One thing many blogs concerned with nature and the environment have in common is an attitude that the current state of the environment is dire. If you follow this type of blogging you will find that these writers enjoy posting dire predictions, quoting statistics, and ranting about how people are callous and uncaring in the face of what is obviously a runaway train.
While I sometimes do quote statistics in my blog posts I try to avoid this type of "gloom and doom" vibe in my posts. Why? The answer is simple, really. It doesn't work and it very rarely helps. The truth is that the natural word IS under incredible threat. Most importantly from global warming, desertification, species extinction and air and water pollution.
But telling you this won't make you want to save it. The problem with the conservation of the natural world is yes, that people are not aware. But making them aware of the real state of things will not guarantee that they will be anymore interested in protecting it than they are in disinfecting their drains with bleach, buying everything in plastic that never biodegrades, using their car unnecessarily and polluting the water table with fertilizers …..I could go on at length here.
There is very little I can tell you for sure about the future of the natural world. What I can tell you is something that WILL help to change the things people do. Hear this and understand it, because it is important. PEOPLE PROTECT WHAT THEY LOVE AND TREASURE. IF THEY DO NOT LOVE OR APPRECIATE IT, THEY WILL NOT PROTECT IT.
So what does this mean for you and I? It means that if you want people to love nature as you do, tell them how much you love it, get them interested, get them excited, get them envious of how wonderfully empowering it is to be involved in these issues. I have done work in environmental education and reciting facts and figures does not create interest in the protection of nature. Getting people to "feel" something about nature is not about convincing them that we are doomed. Instead they need to be convinced in their hearts that it is worth saving.
For all those reading this who ARE interested and concerned, HEAR this message, because it matters more than we can comprehend. Get others excited about it, get them to "see" it through your eyes, get them to LOVE it. There is nothing in this world worth saving more than the hearts of the disconnected.
btw if anybody is interested in reading my blog you can find it here
dear Mighty Capegirl, well said.You might be interested in a virtual discussion I have been having with a friend of mine, quentincrisp, over on his page, here in the Opera Community. I have met Quentin, in London, and regard him as a remarkable writer. He is also an author of some note. But to return to the subject you write about, and my recent discussion with Q., I invite you to take a look at what we (Q & myself) have been talking about, and our responses, to each other’s input, on .Meantime, I applaud what you have just written. Bravo.lokuThinker
…and I have just been to the link you gave. It led me to your blog at blog.com. Capegirl -I was correct in calling you Mighty. What you wrote is not only essential reading, but you wrote in a manner that held my attention, took my senses, blended them with yours on that page, gave me a moment to share your feelings. How very beautiful it all was, and what an accomplished and extraordinarily gifted writer you are. Thank you for the pleasure I have experienced. Thank you also for raising this topic in the way that you have. I bend my knee, to mark my respect for the blog and its writer :star:lokuBow (full of respect):cheers:
Awwrh thank you so much LokuBow. Your words are sweet and kind and I thank you for them and for reading my blog. But now you must rise from bended knee and slay the environmetal evilists with me come on, come on, let’s go!Yes I read the posts on this thread. I think that the best attitude to have is a hopeful one. The thing about the “doom” is that it may give people the impression that “oh well there is no point, it’s all so damaged, may as well live like there is no tomorrow” when really the reverse is true. So much that ordinary people like you and I and…everybody do can make a difference even and including placing pressure on corporations, industry and government. I wonder if general attitudes to nature tie in somewhat with JCL’s post about hedonism??
…hedonism? is that JCL using his watercresshead?? -that what’s happening??…I’ll gal-lop over to his mousehole and see what you mean, MCG…….(…mmmmm…”snappycomebacks”….)loku4OurPlanet:king:
I went to mini-JCL’s mousehole and read the article. I like the quote JCL has posted (not only for its literary merit, but also for its directness) but I do not know the answer to your, perhaps rhetorical, question. I think that general attitudes -and by ‘general’ I mean very very wide, almost inclusive- are ‘mixed’. I like to suppose that you and I and my friend Quentin are a part of the microcosm -a miniature representation- in our respective opinions, of the ‘mixed’ attitude in favour of highlighting as well as publicising and warning about this problem. I speculate that Quentin, you, and I, would all be on the ‘same side’ in any division of debate, but I infer that you and I would be standing ‘next to each other’ (no naughty looks, please, I’m not hitting on MCG) and that Quentin would be a small distance away from our side, because -as you may have inferred from his correspondence and my replies- he and I do not quite ‘mesh’ -yet- in our views, apropos a positive solution/outcome. Opposing us three would be those whose views run completely counter to ours -let’s call them The Exploiters. I welcome your invitation to “slay the environmetal evilists with me come on, come on, let’s go!” …and I accept.lokuWivMCG :knight:
Hello CapeGirlWhat a wonderful idea! In organisational structures they suggest that the only way you can build co-operative relationships between people is by establishing rapport and you use this to push the organisation forwards. And I see no reason why the same could not be done between people and nature. The problem is that living spaces have become so much smaller – people spend less times in parks and open spaces than they do in shopping malls and entertainment centres. Humans have become increasingly isolated from the environment, and also increasingly insular. And this inattention to the environment has lessened the bond and the feeling of belonging to this global organism which we are so reliant on for life. You are right in that people do not relate to numbers and statistics, there is no emotional value to it. But teach a person to love nature and they will spend the rest of their lives protecting it. Thanks for a great post :)JCL.
HI Capegirl,I agree with JCL and to add some.I find in history and history will repeat itself sadly to say..People only start caring when they are running out of time.As people get older some start to believe in God.. where as they really didn’t pay God much mind before.As water becomes scarce, they start conserving. As long as there is gas for the car now why bother saving now? see what I mean???Life for today most think and this is the attitude that will be the down fall of generations to follow.Eve
i am Chinese, I live Chinese.
Hello Capegirl,I have a garden around the patio of my apartment and in it I have planted (in the dirt and in pots) many varieties of flowers and colorful foliage. About four weeks ago, I had an infestation of caterpillers. My bouganvilla was stripped clean, the evolvolus was barren, the Shasta daisies were leafless and so forth. I was so upset and the devastation the caterpillers had wrought on my beautiful flowers. I went to the store to purchase some insect killer and sprayed the bejesus out of my plants, intent on destroying every one of the hungry little beasties.Later that same day, there was an announcement on the TV. Because there is so much urban sprawl and construction going on in the state of Florida, the environmentalists were asking that everyone plant small flower gardens in their yards or to put flowering plants in pots on their patios to give the butterflies a place to eat and live. Many species of butterflies were periously close to extinction in Florida. I felt absolutely terrible, like I have singlehandedly caused the extinction of those huge black and yellow beauties, the little yellow ones, the pretty brown and orange ones that lived in my flower garden. Caterpillers turn into butterflies… duh! For nearly three weeks, I watched the flowers carefully and the plants recovered and all but the bouganvilla are blooming, again. Finally, the butterflies have returned. It was like there was a DANGER sign on my garden for those three weeks, but I guess the new generation decided to give me another chance.A hard lesson to learn…K4