In the midst of the cries of Mother Earth, people are realizing there is another need, another crisis which may be behind much of the lack of attention people are giving to the planet. The cries of nature are going unheard because they are being lost in all the other noise people are routinely living with. The den of daily life, all the eyes and ears plugged into constant media, the little or no time to think and be with one's self is limiting our ability to see and respond to the climate changing, disappearing species, the sounds of nature's pain which should be loud and clear to everyone.
In simple terms, we are overwhelmed with just getting through the mental traffic we live with. Who has the peace of mind to see the greater landscape, the desperation of nature when we are stuck day after day in the unwanted sounds bombarding us? How can we make long-term healthy decisions for the Earth when our own inner noise is pushing us just to get out the door? We are running by the beauty of life as we rush to work, to the store, pick up kids, turn on the TV, try for a some sleep before beginning all over again. With our own lack of inner peace, how do we expect to be concerned with preserving the peaceful beauty of nature?
Could the dangerous ecological crises around us be the result of each of our own environmental disaster? Most of us are so busy we don't even realize how out of balance our lives may be. Like society in general, we are so caught up in our own culture of materialism. We don't ask, where is all this stuff coming from? The shortsightedness and selfishness we point to in corporate and political leaders is not so different from our own cutting corners just to manage and organize everything we want. Could it be that each of us desire a larger house, more and more space because we have no inner space? No amount of land and views to look out upon will satisfy the lack of room we have in our lives, our inability to enjoy and just be. Could our need to have more and more be because of our lack of inner treasure? When we are running on empty, our self worth is not much better. Can we really expect a collective response to the great green issues of the day when our hearts and souls suffer their own emergency?
After everything is said, the number one pollutant today which may be costing us all our other problems, is the loss of peace and quiet. Peace and quiet are the new green. Silicon Valley, single parents, national media are all realizing the need to unplug and have time free to breathe and feel. Corporations are teaching their employees to meditate. Schools are growing to the idea that maybe all the attention deficit taking over the classrooms is the inner noise running our kid's minds and bodies. Ten minutes of meditation in each class room can stop a lot of distraction and promote inner quiet which is the necessary beginning for learning.
People in all walks of life are realizing a retreat in silence is the fresh air we long for. The simplicity of some time without entertainment, a few days being in nature, receiving the stillness of our own heart and spirit is much more healing then another airport and noisy vacation. Finding our own inner resources is perhaps the greatest gift to preserving the limited resources of the earth. There is a great reservoir of green silence within each of us. The purity, grace, and freedom found in our own quietude will take us a long way to viewing and caring for the limited water and gardens of wonderful nature surrounding us.
We need to see the world new! We need to free our heart from the complicated world of constant thought. A collective turning down all the noise both outside and within us can be an important start to seeing, feeling, and responding to everything green calling us. As our own homes are filled with a new quiet, surely we will make earth a home worthy for of us to share and enjoy living in. Restoring the garden of our planet must include restoring the sounds of the garden, the colors, fragrance, and peace, the silence holding all of us.