Survival Revolution

Mother Nature's Advice Column


Read Mother Nature's January words of wisdom that she'd like to share with all of us.

Mother Nature

 

Hi Mother Nature,

I’m really needing some of your words of wisdom. See, I’m not that beautiful (on the outside) and I’m having trouble getting humans to see that I’m worth keeping around rather than destroying and replacing. My lack of color may be an eyesore at times and trust me I know that there are thousands of other places on this planet that provide much greater beauty but, if only they could see how much value I add beneath the surface I know they’d see my true potential.

Sincerely,

Peat Bog

Dear Peatty,

Goodness, you truly have found yourself in quite the predicament. Sure, you’re exterior may not be rich with the greens of the Amazon or filled with the transitioning blues of the Caribbean seas but you are beautiful in your own way. Please, don’t ever forget that no one – not even the beauty queen Amazon – can do what you do. You are unique. The amount of carbon dioxide that you keep locked away is unmatched by any other ecosystem on land. Peatty, you’re basically a superhero. Don’t let those humans get you down, I’ll make sure to have a word with them.

And until then, don’t be afraid to remind them how much nature is needed for their survival.

Love,

Mama Nature


Dear Mother Nature,

We’re having a bit of a midlife crisis – and we’ve been around for about 500 million years, so we’re not saying this lightly. We’re really looking for some serious help here. For the past 500 million years, we’ve known our place, we’ve known what we’re good at, what we’re useful for but, these days, nothing seems right. With warming oceans and more of our bloom explosions than ever, we’re seeming to do more harm than good. It feels like we’ve lost our way and our purpose. Please help!

Lost, confused, and unintentionally deadly,

Phytoplankton

Dear Phyto,

You know the classic breakup line, “It’s not you, it’s me.”? And when someone uses this line it usually isn’t actually them but it’s you? Well, that’s not the case here. Everything you’re experiencing is actually them. The warmer ocean temperatures, the excess nutrient runoff, the unbalance. Yup, it’s all them and it’s all completely out of your control. You’ve done an absolutely incredible job at producing half of Earth’s oxygen and you shouldn’t stop now. Humans seem to forget how essential you are to their every breath. Keep your head up and keep doing you!

Love,

Mama Nature


Dear Mother Nature,

I’m exhausted and I’m not sure that I can keep fighting this seemingly losing battle. The climate and biodiversity emergency feels like a runaway train that none of us can stop. Things look so grim that I can’t even get out of bed. No matter how hard we try, there constantly seems to be another obstacle in the way. Mama, I need your words of comfort and support now more than ever. 

It’s useless to even keep trying, right?

Humans

Dear children,

I would love to say that I feel sorry for you but sadly, I don’t. You very clearly got yourselves into this mess so you’ll have to get yourselves out of it. They told me the terrible twos were the stage to look out for but I had no idea how much of a rough situation we’d find ourselves in come the terrible 200,000s. You know that I love you but you are not babies anymore, it’s high time that you take responsibility for your actions. So pull yourselves out of bed, look at what you’re doing to the ecosystems and species that are trying to do everything to support you, and once and for all, clean up the mess that you’ve created.

Get to work.

Mama Nature

Ps. I’ve thought of another way that you can make yourselves useful. Engage in the global, leadership, and community organizing event of the year – the 11th World Wilderness Congress. I’m telling you, you’ll feel a lot better about things once you’ve started working together to come up with solutions.