Friday, March 13, 2020

another way to look at it: coronavirus edition

planet earth is blue and there's something we can do
It's the first second Friday of the month and so the members of our critique group human community once again have a challenge before us: we are now entering a period during which daily life as we know it cannot be sustained.  The inconvenience, the disappointment, the sorrow are monumental.

People are feverish with virus and anxiety, and the contagion can barely be contained. Our fear for our own lives and those of our neighbors has spurred us into immediate and collective action, with or without the wise or courageous leadership of our elected officials.

This, friends, is the response the young people have been looking for in the face of catastrophic climate change.  The planet is feverish with emissions and wild weather, and the reckless squandering of resources has not been contained.  Our fear for our own lives and those of our neighbors has not spurred us into immediate and collective action, despite the wise and courageous leadership of our youth, our scientists and our public policy experts.


But now that can change.  
Now we see that what must be done, can be done
if we have enough fear.  The governor of a state can go on TV and simply declare that 
you must not keep dumping your food waste into the same bin as your trash.  
A school system can spend a short amount of time and, to the best of its ability, redirect its resources and transform its operations to make school transportation
greener and more efficient. Churches, nonprofits and individual families 
can cooperate to reverse global warming now, if we
accept that "business as usual" is no longer sustainable.

This is the silver lining.  This is the moment.  
This is the straw that breaks the camel's back; this is the inconvenient truth.
No mud, no lotus.  No dark of night, no day.
This is where we see that us and them, that now and next, are the same. 

Friends, be careful out there. Be wise and courageous IN there. And when we have moved through this challenge, don't forget that we proved we can move through the next infinitely bigger challenge.


 

11 comments:

  1. Thank you, Heidi. I love your colorful words to get your point across. I love that there is a whole generation waiting for a time to change business-as-usual.

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  2. Dear Heidi, you should make this into a poster! xo

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  3. You're right, this is the silver moment!

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  4. Well done, Heidi. You do have a fresh point of view!

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  5. Wow! Thank you for this perspective, Heidi. Well done!

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  6. Indeed. What seems like long years ago, my class read & researched Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth, making plans, changing habits. It's been a long time, but now you've given hope again, Heidi. You're right, the model is happening now!

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  7. You're right - it's amazing the changes we can make in an emergency. Here in Haiti we are straining to keep from kissing each other in greeting (the normal way we do), but your words are encouraging me to think of what other changes could come out of this time.

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  8. Turning dreaming to doing... Heidi M. for president!

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  9. Preach it! Your passion is inspiring, Heidi.

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Thanks for joining in the wild rumpus!