Swan Sanctuary

There are, I have decided, two kinds of thinking. The habitual, addictive type of thinking is what Eckhart Tolle encourages us to refrain from. It is the type of thought that takes over a person’s mind, feeding them a continuous stream of thoughts that are either trapped in the past, or locked in fear, in the future. The only way out of this fast moving train of thought is to remain steadfast in the present moment. As so poignantly illustrated in the movie Milton’s Secret, focusing on the breath is a reliable means to stay rooted in the now.

I have always been a deep thinker – a philosopher. One definition of philosophy is “the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct.” This definition fits my writing. I try to encourage you (the reader) to examine your relationship with the environment – to question every habit and every belief that you have held to be true. 

I am a philosopher of Nature, of ecology, of spirituality, and of femininity. I contemplate the deeper meaning behind all that surrounds me. There are several historically known philosophers whom we have all heard of, like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The first known female philosopher was Hypatia of Alexandria. She lived in Egypt in the years from 370 to 415. She weaved together her broad understanding of mathematics, geometry, astronomy, and astrology. She was a Pagan; however, and she was tortured and killed by Christians who felt threatened by her beliefs. I, too, am decidedly Pagan in my beliefs – aligned with Nature. Fortunately, I live in a time when (hopefully) I will not be murdered for my often considered dissentient philosophy.

Women are extremely intelligent in spite of men who say otherwise. Many women are deep thinkers like myself. This kind of thinking, based on quiet observation, is where true wisdom is manifested.

Do you remember Kermit from Sesame Street? He sang, “It’s not easy being green…” Indeed, it is not easy being an environmentalist, an ecofeminist, a naturalist, or a budding permaculturist in a world that is mostly brown. In a world filled with self-centeredness, caring about the earth is viewed by some as self-martyrdom. The skepticism alone, that we encounter nearly every day, wears away at our resolve. We, who are dedicated to helping our planet, are confronted by those who remain defensive and unwilling to change. Willing or not; however, change will come upon us. The human race, having been shackled by male hierarchy for centuries, must now work to restore balance – not only among ourselves – but among all species.

Our planet has its own immune system. It will rid itself of the parasites (human beings) and bring everything back into balance, with or without our help. Will we continue doing things as we have always done? Will we continue to build weapons and bombs and fight among ourselves? Will we continue to poison the soil, the water, and the air we breathe? Will we go on destroying habitat and discriminating against other species? Will we continue to rape our Mother Earth of her resources to satisfy our own glutinous appetite for oil and minerals? Will we continue to turn a blind eye to the havoc we have created? Only time will tell.

Our world was once green with lush forests that were filled with life. Today, much of the world is brown and dull from the endless concrete and asphalt that covers miles and miles of its surface. Even the prized green lawns are turning brown as water sources are drying up. The splashes of color are from the painted cars and buildings. They have replaced the brilliant hues of birds, butterflies, and flowers that were once abundant. Millions of people walk out their front doors everyday, get into their cars and drive to another building where they spend most of their day. They rarely, if ever, notice the natural world around them, which in some places is nearly non-existent. They believe that a plastic plant or flower that requires no care, adds beauty to their space. They do not understand that real plants are living, breathing life forms. Their essence benefits us in ways of which we are not even aware. Green is so much more than just a color. It is more than a marketing scheme for businesses that want to appear environmentally friendly. Green is the color of life. When all of the natural green disappears from our planet, then surely we will disappear, too.

The term ecofeminism was coined by a French woman, Françoise d’Eaubonne in1974. Noting the associations between women and the environment, and the way in which both have been dominated under a male hierarchy, it sought to reassert value to the sacredness of each. Those women who viewed themselves as ecofeminists began to split off into different ideologies – radical ecofeminism and cultural ecofeminism. 

