happy earth day
i'm not sure exactly when i realized that earth day was an important day - yes, it's socially constructed, but so is everything really. and april 22 seems now like one of the most important days of the year. it seems like an awesome day.
i started climbing trees when i was really young - i've always loved climbing trees. i started walking purposefully in trees 6-8 years ago. i started hugging trees five or six years or so ago. i've hugged trees in many different places, of many different kinds - and i guess i like it. yes. it's weird. especially since i don't have some protective purpose like where the name came from (people hugging and chaining themselves to large trees so they wouldn't get cut down in the pacific northwest). i wouldn't mind hugging trees for that purpose some time - not sure if/when it will happen.
but the meaning in my hugging trees is more just in appreciation. think about it for a second. think about what trees do for us - all the different things - really surface things like giving shade and wood to build houses - firewood to burn in campfires - think about all the oxygen they give us so we can breathe (and what could be better than oxygen i ask) - think of the water they help purify, the soil they create, the soil they keep from eroding, the scenic landscapes they give, the habitat they give to so many other organisms. trees are awesome.
and trees aren't all that earth day is about - it's about a lot more than that. in general, the symbolism here is that earth day is the only day we think hard about valuing nonhumans. and what we do with that valuing involves our own actions. i can't make a tree do anything (i can make it do nothing by killing it). i can't make a squirrel do much (except maybe run away). but i can regulate my life and my impact on society so that nonhumans have more freedom to do what they want. so that trees can be trees and bears can be bears. so today - first value the nonhuman-ness in the world. then do something with your own life so that the rest of stuff can be itself. don't cut off your relationships with things - just cut down on our control - make it influence rather than dominance.
this song helps explain some part of my thoughts and feelings today. i hope that willy mason can be all that he wants to be - i hope that i can be too. i want to be someone real - someone that helps people realize that real people like trees and lions/tigers/bears - they care for them. and we don't need a bunch of garbage to keep us going. i want to be happy. and i will be - with the help of awesome other people i know.
oxygen by willy mason
I wanna be better than oxygen
So you can breathe when you're drowning and weak in the knees
I wanna speak louder than Ritalin
For all the children who think that they've got a disease
I wanna be cooler than t.v.
For all the kids that are wondering what they are going to be
We can be stronger than bombs
If you're singing along and you know that you really believe
We can be richer than industry
As long as we know that there's things that we don't really need
We can speak louder than ignorance
Cause we speak in silence every time our eyes meet.
On and on, and on, and on it goes
The world it just keeps spinning
Until i'm dizzy, time to breathe
So close my eyes and start again anew.
I wanna see through all the lies of society
To the reality, happiness is at stake
I wanna hold up my head with dignity
Proud of a life where to give means more than to take
I wan't to live beyond the modern mentality
Where paper is all that you're really taught to create
Do you remember the forgotten America?
Justice, equality, freedom to every race?
Just need to get past all the lies and hypocrisy
Make up and hair to the truth behind every face
That look around to all the people you see,
How many of them are happy and free?
I know it sounds like a dream
But it's the only thing that can get me to sleep at night
I know it's hard to believe
But it's easy to see that something here isn't right
I know the future looks dark
But it's there that the kids of today must carry the light.
On and on, and on, and on it goes
The world it just keeps spinning
Until i'm dizzy, time to breathe
So close my eyes and start again anew.
If i'm afraid to catch a dream
I weave your baskets and i'll float them down the river stream
Each one i weave with words i speak to carry love to your relief.
I wanna be better than oxygen
So you can breathe when you're drowning and weak in the knees
I wanna speak louder than Ritalin
For all the children who think that they've got a disease
I wanna be cooler than t.v.
For all the kids that are wondering what they are going to be
We can be stronger than bombs
If you're singing along and you know that you really believe
We can be richer than industry
As long as we know that there's things that we don't really need
We can speak louder than ignorance
Cause we speak in silence every time our eyes meet.
