“If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine. You get in touch with Mother Earth, and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation. If we choose every morsel of food in that way we become grateful, and when you are grateful, you are happy.”
The delightful exchange of letters between a
grandfather and his empathetic grandchild can teach us a lot about life.
Gratitude is the essence of a happy existence, because it means that we take
nothing for granted.
Gratitude
was at the heart of many ancient cultures, including the ancient Celtic wisdom,
which I wrote about in my previous post. Gaia teaches us this basic concept
everyday, when we live in harmony with Mother Nature, but when the norm is to
ignore basic principles of reciprocity, we abuse other living beings and the
environment, and we harm everybody in the process.
When we are thankful, we don’t take more than what we need. The troubles of humanity are the consequences of taking too much from Mother Nature—Gaia—and not giving back.
Today I am honored to write about Gaia’s Own,
a book by Dharshana Bajaj, a writer and artist from India. In the exchange of letters between Satvika and her grandpa, a wildlife photographer, we gain
insights and learn facts. Above all, we are inspired to make choices that
support our authentic self, health and Mother Nature. Some people live under
the delusion of separation. This book will help them to dissolve such a
delusion.
This is an educational, thorough and entertaining read that will guide every child and teenager toward an existence
of love and health. It will encourage them to get creative as well, to respond
to the challenges they will be facing throughout their lives.
I highly
recommend Gaia’s Own: Every Child’s Guide to Living in Harmony with Nature to
educators and parents.
Children have the potential to understand things better. Unlike adults, they are not detached from their environment and the truth about how everything is connected. Fostering their inquisitve minds should be part of their education; it is important to cultivate curiosity along with compassion, instead of stifling them. This is why this book should be shared widely in schools. Our future depends on it.
Leonardo Da
Vinci was ahead of his times when he developed the idea of harnessing solar
power. His authenticity was fully expressed through painting, writing,
architecture, engineering and ideas that continue to be relevant today. A rigid
mindset would have restrained his creative power, but Da Vinci’s works required
an open-minded approach to learn continuously and thrive.
I learned a lot from this comprehensive book
(Gaia’s Own). I did not know that countries like Paraguay, Albania and Iceland
only use renewable sources of energy to satisfy their electricity needs. I did
not know that India is the world’s third largest producer of renewable energy
(solar, wind, small hydro, bio-power).
I was thrilled to know that farmers in Japan
managed to save the cranes from extinction through their caring thoughtful actions:
https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/trying-to-save-the-red-crowned-cranes-of-japan
We all play
a role in healing the planet through conscious efforts, creative ideas and
mindful choices. There is a massive extinction crisis going on, and those who believe that it will not affect humanity are choosing a path of dangerous denial.
This is happening right now. If the deniers truly understood how we are all
interconnected, they would fathom that the survival of humanity is at stake.
“If you really think the environment is
less important than the economy, try holding your breath while you count your
money.” Guy R. McPherson.
800 million
people go hungry everyday in our planet. Yet thirty percent of the world’ s
food is trashed. In the USA alone, 40 millions tons of food are wasted every
year. The Global Hunger Index is calculated based on the number of people who
are undernourished and the number of children under five who are underweight. Congo,
Haiti, Zambia, Yemen, Madagascar, Burundi and Chad have the highest scores (
between 30 and 40). India has a score of 26. Somalia has the highest score: 50
On the other hand, all these countries are on
the receiving end of tons of electronic waste dumped into them by some of the
most developed countries, like USA, Britain and Germany, so in addition to dealing with hunger, they contend with pollution from outside sources.
This book brings to our consciousness issues that
are routinely ignored. Raising awareness on the intricate ways through which we
are all connected is necessary to inspire people to make responsible
choices and to develop new sustainable solutions.
Those who work on the update of technologies
should also be tackling the problems of sustainability in technology as a fundamental component of
it. Overconsumption
destroys lives; greed kills. We have destroyed the balance that allows us to
live in harmony with Mother Nature.
We need to restore this balance.
We cannot extricate ourselves from reality, no
matter how hard they try to distract us with trips to the moon and to other
planets.
“Trees are the oldest life forms on earth,
making up over 80 percent of the global biomass. They provide millions with
nourishment. We get our wood, herbs, medicine from trees. Trees hold the soil
in place, preventing soil erosion and landslides. They help in carbon
sequestration and produce oxygen we all need to make life possible. They reduce
air pollution, heat and gases that cause the greenhouse effect. They are home
to millions of animals, insects and birds.”
Healthy forests are necessary for the oceans
as well, and I explained it when I reviewed To Speak for the Trees. Without
healthy forests, we will annihilate the fish, the whales, the dolphins…
With the burning of fossil fuels, which is also responsible for the production of plastic, we disrupt the health of forests and oceans. Industrialization has led to an exponential increase of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. A simple graph shows the increase over time. These gases trap heat.
By the same
token, this increase correlates with the rise of global temperatures and
climate change.
My simple question is this: does anybody
believe that we will survive as a species after destroying the ecosystems of
Mother Nature?
I cherish Satvika’s grandfather’s wisdom, and I
hope it will reach many hearts and minds across the world.
“We are all interconnected with each other
and everything else in Nature, so keep doing what you can. Spend as much time
in Nature as you can and love her more. For she is you.”
I thank the author for kindly sharing “Gaia’s Own” for My Writing Life.
If you
enjoyed this post, don’t keep it to yourself. Share it on social media.
If you have a special interest in related
topics, you can also read my posts on the following books:
I put
together a number of posts from other sites, related to the subject of this
post:
https://www.oneearth.org/regenerative-agriculture-can-play-a-key-role-in-combating-climate-change/
https://www.climaterealityproject.org/climate-101
https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/climate-change-and-women/
https://ourworld.unu.edu/en/toxic-e-waste-dumped-in-poor-nations-says-united-nations