The radical group believed that they must end the dominance that men have had over women and Nature – and the exploitation of both – for cheap labor and for the taking of Earth’s resources. Cultural ecofeminists focus on the intimate relationships women have with Nature based on their biology. They honor Nature based spirituality, which has led to a resurgence of pagan and goddess based religions. Further splitting of feminist ideals occurred as some wanted to steer away from the more romantic notions of women and Nature, to address those more tangible practices affecting our lives, such as agri-business. This gave rise to vegetarianism and veganism. The radical groups marched and protested against the poisoning of our planet, deforestation, loss of species, and the ill health brought on us all, by placing profit above sustainability. The groups continued to split off, a more recent group theorizing that in order to end oppression and domination, we must take into account sexual and racial biases.

These theories can be argued in academia. Feminist women can become activists demanding change where change is needed; but is this needless bickering approaching the problems in the same way that our male counterparts would approach them? We can argue that we are more attuned to Nature, or we can argue that we must reclaim our power from male hierarchies; but we must stop arguing. Women must unite and come together as one if we are to succeed. A fragmented group is a weakened group. The one thing that sets us apart from most men is that we can think with our hearts and not our heads. We know in our hearts what is wrong in the world and what needs to change. We should not be wasting our time and energy arguing about what feminism is or isn’t. It is all Nature. We are Nature. We can only be strong to the degree that our hearts are opened.

When I was in high school, I rode with my girlfriend and her parents to drop off her older sister at her college campus in Boulder, Colorado. My friend and I helped her settle into her tiny dorm room and I remember most vividly, hanging the large peace sign in her window. Peace signs were a common sight in those days and in the years following, usually seen on the bumpers and windows of VW beetles and buses.

The peace sign originated in the UK. It was designed by peace activist Gerald Holtom in 1958, to protest nuclear arms. His inspiration emerged from a dark moment of despair, when he visualized a peasant with hands stretched out and down, prior to being shot by a firing squad.

The period between 1945 and 1989 was known as the Cold War. It was a time when tensions were high between the United States and Russia and the race to build a nuclear bomb was a high priority. Russia built the first nuclear power plant in 1954. There are now 55 nuclear power plants, each with 1 to 3 reactors. The United States has the largest total number of nuclear reactors world wide. Most of them are in the eastern half of the country.

Most of us do not think about where or how our electricity comes to us. We become annoyed whenever our power goes out. Our reliance on something that could potentially annihilate us is not something we give much thought to; but this power that is helping to heat our homes, is the same power that is used in creating deadly bombs.

We have seen evidence on the news of Ukrainians shot down execution style, by Russian invaders. We have seen Ukrainian cities that have been leveled to the ground and their nuclear power plant targeted by Russian soldiers. This is what the nuclear arms race has brought us to. Is it time for all of us to display peace signs in our windows and to protest the nuclear power that has run amok in the world? I propose we have a peace race.

The terrible Chernobyl disaster that occurred in April 1986, in Ukraine, released massive amounts of radiation into the environment. The country, after more than two decades since gaining its independence from the Soviet Union, was beginning to recover; but Putin’s rampage over the past two months is poisoning the area all over again. The environmental crimes he continues to inflict are unfathomable.

While it was the 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, California that spawned the first Earth Day, human caused disasters continue to plague our planet. The little everyday things that are mindlessly piled onto our planet’s plate, add up on their own; but the disasters heap almost insurmountable problems onto its already overburdened shoulders. 

Today is Earth Day and billions of people will be raising their voices in an effort to awaken others, to the peril that we are on the verge of facing. We see the sickening destruction on the news. The horror, for us, is far away and may even seem surreal; but it could become our reality as well, if Putin is not stopped.

Ironically, a huge graveyard has been discovered in North Dakota containing the fossils from the dinosaur extinction, which is believed to have been caused by an asteroid striking the earth about 66 million years ago. If we do not make haste to create peace worldwide and if we do not make the health of our planet’s environment the most important thing, we too, will one day be mere fossils lying buried in the earth.