Good day Team,
2005 is coming to an end and in looking back over the year, I feel compelled to say something about our environment. Nature has spoken very loudly this past year, in New Orleans, in Florida, in the Himalayas, in Indonesia. Even in the Pacific Northwest, we saw Mt. St. Helens erupt a few times. There is no doubt that nature can change everything in a moment and in doing so, change our lives forever.
Most of us work inside all day long, so the experience of nature is somewhat foreign to us. This disconnects us from nature and we often take it for granted or are surprised when natural occurances change our daily patterns. Think of what happens when a big storm hits and the electricity goes out. It is often a real pain to watch your food in the freezer melt or your thermostat hover around 50 degrees for days at a time. We all hear about the importance of being prepared for natural disasters, but how many of us have those extra water containers and a week’s supply of food in our garages? Frankly, I find that I’m much more prepared for nature’s surprises after a week of camping than I am after a long days work in my office.
Nature lets us know that she is mighty and does not like to be ignored. We do our best to adapt to it’s changes but the results are often costly. Businesses spend lots of money creating business resumption plans and secondary sites to ensure that customers can continue to get service in the face of natural disasters. One of our challenges for 2006 is to be more observant of our external environment and to cultivate an attitude of respect for such a powerful force. We would be wise to consider nature by paying attention to it more often and by preserving it in some way.
Your challenge this next week is to do one thing that takes nature into consideration. Maybe you throw away a piece of paper in the recycle box or consider buying individual re-cycling containers for your home or office as part of your New Year’s resolution. Perhaps you decide to use organic fertilizer in your garden or find an organic alternative to using pesticides. The next time you turn on your computer, remember that if it wasn’t for sand (silicon), the chips in your computer that give it it’s memory wouldn’t exist. I like to remember to turn the water off when I’m brushing my teeth so that I don’t waste a lot of water when I’m not using it. It’s a small thing to do, but it’s one way that I can respect nature in her providing me with an abundance of water. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to re-stock my disaster recovery stash so that I can be more prepared in an emergency.
Nature provides us everything we need to live. It’s the least we can do to let her know that we love and respect her. Even though we don’t get out to experience her often enough, we know she’s there for all of us to appreciate.
Here are a few quotes I read recently about nature that I found inspiring:
“I woke up in the middle of the night and climbed out of the tent to make coffee. There was no sound save the wind and, in all that space, not one light, just a scant new moon that heng in the sky like a find silk thread. The twentieth century had vanished. I raised my cup in a toast.” Richard West
“The heron, unseen for weeks, came flying wide-winged toward me, settled just offshore on his post, took up his vigel. If you ask why this cleared a fog from my spirit, I have no answer.” Denise Levertov.
“Nature is not a place to visit. It is home.” Gary Snyder
Have a great week!
Kathleen
Kathleen Doyle-White
Pathfinders Coaching
(503) 296-9249