To Say What We Love

“We cannot win this battle to save species and environments without forging an emotional bond between ourselves and nature as well – for we will not fight to save what we do not love.”

—Stephen Jay Gould

Let us not forget this one vital fact. We as individuals and families and communities of human beings are of nature. We are not separate from our environment; we are one of the millions of species that inhabit this planet named Earth, Gaia, Mother of All. In this collaborative spirit, here is a companion to Gould’s quote:

We cannot experience compassion and clarity without forging an emotional bond with ourselves – for we will not fight to save what we do not love.

This love starts at home, in our inner humanness where each and every day there is the choice to choose how we view ourselves and what is happening each moment. It requires being awake and aware. It requires being curious about how things could be different, being willing to transform the old habits in favor of new ones that strengthen, enliven and empower individuals, families, and communities.

Once this emotional bond with self is created, nature and Gaia are no longer separate, rather we become a part of all existence, with all of the support and wisdom that entails. Spirit becomes tangible—as in this excerpt from e.e. cummings’ poem “i thank You God for most this amazing”—

i thank You God for most this amazing /day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees / and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything / which is natural which is infinite which is yes / …(now the ears of my ears awake and / now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

Many thanks to Susan Dorf for sharing this poem.