I saw this rock in a park in Sarnia, Ontario
We need them sitting on every street corner in Washintod, D.C.
They are important concepts we should all aspire to live by
Continue reading “Much Needed”
Much Needed
Tag: truth
Refresh
It has been a hard week in the United States. The election of Donald Trump has created an exhausted public full of fear and sadness.
Don’t let this president-elect drag us down. Like VP Harris said, “Fill the sky with a billion stars!”
Everyday spend time outside, expend positive energy and kindness, and do something positive for the Earth. Drive less, eat less meat, and use less plastic.
Make telling the truth a priority. Always tell the truth and insist everyone around you tell the truth. Never share ideas that might not be true.
Take a deep breath and take care of yourself. Reduce your social media exposure, smile, be kind and love our earth.
He and SHE seeks!
Try this: When anxiety or overwhelm creeps in, step outside for a 10-minute nature break. Notice the clouds drifting overhead, listen for birdsong, or simply feel the breeze on your face. Even in the heart of the city, a nearby park’s grass and trees can provide this natural reset.
Let nature amplify your joy – whether that’s watching a spectacular sunset, watching a bird or finding a beautiful tree.
We need to go through the stages of grief, and everyone deals with grief at different rates. Give people space. Our values have been rejected and it takes time to come to grips with such a big loss. Read about the stages of grief here.
Please work for peace, harmony and joy for yourself and those around you
Find a beautiful tree
Enjoy and protect nature.
PEACE
Wow, please vote!
Madame President
“Unless American voters stand up to him, Mr. Trump will have the power to do profound and lasting harm to our democracy” NYT
Endorsement for Harris from the New York Times:
“It is hard to imagine a candidate more unworthy to serve as president of the United States than Donald Trump. He has proved himself morally unfit for an office that asks its occupant to put the good of the nation above self-interest. He has proved himself temperamentally unfit for a role that requires the very qualities — wisdom, honesty, empathy, courage, restraint, humility, discipline — that he most lacks.
Those disqualifying characteristics are compounded by everything else that limits his ability to fulfill the duties of the president: his many criminal charges, his advancing age, his fundamental lack of interest in policy and his increasingly bizarre cast of associates.
This unequivocal, dispiriting truth — Donald Trump is not fit to be president — should be enough for any voter who cares about the health of our country and the stability of our democracy to deny him re-election.
For this reason, regardless of any political disagreement’s voters might have with her, Kamala Harris is the only patriotic choice for president.”
Read the entire endorsement here:
Vote for Democracy and Truth
There are so many things wrong with this election it is hard to know where to start. Too many lies, too much money, voter restrictions, election deniers, conspiracies, and awful candidates.
Vote! The most important thing you will do in November!
What is good? This is our voice, our participation in democracy. A voice that can be taken away if we vote for the wrong candidates.
Be open minded and vote for the future.
Voting is not easy, and no one wants to be a gullible voter. Never base your vote on campaign ads. Good voters guides are easily available. Newspaper endorsements are good sources for how candidates stand on the issues, even if you don’t agree, they often give both sides of the issues. Websites of candidates work also. Be open minded and look for the issues you care about.
Look for the positive. Who has a vision for the future instead of just attacking their opponents. Never vote for bullies or those who call for violence.
This is your vote for a better society. Make a plan and get yourself to the polls. Thank you.
An excellent interview with Liz Cheney: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/rep-liz-cheney-on-political-violence-jan-6-committee-and-future-of-gop
Plastic is not Recyclable
If plastic were a country, it would be the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Plastic is stuffed with harmful chemicals, and even though we are told it is recyclable this report shows how plastic recycling is NOT working!
Greenpeace report finds most plastic goes to landfills as production ramps up : NPR
“More plastic is being produced, and an even smaller percentage of it is being recycled,” says Lisa Ramsden, senior plastic campaigner for Greenpeace USA. “The crisis just gets worse and worse, and without drastic change will continue to worsen as the industry plans to triple plastic production by 2050.”
Coca Cola produces 3 million tons of plastic packaging a year – equivalent to 200,000 bottles a minute. That needs to change.
Overperform October
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
– Albert Camus
October is a magical month bursting with rich colors of red, orange and yellow, with a background of green. Stunning! Go for a walk or bike ride! Love our fragile planet!
Nature overperforms in October, and we need to respond by overperforming to take care of her! Every action matters.
Protect our beautiful world!
Unfortunately, 2022 has been an awful year for bad storms, and this year’s extreme weather is worse than in the past, and sadly future weather extremes will be worse than what we have seen this year. The good news is that it is not too late; scientists agree that we can still avoid many of the predicted impacts of future climate change, but only if we take compelling and urgent climate action. Because elected officials are slow to respond, we must all take individual climate action.
We are in a climate crisis, a plastic crisis, a democracy crisis, mental health crisis and a lying crisis.
We need to work overtime to protect our planet!
What can we do? Individual action is a powerful tool for reversing the climate crisis especially when millions of us unite together. The Actions for Happiness calendar below will help you navigate in a positive way through each day. Add your own daily positive thing to do for the Earth; use less plastic, drive less, waste less, vote, and always tell the truth, Demand people you know tell the truth and never share anything that might not be true. Like a historian check all your sources for truth! Finally, vote for our planet and truth!
Everyone can play a part by raising their voice, sharing solutions, and advocating for change –
https://www.startribune.com/climate-change-made-summer-drought-20-times-more-likely/600213266/
Communicating on Climate Change | United Nations
Wealthiest 10% Responsible for Nearly 50% of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Study Finds – EcoWatch
Climate Change: Everything You Need to Know – EcoWatch
Overperform this October, be optimistic, have fun, and enjoy this magical time!
