Increase Your Footprint (family-friendly)

Reduce Your Footprint. Consume less.  Eat less.
Shower less. Poop less. You're breathing out Carbon Dioxide.
It is poison.  The EPA said so.  Breathe less.

Zero. Carbon Zero. Net Zero.  Zero Waste.
Zero Emissions (btw, please tell the cows to stop farting too).
Carbon Neutral.  Zero Impact.

Don't you get it? You have no role here.
The best you can be is nothing. Goal Zero.
Become Zero.

It's called conservation.
STAY BEHIND THE DAMN ROPE!

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Sisters & Brothers. THIS ALL JUST NOISE.

Sisters & Brothers. Where did that rope come from? Who put it up?

Sisters & Brothers. You are not lost.  You were never lost.
You were never disconnected.  You are not disconnected.
How could you be?

Do you not wake up every morning to take in the exhales of our green siblings?
Do they not rely on you to breathe as well?
Do you not drink from the oceans?
the rivers?
the rain?

No. You were never disconnected.  You can never be.
You are this Earth in form, in motion.

What you may be,
is a little forgetful.

Yes.  You might have a bit of amnesia.
Forgotten that when you reach your hands into Earth,
she speaks to you.
 
She tells you of your role, your purpose.
She tells you that you are here as a listener, as a caretaker,
a magical weaver who ties and strengthens the bonds of all her spirit forms.

We all forget from time to time, and that's okay.
That is why we are here together.
So that from time to time, in our forgetfulness,
we may be reminded by those who remember.

It is now time to remember.

Let us now compost the pale ideas that have suppressed
our memory for many a generation,
and form them into the color that is missing from our soils,
our stories,
our culture.

Sisters & Brothers. Increase Your Footprint.

Bring to this Earth what she has been sorely missing:
care,
love,
compassion,
listening,
honesty,
vulnerability,
nuance,
color.

This world is neither black, nor white nor shades of grey.
This world is color.  Bring the color forth.

Plant the seeds of color in all the lands.

Let your every footprint leave the softened, rich, colorful soil in which these seeds will grow.
Let your care reach through your heart and into your hands, into your lips.

With your fingers press the seeds to this Earth that will grow to shelter us.
With your lips give gratitude to all who will nourish these seeds.

You are with a role here.
Your footprint is what our Mother is missing.

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Thank you for reading this latest piece of mine. My writing is a reflection of what I've learned in the garden over the past 10 years, and I am working to share this knowledge with whoever I can. 

If you resonate with my vision, I encourage you to join me for my 7-week gardening course called Increase Your Footprint.  The course will explore ways in which we can remember our relationship of mutual care and affection for our Earth. Early bird registration is available now for those who are ready to take action and start caring for their water, soil, and air on a daily basis.

Click here to learn more about my Increase Your Footprint course.