A One-Handed Post About All Hands on Deck

Have you ever heard that expression, "Be careful what you wish for, for you might get it"? Well, I got what I made the mistake of "wishing for" ... I said too often that I was busier than a one-armed paper hanger (an old saying of my dad's), and that I needed a break from all the busyness.

I fell this past Thursday morning and broke my wrist — on my non dominant side, luckily. So today's post is being brought to you (slowly) by my right hand, while the left one looks on forlornly from its cast.

Two hands are definitely better than one, especially as holiday preparations approach (I've bowed out of Christmas festivities for this year) and as a huge writing deadline looms (hunt and peck typing is so slow). It's incredible how helpful that second hand is!

But it's got me thinking of what we could accomplish on the climate front if we put our 15 billion hands together.

Actor and humanitarian Audrey Hepburn once said, 

"As you grow older you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others." 

So that still leaves us with billions of hands that could and should be helping to safeguard the future for those who aren't "old hands" yet.

Which reminds me of another important quote when it comes to climate change leadership. 

"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong." — Thomas Sowell (an economist whose views I don't appreciate)

Anyway, my holiday wish for you this year is that you have / find /take a few moments to truly appreciate the strength and the power of your two hands ... to wrap around loved ones, to help others in need, to write letters and create protest signs, to grow food and prepare it and share it, to create the future and hold the fate of all the children, of all species.

May your hands be your gift to the world.

A Christmas Compassion Tune-up — No child should ever cry on Christmas

I'm writing this on Christmas Eve, with just a few minutes left till midnight. I spent the evening with friends sharing a lovely dinner of potato pancakes (in honour of Hanukkah), cranberry sauce and warm winter salad, then watching a favourite movie.

Despite what's going on in the world, I still believe in my heart of hearts that the greatest way we could solve the climate change crisis would be to feel compassion for the children with the future we're bequeathing them. 

So my holiday gift for you this year will be this compassion tune-up. It's a song I've only ever heard once on the radio — a few years ago — (they don't play this one in malls and elevators) and it had me sobbing while doing my sit ups. 

At this special time of year for so many of us, let's remember to count our blessings. I count you as one of mine.

No Child Should Ever Cry On Christmas

by John Oates

sung by Hall & Oates

Father Christmas, Mother Mary
Bless the Child on this, His day
Round the world are so many families
Not enough to eat but still the faith to pray
 

Let the Holy star above
Shine a silver light of love
And turn this world around 

 

[Chorus]
No child should ever cry on Christmas
No child should ever be afraid
No child should ever cry on Christmas Day 

 

Come the morning
Toys and laughter
Yeah that's the way
It's supposed to be
Then all the mornings
Ever after
Bring us hope and joy and harmony

 

Let the Holy star above
Shine a silver light of love
And turn this world around 

 

[Repeat Chorus] 

 

Let the Holy star above
Shine a silver light of love
And turn this world around 

 

[Repeat Chorus]

Best Wishes for an Excesslessly Festive Season

The Brussel sprout Christmas tree
that becomes dinner

I have to admit, I enjoy the holiday season, and always have. Won't apologize for that. I think it's because I have a much younger sister and found myself enjoying keeping the Christmas spirit alive for her as she was growing up. 

We're still a fairly tightly-knit family, and it's still a special family time for us, though we've had our share of Hollywood-style Christmas dinner dramas, for sure. My heart definitely goes out to those who don't like this time of year due to family problems, loneliness, poverty or illness.

But when I read that the average North American (adult?) will spend $800 this holiday season, my first reaction was to almost throw up. My second reaction was to question the source. My third reaction was to laugh. 

That's because the joy in my gift-giving stems from spending next to nothing! I love finding things around my home or secondhand gifts at our local thrift shop (where all the proceeds go back into the community) that are perfect for each person on my list. Then I wrap them in newspaper, decorate the packages with drawings of holly leaves, and celebrate spending next to nothing. And this year, many of my loved ones have a donation to relief work in the Philippines in their name.

Thought experiment. When the climate change $#@! hits the fan and we have to go back (cuz we haven't moved forward) to a pre-consumeristic economy, and all the new "stuff" is no longer available, and most people are desperately trying to grow their own food (like in the olden days), what will gift giving look like then? How long could the circular economy (of regiving) survive? Just something to think about.

I hope the holiday season is lavishly kind to you in spirit this year — without material excess.

Blessed be.

The Rebel Jesus, by Jackson Browne

Has Peace Become Clichéd?

A simple float in a Santa Claus parade. People-powered. Colourful. Creative. Collaboratively designed. A globe with a dove sitting upon it. Peace on Earth. Literally and symbolically. Lovely, right? Nope.

Head honcho says: "Peace on Earth is trite."

SIDEBAR ===

I remember when Christmas was the most special day of the year! The week before Christmas was magical. Then I went off to school and Christmas began to take up the whole month of December, in the way that Earth Day has spread to Earth Week and now, in some places, Earth Month. 

That never bothered me. The days became more and more festive as the month went on. 

Nowadays, though, the Christmas season begins the morning after Halloween. (I suspect some window dressers are up all night changing the display!) And Black Friday? What's up with that? I think it must be called Black Friday to commemorate all the tramplings, including deaths, that occur the Friday after the American Thanksgiving. (See Greening the Holidays at School for more.) 

I know it's all about wringing more shopping out of shoppers. I understand the economics of it. I don't condone the economics, but I understand the feeling (and, I suppose, the reality) that Christmas buying will carry many retailers through the rest of the year. But sometimes, it just serves to make us all the more grinchy. 

END OF SIDEBAR ===

Could that explain someone — a newbie environmentalist with a lot of chutzpah and influence — forbidding "Peace on Earth" on a Christmas float because it's "trite"?

This must be someone who doesn't know that the world's militaries (with the US military in the lead) are the leading burners of fossil fuels on the planet. This person must not understand how incredibly destructive wars and conflicts (and illegal invasions) are to the human victims, but also to other species, and the land, the water, the air and the climate.