A good place to start....Here on Earth
Earth Day 2024
“What on Earth have you been doing Jean?!” Earth Day seems like a good time as any to start the blog writings that have tangled up into a ball of procrastinated thoughts and stuckness for years. And that’s ok, because the last 4 years have been about changing ….everything. So there’s lots to tell. It’s time to just let them flow with stories of my life on Earth. I love to write yet I seem to fast pace everything else on the ‘to do list’ but don’t stop and enjoy the process of reflecting and writing.
Recently I re-read the book “Braiding Sweet Grass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer and this third time, her published words hit me between the eyes with no longer a valid excuse for leaving stories untold. “Most people don’t really see plants or understand plants or what they give us,” Kimmerer writes, “so my act of reciprocity is, having been shown plants as gifts, as intelligences other than our own, as these amazing, creative beings – good lord, they can photosynthesise, that still blows my mind! – I want to help them become visible to people. People can’t understand the world as a gift unless someone shows them how it’s a gift.”
I have been humbled by all the gifts of my 57 years so far. Gifts of slowed down wisdom, present moment joy, accountability to the universe to be who I am designed to be, riding waves of anxiety or fatigue, celebrating the healing & joy of others, comfort of connections, all kinds of connections to earth, animal, plant, human alike. The deep love and beauty of this life is constantly squeezed by the dark challenges of today, but greed, corruption, manipulation, and all the trappings of what is heavy now, will not win. Every writing will 100%, no doubt lean into my enduring values of integrity, comfort, & hope. Earth will win. Love will win.
by Jean Sullivan, RDN,LD
Happy Earth Day, is it??
Sure, It is happy for us...soaking in the sounds of nature, colors of spring, food being grown, processed and shaped into whatever the sensory market demands. But is the Earth Happy?
A bit of an oxymoron as precious resources and natural wonders of the Earth decline as industries and consumerism forge on.
Every hour is an opportunity to give back. To truly practice reciprocation for all Earth gives us. Start today by planting your feet in the ground, look up, look down, look all around you at the things you need or want daily. Every square inch of solid, liquid, or gas natural or synthetic originated from the ground beneath your feet. The list of all we consume from Earth is infinite. Can our goal on Earth day be to make an infinite list of the ways we will start to give back to Earth?
Here are some ideas to truly make it a 'Happy' Earth Day!
1. Design or share ideas to solve an environmental problem(climate change, microplastics, deforestation, water quality, pesticides)
https://www.treehugger.com/green-inventions-4135743
2. Share ways that you conserve resources, water, food, waste with friends, family, co workers (recycling, less paper consumption, composting)
https://wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve-water/
3. Plant shade trees or support organizations make trees their mission
4. Research and find conservation causes that hit home for you and learn more, do more, share more.
https://www.worldwildlife.org/
https://milkweed.org/book/braiding-sweetgrass
5. Water quality and consumption should hit close to home for everyone. Find ways in your daily life that you can conserve water, reduce run off or toxic waste from entering sewage systems. https://www.earthday.org/planet-vs-plastics/
6. Plant a container garden anywhere!
https://www.almanac.com/content/container-gardening-vegetables
7. Embrace a self sufficient mindset. When we grow our food, honor how we use water, and how we manage consumer waste, we become deeply connected to how little we actually need and how much we owe Earth.
**Try the zero waste 31 day challenge!
https://www.goingzerowaste.com/31-day-zero-waste-challenge/
Soak in the beauty of Earth! Protecting the health of Earth IS connected to human health. We are all connected.
#Earthday2024 #Optoutside #plantatree #tospeakforthetrees #earthhealthishumanhealth #vitalfood #rootreviverecover #selfsufficiency #Growyourownfood #waterconservation #healthyearthhealthyhumans