Friday, February 16, 2007

an inconvenient truth

so, i've got to get this out of my draft folder...



OK, so i recently watched al gore's global warming movie, and i was honestly shocked by a lot of it:

1) he's been fighting this war since he was in college. this is definitely NOT some bandwagon that he has jumped on
2) i am appalled at how quickly they project some of these warming changes could happen - major environmental changes within 10 years!! irrevocable environmental changes in our children's lifetimes!
3) 'washington' has played some part in trying to downplay this issue for a long time
4) i am not doing ANYTHING positive right now to change the impact MY family will have on the environment and global warming

the movie itself was a little dry (well, let's face it, al gore can be a little dry). but, as it was meant to do, it really got me thinking: thinking outside of my bubble world; thinking about 12 feet of snow falling in NY, where i used to go to school; thinking about having to drive to a recycling place because we don't have curbside pickup where i live; thinking about whether or not we should be replacing lightbulbs; thinking about becoming a single car family again...

but mostly? mostly, i'm thinking about the fact that i used to do something about [x], not just think about [x]. i was a do-er!! i was passionate about important things. i was all about rallies and bumper stickers and amnesty international concerts and red/pink/yellow ribbons. i could change the world!!

and now i am a wife, a mother, an employee, an employer, someone who finds time to read about important things... and yet, someone who has no time to do something about important things? can that be true? i'm too busy, and that is why i run my air conditioner and throw batteries in the household trash and buy groceries with thoughtless packaging?

january was the hottest month on record. what can we expect for june? when my son graduates from high school a dozen years from now, will it be too hot to sit in rows of scorching metal folding chairs on the browning and arid turf of the high school football field? will it really get that bad?

sadly, part of me just doesn't want to know. i want to stay in my bubble world. because it is somehow easier in here. it is, to be truthful, more convenient.

7 comments:

carlo said...

Ignorance is bliss, right? Isn't it interesting how true that saying is?

Your post made me think this afternoon. Heavy thoughts. Depressing thoughts. Scary thoughts and yet something we should be thinking about.

And my post for today was about cupcakes.

(Speaking of, would a buttercream iced cupcake with sprinkles help?)

Amy said...

I'm with you on the x-doer vs. current mother dilemma. Surely things can still be done. I just lack so much energy that used to be mine.

I tend to avoid thinking about this type of stuff...global warming, avian flu...they scare me, so I ostrich.

carlo said...

coming back to this- been thinking about it a lot, and the doer vs ex-doer debate. i am in the same boat but i guess i now view it as i am a do-er on an every day basis, 24/7. we are raising the next generation so that is a huge weight on our shoulders

all of the other stuff is big, no doubt about it. i do need to be better about the little things that i can do (lightbulbs, not wasting electricity and so many other little things)

carlo said...

coming back to this- been thinking about it a lot, and the doer vs ex-doer debate. i am in the same boat but i guess i now view it as i am a do-er on an every day basis, 24/7. we are raising the next generation so that is a huge weight on our shoulders

all of the other stuff is big, no doubt about it. i do need to be better about the little things that i can do (lightbulbs, not wasting electricity and so many other little things)

Unknown said...

carlo - a cupcake would be great! can you make it high in fiber?!?

guys, i know this stuff is hard to wrap our brains around... i put this post up here, because these thoughts keep getting put right in front of me. i feel that i am probably supposed to be moving toward some sort of action, but i'm not quite sure what that is, yet.

carlo said...

I am working on a high fiber cupcake and will pass along the recipe as soon as I do!! :)

I am glad you posted about the movie, actually. I think so many of us feel helpless about it and don't know what to do. Baby steps first, I guess?!

michelle said...

I saw the movie too and was impressed, shocked, overwhelmed... I definitely don't feel like a doer these days. And I do think I tend to stick my head in the sand because I'm not sure what to do about these scary things. Thanks for opening the conversation.

And I'm waiting with bated breath for the high-fiber cupcakes!