Clever Magazine, Spring '05 " Strange Times " (www.clevermag.com)

Wanna read the latest from Clever Magazine?
Click here and return to the coverpage!

Strange Times

by Dee Walmsley

with the Editor's two-cent
Footnote at the bottom!

We live in strange times. We live in a time when greed and ego often foreshadow values. A time when we forget the small things that bring joy to our lives because the world is full of hate, war, and sadness.

We watch the disasters occurring in strange places, places we probably would never have known had it not been for environmental disasters and humans fighting for territory and dominance.

Some turn to substance abuse to escape themselves and their surroundings, while others simply tune out.

Thoughts of improving the environment and ourselves overwhelm us, so we shut them out. We doubt that one person alone can make a difference. I quote anthropologist, Margaret Mead who said,

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”

So get out there and do something.

Recycle: bottles, cans, paper, plastics, cardboard, clothes and household items.

Get out of the family car and walk, bike, rollerblade, carpool, or take public transit.

Educate yourself about the environment; does your community have tree by-laws, recycling, wildlife corridors, and parks? Are you cars inspected yearly for pollution control? Is it leaking oil? Do you wash your vehicles in your driveways and have the soap etc. run into the drain and into your waterways? Do you throw chemicals down the storm sewer?

The list goes on and on: you can make a difference and if you do perhaps, we won’t have to watch disasters happening in strange place on television or live in strange times. Just maybe we can get back to the basics of living, loving and listening to the birds singing.

- - - - -

Editor's footnote: Other actions we could take include:

- Political Activism...if you don't like what our politicians are doing, speak up, write letters, join an organization.
- Community Involvement...volunteers are needed in every aspect of our social lives. Children, animals, old people, and activists all need your help. Do you have a few hours to spare?

Make a commitment to simplify our lives:

Consider becoming a vegetarian, move to a smaller house, sell the gas guzzler, get rid of the clutter, change jobs, rethink your work-life balance, and give more money to charities. Take a class, learn a new skill, study a foreign language, travel to a new place. Finally, if you don't want to be considered greedy and ego-centric, (Dee's opening idea), but think you might be, make some changes today.

There is much talk about "values" these days (Dee's second opening idea). The term has been politicized. One group wants to shove their views about the way to live down the throats of the rest of the group and they call it having "values", as if the politically "out" group doesn't have any values. We're split down the middle about those "values" but nobody seems to have the courage to figure out which "values" we all hold in common. It's a very strange time, indeed, when people who should be pulling together are pulling each other apart. We can fix this problem if only we wanted to.