View of Earth by the Apollo 17 Crew while traveling to the Moon on December 7, 1972
Photo Credit: NASA
Planet Earth
Mother Gaia to the Ancient Greeks
goddess and primordial power
to emerge after Chaos
Spinning and hurtling through space
at about 66,600 miles per hour
always in motion
trapped in orbit around the Sun
Earth your home and mine
no escape
gravity holds us all hostage
except for
Astronauts and cosmonauts
in their rocket ships
a privileged few
to view Earth from space
a tiny, fragile, blue ball of life
with a paper-thin shield
hanging in the void
exposed & vulnerable to
Solar flares and radiation
reflected and absorbed by a 300-mile-thick atmosphere
holding the life-giving air we breathe
a ticking time-bomb with rising carbon dioxide levels
as of January 25, 2018
the Doomsday Clock moved to two minutes to midnight
a notch closer to the end of humanity
from looming threats of climate change and nuclear war
Doomsday Clock updated to two minutes to midnight – January 25, 2018
Updated yearly by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists since its creation in 1947
Photo Credit: Science Magazine
Spaceship Earth
one living, breathing organism
with one destiny
the “overview effect” causes
a cognitive shift of self-awareness
as part of the larger whole
Mother Earth Gaia
our home and final resting place
if we the people of Earth don’t take care of her
if we don’t set aside our differences
and work together
who else will
Watch the Video: The Overview Effect
Three Worlds One Vision 
That’s actually a bit scary, isn’t it?
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It is, John. I read today that we’re closer to war with North Korea than Americans realize.
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And it’s interesting, I remember 40 years ago when our concern was U.S.S.R and China. The wise ones were saying, “No the threat will be a small country like North Korea.”
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Eventful.
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Most powerful
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Thanks, Derrick.
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How did our generation let things get so far out of hand? Thanks for the powerful post.
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Thanks, Bernadette. I believe we let things get to this point because of misinformation and deception. In addition, our globalized capitalist economic system feeds on continual growth without regard for the negative impacts on our home planet.
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Exactly!
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This quote from you, “our globalized capitalist economic system feeds on continual growth without regard for the negative impacts on our home planet.” could be put on the list of “TRUEST WORDS EVER SPOKEN” if there were such a list, should perhaps be the first quote on the list if it was done in order of importance.
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Thanks, Sha’Tara, but I cannot claim to be the first to come to this disastrous realization. I’m currently reading ANTHROPOCENE or CAPITALOCENE? edited by Jason W. Moore (PM Press 2016) and plan to share the vision of the six featured contributors in another three-part blog series.
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Good!
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Reblogged this on Guyanese Online.
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Thanks for sharing, Cyril. Have a great week 🙂
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Pingback: Planet Earth: Our Home & Resting Place
Thanks for sharing GuyFrog 🙂
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Well, the doomsday prophets are heavily invested in being right, so they may get what they want. While I’m doing everything a little person can do to stem the tide, I’m not dead yet, nor is anyone reading this blog.
I still firmly believe you get what you focus on, and if you focus on disaster, you contribute to creating it. Not to underestimate or ignore the problems, but it would do us all good to appreciate what we still have.
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Katharine, it’s because I appreciate the beauty of Planet Earth, our home, that I focus on preserving and conserving what we still have for the good of us all, today and for future generations. Our atomic and climate change scientists also want the same. They are not invested in being right.
The moment we take our eyes off the ball, it will be taken from us. When the usurpers are done with kicking the ball around, whatever beauty remains will become their protected enclaves.
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Rosaliene,
It’s obvious that you care deeply, and so do I, but I think the “scientists” are overplaying their hands. I don’t believe the doomsday prophesies are helpful and are probably counter-productive. It can leave the impression that disaster is inevitable, so why try? Regular people need ideas about what they can do short of becoming politically involved, because that’s not everyone’s thing.
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Katharine, I understand where you’re coming from and will share stories of action already underway to develop sustainable communities and cities.
With regard to “becoming politically involved,” I would say that our vote as citizens is a political act.
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I sure hope you don’t really mean, Katherine, “you get what you focus on.” Too many dead people across the planet and history, whether from murder, disease, genocide, war or natural disaster, would object if only they had the voice to.
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Dr. Stein,
I’m not sure what you’re suggesting, since many philosophies claim you get what you focus on. It’s certainly not original with me, even if I happen to believe it. Any goal is a focus, for instance. But worry is also a focus, and can prevent thinking about more hopeful scenarios. It’s a fact of life that people die. I think we’re talking here about quality of life.
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Katharine, I read the following article today on Truthout and thought that it might be of interest to you:
“In the Face of Climate Crisis, Let’s Make 2018 a Year for Realism” by Tim DeChristopher
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/43387-in-the-face-of-climate-crisis-let-s-make-2018-a-year-for-realism
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Rosaliene,
I read the article and had some thoughts. First, I feel lonely in my optimism, not my pain, which everyone seems to be thriving on. Second, I’m not looking for “leaders” to do the thinking for us. The world is overrun with would-be “leaders” who don’t know where they are going. Third, the terms “progress” and “economic growth” need to be re-defined. The conventional definitions are symptomatic of the mind-rot that pervades this mass hallucination we call “reality.” For me, “progress” can be translated into discovering new ways to make clean-up profitable, or at least desirable. The idea that “economic growth” is everyone’s calling needs to be re-thought. Who wants all this “economic growth?” Is this an individual or a group desire? The government? Wall Street? Corporations? This individual is more interested in “economic stability” than growth, because greed is not prominent in my makeup.
