Laine's Blog, Thinking Out Loud

Make Good Trouble...

 

You Don't Have to Choose Between Happiness and Being Informed

 

We are living in an amazingly beautiful world and when you focus on that more than on the bad news of the day,

you begin to see that as confused and crazy as our civilization is

the world is crazy beautiful!

 

Her beauty is so much vaster and more ancient than all the conceptual dis-information that has been heaped upon the human experience.

You start to find joy in real things. 

The thundering majesty of nature.

That spark of authenticity in people's eyes. The crackle of magic at the water's edge.

Something as simple as a Morning Glory catching the light just right can renew your faith in the universe.

And you learn to live from there.

 

You settle into an understanding that while the suffering and abuses of our world are very real and of immense consequence,

the fact that there is anything at all is immensely more significant than any of our tiny human problems.

The fact that we get to live in these bodies and inhabit these brains and move around on this amazing planet

and perceive it and think thoughts about it is a much, much bigger deal than any of our difficulties.

 

 

So, go ahead and "make good trouble"

but don't forget to see and hear and wonder at all the beauty behind your eyes and in your own back yard!

 

 

 

 

This Blog is mostly from a posting by Caitlin Johnstone on May 12, 2023 and edited and used with her blanket permission to share her work.

I thank her for her bravery and honesty and generosity!

And her husband Tim Foley.

Photos of Morning Glory by Laine!

 

 

 

Go Placidly...

 

Does anyone remember this?

 

You are a child of the universe,

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

 

That worthiness is the thing that was missing in my early years.

There is a book that has convinced me that I am equally deserving of my life

as anyone or anything in the universe -

that the universe spawned everything and everyone to this moment and beyond -

each of us unique and meant to be here!

 

 

 

 

 

The book, is THE GREAT WORK, OUR WAY INTO THE FUTURE, by Thomas Berry

In this book you find the amazing story of the indigenous peoples of the Americas and how they revered their place in nature and the universe, and had deep respect for all life.

"Desiderata" was translated by Max Ehrmann in 1927

 

 

 

 

Why Not?

 

 

Life longing for itself...

 

 

 

 

Quote from Sweet Honey on the Rocks quoting Kahlil Gibran.

Tadpoles, 2 generations, life goes on and on - no matter what the humans are doing!

Birds, bees, bugs, frogs,squirrells - all of it!

And Why not?

 

©LaineQuinn 2022

Flowers...

 

"...flowering plants were revolutionary in their appearance on the earth

some two hundred million years ago,

are dominant on land from the arctic to the tropics,

and are crucial to our survival."

 

Since reading those lines in Rebecca Solnit's book, Orwell's Roses,

I haven't been able to look at a flower without a deep sense of wonder

and gratitude!

 

Without flowers and their seeds,

birds and humans would not have evolved.

Period!

 

Without flowers and their seeds,

birds and humans would disappear from the earth.

 

Amen!

 

 

 

 

Quote from Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit

Flowers from Baltimore and St. Augustine, Mums, Lilies, Hibiscus

©LaineQuinn 2022

 

 

 

Earth Day!

 

There we are

on that little blue ball

happily floating through space

 

that gorgeous blue ball

we call our home planet

spinning out the seasons

and the days and nights

as we delight in the joys of being alive

 

seeing the flowers and birds and sunsets

oceans rivers mountains and valleys -

our very own earth.

 

 

 

 

 

NASA photo of the earth from outer space.

What If?

 

 

What if you are here on this beautiful, physical, gravity based planet,

simply because you want to be here?

 

You like a challenge!

 

 

 

 

 

Reprinted from LainesBlog 

©LaineQuinn 2022

 

What if you are here on this beautiful, physical, gravity based planet,

simply because you want to be here?

 

You like a challenge!

 

 

 

 

 

Reprinted from LainesBlog 

©LaineQuinn 2022

Earth Day

 

 

That we dedicate a day for the celebration of the Earth

is absurd and also necessary.

 

The, so called, "most intelligent" creatures that life has spawned

can't even protect that which sustains their very existence.

(It wasn't always this way.)

 

There are people involved in the destruction of our air, water and soil

who just don't care.

They don't see the earth as a living, breathing, life sustaining entity -

all they see is profit and power.

 

They continue to exploit the natural resources that belong to all of us

without consideration of the consequences,

much to our peril

and all in pursuit of profit and the power that comes with it.

 

Promises are made and broken.

They just don't care.

 

You and me - we can do our part and should continue to do our part -

but until corporations and governments stop tearing the fabric of life apart

we are doomed.

 

 

It is a few at the top,

the very top of the pyramid who allow the destruction to continue.

 

There are new promises in the works that will help to mitigate the destruction -

let's hope it is not too little too late

and that those promises are not broken.

 

It is time to hold their feet to the fire -

hold those in power accountable and don't let up.

 

 

"We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,

tied in a single garment of destiny.

Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly."

 

                                                                        Martin Luther King Jr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

©LaineQuinn 2021

In an attempt to remain positive in my blog, I must say that I am positive that we are in a very precarious situation!

 

Good Bye...

 

2020

 

Oh My -

Goodbye goodbye goodbye -

and don't come back

ever again.

 

The odd thing about this horrid year

is that the world is more united

than ever before.

A global pandemic has brought us closer.

 

 

The virus crossed from one country to another -

without passport or visa -

sewing together the human race in tragedy and grace.

Tragedy and Grace.

 

 

 

And everywhere in the world

People are kicking 2020 out of the door

and into space

and welcoming the new year -

collectively -

of one mind and heart.

 

A New Year,

perhaps more welcome that any other in our lifetimes.

