Rumi Wisdom

“Sit, be still, and listen,
because you're drunk
and we're at
the edge of the roof.”

― Rumi

To Be Brave

“We have to do something braver than just try to save the world we have known, we must accept the fact that the world we have known is going to change in hideous and damaging ways.”

― Bill McKibben

Interviewing My 7-Year-Old Niece

 Mackenzie:

"If the planet gets sick, we get sick.... If the planet dies, we die. The trees help us breathe."

"Animals being hurt makes me sad. Because they are special and part of this world."

"I’ve met very few baby boomer liberals who understand what it means to be a young person facing the reality of climate change. It means that we’re never going to have the opportunities that our parents’ and our grandparents’ generations had, and that we’ve got this massive burden weighing on our future."

"There’s an opportunity now to build a society in the ashes of this one that is much more in line with our values. There’s the opportunity for this disruption to be sort of a mass reflection where we realize that basing society on greed and competition was not the best way to go about things.

Maybe we can do better. But that’s not inevitable any more than the ugly path is inevitable, which to me is why our engagement now is really, really critical."

The Boomers "Failed" Us: Climate Activist Tim DeChristopher on Anger, Love, and Sacrifice

http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/the-power-of-story/boomers-failed-us-america-s-most-creative-climate-criminal-anger-love

One of the saddest things I've ever seen.

Please take five minutes to watch this video. Hopefully, we'll start to think about what we're doing to the natural world.


.http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/polar_bear/starving_bears_video.html

How Important is Climategate?

And then there's this (to follow up the last post)...

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100017393/climategate-the-final-nail-in-the-coffin-of-anthropogenic-global-warming/ 

This blog is also taken from The Telegraph. The Climategate scandal has been occurring for a while now; does this mean the end of discussion on human-induced global climate change? Does it mean that we are not causing the world to change unnaturally because some scientists falsified evidence or withheld some other types of evidence? Despite Climategate, it seems that the majority of scientists are still supporting the idea that global warming is a legitimate issue that faces our planet. 

I am a proponent of transitioning from an economy dependent on fossil fuels to a more sustainable way of life. Let us pretend that global warming wasn't, and hasn't been, an issue. Now, what harm would it be switching to more practical, sustainable methods of living? Fossil fuels are finite; they are running out and cannot be replaced unless we have a few million years to spare! Why not utilize resources that are renewable and transform our economy? Is the country going to wait until the last barrel of oil is up for sale before we decide to change?

And as for change, we made it to the moon in less than 10 years. IN FEWER THAN 10 SHORT YEARS. Why cant we change the way our society operates?
My point is, whether or not global climate change will destroy us all, we have the power to transition to a more sustainable economy. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Think about it.

A Change in Behavior For the Polar Bear?

I just read an article, in The Telegraph, about polar bears. It seems as if they are changing their behavior in response to the declining arctic ice. Instead of having the cubs walk beside them, or behind, the adults are carrying the cubs to help them conserve energy for the long swims ahead.
I have a soft spot for the "largest land predators," and hope they can find a way to survive. If this truly is an adaptation, these creatures are brilliant.

The world would be a sad place without the polar bear.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/8168213/Polar-bears-spotted-swimming-with-cubs-on-back.html