My friend, Donna Callighan, has a tar ball from the BP Gulf oil spill in a glass vial sitting on her desk.
It inspires her work as an Internationally exhibited environmental artist. You may recognize some of the pieces of art at Aetheria as being part of this series. I love her work. It's beautiful.
Her recent work is a "visual commentary on our continual path towards committing ecocide."
But what can we do? If there was one predominant emotion I felt back in the Spring when the Gulf Oil Spill first happened, it was pure anger. Anger at the short-sightedness of our culture. Anger that our collective instinct is to blame someone - anyone - else for such a disaster. Anger at the ineptitude of our government to prevent companies such as BP from being too greedy and abandoning what's morally right for the whole tribe and allowing them to line their pockets with profit at our expense...
...but I realized quickly that I was just lashing out at everyone else, when I should fundamentally be angry with myself. It's my responsibility to act in such a way as to protect the planet that is generously providing me with the air I breathe, the food I eat, and is the primary source of my survival.
That is a tremendous sense of responsibility descending on our shoulders, if we look at it from an isolated viewpoint. I, like many others I suspect, become overwhelmed by all the changes required in my daily life to actually walk the walk. I have seen Tapped, and stopped purchasing bottled water when I'm running around town. I've seen The Cove, and become more selective about where I purchase fish. King Corn, The Movie, taught me about the atrocities against our society's health that High Fructose Corn Syrup causes and the grim factory feed lots in the Midwest that perpetuate the skewed economics of corn farming. It's the main reason I'm such a food snob. I've seen No Impact Man, and, frankly, I think he's crazy (but I admire the initiative).
I make some things a priority, like eating organic food and (being the owner of an organic day spa) using organic products on my skin. But I also, along with my husband, enjoy going to the Montreal Grand Prix each year. There isn't a greater waste of gasoline than a Formula 1 auto race to satisfy my entertainment and competitive whims. Doesn't this make me a hypocrite? What does it take to feel as though we've done enough as individuals to have made a difference in the long-term sustainability of this planet, thereby having a positive impact on our tribe for generations?
Luckily, the Live Green CT Festival is next weekend. I plan to visit every single exhibitor to learn more about what I can do to contribute to the wellness of this beautiful planet of ours.
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