Time to ROAR FOR THE EARTH!!!

I didn’t sleep much last night. The plight of the indigenous people of Brazil whose lives will be turned upside down by the building of the Belo Monte Dam is breaking my heart - and I’m finding it difficult to know how to digest and process the knowledge that whilst I’m living my safe and comfortable existence on the Malvern Hills, preparing a talk about bees for a local garden festival this weekend, these people (and others around the world) are fighting for their home, their land, their culture, their future....

Everything in me wants to travel to Brazil so that I can stand in solidarity with the people of the Amazonian rainforest whose land (an area the size of Wales) will be flooded to facilitate the monstrous and insatiable greed of those who already have ‘enough’.  My soul is crying out to join with the souls of my fellow human beings to help make their voices heard so that this terrible thing will not happen - and I would gladly exchange my comfortable little home and all my material belongings tomorrow for news that the dam is not going to be built after all.

Petition to stop Belo Monte Dam - http://amazonwatch.org/take-action/stop-the-belo-monte-monster-dam?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4dec37b40ee918aa%2C0

This is not the only issue I feel strongly about. There are so many ‘wrongs’ we need to put ‘right’ that I find it difficult sometimes to know which way to turn and which campaign to put my energies into. I am deeply concerned about the oceans, trees, food poverty & GM crops, climate change, bees and loss of biodiversity to name but a few – and I want to help everything and everyone who is suffering. But I can’t.

So how do I reconcile these thoughts and get out of bed in the morning? What can I do? Are my efforts making any difference or is it all a complete waste of time?

The answer I keep coming back to is that I am not alone and that together we can make a difference.  It’s ok to feel the pain, the fear, the desperation and the horror. It’s ok to acknowledge our weaknesses, our limitations, our fragility and our humanity - in fact these feelings are all part of the process that brings about real, lasting change. 

Having accepted and acknowledged that this is where we are, it is easier to begin the journey forward. It’s not going to be an easy journey, but it’s our journey. It must surely be no accident that we have been born into one of the most challenging times in human history; a time where great changes are needed to bring us back into kilt with Mother Earth; a time where each and every one of us has a role to play – no matter how small and insignificant that role may seem. 

So, it’s time for us to look within and search for that spark of light that we all have but which some of us have not yet discovered or are afraid to tap into. What is your passion? What makes you feel most alive and energises you? What turns your light on.......?

The most important thing for us to accept is that we cannot/must not attach ourselves to the ‘outcome’ or the ‘destination’.  This is very difficult for us human beings because we usually like to plan our journeys around a destination, but what we’re facing now is far beyond any journey we have ever undertaken before. This is humanity’s collective journey and maybe 'life-as-we-know-it' needs to break down completely before we can build a new paradigm. It’s time for the great turning, so choose your cause (or causes) replace fear, anger and frustration with love, joy and optimism - and do whatever you can to help because together we can and will make a difference.

As my inspirational friend Hen says.....it's time for us to ROAR FOR THE EARTH!!!!

Some beautiful and inspiring words from the Hopi Elders - http://www.spiritofmaat.com/messages/oct28/hopi.htm

I will be a humming bird - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGMW6YWjMxw

The Great Turning; Joanna Macy - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwlXTAT8rLk