I was just talking with a friend about trying to do the best you can (recycling, donating to charity, buying from farmer’s markets, etc.) and we both expressed how easy it is to be discouraged that we can’t/don’t do more. I look at our planet and can get overwhelmed by how we’ve managed to mess it up so badly. It doesn’t seem possible that we can do enough things to fix it up. One can try to be a perfect citizen of the Earth, but it’s nigh impossible, which is what leads to discouragement and giving up.
That’s the negative way of seeing the situation. However, on a positive note, we’ve seen many examples of how one small effort can lead to a bigger outcome. The ripple effect. Rather than try to be perfect in every way, I’m suggesting we choose the causes we feel the most strongly about and think about what we can do in those areas. Human rights, animal rights, food justice, saving the environment (this one should probably be broken down into smaller pieces like protecting animal habitats, and clean air and water), global warming, etc.
Working in one category overlaps into other areas as well. You can decide that you want to eat less meat or no meat because meat production is very polluting. That’s also pretty darn nice for the animals, so you get two good deeds for the price of one.
I’m going to post some things I currently do and some things I’m going to do to keep me on track and hopefully inspire you. If anyone can think of suggestions and/or a nice name for a weekly post title please feel free to share.
ps. The photo is of a shattered rock that I came across up in Woodstock, NY. It was just sitting on the ground without anything else pushing against it. I thought it was interesting that something as strong as a rock could just shatter like that. It’s my attempt at a metaphor. Don’t stress out. Even the strongest of us is still fragile.