I admire the author for taking a strong stand against oil drilling on public land. It saddens me that he had to go to prison for it.
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I agree with you about the need to re-define “progress” and “economic growth.” Our capitalist economic system – run by Wall Street and the transnational corporations for their own enrichment – thrives on continual economic growth to ensure their profits. The role of government should be to regulate their operations to prevent abuse. Now, they have successfully taken control of our government.
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Rosaliene,
More than ever, but it has been going on through American history. I’ve been reading a boatload of American history lately, especially around the beginning of the industrial age and through WWI. It makes me think that the government has always catered to wealth and power. Any show of advocating for the people’s rights appears to have been a big sham. I just finished a long biography of Woodrow Wilson, who claimed to be the ultimate progressive, but he couldn’t be bothered with domestic problems once he got involved in WWI and the European negotiations for the League of Nations.
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“Any show of advocating for the people’s rights appears to have been a big sham.”
~ As I see it, Katharine, pacification and concessions have always been needed to maintain their control over the masses. Over time, the powerful elite have found ways to undermine or take back those concessions, as is occurring today with Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
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Rosaliene,
Bait and switch. What one group promises (or threatens), another can retract. I don’t trust promises.
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Thanks, Katharine. An example will, perhaps, illustrate what I’m talking about. Years ago I heard a news account of a parent taking her child downtown on a school holiday. They were walking beside a tall building. A window pane fell from a high floor, cutting the parent in two while the child still held her hand. I doubt this was anyone’s goal or focus. Yes, there are philosophies such as the “law of attraction” that do not pass the scientific test of a law, but make some people feel better for a while. I do believe in pursuing worthy goals and know the great value of resilience, will, effort, and optimism. In that, at least, I expect we agree.
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Dr. Stein,
I’ve been thinking about your comment. It’s hard to argue a hypothetical, but what we call “freak accidents” occur all the time. It’s impossible to know what thoughts and fears the woman and child carried with them, or why she would be the one killed by the falling glass.
The “law of attraction” is as scientific as gravity. I’m of the belief that science does not recognize anything until it has the instruments to measure it. Our five senses tell us only so much, and I believe thought is way more powerful than science acknowledges.
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Katharine,
A couple of things, then I’ll let you have the last word. The example was a news account, not at all hypothetical. Many others could be presented. Second, I suggest you read Newton and then Einstein. Gravity has empirical support: hard science. The law of attraction is essentially based on anecdotes and faith. Based on similar anecdotal information, people used to believe that tomatoes were poisonous. Science is capable of testing many things. Anecdotes need to be formulated in a scientific fashion so they can be tested. What we are dealing with here, from my vantage point, is “belief” or “faith,” with respect to things like the “law of attraction. At least, however, most of those who cling to the many very different religious beliefs out there, also admit that they cannot provide real evidence. Be well.
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We were blessed with the gift of Heaven- this planet, and let it drop from our grasp as we reached for the shine of technology. As the Greek philosopher Diogenes said, “Man has destroyed every gift given to him from the gods.” Magnificent post Rosaliene. Lori and I shall take each and every moment of the blessings of wonderment that still embrace us.
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Thanks, Mike. The Greek philosopher Diogenes made an astute observation. How little we humans have evolved since then! Our self-awareness and intelligence as a species have not served us well.
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Mankind chose to indulge his intelligence mostly divorced from humility and compassion, thereby sealing the fate of his civilization. Those, such as yourself, and the many who follow your blog who think, and work hard at stemming the tide of disaster become the shining lights and unsung heroes of the moment. You all amaze me for your hope and your courage. Didn’t think you are courageous? Think again.
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Thanks for your kind comment, Sha’Tara. Life is full of heroism. I witnessed it daily in Brazil among those who have no voice.
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indeed, it hasn’t Rosaliene.
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Beautiful, and I love that photo. I had it blown-up into a poster years ago.
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Thanks, Robert. The views of our planet from outer space leave me in awe and with a profound sense of our oneness.
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And we’re blissfully asleep.
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And, sad to say, we prefer to remain asleep. That way, we don’t have to change our ways.
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i’m grateful not to
wear a watch anymore,
especially
that one 😦
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David, such a watch would, indeed, be a burden to wear. Now that you’ve mentioned it, it’s been years since I stopped wearing a watch. My cell phone is more than enough to keep up with time 🙂
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Poignantly beautiful and the most important message we all need to take seriously, Rosaliene.
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Thanks, Carol. Some among us believe that geoengineering is the answer to our climate crisis. I learned this week on an UCLA presentation that there’s a company working on developing a plant with roots that would absorb and store carbon.
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Science may have some answers, but I don’t think we know enough to tinker with nature. Even so, I have sometimes wished I had stayed with my original college major – chemistry and biology. I am convinced that there is so much we can learn from plants and trees about living in balance with our environment.
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I would love to learn more about your thoughts concerning the UCLA project.
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Carol, my thoughts on this project are the same as yours: I don’t think we know enough to tinker with nature. Much like the antibiotics we have developed to fight harmful bacteria.
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