It’s Time Wake Up! "We The People", Literally, Hold the Whole World in Our Hands

I am usually an unapologetic optimist. My friends and colleagues generally describe me as hopeful, petering on Pollyannaish, however, given the state of our world, I feel compelled to speak-up and speak-out with a sense of urgency! 

We are facing an existential threat and we must act now to save the planet and ourselves! We The People must wake-up and recognize that the man-made climate crisis, has become a climate emergency! The severe environmental crisis is rooted in the dysfunctional social and cultural crisis, which has been exacerbated over the last three years, and is fueling the acceleration of greed, fear, hate and conflict around our world. Most importantly, the spiritual and moral crisis catalyzed by many of the leaders of countries around the world, is deeply dividing us and causing us to self-destruct.

I hear so many people feeling hopeless and helpless. Many people believe that our leaders today do not represent the majority of us, so we can’t control the chaos and conflicts around our world. People are choosing to focus on their own lives and their individual response to all of the pain and suffering we are witnessing. Please understand that saving the planet is saving our own lives, and the lives of our love-ones! Please realize that healing the social divisiveness, the greed, hate and fear, is saving you and your love-ones. Isn’t the acceleration and randomness of the mass shootings in the United States enough proof? Aren’t the catastrophic hurricanes and record-breaking heatwaves enough proof? The fires in the Amazon alone, should be a wake-up call. What about the polluted oceans and the poisoned water systems? We are at a point where there is no distinction between “you” and “me” or “mine” and “theirs”! Our basic life support system, our air, water and soil, are in serious need of intensive care if we have any chance resuscitating and healing our world. There is no longer room for bystanders and observers. It is now my life, your life and the lives of our love-ones that are in jeopardy.

If we act now, “We The People” have the capacity to be a powerful force for change! You and I can save our world, together! We don’t have to wait for a president, a leader, a hero or a savior to rescue us; we can save ourselves. I believe we all sense, on some level, that human beings are remarkable! If we find the courage and the will to come together and tap into the powerful creative genius that lies within each and every one of us, we can stop this madness. We have the capacity to change the life-threatening trajectory of our planet. We have it within our power to rethink, redesign, and co-create a world where all people have the opportunity to prosper and flourish.

What can we do? Here a few suggestions people are sharing:

-       Vote in your local, state and federal elections for people who commit to passing laws that support the health and wellbeing of all people, communities and the planet.

-       Let your voice be heard; speak-up and speak-out. Tell congress to get back to work and pass urgent climate crisis legislation, gun control laws, comprehensive immigration and healthcare for all laws.

-       If you live in the United States, tell your representatives to stop locking families up in the concentration camps on our southern border. Stop the immoral, Gestapo-like ICE tactics like tearing families apart and leaving many shocked and grieving children abandoned and pleading for their parents.

-       Support Young People, respect their leadership and listen to them. They are the “endpoint of evolution” and they are the future! They are smarter, faster, far more informed, incredibly connected, more hopeful and more courageous than any former generation in the history of the world. We, the older generation need to take our rightful place as midwives to help them to birth their dreams, as shamans to lend an ear and a shoulder when they get weary, and as cheerleaders to embolden them and celebrate their wins. Now more than ever, we need to let their voices be heard. They are the future that is trying break through and blossom. We will all flourish when they are liberated to lead us into a brand new and better world.

Here are a few youth-led initiatives:

·      The Youth Climate Movement has exploded around the world. Young people recognize the severity of the climate crisis and they are not waiting on adults to do something about it. In 2019 alone, 1.5 million students in over 125 countries across the world have walked out of their schools to demand immediate action be taken to address the climate crisis. Hear them, support them, love them!

·      The Future Coalition “is a national network and community for youth-led organizations and youth leaders. The Future Coalition works collaboratively to share resources and ideas, all with a common goal of making the future a better, safer, and more just place for everyone”. One of their major initiatives is getting young people out to vote.

