Rather than giving to a person this week we are going to talk about giving back to that which sustains us. Whether you call her Planet Earth, Mother Earth, or Gaia the planet upon which we live is worthy of our care.
For those bound in city lives it may seem like it would be a difficult to give back to the earth but there is more than you know. An easy one for an urban dweller would be to participate in your city’s recycling program. Most communities have one and they make it easy to participate. Another idea for the urban dweller would be to start a community garden or volunteer to help out at one nearby. You do not have to know how to garden at a community garden – there’s always someone that is willing to help others learn more about gardening! Join a garden club. Help with clean up days in a local park. Use environmentally sound products. Become involved in the environmental health of your community.
The same challenges for participation can face the rural dweller. Due to distances sometimes, it is difficult to participate in community activities – especially when the closest community is 20 miles away over a bad road. But there are other things you can do! First, of course, is to take care of what you have…your property. Are you living in an environmentally friendly way? Adopt a part of a local highway for clean up. Take your children to the woods and let them find the joys of the forest. Take care of your grounds and area and show pride in your surroundings. I have friends that every year in May they celebrate their moving in to their house by planting another rose bush in the garden. Using environmentally sound energy is another way to give a little back.
There’s an old phrase heard much around groups that go camping: “Always leave the area better than you found it.” This need not just be applied to just campers. Imagine how much nicer place the world would be if everyone lived by that credo? Every bit that we do is a bit towards helping. Whether global warming is a natural happening within the climatic cycle or it is a destabilization cause by man, if we do our best to help in the ways that we can, we can truly make a difference. And, it should always be remembered that when we give back to the earth we are giving back to ourselves as well by making our environment a better place to be.
Giving back to Gaia in these simple and easy ways can really come to mean a lot over time. You may not think what you are doing is much, but if we each do a little than we can actually change a lot. So, take a walk, take a hike, get on your mountain bike and take a ride…enjoy the bounty that we receive from the planet we live on…when we enjoy something we appreciate it, when we appreciate it we may just be more willing to protect it. So, by giving to that which sustains us we sustain ourselves.
There are more Goodness is Giving posts, inspiring pics, and a Tarot Reading Giveaway on facebook! Check it out!