June Justice
Do something kind!
We live in an unjust world. Children are shot for being at school, shoppers are shot buying groceries, and whole countries are under siege because leaders are full of lies and visions of power. Poor countries are suffering from climate change created by wealthy countries. We live in an unjust world
Justice and Truth!
We must work for justice and truth. As a civilization we will not survive if we don’t work harder for justice and electing leaders who speak the truth and do not spew hate.
We must do more to keep our children safe, and gun violence should be an issue Americans vote on, only then things will change!
Gun violence in America kills more children than any other cause. This is not a civilized society! All countries have mental health issues, but the United States needs the gun restrictions that other countries have managed to pass. See information from John’s Hopkins below.
Make an effort to spread kindness every day! Kindness creates a ripple for more kindness!
From John’s Hopkins University:
“Ten people shopping for groceries in Buffalo were killed in a racist act of gun violence. The next day, worshippers at a California church were shot in another racist incident. Last week, tragedy struck again, but this time in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, where 21 people, including 19 students and 2 teachers were killed in a mass shooting.
All are tragic reminders of why we need lawmakers to implement gun violence prevention policies that can prevent this needless loss of life.
As the new Center for Gun Violence Solutions – formed from the recent merger of the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence and the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy – we are continuing to fight for evidence-based policies to reduce mass shootings including firearm purchaser licensing, firearm removal laws such as extreme risk protection orders, and bans on large capacity magazines.” John’s Hopkins University
This is an excellent speech: https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/watch-president-biden-s-full-speech-addressing-gun-control-after-recent-mass-shootings-141353029701
Good suggestions for working for community health and a kinder world:
From Darkness to Light
Happy Solstice!
Slowly the days become longer!
My winter Solstice walk.
The equator divides the Earth into the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. When the Northern Hemisphere has summer the southern Hemisphere has winter. On December 21, the Earth’s tilt starts to slowly tilt back towards the sun. This slow nod to the sun causes our seasons and longer days.
The best about the solstice in the north is that the days start to get longer. We begin to move from so much darkness to brighter longer days. Daily change is slow, but by mid January you can notice the days are becoming longer! Many cultures and people celebrate this return to light. https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/1539015/stonehenge-winter-solstice-celebrations-traditions-evg
As we move from darkness to light, get out and get vaccinated. We must move from the darkness and the lies of Covid to truth and light.
What is the winter solstice? Here’s what you need to know. (msn.com) Solstices occur because Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted about 23.4 degrees relative to Earth’s orbit around the sun. This tilt drives our planet’s seasons, as the Northern and Southern Hemispheres get unequal amounts of sunlight over the course of a year. From March to September, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted more toward the sun, driving its spring and summer. From September to March, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away, so it feels like autumn and winter. The Southern Hemisphere’s seasons are reversed.
A poem for the Solstice
Snow and ice and whelming dark
sink mind and heart until
long Solstice night dies again.
Even beneath snow and ice
the elder greens of moss
stay bright, knowing in each cell
that growing days will once more
beat back dark, wake spirits,
bathe each waiting green in light.
John Caddy
January Hope
“I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, and beer.”
―
“Our democracy isn’t about any individual, even a president—it’s about you” Barack Obama
Special days in January: It is a historic month for the United States, giving us all hope! Let’s start by telling the truth, being kind, and working for justice.
January 5, Senate elections in Georgia
January 6, Congress meets to certify votes for the new U. S. president
January 7, 1789, The first U.S. election for president was held
January 8, Clean off your desk day!
January 14, Bald Eagle Day
January 15, Martin Luther King’s Birthday
January 18, MLK Holiday
January 20, Inauguration Day, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in as president and vice president of the United States.
From the Actions for Happiness group ideas for January 2021:
How can we be happier in 2021? Things have been really tough over the last year and we’re still in difficult and uncertain times. This January, we’re encouraging everyone to focus on small daily actions to create more happiness for ourselves and others. We can’t change the situation, but we can choose to show kindness and respond positively whenever possible.
What have we learned?
After all the loss of life, sadness, loneliness, lies and chaos of 2020 lets hope we have learned some thing from the disfunction and poor leadership we have faced. I thought this letter to the editor had a lot to say:
Can we understand that if we can apply these lessons to the climate crisis, we’ve taken the most pro-life action possible?
As the pandemic year of 2020 comes to a close, we need to ask if we’ve learned from it, or whether we are doomed to repeat what we did not learn. Did we learn that there are serious personal and global consequences from destroying nature and the web of life that we’re part of? Did we learn that truth matters, not only as an ethical imperative, but as a requisite for a successful democracy? Did we learn that science matters and that disregard for the lessons of science robs humanity of tools that sustain life? Did we learn how countries that were united by common purpose and mutual trust were more successful in combating the pandemic than countries without unity and trust? That there is a critical role for leadership and democratic governance? That in this interdependent, globalized world, our health and future are bound together across national boundaries? That our future depends on putting cooperation above national interest?
Can we imagine how these lessons apply to the climate crisis? Can we understand that if we don’t apply these lessons to the climate crisis, the systems that support all life on our planet cannot be sustained, and COVID-19 will seem like child’s play by comparison? And finally, can we understand that if we can apply these lessons to the climate crisis, we’ve taken the most pro-life action possible? Lyndon Torstenson, Startribune.com
Health4earth 