Credit: haskellauto.com
By Wes Annac, Culture of Awareness
This was written for the 175th issue of The Culture of Awareness Weekly Newsletter, which I offer for $11.11 a month.
Income from the newsletter helps me get by and ensures I can continue to offer free content, and every subscription is needed and appreciated. The option to subscribe will be given at the bottom of this post.
It’s easy to talk about healing the planet or saving the environment, but it’s a far better use of our time and energy to rise up and do something about the environmental injustices occurring daily.
We all have a purpose or a mission to fulfill whether we realize it or not, and our purpose is usually related to the things we’re passionate about; the things we just can’t stop thinking about.
For some of us, this purpose has to do with enlightenment, raising spiritual awareness and helping the masses liberate themselves from within.
For others, it has to do with activism (which we’ll discuss later on) or raising social, spiritual and environmental awareness in any way they can.
No matter what our purpose is, we’ve come here to fulfill it and now’s the best (and really only) time to get started. The earth herself is counting on us to do what we’ve come here to do, and if this newsletter motivates even one of you to take action, then I’ve successfully played my role.
I’d like to share five ways we can get active in raising awareness and striving for change in a way that reaches everyone.
I’ve probably shared a similar list before, but getting active will always be important and the hope is for this week’s planetary healing to motivate you to pursue your passion for the sake of our planet’s survival and evolution.
So without further ado, here are five ways we can contribute to the healing of the planet.
1. Start a blog and write about society and the environment (or share articles from others)
Your blog doesn’t have to be about spirituality, but if you have your own little media outlet, you might as well focus on raising environmental awareness.
Some people would rather raise spiritual awareness with their blog, which is fine, but those who want to save the environment have a great opportunity to do so by writing and blogging.
You could also raise spiritual and environmental awareness, which is great if you’re willing to devote your time and energy to both.
Words carry power whether they’re written or read, and I think more people should read because it stimulates the mind, increases intelligence and, depending on what people read, helps them become aware of important social and environmental issues.
This is where blogs come in, and if you have a blog, you have a perfect outlet to write what you know and feel about the environment and anything else important.
Even if you don’t want to write, you can share articles from other blogs that are centered on raising awareness and helping the earth. You can get involved even if you don’t do it directly, and anything done with good intentions is valuable.
2. Connect with the earth, physically and spiritually
I’ll probably always mention spirituality when I write, because I think authentic and individually-defined spirituality is the answer to a lot of our problems. In this case, it can inspire us to reconnect with the earth on a deep, real level.
The earth isn’t just some dead organism that’s somehow capable of producing and hosting life despite its own seeming lack of consciousness.
The earth is alive and brimming with consciousness, but we’ve forgotten that it’s conscious because we’ve lost touch with our true spirituality; the one thing that allows us to connect with the ‘Gaian mind’ as it’s been called.
When we rediscover true spirituality and the oneness we share with every living being, we’ll see that the earth has been conscious and aware of the things we do to her all along. This can inspire us to strive for change; if for no other reason, then because it makes us angry.
It might upset us to realize all of the awful things our species has done to a living being that continues to keep us alive, and this can inspire us to raise awareness and hold accountable those responsible for the earth’s seemingly endless destruction.
While most of us know we need justice, we won’t understand how heartless and careless the cabal’s crimes really are until we reconnect with our sentient planet and we can feel her wounds and scars.
3. Become an activist
Activism is one of the most effective ways to raise awareness of the environmental crimes of the one percent (not to mention their crimes against humanity), and there are various ways, such as blogging, you can become an activist.
If you’re tired of seeing the earth get ravaged and the people responsible live lavishly while others starve, then do something about it.
Take to the streets; organize a protest and invite everyone who’s also fed up to get involved. We don’t have to put up with it anymore, because this is our planet and we have the right to change our species’ corrupt ways.
Activism allows us to get the world’s attention on a number of important issues, environmental or otherwise, and organizations like Greenpeace have shown us what people can do when they’re inspired to protect the earth.
We can follow in their footsteps if we’re willing to work hard, and the earth needs us to be willing because not enough people are standing up for her or showing they care in any way. Those who do care are using things like activism to encourage change, and they won’t give up until the job is done.
4. Spread the word without overwhelming people
You might not prefer to discuss certain things with friends and family, but if they’re open to what you have to say, you might as well tell them about the causes you’re involved in and the things we should all do to protect the earth.
When doing so, it’s important not to rant or do anything that’d make them back away.
They could regret being open if you overwhelm them with unsettling facts about environmental destruction, but if you give them a little information and then back off, they might get something genuine out of it.
Before you know it, they could be telling you things you never knew, but you’ll only pique their interest if you’re cautious and considerate of their boundaries when you try to ‘wake them up’.
Nobody responds well to someone who angrily rants about various topics that aren’t normally discussed, so remember to be light and remember that not everyone is on the same level with it all as you.
Perhaps they should be, but that’s another discussion for another time.
What’s important is to share what we know without being forceful or criticizing those who don’t share our passion, and sometimes, a soft-spoken discussion is better than a loud and angry rant.
5. Walk your talk
Our work doesn’t mean much if we aren’t genuine about our cause every minute of every day, so remember to practice what you preach. If you want to save the environment, there are plenty of things you can do throughout the day to help nature.
Something as simple as picking up trash out of your yard could do wonders in the long run, and the more we go out of our way to do things like that, the less we’ll have to go out of our way because we’ll get used to it.
Picking up trash and other little helpful things will become second nature, and we might not even realize when we’re doing it.
We could end up autonomously helping the earth in little ways, and we might not be consciously aware that we’re doing it until someone brings it to our attention.
When they do, we might think, “Oh that’s right, I have been picking up trash every day. I didn’t even realize it!”
This is one of the best ways to help the earth, because we get directly involved while displaying that we care enough to do something.
We make it clear that we’re genuinely passionate about the cause by making it a lifestyle instead of just a job or hobby, and we might inspire others to do little things that evolve into much bigger, more focused work.
As always, there are plenty more ways we can get active and raise awareness but these seem like the best and most approachable.
All that really matters is that we’re active and passionate about our cause, and the rest will fall into place if we stay busy. We might realize in ten years that we actually did contribute to the planet’s healing, and then, we can work harder and achieve even more.