It’s Earth Day

Sea Glass-Beer Bottle Recycled

You know those potholes? I like to think of them as the Earth reclaiming its own. I've heard said if all the roads, buildings, and other manmade structures were left abandoned they would disintegrate much quicker than one would think and the Earth would return to its natural state. I picture a couple of scenarios from grass sprouting from between the cracks to lava ending the road adjacent to Mount Kilauea in Hawaii. We have other proof of the idea that Earth reclaims its own throughout history (no, not on Revolution, the TV show, nor in the futuristic fiction portrayed in The Hunger Games) in what we term natural disasters, flooding, hurricanes, earthquakes, and the like. Somewhere on Earth people are experiencing or still living (or dying) with the consequences of these right now. If these events could be considered the Earth’s voice, then it seems to me the Earth is trying to tell us something with the CAPS LOCK on, by that I mean out LOUD.

But it seems some of us aren't listening. Instead we are spilling oil in the Earth’s oceans, threatening each other with nuclear warheads and missiles, voting for senators that vote down gun control, bombing and terrorizing marathoners in Boston, and obliterating small towns in Texas with unsafe levels of flammable gases and fertilizers in under-regulated plants, not just disrespecting the Earth but disrespecting all living things across the board.  

Then some of us are listening. Friends on Andros spent the day cleaning up the beach, an act of kindness rendered to the Earth. The One Spark crowdsourcing festival in Jacksonville for innovators and creators in arts and science showcased some very interesting ideas and groups in a first ever type event that I think will be a model for combining the best of technology used by current future generations and grassroots efforts shared by generations past to discover the next new big best thing, like one winner (one of my favorites), Rethreaded, a project that helps women recover from lives of addiction, violence, or prostitution, by rethreading used t-shirts to new purposes.

As I stand here typing this blog post barefoot in my tie dyed Peace, Love, and Turtles t-shirt and cutoff jeans, I could say make every day Earth Day but that does sound pretty cliché. Maybe that is what you would expect me to type but instead I will put in a plea for kindness toward each other and a greater regard and respect for all living things including this Earth, our home. We choose between peace or violence, caring or disrespect, conservation or not, the list goes on and on.

Either way, the Earth has a way of reclaiming its own.