Earth Day
While many of Earths people sicken, are healing or working to avoid sickness it’s undoubtable that the Earth is taking this time to heal as well. The earth is thanking us for easing some of the burdens on her while we all take moments to heal ourselves.
I have so so so much love for this planet we inhabit- frankly that love is one of the biggest driving forces in my desire to travel. There are so many places to see, creatures to encounter, lifestyles to learn. Through it all, I’ve seen the impact of humans- the trash washing ashore on remote beaches, water that’s unsafe to drink, reefs being bleached and over fished, major cities at risk of actually running out of water.
We all have a responsibility to evaluate our own lives and find ways to be better. Because we all, myself very much included, can find ways that we can in our everyday lives be better for the planet. We hear it often, but it’s because the statement is true- we only have one planet. We cannot continues to strip it of resources and return to it only trash and emissions and pollutants.
I want to be able to revisit the beautiful places I’ve been and feel like I’ve never left, or rather I want to see that they are in better shape than the last time I was there. I want to be able to venture to new places and see their beauty rather than the ways the planet is hurting there. I want my little sister, who’s own desire to travel is igniting, to be able to experience the places she goes in a way that brings tears from beauty rather than tears from the harsh reality of what we’ve done to the planet. I’ve shed those tears. Those tears and desires are my selfish why.
At the end of the day even when you take those romanticized travel notions out of the picture, this planet still needs our help. If we want to continue to have water that’s safe and accessible to drink or food that is whole and healthy to eat then we have to make changes. If we want fresh air to inhale when life feels tough then we have to make changes.
I challenge you to take a moment today- place your bare feet on the earth and consider the things on this earth that make your heart happy. The places that make you smile, that hold fond memories. Consider the way your life would change if the nature spaces you love or that serve as some sort of back drop to your life were to disappear. The answers to these questions are your selfish “why” and the reasons the Earth deserves your help.
We protect things that we have an emotional connection to. Take these selfish motives, desires and memories and use them to encourage you to move forward in way that is a little more conscious, a little more intentional and a little easier on the planet. Move forward as an advocate for the very place we calm home.
Looking for a way to see how much you consume? Check out the Just Stay Sustainable Challenge, here.
Check out more about loving our planet, here! (A couple of my favorite posts are this one and this one!)