A Greenheart Insider’s Take on Earth as a Living Being
“He who plants trees, loves others besides himself.” – Thomas Fuller
This April is a month of revelation & revolution! It’s the perfect time to stand together with the planet for the improvement of our future and our children’s future. With Earth Day quickly approaching on April 22nd, we welcome Greenheart staff member, Carly Visk to offer some personal insight and inspiration for Earth as a Living Being.
“What will it take to create a world in which the next seven generations can, at the very least, survive, and ideally, thrive?,” says Carly. “If we are honest with ourselves, we know it’s going to take a lot more than the small changes that are currently taking place. It’s going to take a deep shift in the worldview of humanity. We can’t just keep masking the symptoms, we need to address the root of this disease.”
A Living Concern
“Currently, the dominant mainstream worldview is human-centric,” says Carly. “Most people think of the world as non-living property that we can own and that exists to offer its resources to support our agendas. Many of us are now realizing that this is not sustainable for human survival.”
Indigenous Worldviews as a Resource
“We can take the indigenous worldview as an example which is based in the concept that humans are part of a great living web and that all other parts of the Earth, including animals, plants, and even stones, are sentient beings,” says Carly. “This worldview supports a very different way of being in the world, one that involves asking permission and giving thanks for everything that is taken from the Earth and taking only what we truly need out of love and respect.”
“Charles Eisenstein, a visionary speaker and author who has explored everything from spirituality to economics, has been focusing recently on how a living planet worldview may hold the key to successfully addressing climate change. His recent article entitled Initiation into a Living Planet goes deep into the exploration of this topic.
“If we consider that humans were born from the Earth, that we evolved out of the oceans, we intuitively know that the same life force within us is also present in the water, in the forests, in the soil, and in all of nature,” says Carly. “We realize that we ARE nature, and that by destroying the environment, we are killing ourselves. When we are aware that we are part of a larger living whole, we know that we cannot survive without healthy rainforests, rivers, and birds, just as the brain cannot exist without the lungs or heart.”
“Changing our worldview has the power to change our shared reality,” says Carly. “Perhaps then, there is hope — once we truly remember the immensely beautiful and wondrous organism we are part of, there’s no way that we as a humanity could do anything other than live in humble, grateful, and joyful service to all life on Earth.”
This month, let’s commit to deepening our relationship to our planet as a living being, and in doing so, be an active part of changing humanity’s worldview and remembering our role in the harmonious dance of life on Earth. Here are some suggestions to get you started:
Personal Action:
Spend some time communing with nature: Stand barefoot on the ground and feel the Earth; sit next to a lake and simply listen; ask how you can be of service; ask why you are here; offer gratitude by placing a pinch of tobacco on the ground or by making a nature mandala; feel and express your love. Or if you’d like more of a guided nature experience, go to one of these many nature excursions and events that are happening in the Chicagoland area!
Collective Action:
Earth Day has so much to offer! Check out the list of events happening in your community or even make a personal pledge on earthday.org to commit yourself to an earth-friendly challenge. Don’t go alone — educate and inspire your friends to do the same!
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We would love for you all to get started thinking about your plans for Earth Day! Whether you reduce your plastic consumption, opt out of a meat diet, venture off on more bike rides or add some plants to your garden, we want to know all about it. Be sure to tag us on Facebook & Instagram! Include the hashtag #haveagreenheart and #EarthThroughMyLens for our special Earth Day celebration.