On and on, and on, and on it goes
The world it just keeps spinning
Until i'm dizzy, time to breathe
So close my eyes and start again anew
i started climbing trees when i was really young - i've always loved climbing trees. i started walking purposefully in trees 6-8 years ago. i started hugging trees five or six years or so ago. i've hugged trees in many different places, of many different kinds - and i guess i like it. yes. it's weird. especially since i don't have some protective purpose like where the name came from (people hugging and chaining themselves to large trees so they wouldn't get cut down in the pacific northwest). i wouldn't mind hugging trees for that purpose some time - not sure if/when it will happen.
but the meaning in my hugging trees is more just in appreciation. think about it for a second. think about what trees do for us - all the different things - really surface things like giving shade and wood to build houses - firewood to burn in campfires - think about all the oxygen they give us so we can breathe (and what could be better than oxygen i ask) - think of the water they help purify, the soil they create, the soil they keep from eroding, the scenic landscapes they give, the habitat they give to so many other organisms. trees are awesome.
and trees aren't all that earth day is about - it's about a lot more than that. in general, the symbolism here is that earth day is the only day we think hard about valuing nonhumans. and what we do with that valuing involves our own actions. i can't make a tree do anything (i can make it do nothing by killing it). i can't make a squirrel do much (except maybe run away). but i can regulate my life and my impact on society so that nonhumans have more freedom to do what they want. so that trees can be trees and bears can be bears. so today - first value the nonhuman-ness in the world. then do something with your own life so that the rest of stuff can be itself. don't cut off your relationships with things - just cut down on our control - make it influence rather than dominance.
this song helps explain some part of my thoughts and feelings today. i hope that willy mason can be all that he wants to be - i hope that i can be too. i want to be someone real - someone that helps people realize that real people like trees and lions/tigers/bears - they care for them. and we don't need a bunch of garbage to keep us going. i want to be happy. and i will be - with the help of awesome other people i know.
oxygen by willy mason
I wanna be better than oxygen
So you can breathe when you're drowning and weak in the knees
I wanna speak louder than Ritalin
For all the children who think that they've got a disease
I wanna be cooler than t.v.
For all the kids that are wondering what they are going to be
We can be stronger than bombs
If you're singing along and you know that you really believe
We can be richer than industry
As long as we know that there's things that we don't really need
We can speak louder than ignorance
Cause we speak in silence every time our eyes meet.
On and on, and on, and on it goes
The world it just keeps spinning
Until i'm dizzy, time to breathe
So close my eyes and start again anew.
I wanna see through all the lies of society
To the reality, happiness is at stake
I wanna hold up my head with dignity
Proud of a life where to give means more than to take
I wan't to live beyond the modern mentality
Where paper is all that you're really taught to create
Do you remember the forgotten America?
Justice, equality, freedom to every race?
Just need to get past all the lies and hypocrisy
Make up and hair to the truth behind every face
That look around to all the people you see,
How many of them are happy and free?
I know it sounds like a dream
But it's the only thing that can get me to sleep at night
I know it's hard to believe
But it's easy to see that something here isn't right
I know the future looks dark
But it's there that the kids of today must carry the light.
On and on, and on, and on it goes
The world it just keeps spinning
Until i'm dizzy, time to breathe
So close my eyes and start again anew.
If i'm afraid to catch a dream
I weave your baskets and i'll float them down the river stream
Each one i weave with words i speak to carry love to your relief.
I wanna be better than oxygen
So you can breathe when you're drowning and weak in the knees
I wanna speak louder than Ritalin
For all the children who think that they've got a disease
I wanna be cooler than t.v.
For all the kids that are wondering what they are going to be
We can be stronger than bombs
If you're singing along and you know that you really believe
We can be richer than industry
As long as we know that there's things that we don't really need
We can speak louder than ignorance
Cause we speak in silence every time our eyes meet.
On and on, and on, and on it goes
The world it just keeps spinning
Until i'm dizzy, time to breathe
So close my eyes and start again anew
posted by Brett Werner at
11:09 AM
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