A Living Earth: Towards a Renewed Narrative

Our ancestors with their mythic imagination personified the Earth and its various aspects: its teeming, diverse life forms, climatic dynamism, volcanic and geochemical activities and oceanic powers. Personification is figuration and symbolism and I believe a way of relating to that which is greater than ourselves. This relationship gives us meaning and helps us to navigate through life as well as through the different physical landscapes that we live in and depend upon. I have no difficulty with symbolism. To symbolize is what humans do qua human beings. But, today, for most of us it would seem the Earth no longer breathes; she is De facto dead. But not for our poets who can still sing her songs. The deadness, though, is deeply troubling and prevents us in moving towards a sustainable and just world.

A Gaian perspective would be a major shift in the overall story that we told ourselves and passed onto our children. Today the major story seems to be to exploit as much as we can in order to consume as much as we can at an ever accelerated pace. And our consumption is not only material. It is also spiritual in that we long to rack up as many experiences as we can. This is my observation and it is not meant as a condemnation. But, unless we have the courage to go more deeply into the narratives we weave, national, family, and personal, then we will continue to perpetuate disastrous outcomes for ourselves.

A Note

From time to time I may go to my previous posts, especially my essays and edit my writing. I do this not simply because I've merely changed my mind, but rather for the sake of clarity and to get at the truth of what I want to say. The written word much more than the spoken can too often deceive us and lull us into mental numbness. So be generous with your minds and feel free to reread.