The article is initially published here, in greek at Parathyro, Politis
Evergreen and deciduous trees
It took me thirty years and a pandemic to look deep. From twigs that seemed dry to me, as if by a miracle, leaves are bursting out. They cuddle like kittens and unwind very slowly. They are stacked similarly to the leaves of a lettuce, they grow and stretch. They spread like hand palms, ready to suck life, sun. Soft, pliable, baby leaves. Juicy and maybe a bit timid due to the cold and the unknown world.
We are experiencing an existential crisis
Our natural habitat is becoming less familiar to us and more hostile, due to our destructions. The more unfamiliar we become with nature, the easier it is to cause her harm. The moment we realise that we are equally important with any other living organism on this habitat is the moment that our empathy will grow and the destruction will diminish.
Racial violence, gender-based violence, earth violence
We are vicious with the racially different, the sexually different, the woman, the earth, the fauna and the flora. Whatever we can crush, we will crush as long as we are rewarded with glory, power and money.
LACK OF LOVE.
‘The first step we need to take is to realise that to love is an art, just as living is an art – if we want to learn how to love we must proceed in exactly the same way we do when we want to learn any other art, whether it is music, painting, carpentry…’ The art of loving, E. Fromm
Coronavirus, the sum of our reckless actions
Climatic change is affecting the ecosystem in unimaginable ways, yet with immense traumatic impact- consider the recent fires in the Amazon, Siberia and Australia. The corona virus outbreak is another sign that the balance of the ecosystem has collapsed! Due to human intervention, wildlife comes into contact with humans. We are cutting down forests to build mines, huge areas of palm trees are being destroyed for the ‘famous’ palm oil, we are covering in concrete virgin areas, we are expanding the area and the population of the cities. Infectious diseases such as malaria, cholera, and hemorrhagic Venezuelan fever are the hidden costs of this short-sighted ‘development’. For the big interests of a few, humanity is driven with mathematical accuracy to its catastrophe. Our health depends on our environment and all the organisms around us. If we cannot love the earth, we cannot love ourselves.
There is no time
Now that you have time (referring to quarantine), in this urgent climatic moment, expand your consciousness **, imagine a sustainable world, where you are self-sufficient, the earth is without chemicals, the seas are clear from waste and mining, an endless blue sky without tower barriers. Imagine that you are in harmony with the various forms of life without being the dominant or the weakest, you are part of the whole.
* Krishnamurti
** Avoid chemicals, industrialised foods, plastics, palm oil. Use ecological cloth and dishwashing detergents which aggravate less the aquifer. Start your own small vegetable garden. Expose yourself to sunshine all year round, ideally in nature.
Eleni Phyla 