Where were you on the first Earth Day in 1970? I was eleven years old and in sixth grade on the first Earth Day. My baby sister had arrived in January and my parents weren't focused on the state of the Earth. I, however, was inspired and excited that people all over the country were paying attention to the pollution of our air, rivers, lakes and streams. I became a girl obsessed with litter, which in my eleven year old mind was one way I could make a difference. I picked up cans and paper. I lectured family and friends on littering. Everyone I knew heard from me about saving the Earth!
Of course I was a devoted animal-lover and I was lucky that I lived in a suburban area where wildlife co-existed with people, natural habitat was still available to them, and "conservation" was a term being talked and thought about.
What precipitated the first Earth Day? The famous burning Cuyahoga River in Ohio, became the "poster child" of wanton chemical dumping and a sort of "last straw" to people waking up to the destruction our industrial society was doing to our natural world.
In the years that followed that first Earth Day, the Endangered Species Act and the Clean and Water Air Acts were passed. Efforts to clean up the Cuyahoga River began and succeeded. People founded and supported environment groups like the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, The National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund, etc. etc. Our country seemed committed to making the world cleaner, safer and inhabitable for every living being. Other countries around the world rallied to do their parts as well. For a while, it seemed like humans cared about keeping the Earth clean and healthy.
Sadly, as time went by over the next 50 years, powerful special interests powered by greed did everything they could to slow the progress envisioned and initiated by the Earth Day movement. Now we are facing Climate Change on a global scale and many wonder if the human species will survive.
The eleven-year old girl that I was still informs my optimism and deep commitment to a world with clean air, clean water, healthy ecosystems for all living beings. I believe that as individual humans wake up and remember their connection to each other and to all living beings, solutions to what appear to be insurmountable problems will enter into this expanded awareness.
My Gift
Why am I still optimistic? I am able to perceive the thoughts, feelings and energies of animals, plants, the Earth herself. I regularly travel on expanded journeys into alternate realities for guidance and understanding. For most people, the ability to do this needs to be facilitated by a "helper" like Ayahuasca, psilocybin, LSD, etc. All of us have the abilities, they are just more readily available to some more than others. Because I can access expanded states of awareness, I feel the interconnections of all Life. I "see" the big picture AND the possibilities. I also deeply feel the devastation to the Earth, air, water, animals, plants and trees. This can be very painful at times, even difficult to bear.
My Mission
I believe that I have this gift in order to share what I perceive, to help people remember and embrace their own connections to the animals, the plants, Mother Earth in order that TOGETHER, humans cooperating with animals, plants and natural systems, can co-create a different world -- economic systems that support all people, sustainable agriculture that recycles resources so that the Earth heals and all beings can thrive in balance -- a Great Healing, the only hope for the future of our species and many others.
I believe that this is possible IF those of you who feel this in your hearts and souls too ACT. I believe that each of you who are reading this agreed to be here now in order to make a difference at this critical moment. Each of you came with different skills and gifts. The Earth needs you now. What are YOU here to contribute to the Great Healing on this, the 50th anniversary of Earth Day? Please tell me. I'm want to support you and cheer you on! Write to me at: katesolisti@gmail.com.
With Love, Your Voice of Animals,
Kate
