Empathic Earthlings

From shared feelings to caring actions

I am feeling tender and a little lost, but also grateful for being alive. I think that many people around this planet are feeling tender. We are aware of so much violence, suffering, and death around us and in us. We are feeling heartbroken and are experiencing empathy for those who suffer, and we long to take actions that could help relieve some of that suffering. I would venture to say that most of the eight billion of us humans are empathic, and that those who are not are often caught in ignorance, greed, fear, anger, and hatred. We are mammals who are empathic creatures.

As you and I feel the hurt of violence, suffering, and death in Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Syria, Maine, and in so many other places, what can we do about it? I have written on social media, including in messages to President Biden, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel, warning about possible genocide, and calling for regulations on guns. I am helping the Geopolitical Alliance of Women in Ukraine publish a Ukrainian language edition of my book A Compassionate Civilization. I continue to write and speak out, calling for peace, understanding, dialogue, generosity, patience, and kindness. And I try to model those behaviors with my family, friends, neighbors, readers, listeners, and myself. Your feelings and actions?

You and I are aware of the confusion and feel the conflict of opinions about what is true and what is appropriate, moral, or just. In my writings and in my interviews on podcasts, Zoom, and radio, I make the case to protect and care for women who need or choose to have an abortion, for people of color and LGBTQ folks who just want to live their lives, and for people who want to practice their religious tradition. Your thoughts?

Many of us are increasingly aware of the heat, fires, and smoke and the mega-storms and floods of climate chaos and the dieback of whole species of animals, plants, and insects. I write and speak about the urgency of mitigation and adaptation and the need to change our individual and collective behaviors, to promote home food gardens, stop burning fossil fuels, and strengthen the ecological regeneration of soil, water, air, plants, animals, and agriculture. Yet, corporations, often with the support of governments, continue the for-profit destruction of the natural world of which we are part through extraction, commodification, and monetization. I drive a hybrid vehicle, and practice recycling. What about you?

I am painfully aware of our increasingly damaged democracies here in the US and in other countries. Oligarchy, plutocracy, corporatocracy, and fascism continue to gain strength with the support of the rich, the racists, and the religious right. I write and speak about it and work to get out the vote (GOTV), but the forces of authoritarianism continue to gerrymander, block voters, challenge legitimate elections, create false narratives and fake news, and channel billions of dollars into buying political institutions for their own benefit. I recently contacted our North Carolina legislator to express my disagreement with the proposed gerrymandered voting districts. Your thoughts?

With billionaires and millionaires rapidly multiplying their wealth, the middle class shrinking, and the poor becoming entrenched, social and economic justice seems a far away vision. We must say no to greed and create new monetary and fiscal policies that care for people and planet, a robust wealth tax, a universal basic income (UBI), Medicare for all, and much more. We need representatives committed to government by, for, and of the people and who promote the wellbeing and happiness of all.

And with unregulated artificial intelligence (AI), biological engineering, nuclear energy, and an ever expanding armaments industry, the challenges that face humanity seem to be unstoppable and unsolvable. We must regulate and contain these technologies or they could cause great harm. How to do that?

As we read history, we know that social justice, ecological regeneration, and participatory governance have been advanced in the past and can continue to be expanded and deepened in the present and in the future. We must not give up or give in to despair, cynicism, or lethargy. My vision of what is necessary and how to do it, for example, is found in my book A Compassionate Civilization: The Urgency of Sustainable Development and Mindful Activism - Reflections and Recommendations.

In this time of collapse and transformation, we can be empathic, visionary, and compassionate. We can trust the process, welcome the views and actions of youth, focus on what is emerging, and live in gratitude and happiness.

We also need to take good care of our own body-mind so that we can continue on the path of understanding and compassion. Each day, I engage in practices of mindful breathing, sitting, and resting. I repeat my vows and life understandings. At seventy-nine, I exercise and walk with our dog in our mountain-forest neighborhood. I drink enough water and try to get enough sleep. I enjoy being with family and friends, and am grateful for the gift of life. Sometimes I experience sadness or am depressed, but by caring for my body-mind, and my relationships, I can keep on keeping on in love and hope.

At this time, I am celebrating improved eyesight! I decided to undergo a brief YAG laser capsulotomy to allow light to pass through the cloudy capsule behind the artificial lens installed during a cataract procedure two years ago. I have a few conditions that made the laser treatment risky, but decided to go for it in the hope of better vision, and so far, so good. I am grateful for skilled health professionals, scientific insights, and technological innovations.

And more good news. I just learned that two wonderful people, Drs. Larry Ward and Peggy Rowe-Ward, of The Lotus Institute, who helped me over the years deepen my mindfulness practice, and are teachers in the Thich Nhat Hanh global community, are moving to Asheville, North Carolina, where we live. Gratitude and happiness abound.

You and I are empathic Earthlings given the opportunity to be alive and awake and caring for a brief moment in this vast cosmos on this beautiful planet. What an unparalleled gift.

What about you? What are your social and ecological concerns and where are you feeling empathy? What are you doing because of these concerns and feelings? How are you caring for yourself, your loved ones, and your neighbors? What is your good news?

Blessings to you and yours.

Thanks to Caeri Bertrand for creating the two memes in this essay. She also narrated the audiobook of A Compassionate Civilization. If you need someone with a wonderful, meaning-filled voice to narrate your book, please contact her at chicletyoga@gmail.com.