Earth Day

The following is excerpted from today's Daily Love message (dailylove.com):

"Today we celebrate Earth Day.

As we continue to head closer to Unity consciousness

we will all become more aware and active towards

helping to preserve our environment,and this is good.

But the best way for us to save the planet is to save ourselves.

Each one of us is a microcosm of the macro Earth

and represents our own planet if you will.

Just as the whole of our body is made up of 75-100 trillion cells,

so to is the Earth made up of 6.77 billion human beings.

The health of each cell either

adds or detracts to the overall health of your body.

If enough cells grow sick the body will grow sick as well.

The same can be said for us and the Earth.

Since we have been given the powers of thought,

intuition and conscious choice

we are the caretakers of this Planet we all share.

Your job is to be as happy and healthy as you can be

- your happiness will rub off on others

helping them to find happiness

thus creating a ripple effect and

making our world happier and healthier than it was before.

Yes, it's important to take steps to Save the Planet,

but the reality is the Planet doesn't need saving.

It was here long before we were and

it will be here long after us if we mess it all up.

What we are truly doing today on this Earth Day

is saving ourselves

and that great challenge begins in your life

in the everyday choices you make

to either choose love or fear.

If you want to Save the Planet choose love."

Mastin Kipp

I like the idea of setting aside a day to call attention to our mother earth. In a way it's like a birthday, and I think we all know how I feel about birthdays. Coincidentally today is a birthday to be remembered. Sweet, kind, gentle Zubin was born this day thirty-six years ago. I'm not sure I can pinpoint it exactly but I think there is a "godwink" and symmetry in that pairing - Earth Day and Zubin.

When I think of Zubin, my mind goes immediately to his love of nature, of being surrounded by outdoorsy things. Kayaking, riding a bike down a coastal highway, photographing trees, playing soccer, driving through Mexico in a VW bus, gazing at the stars. All of those things have an earthy element to them, don't you think?

Zubin's body was confined to a wheelchair in the last ten years of his life, but I don't believe his mind or spirit were ever limited. Was that part of his tragedy or his legacy? Zub seemed to bloom where he was planted. Sure he would have loved for his life to be different. We all did. For years we prayed that we'd wake up and the nightmare would have a different ending. We all knew there was so much more he could have been and done. Yet, as if he was participating in the Mehta version of Extreme Hearts, Zub played the hand he was dealt and met his daily challenges head on.

It's a toss up whether I'm going to cry or laugh when I remember Zub. Losing him too soon still hurts. But thinking of his wry sense of humor, that twinkle in his dark brown eyes, and his ability to touch people on a soul level only serves to make me smile and to try harder to thrive in spite of the difficulties that come my way.

A few days before he passed away, Zub was working on a collage picture of this big ass tree in a nearby park. Shown here, it comes out too small and dark but gives you a tiny idea of its beauty, mystery, and Zub's talent. There's something about the tree that reminds me of Zubin. Is it the roots that holds it firmly in place, giving it a place from which to reach for the heavens? Or is it the way it stand there, takes the sun, the wind, the rain, whatever comes at it, and keeps growing anyway?

Knowing Zubin was like sitting at the foot of a master teacher. Listening and wanting to know more. He was an old soul too soon gone but long remembered.

Happy Earth Day.

Like Zubin, may our lives be an example to those who come after us.

Merry ME