Who am I? And why does that matter to you? After all, my last solution is to waste your time, least of all mine. I was never good at writing, though I’ve kept journal excerpts on and off my whole life. I should pursue it though – a photograph with even the best intentions can lose its meaning and purpose with the addition of a misleading story.
So what … so write? Hmm … Create? Well, I’d say simply learn and soak-up every possible thread of this miscalculated world into your existence. An amazing man once said to me, “This isn’t education that you’re sitting there absorbing – this is life!” Sometimes we lose track of life; it has ways of capturing us and wrapping us up in its layers and layers of cocoon-like webbing.
One morning you wake up and realize you’re not a child anymore. You realize you’ve lost every beautiful essence of what it felt like to be amazed by the world. Simply, and utterly amazed. We forget that we are part of it all; that we are pretty insignificant in the whole scheme of things, just another wave on the surface of the ocean.
Never forget, if you can, that we are part of that massive ocean. Don’t let that discourage you though. If one wave can contribute to the pattern of waves that follow it, then think of what we as humans could do.
We are supposed to be the most intelligent creatures on this earth. We have the tools and the education to make things happen, the technology to shape the world however we want. Many choose to use that power to make a battlefield on rich, green soil. They get greedy, want to consume more and more – it’s never enough. One more of this and one more of that, consuming objects that temporarily make them happy until next month when the product goes out of style.
Well, does anything about the world bother you? Does it make you want to pick up a rock and throw it? Does it make you want to shake hands with a complete stranger? The earth is fading fast without our protection. We’ve lost sight of what it’s like to call someone a neighbor and know what it used to be like to walk down the street and have the courage to look someone in the eye.
The world’s population has already more than doubled from what it was in 1950. Americans are consuming 145 million tons of solid waste per year and 40 percent of all Central American rainforests are cleared to create beef pastures, eliminating enough grains and soybeans that could feed thousands.
Is this our fault directly? Well, you may not realize that your huge SUV (which you may have bought more as a status symbol than for its efficient use of space) sucks up more gasoline and emits more pollution than anything else on the road. Or you may consume individually one football field of space to support the production of enough meat for you in a year. If you knew this would you care? Well you should.
It’s my belief that much of the havoc that we impose on our environment and our neighbors in other countries is because many of us don’t know any better. We’re students; we can’t use the excuse that we have no time. We’re not entirely incorporated into consumer society – yet. We have the space and time and tools to fill our minds. Shouldn’t we take advantage?
Don’t be overwhelmed. If we have a hope to change the society that we live in, we have to start at the individual level. We also have to work on ourselves. If we aren’t personally content within our own hearts, then how can we genuinely want peace for others?
So I say to you: question everything. Much unhappiness comes into the world because of things left unsaid and life is too important to not pay attention. So absorb life, utilize your senses, and reach out, not only to those who need it most but to yourself as well. And more than anything don’t give up, because peace isn’t a place where there’s no noise, no trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.
I hope that I haven’t wasted your time. I don’t feel like I’ve wasted mine. Here are some personal photos of mine for your viewing pleasure and some Web sites if you’d like to research more into the topics that I’ve discussed.
Take care.
http://www.commondreams.org
http://www.globalissues.org
http://www.ucsusa.org
http://www.peopleandplanet.org