With our fevered planet erupting in fires here in Western North America, our relationship with Earth is similar to that with our own bodies. Dealing with illness, we can respond with prevention: taking care of ourselves with diet, nutrition, lowering stress, meditation, time in nature, etc. and thereby prevent many illnesses. Or, maybe, we have mild symptoms and immediately treat ourselves with extra rest, selected herbs, and other harmonious interventions, and we get well; our affliction was mild. Perhaps we’ve come out of it with a new, healthier lifestyle. 

But sometimes we ignore the weakness, chills, aches, pains, nausea, loneliness, anxiety, depression and fear and just try to keep on going. This may work for a while, but eventually we are bound to feel the sheer exhaustion of it all, this life of struggle against the truth of our bodies. We may collapse with a fever.

We’ve been long warned by the Earth, given symptoms and signs: fewer fish, warming seas, dying trees, vanishing species. Unfortunately, despite groundswells of appeal from much of humanity, our governments, especially here in the United States, have not focused on preventing the climate emergency from becoming worse. Now, California, Oregon, Washington and other western states burn. The fever is running high. Like our sick bodies, the systems of earth, water, fire, and air are out of balance. 

It seems like collapse, but maybe it is only that the cure requires more drastic medicine?  It doesn’t mean there can’t be a cure for us. In the case of our bodies, we may rest in bed, fast, drink tea, take medicines or herbs. And one day, we may wake up feeling better.  In the case of Gaia and our relationship to her—what we do is not everything, but what we do does have an influence, a big impact. Much bigger than we think.

Perhaps this climate crisis will evolve us to a fundamentally different lifestyle. We can live differently and bring our garden world back to vibrant health! We’ve all shown we can radically alter our behaviors, the way the whole world slowed driving and flying in a matter of days. I can’t guarantee this is totally possible, given tipping points and how bad it seems now. But the Earth is big, conscious, intelligent, and so mysterious that we don’t know her capacities.  What she’s already created is beyond imagining—butterflies and whales???

We don’t know how Gaia will respond, but we can open the doors of our imagination to envision myriad paths to a constantly renewed and ever evolving web of life. Envisioning green, wild, well-springs and small, local gardens everywhere. Increased global tree planting.  Using less,cherishing more, learning from our indigenous elders and the alive growing world. I’m going to keep heading towards that dream in all the ways I can.

~ Ellen Davidson, in the Redwood forests of Northern California

little p.s. from Sharon: 

Bless yourself and as you do, bless the earth.
Bless the earth and as you do, bless yourself.

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