This is one of my favorite times of the year and yet, I know many have struggled. 2020 brought COVID-19 and deepened social unrest. Both affected economies all over the world, and the lives of each one of us. Still, we witnessed the heroism of nurses and doctors who work in our hospitals and nursing homes, and random acts of kindness from many people around us.
Playing my violin has allowed me to find beauty, even in the darkest hours. It makes my heart lighter, and in essence, is an act of self-care. May you find something or someone who adds to your smile and touches your soul. May you have happiness and be free from suffering. And may the joy of the season and the new year touch and heal your heart.
To say we are living in challenging times is an understatement. We are witnessing great tragedies among us and are facing many divides. What I would like to say is that we are all in this world together. We may not have the same beliefs or backgrounds but we all wish to be safe, we all wish to be loved, and we all wish to have a home. That goes for human beings and animals alike.
Fires are whipping through California destroying homes, crops, and killing animals. COVID-19 has taken many loved ones away from us. And artists, the ones who inspire and uplift us, are struggling to make a living and pay their rent. I urge you to support them, as it is the painters, musicians, actors, and dancers who touch us and make us better people.
Go buy a piece of art directly from an artist such as Donna Grande. Her art is stunning and the link is below! Donate money to a struggling performing arts group or an animal welfare organization like the World Wildlife Fund. Please do something –whether you spend a dollar or $2,000. Just make a positive difference. Lives are in your hands.
The International Energy Agency shared plans, last month, for a green recovery. It said we need to change how we generate energy and consume it. We should focus on using solar power and wind, make buildings and industries more energy efficient, and the modernize electricity grids.
As governments spend more than $9 trillion to reinvigorate economies over the next months the priority should not be on rescuing the high carbon economy, such as fossil fuel companies, but on the green economy and jobs of the future.
Carbon emissions fell by 17% in April but are already starting to go back up. Experts say we have 6 months to avoid a complete rebound. And they warn that we need to keep emission levels falling in order to avert some of the worst catastrophes to come.
The good news, investment in a sustainable recovery plan would create almost 9 million new green jobs each year.
Right now, more than ever, we need clean water, clean air and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Clean air and clean water are integral to our health, and to the lives of animals. Without them our immune systems are compromised and we are less able to fight off increasingly virulent viruses. If we keep increasing the amount of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide (all greenhouse gases) in the atmosphere the planet will continue to heat up. This in turn, will help to further the spread of deadly illnesses.
Sadly, the Trump administration shows no concern for any of the aforementioned things. In fact, it is busy weakening or rolling back 98 environmental rules. His administration, for example, has loosened rules to reduce toxic emissions from industry, has weakened fuel mileage standards for cars, has relaxed air pollution emission levels from new power plants, has lifted a ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, is now allowing coal companies to dump mining debris into streams, is allowing hunting in wildlife refuges, is putting more endangered marine mammals and sea turtles at risk to be killed by fishing, and is making it more difficult to protect wildlife with changes to the Endangered Species Act.
It is time to speak out again. It is time to reach out to your senators and congressional representatives to tell them to protect our water, air and our environment. Please call or email them, time is of the essence.
“Nature is always lovely, invincible, glad, whatever is done and suffered by her creatures. All scars she heals, whether in rocks or water or sky or hearts.”
There is no doubt, we are living through a historic moment
in time and our whole way of being in the world is being challenged because of
COVID-19. Some people have already lost
their lives and we are all struggling to find order in the midst of the
anxiety-producing situation at hand. May
we remember that kindness is a gift we can all afford to give and that nature
is and can be a balm to our souls.
Ann Frank, a young Jewish girl who was forced into hiding
for two years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, said it well, “The
best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside,
somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is
as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple
beauty of nature.”
