Thanksgiving Reflection

Today is Thanksgiving…a day where people gather together to eat, drink, watch football, and appreciate all that is good in life.  This year, in thinking about what I’m thankful for, of course the usual comes up, family and friends…but I’m expanding that to include life.  We take it for granted that we exist at all…in this vast universe with billions of galaxies and planets, most of which do not contain life.  We’re on Planet Earth, in the Milkyway Galaxy…where humans exist, and zebras, and redwood trees, and coral reefs, and bees…I can’t think about that and not be in awe.  

I sometimes get so caught up in the stories of my life…in the things I have to do before the weekend, or what to have for lunch, or when to sit down and write that paper, or if that cute girl likes me, and I actually forget how amazing life is.  We as a culture get so caught up in our stories that we’re unknowingly destroying life around us, at an extinction rate of thousands of species per year…such a mass extinction has not occurred for 65 million years (the time of the dinosaurs).  That mass extinction was caused by an asteroid colliding with the planet, this mass extinction is caused by the way humans live on the planet…in mindless overconsumption and severe denial.  Why are our governments and news media not telling us about this?  Because, they’re making money off of our ignorance.  Because our economy’s slogan is “business as usual, no matter what the cost.”  Plain and simple they wont tell us anything that will cut into their profit margin.  

Last year, I decided not to participate in gift giving for Christmas.  Instead I gave everyone cards, and just wrote a personal message in each card.  It was the most gratifying gift I’ve ever given, to actually express my love for someone instead of saying it through a Christmas sweater with a reindeer on it that they’ll probably never wear.  I’ve decided to do it again this year.  I kind of like protesting in this way, it’s subtle yet kind of rockstar-ish.  People are always so shocked when I tell them I don’t want gifts.  The reason I do it is because the most power I have in this country is through the money in my pocket.  What I choose to spend my money on will determine how life unfolds.  Your vote as a consumer is probably more powerful than your vote for government official at this point.  

So this year everyone on my list is getting something made personally by moi.  If I do receive a gift it’s being donated, Mom and Dad, that goes for you too.  I’m not accepting or giving gifts because I believe it will save the planet, so please just indulge me in this.  I’m not trying to say gift giving is bad, but it has turned into a very unhealthy and unconscious habit for us.  With all of the products we create come millions of tons of waste, yearly…we’re dumping toxins on our land in our water and in our air…toxins that are getting into our food and water and our lungs.  

As bad as it is now, we’re making things worse for our children.  I have two nephews that I am absolutely in love with!  They are the most amazing beings on the planet, in my opinion.  I currently only get to see them a few times a year because I live in San Francisco (for school), and they live in Massachusetts.  Not being around to see them grow up is pretty difficult, but they inspire what I do every single day out here.  There isn’t one day where I don’t think about how my actions will affect their future.  Maybe my actions as one human being do not matter in a world of over 7 billion people…or maybe they do.  They did for Jesus, the Buddha, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Rosa Parks, Princess Diana.  Not that I’m comparing myself to them, but my point is they were only one person, and they committed their lives to living against the grain, for the sake of a better world.  All it takes is one person, with one vision to create global change.  

This year I’m thankful for those who live against the grain, who do so even in the face of danger.  I’m totally gonna make a metal reference right now, but Killswitch has a great line in one of their songs, “for the sake of all, it starts with one.”  To all of you, I wish a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season, and I challenge you all to try living against the grain for a day…try doing something other than shopping on Black Friday…maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what life brings.    

God was on Dolores Street

Today it was 75 degrees in San Francisco.  No fog in sight, just pure warmth and sunshine, happy faces and blue skies.  On my way to Dolores Park I fell in love with this world all over again.  I wasn’t worried about our future, I wasn’t hating corporations for their destructive actions, I wasn’t worried about whether or not I have enough money, or will ever be loved again, or will fulfill my purpose in life…I wasn’t worried about anything.  I was completely present to the beauty around me in that moment in time, and it was breathtaking.  Everyone I passed was either smiling or laughing too…enjoying this beautiful Sunday in San Francisco.  It was truly a spiritual experience…I felt connection, oneness, admiration, and gratitude for everything around me, including myself.  I can intellectualize about the existence of God/Divine Presence/Truth any day, but it is in these experiences that I feel as though I actually understand what God or Divine means.  The problem I have with the current religions is that they’re predominantly boring and uninspiring and unempowering.  No one will never truly know or understand God or the Divine without actually having a personal experience.  There’s a time and place for gathering as a community to learn about and pay respect and gratitude to that which we believe gave life to us, but that’s not enough to solidify belief.  Religion in its current form fails because its main focus is to spread “the word” of God, but provides no encouragement or structure around personal exploration.  Christianity and other dominant religions would benefit from increased participation if more people were having these divine, Godlike experiences because when they have them they’ll want that church community to share them with…so Christianity, Judaism, Muslim and other religions have nothing to lose by embracing nature and supporting personal exploration of the Divine.  “Know thyself” should be expanded to “Know thy world.”  Not only does it empower us to know more about the world we live in, but in paying attention to the external world we can better understand ourselves.  It seems that the current religion in America is consumerism because sadly for most people, buying stuff is more personally satisfying than having a connection with God or being on a path of personal growth.  But that’s because religion in its current form can’t promise those personally satisfying experiences.  As someone who was raised in Christianity, I was not at all interested or excited about sitting in church for an hour every Sunday.  I have never had a religious experience while in church, but I have felt the presence of God in Muir Woods, or while watching the sunset at Ocean beach, and on this beautiful day while walking down Dolores Street.