The Earth's unique body is wounded. The human species has seriously injured the Life Systems. We need to immediately change our way of living, as the consequences of our ignorance regarding the limits that we must respect when dealing with planetary resources are evident across the planet. Natural tragedies multiply and occur in increasingly shorter periods of time, confirming the warnings of respectable scientists and the warnings of ancestral wisdom.
At this moment, it is vital that we reflect on how to put into practice the necessary emergency changes, and effective ways to develop and maintain these actions over time.
A first step is to reawaken and nurture awareness of the interconnections between all forms of life. It is evident to any relatively lucid person that the Earth is a planetary organism, with reciprocal influences between all its constituent elements, all the time and at every moment. Even if we do not understand in depth the mechanisms of these interactions, a minimum of reasonableness is enough to realize that it is impossible for there to be "islands of immunity" in the face of the effects of environmental imbalances. Especially because what we formally call islands are portions of land that are separated in appearance, but joined to the body of the planet at a deeper level of water... In an increasingly brief period, local crises will be felt everywhere, somehow. From initially local problems, the global system gradually begins to feel the pain that was made invisible by the dominant vision, basically governed by the economic paradigm, which proposes the pricing of everything, and in doing so denies the value of what is truly essential.
As our infrastructures mostly do not respect natural laws, they become fragile and unequal, and therefore impacts spread quickly and easily, and crises contaminate the entire social fabric with devastating effects. In this sense, we need to develop methodologies for individual and collective application that are effective in keeping us minimally healthy. I think a good starting point is to maintain sensitivity, not deny the pain resulting from the gravity of the facts that we perceive directly and through the overwhelming volume of information to which we are exposed in this era of virtual communications.
In addition, as a balancing factor, it is necessary to practice awareness of the present moment, when applying the resources we have, wherever we are, to the extent of our possibilities. Here, it is very important to respect our individuality, and cultivate a sense of co-responsibility, without allowing the pathological obstacle of guilt to come between our motivation to act and the illusion that we are not enough to do what is necessary. Faced with the inevitable challenges that existence presents to us, we can remain immobile by opting for extremes, that is, imagining that we can solve absolutely everything or that we lack minimal resources to do anything. Once again, Nature is master: diversity is a manifestation of wealth, and flexibility is power. We already have the knowledge, technology and resources of all kinds that can deal with the crises we face, but we still lack the learning of genuine collaboration, where no one is more important, except in the occasional and provisional capacity to serve in a specific aspect, which certainly it will be in a cooperative relationship with other factors that support its actions.
More practically, the core of our actions should be accepting reality, an essential attitude to activate the potential for possible transformation. As long as we deny aspects of our challenges, we will lack the elements to act effectively. Only when we accept that something is possible can we do something about it, and thus begins the process that can lead us to embrace the results without becoming attached to them. Acceptance is a powerful thing, if we use the common sense to approach challenges with an attitude of moderation. In fact, it is easier to practice resignation than to act with moderation.
In this moment of systemic crisis, I feel that it is more appropriate to cultivate a positive and pragmatic realism rather than forms of optimism or pessimism. In the inescapable condition of agents in a historical process of planetary transformation, it will be decisive for us to develop emotional maturity and relational balance, as a skillful way to act as subjects and not victims in a process in which we are directly involved with the causes that brought us until here.
There is no single path. Strictly speaking, we will need individual forms of transformative action, articulated in a collective vision in which well-being and respect for Life are above personal desires or benefits.
We will need discipline, perseverance and serenity. I hope we can go beyond our differences, giving up being right in favour of survival and a viable future for our human species.
Count me in. Can I count on you?
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