The elephant in the room

When I began this discussion about weather deities, I said I’d post as long as the bad weather and my interest held. When I went looking for a likely god or goddess this morning, I found I just wasn’t that into it today. My heart is heavy. I saw a news article about a poor elephant chained for 50 years and reduced to eating paper to survive. All I saw was the headline that said there was a daring rescue and he cried tears when he was free. How could I write an upbeat post after that? As a sensitive person, I guarantee it won’t ever leave my mind.

I realize that for some this next bit will sound way out there. I’m speaking on a cosmic all-things-are-connected Hermetic as-above-so-below level. You almost have to wonder about our curious empathetic species so prone to heartless cruelty. We inflict it upon one another and the creatures we share the planet with and somehow the end always, always justifies the means. We are a species whose blind consumption and locust behaviors puts us at risk for our own extinction. Yet we continue said behaviors. Why? I have no answer. We readily understand cause and effect. When you do A, you can expect B. Even a toddler gets that worked out pretty quick.

Is it possible there exists a larger link between all we do — a cause and effect payback for our lack of regard and stewardship? Our headlines are filled with catastrophic weather, seismic activity, ocean die-off, icecap melting, sea levels rising, plagues, disease and resistant bacteria etc. There are some days where I can hardly bear to see the headlines for all the bad news. Long ago I stopped reading the articles.

Life is a web — each strand connected to the rest, and all of our existence on this planet depends upon this balance. You simply can’t continue to break these strands and not leave the others poised to cascade. Perhaps mother nature has finally had enough of us. And who wouldn’t? We’re the species who would see the last rhino killed for his horn just so some guy in Asia can have a rhino horn placebo to maintain his erection. We’re the species who would foul precious groundwater for a few more years of fracked gas and wonder why we’re thirsty. We’re the species who would bomb one another into oblivion over ideology and chain and abuse an elephant for 50 years. Perhaps the global warming et al is just one collective fever to fight the sickness on the planet — the dangerous microbes called man.

The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Yes, it’s all daunting, but you do have a voice. Vote. Vote like your life depends upon it, because it does. You can also get involved in many worthy causes. Start here:

http://www.nrdc.org/

http://www.savebiogems.org/

http://www.foe.org/

http://www.sierraclub.org/

http://www.worldwildlife.org/

http://www.aspca.org/

http://www.greenpeace.org/

These are just a few organizations worth your time. I have more on Pinterest. In fact, I have a lot of very cool things on Pinterest. If nothing else they are a peek inside my mind should anyone wish to go there. Think of Pinterest as an online bulletin board where you pin all the online references to things you wish to keep. Pin + Interest = Pinterest.

http://www.pinterest.com/FollowTheMuse/

I have one Pinterest board where more helpful organizations are pinned. If you’re not on Pinterest, leave your email* and I’ll send you an invitation. Here’s the direct link to that board: http://www.pinterest.com/FollowTheMuse/doing-good-things/

*It’s a good idea when you leave your email anywhere, that you do it like this:

myemail(@)whatever(.)com or myemail(at)whatever(dot)com

That keeps the email snatchers from stealing it and sending out spam in your name.

Online maliciousness is one more thing about mankind that just makes you scratch your head. For heaven’s sake why?

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