18 October 2009

49 Days - A Little Self-Compassion?

Not only am I hurting all over physically (broken ankle almost better, blood clots doing okay, new painful complication in the same foot, more tired than I've been in years), but I seem to be getting more and more depressed all the time.

I'm pretty sensitive. I'm the type of person who can't watch violence on the screen (TV or movies). So it's really starting to get to me, all this climate catastrophe stuff. I'm worn out. But I'm not going to give up. Not yet.

Every time I start feeling sorry for myself, I simply picture the kids in Africa who go to bed hungry, who have lost their parents, whose future is a thing of the past. We are so coddled in our Western countries that we think we're starving when we miss a meal. We have no concept of what's waiting for us and/or our children and grandchildren if we don't get ourselves weaned off carbon.

I've read through a few past posts today ... I was definitely more chipper and more optimistic when I started this blog in May of this year. Since then, I seem to have lost my resilience. But then, imagine what it must be like for the family whose crops fail year after year. Imagine all the places in the world where water is already in short supply. That's us when the Arctic summer sea ice disappears.

I just don't get how people who know what's happening climate-wise (my country's prime minister, for example) can continue to think their children will survive eating money and drinking bitumen when they grow up.

Alas, if I don't post tomorrow, you'll know why. I think I need a day in bed, with the covers over my head — appreciating that I have a bed and covers and a roof and a kitchen full of food when I get hungry.

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I would appreciate hearing your thoughts or questions on this post or anything else you've read here. What is your take on courage and compassion being an important part of the solution to the climate change emergency?