EARTH HOUR

People all over the world will be turning their lights out from 8-9 PM to support Earth Hour. (go here: http://www11.earthhourus.org/ for more information and to sign up). My first thought was, "Hey! That's cool! I can do that." My second and third and fourth thoughts were, I think, what contributes to the general malaise and indifference in this country. They were: "I might be ready to sit in bed to read then," followed by, "So many other people will be doing it my one little light can't matter much," and worst of all, "Come on. How is that really going to make a difference?"

I was stopped in my tracks by the "it's all about ME" tone of those thoughts. So, I went online and watched the video. Now I am going with my first thought, my gut thought, my initial "I can do that" thought. I will turn off my lights because, while my one little light alone would not make a difference, my one little light along with millions of other lights will. I will be part of a social act, not one person alone butting her head against the world.

Last year on March 31, the inhabitants of one city - Sydney, Australia - joined with the WWF, agreeing to turn out their lights for one hour. Social activism encouraged corporate action. 2,100 corporations joined the effort. 2.2 million people turned out their lights, causing a 10.2 energy reduction in the city, the equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off the road.

Go watch the video (and check out Reducing our Human Footprint. The numbers are mind-boggling). Then turn off your lights and join the global effort to save our planet. It may not be all about me but it surely is all about us.




photo credits: www.actnow.com.au; slovenian.wunderground.com

What are you reading?

Ruth D picked me for this meme:

1. Grab the nearest book of 123 pages or more. 

2. Open it to page 123. 

3. Find the first 5 sentences and write them down. 

4. Then invite 5 friends to do the same.

So I picked up Doubt and Certainty edited by Tony Rothman and George Sudarshan. The first five full sentences on page 123 are...

"At the time of self realization
at the moment of insight
arises the conviction truly
that you are, in essence, the World.

Many of us have had such experiences when, after long study, we suddenly understand a difficult problem in mathematics, or when embarking on a novel the structure suddenly materializes and the story, like a landscape, unfolds before you. At such moments the ego dissolves and there truly arises the conviction that you are, in essence, the World.

In the Upanishads, moments of illumination are associated with waking from the state of dreamless sleep into a fourth, superconscious state - turya. Here the "I" dissolves into union with the atman, the universal Self, the Brahman."

So there you have it.

What are you reading, Meggie, Barbara, Roberta, Frankie, Dave?

Meggie has honored me with a Blogging Mentor award. I really enjoy posting, partly for the fun of the writing itself and partly because it's so interesting to see how others react to what I write. I'm not sure I've mentored other bloggers but I do thank you, Meggie, for thinking of me.