Building on Van Jones' work regarding waves of environmentalism as explained in The Green Collar Economy, I posit seven phases. In brief, they are redaction, conservation, preservation, restoration, regulation, and investment. Today as we transcend and include all previous phases, we are becoming fully entrenched in the investment stage in multiple ways. Our time and our money are being poured into green governmental policies, green jobs, and green products and services. None of these colorful renditions will create the strong lasting impact that so many of us desire, if individuals at the center of this great change are not respected and celebrated as an integral part of the new era. The touchstone for our latest mass transformation can be how each and every one of us celebrates who we are.
Earth Day 2009 marked the start of the Green Generation™ campaign, which will be in full swing for Earth Day 2010. One of its core principles, discovering and creating sources of renewable energy, is highly aligned with celebrating self. From a decidedly anthropomorphic vantage point, we are the most precious renewable natural resource that we have. What does this understanding mean for you? How will an ongoing celebration for your self help you feel renewed, energized, and present in every moment? From a deep ecological perspective, such as that of Joanna Macy, how can you celebrate you and honor the world, simultaneously? Rely on your heart and soul for some of the answers. Ponder the questions with others. It is certainly my hope that we all take up this cause. Celebrating you! No one else… can do it better!!
Lorraine Lyman, MS, is the founder of Savvy Success Unlimited, (http://www.savvysuccessunlimited.com), and the author of several papers on global sustainability, consciousness, and community. A business and life coaching company, Savvy Success Unlimited, specializes in the organizational embodiment of the green movement’s values and practices as well as utilizing our inner strength to transform the world around us.
Lorraine,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog! I think you hit home with, "For what is an awesome party, without an awesome host?" This really rings true more than ever at a time when society needs more voices like yours. I share your sentiments on cultures of the past and how in tune they were with the environment. While technology gives us so many things, it also spoils us and takes away our ability to think rationally and reasonably. Technology strips our ability to think in vernacular terms and to look for long term solutions. In short, we want shortcuts. We are living in the age of NOW!
It is refreshing to once again hear a voice sound with reason, and ripe with innovation.
J. Biffle
When we first understand, embrace and master our ability to renew ourselves...that is when we become an agent of renewal for the world. It naturally happens. This is a journey everyone is on, albeit often an unconscious one. When it becomes a part of the conscience and the imagined barriers fade. That is when the journey truly begins.
ReplyDeleteWhat perfect timing for this blog as spring is the natural time for rebirth and renewal! I like that you've brought the subconsciousness of our natural instints of renewal into the concious realm and paralleled it to that of renewing the earth. Because, when we renew the earth, we will renew ourselves in the process.
ReplyDeleteI am excited about the "Go Green" movement. I feel that there is so much for me to learn about myself and how I am a part of nature. It's more than just using green products. It has become me questioning my purpose. How can I be a good citizen of the world?
ReplyDeleteOften we forget that the world and ourselves are interconnected. The world effects us as much as we effect the world. Thank you for reminded me to celebrate this and to ponder the greatness of this fact. You are a fantastic writer!
ReplyDeleteJess W
Lorraine,
ReplyDeleteI am very proud of your direction and I look forward to supporting your journey. The best is yet to come.
Self Love & Accountability=The Ripple Effect and hopefully a happier celebratory Society!
ReplyDeleteThe green movement has got to be a movement in a healed consciousness, where we relate to ourselves in a new way, as those who are in harmony with a sustainable and deeply nurturing earth.
ReplyDeleteI think another way to think of things is that anything that we as humans create has come from something that nature already created. You cannot abuse the source, since inevitably, you either will not have what you need to create new things or what nature creates will not be of the quality needed to create new things.
ReplyDeleteSo, it really is an investment in ensuring a sustainable long-term future for many more centuries.
"For what is an awesome party without an awesome host". That statement gives you something to think about!
ReplyDeleteWhoA.....you never cease to amaze me. I truly enjoyed reading that blog. Sorry it takes me so long to respond, but things have been crazy for the past few weeks. This information should be a part of the public school curriculum in all 50 states!! I am planning to work with you and your new savvy success venture. I think it is a GREAT idea, and will help to fulfill a much needed void that can possibly close the gap between athletic achievement and Life accomplishments!!
ReplyDelete~Alfred
"To the World, you may be one person, but to one person, you may be the World!"
Right on, well said Lorraine!
ReplyDeleteSuch eloquence along with profound thought! Lorraine you are on the ball!
ReplyDeleteLorraine,
ReplyDeleteWhile 2010 will be the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, for a nearly century before that, the date of April 22 was known as "Arbor Day."
As a boy, I can recall our elementary school principal personally planting a tree outside the school each year on that day. No groundskeepers. No landscape architects. He dug the hole. He planted the tree, and patted the reset soil around its base. We all clapped our hands and celebrated.
As Arbor Day traditions gave way to Earth Day events, we held Ecology Faires on that day, April 22 or thereabouts, where we, as children, would sell hand-crafted items made from recycled goods. Bleach bottle piggie banks were always popular with students. We'd hang up the ecology flag on that day:
It is vital to recall this "green movement" is not a new phenomenon. Concern for our environment stretches back deeply into human history. For me, I'll always fondly recall the days at P.S. 114 in Rockaway Beach, NY, where between 1970-1976, I learned quite a bit about the world around us.
Links:
http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/unitssubjhol/a/earthday.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology_Flag_(American)
Thank you, Josh, for your comments. My hope is that we can use our technological findings to understand the world in a new way and at the same time stay open so that this knowledge does not limit us. I also want fot the world to live in the now, but in a healthy, fully present manner that gives us the ability to hold more expansive viewpoints and be more creative than ever!
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous Understanding & Anonymous Perfect Timing, thank you for your support. Hopefully, we can live a journey that creates change year round!
ReplyDeleteJess, Kensly, and Dennis, thank you!! In addition to what we have mentioned here, how can we move forward and be better citizens to one another as well as to the environment?
ReplyDelete