09/23/2024
Started reading What If We Get It Right by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and recommend it for anyone wondering about the future and our climate and Earth and what we can do. From the prelude: "Do you recall being a little kid, mouth agape at the magic of forests or dinosaurs or goldfish or the moon or ants? Do you remember the encompassing amazement? The desire to understand how it all worked? [...]this biophilia can be a powerful driving force for conservation, for maintaining a proper respect for the millions of non-human species on this planet who also deserve to thrive and do all the fantastic and weird things they do. We are but a minuscule part of an interdependent multitude. The web of life is vast. And really, really cool. [...] That feeling of awe that rushes through us when we get up close to the natural world is a signal. [...] it is telling us something about what matters. ... In other words, it is telling us how to survive. As humans, it is maladaptive to lose touch with these feelings."
Someone asked me why I paint last week, and I was a little stumped, but I think this is part of it. Wanting deeply to share and -- maybe? possibly? -- at least attempt to inspire/renew/nurture this sense of awe such that we remember the necessity and miracle of coexistence.
