Earth Day

From time to time, in my life, I suffer from a strange depression. It has nothing to do with my personal life, in the sense that it is not about me. It relates to me, yes, but on a level beyond me. I think I must start calling it my "green" depression. It occurs because I start thinking about all that is happening in this world that is destroying our beautiful planet. I cry, and cannot stop crying, because it seems to be an unresolvable problem. This depression is really severe. Not suicidal, of course. But just imagine, I can't think of anything else right now until I get this off my chest. I have a paper day after, and I need to research 3 long paper proposals, but here I am! writing this blog posting... I don't know how I finally snap out of this mood, because the issue doesn't quite dissolve, I never forget about it... I think, I console myself with hope.

Hope is the only thing perhaps that keeps me going. I HOPE that maybe gradually we will learn to nurture and cherish the environment. That we will accomplish successfully the preservation of valuable Eco-systems of the Earth. That we will preserve the beauty and goodness of nature for future generations - and preserve it not merely on film, but in actual tangible reality. I hope that issues of environmental concern will be a priority someday for most _if not all_ of Earth's population. I hope that we will wake up before irreversible damage is done.

What depresses me most is when I think of all the poor and the recently-not-so-poor percentages of people on this planet for whom a daily hand to mouth existence excuses their slight regard for the environment. When there is no full meal to be had in a day, then why must one care to not cut a tree for fuel on a cold winter day? True, that it is the moral responsibility of those like me in more fortunate circumstances to take the lead. And yet I see educated youth like me contributing to the attitude of "I-give-a-damn-about-anything-but-frivolities" that seems to be pervading DU these days. I am not wholly pessimistic, but I am not fully optimistic either. And there does exist a middle ground. It is called hope.

I wanted to plant a tree today, to complete a 101 in 1001 goal while also commemorating Earth Day. But I changed my mind and felt it would be too cliched. Instead, I have resolved to plant more that one tree on any random day in the coming future, for everyday must be Earth Day. I will attempt to grow them from seed, just so that I know how its done, when it is time for me to teach my children the same.