Today I celebrate my amazing daughter’s life and the years since I gave birth. My life has never been bigger or fuller and that’s because of her. And amid the joy and love I feel, I can’t help but feel saddened at the state of the world—the world she’ll inherit—the world all of her friends and cousins will inherit.
A world that has the potential to soar with kindness and acts of generosity and yet we’re in the midst of a real live version of War Games—only everyone’s lives are at stake. These wars destroy us all.
We’re watching as some of the most prolific and beautiful wildlife on the planet burns at astounding rates in Australia. As of today, a biodiversity expert in Sydney, Charles Dickman estimates that 480 million animals have been affected by these fires. To the small-minded they may not truly understand the repercussions of that astronomical number. Without a balance of wildlife, our species is also at risk. We live in an ecosystem built on yin and yang, keeping a fine balance between species, agriculture, and natural resources. All of it is at risk.
I think of the world we’re living in where religious fanatics (on all fronts) believe their god would condone such acts of violence, hate, chosen ignorance, and treachery and it leaves an ache so deep, I have to hope we can figure it out.
I did research and mankind is a lousy student. Every hundred years – every century between the 20s-40s it seems mankind must feed the urge to wage wars, claim territory, claim certain groups of people as their enemy. As if an unnatural and unsettling feeling takes hold of them and anger, putrid vocabulary, and despicable forms of humanity show they ugliest potential.
We have an opportunity to stop the cyclical spiraling out. The sad part is, historically, these acts of terror and violence are perpetrated by men. Men conditioned to be cold and angry, absent of tears and patience, entitled to take whatever they want at any cost.
Tears never started a war. A kind word never destroyed civilizations. Innovation of soul never catastrophically led to disaster.
As I celebrate being a mother and having a child with a conscious, I am proud she is one of action and she will fight for a better world. But what of us? What will we do to end all of this animosity, war, rapid degradation of our environment—our planet?
May you look inward so our children and their children live in a world where humans realize their broken patterns and finally break free from our dangerous behavior.