On September 20th, young people across the world are holding a school strike to demand that world leaders take action to address the climate crisis. In the United States, the  Future Coalition is convening the youth-led climate organizations to work together to build massive strikes across the country. Find a strike near you, join the strike, show our support, cheer them on and serve as their trusted allies. #strikewithus

Junior Enterprise Global is a network of student-led, student managed and student funded enterprises. They have 51 K Junior entrepreneurs, in 1227 Junior enterprises, from 44 countries. They are demonstrating a new definition of success. Their future for business is the business model of innovating with the greater good in mind. Let’s recognize, support and learn from them.

-       Buy products and services from businesses that have healthy environmental, employee, and community policies, like B Corps, a movement that has 3,000 companies from 150 industries, in 64 countries, that are committed to Business as a Force for Good. Boycott companies whose products and practices harm people or the environment.

-       Sign petitions that support the health and wellbeing of people, communities and the environment, they make a difference!

-       March and protest! That is how Rosa Parks catalyzed the right for Blacks to sit anywhere on public buses. It is how Blacks Americans and women won the right to vote. It is how the LBGQ community won the right to marry who they love. It is how the citizens of Puerto Rico ousted a corrupt government. Marching and protesting is rooted in the essence of what it means to be an American, it is our right and our responsibility.

-       Encourage the media to shine more light on stories where people, communities and businesses are coming together and working for the greater good.

-       Plant a tree. Trees provide numerous benefits including that they absorb carbon dioxide and potentially harmful gasses, such as sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, from the air and they release oxygen. Research has proven that one large tree can supply a day's supply of oxygen for four people.

-       Move towards a plant-based diet. The Union of Concerned Scientists lists meat-eating as the second-biggest environmental hazard facing the Earth. (number one is fossil-fuel vehicles.)  Some researchers claim that the production of just one hamburger uses enough fossil fuel to drive a small car 20 miles.

-       Buy environmentally friendly, locally sourced products and from local businesses. The Eco Warrior Princess website list 5 Apps and Online Tools for Conscious Shopping: https://ecowarriorprincess.net/2016/03/5-apps-online-tools-for-conscious-shopping/

-       Create community gardens. Call your city government to learn how you can turn an empty lot into a community vegetable garden, especially if you live in “food Deserts”, neighborhoods where fresh fruits and vegetables are not available.

-       Form a block club to create a sense of community and shared ownership for the health and wellbeing of your neighbors.

-       Take recycling seriously

-       Do random acts of kindness

-       Smile and send love to people you pass on the street. We never know what people are struggling with; your smile may bring light into their day and conversely into yours.

I’m sure if you sit down with your friends, family, and work teams, together you will discover numerous actions we can take to help heal people, our communities and the planet. Learn more about the climate crisis and share your knowledge with your family and friends.

These are not purely altruistic ideas. What we do, to and for others, directly affects each of us. We are inextricably connected, interdependent and woven together by an invisible power that some call God, some call an energy force and some call the laws of physics. Whatever we call it, we know on a very deep level that it is rooted in love and it transcends all boundaries and encompasses all of life. Our challenge is to remove the artificial boundaries and walls, that are born out of in fear, to allow us to discover and experience this beautiful, powerful, awe-inspiring Love Force, and to put that Force to work to co-create a new and better world.

I am still an unapologetic optimist because I believe that we will step up to this challenge, individually and collectively. I believe that our generation’s reason for being on this planet, at this time in the history of humankind, is to create the conditions for us and our children, our grandchildren, and future generations to have the opportunity to flourish and prosper. It is our generation’s right, responsibility, and it is our legacy.

                      "A human being is a part of a whole,

called by us the universe,

apart limited in time and space.

He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings

as something separated from the rest,

a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.

This delusion is a kind of prison for us,

restricting us to our personal desires

and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.

                      Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison

by widening our circle of compassion to embrace

all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

Albert Einstein  

Michele
Author, DreamMakers: Innovating for the Greater Good
www.dreamMakers.org