I'm But A Leaf On The Tree Of Life...

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A native California Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii) leaf found in the yard on Friday, February 24th, 2006.

This entry is an edited version of my response to comments on my last two posts.

Thank you all for your thought-provoking comments and ideas, but please hear me out thoughtfully before you judge this post as negative, hopeless, or, on the other hand, naively optimistic.

Honestly, I don't believe our challenge today is to be optimistic, I believe it's too late for the optimism of ‘best possible outcomes’.

There is nothing optimistic in the inevitable human population crash that is coming, or in the mass extinctions upon us now, but I do believe our challenge as individuals, is to survive.

Hope and optimism are words with two completely different meanings.

Evolutionary biology has shown us that life is self-perpetuating, and that each individual, of every species, has an intense desire for survival.

So, it's only natural that I feel a responsibility, as a human being, to use every tool given me, through evolution, including language and communication, in finding a way toward survival, for me, my family, and ultimately, my species.

What I've learned from the challenge of being a human, and, as an individual who desires to continue living, is that the long-term survival of any species depends upon the individuals of that species cooperating within the laws of nature.

I'm hopeful because I'm alive, because there is much beauty in the world, because we are so adaptable, and yet, even in death or extinction, I see hope.

I'm not religious, and have little interest in the dominant theological fairytales & myths of our time. I believe mostly in what I see. But, at the same time, I do have a deeply spiritual nature and don't dis-believe what I can't see.

What I do see though, is that all life is interconnected, that the earth we walk upon, the food we eat, the very air we breath, is the living embodiment of all the lives that came before. That we are literally eating and breathing our ancestors, and that everything alive today, is in fact, the living culmination of all those lives that preceded us.

And I see clearly, that when I die, my atoms, and my molecules, simply rejoin this marvelous stew in some other form, contributing to the ongoing processes of life and evolution.

But science can't teach us everything, and I also sense, in the evolution of life, a universal consciousness and a passionate desire, that, in the constant struggle for survival, tends toward diversity, so that, even in death, I can envision being part of some eternal mysterious journey over which I have absolutely no control, and I find that liberating.

Right now I'm just Jim, a member of the Homo sapiens clan, and my job is to survive, to live, and, seeing how I've been given a voice, to speak.

But actions still speak louder than words…

…and believe me friends, I haven't accomplished so much.

I live on a Civil Service pension, not from a sustainable life on the land. Yes, I've made some progress toward a more realistic lifestyle, but I’m still a consumer, I pay taxes and enable corporations, and my government, to wage war and destruction upon the world, and I struggle daily with my own shortcomings and failures.

Here are some thoughts from Albert Einstein;

"A human being is part of a whole, the universe. Our task is to free ourselves from the delusion of separateness, to embrace all living creatures, and the whole of nature".

And, from the book , 'Microcosmos', by Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan;

"Life did not take over the globe by combat, but by networking. Life forms multiplied and complexified by co-opting others, not just by killing them".

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