 

2021

 

You are very welcome!

Come in, come in,

have a seat,

stay for a while.

Hello! Hello!

 

HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

 

(Is it safe to come out yet?)

  

 

 

©2020 Laine Quinn

A Change in Perspective...

 

 

Simple.

A little planet in a grand and glorious galaxy

in an unimaginable universe.

 

Our little rock is spinning on its axis,

rotating around our star, the sun,

which is rotating in the galaxy,

which is traveling in the universe,

with other galaxies

and planets and stars.

 

We've learned so much in the last 50 years!

What will we find in the next 50 years?

 

Time will tell!

 

 

 

 

Connections...

 

"...when we try to pick out anything by itself,

we find it hitched to everything else in the universe."

                                                                                       John Muir

 

 

 

 

 

Quote from Brain Pickings on Sunday, by Maria Popova.

Butterflies from St. Augustine, Key West and Baltimore. © Laine Quinn

What Comes After...

 

 

Collectively it is time that we imagine a better world.

No matter what happens in the next months or years,

it is time to put our minds on better things.

 Call it the power of positive thinking,

of visualizing,

of collective prayer -

it all works and can change the world.

 

Psychopathic leaders of politics and industry - be warned -

it is time for the Human takeover of our world.

 

Time to imagine a world where we live harmoniously with the earth,

harmoniously with each other - near and far,

harmoniously with all creatures -great and small.

A world in partnership.

A world of compassion and love and generosity.

 

If it fits in your mind,

it fits in your world.

We are more than what we can imagine.

 

Collectively it's time to imagine

what comes after -

to dream big and have faith in the human heart,

in the human desire for connection.

 

 

 

 

Photos of our Beautiful Planet in the days ahead.

 

Our Future Is In The Balance...

 

American Democracy has been considered

an experiment from its earliest days

and has been observed for over 200 years

to see if self-governance actually works.

 

America has faltered many many times yet she still stands.

The way that we participate in the experiment is up to us.

 

Voting is the most crucial and significant thing that we as Americans

can do to participate in this "grand" experiment.

 

Voting can be manipulated -

by gerrymandering Congressional districts,

by turning people away at the polls,

by intimidating people into not voting at all.

Ballots can be stolen, "misplaced" or rejected for some trumped up reason.

 

It is usually the minority party which is invested in suppressing the vote,

one way or the other.

Once they have power, they will do anything to keep it.

 

Whatever the tactics, it is imperative

that every eligible voter casts their vote

no matter how or who discourages us to do so.

VOTE.

The future is in the balance.

The future of our Earth, our food, our water,

healthcare, Social Security, racial justice.

It is all on the line.

 

Talk to your friends, your family - be sure that they plan to vote.

Our Future is in the balance.

 

 

 

 

VOTE!

 

 

Are You Sure?

 

Are you registered to vote?

Are you sure?

In some areas of the country,

if you have not participated in the last one or two election cycles,

you are purged from the voter rolls.

Period.

 

Do not wait for election day to discover that you are the victim of a voter purge.

 

Check ahead of time, like today.

In my county,

you must be registered to vote at least 30 days before an election

in order to participate in that election.

 

So, double check, even if you are sure that you are registered to vote.

Double check!

Call or visit online your Supervisor of Elections

and be sure that you can participate

in the most important presidential election

of your lifetime - so far!

 

 

 

 

Brought to by Laine, in the historic year of 2020.

Human Kindness...

 

Humans are hardwired for kindness and cooperation.

That's how we've gotten this far.

That's how we will go even farther.

As far as we can imagine!

Kindness.

Compassion.

Empathy.

Generosity.

 

 

We take good care of each other.

Let's be patient and trusting -

Like the good earth that we share.

 

 

 

 

 

Shadow and light on the beautiful leaves of the White Bird of Paradise.

©2020 Laine Quinn

 

We Are All Humans...

 

We Are all Humans -

wonderfully diverse -

who emerged from the same continent.

 

The differences,

Asian, Indian, Eskimo, Indigenous,

so called Whites, Blacks -

are just labels - tags - meaningless.

 

All Human life on the planet emerged from the continent

now called

Africa.

 

 

People dispersed to all parts of the globe

over thousands and thousands and thousands of years,

adjusting to the different environments in diverse ways.

 

All of the continents on earth are connected

deep in the earth.

All peoples on earth are connected

deep in their hearts.

 

In a sense,

we are all African!

But truly,

All part of one Human family.

 

 

 

Photo Credit: NASA 1,000,000 miles from earth, Africa and Europe.

 

 

Earth Day...

 

The Earth is breathing a sigh of relief today,

the 50th anniversary of Earth Day,

because her brainy humans have shut down

the engines of pollution.

 

 

No, it can't go on like this  - or can it?

 

(There was a reason that manufacturing left the USA,

besides cheap labor -

lax environmental controls.

Maybe the countries who host these pollutors

will realize what they have sacrificed.)

 

 

 

 

Happy Earth Day!

© 2020Laine Quinn, Angel Wing in the sky.

 

Poets...

 

 

Ecola

 

I walked by the sea-creek side.

The wind laughed, the gulls cried.

Sweet water lapped on the salt sand

between the deep sea and the deep land.

                                                Ursula K. LeGuin

 

Years ago, Joseph Campbell told us that the poets would save us.

 

I begin to understand.

 

 

 

From Ursula K LeGuin's book of poems, "Late in the Day."

Joseph Campbell, in his series, "The Power of Myth."

Photo of St. Augustine Beach, ©2020LaineQuinn

 

 

Our Better Angels...

 

It might seem incredulous

that there were peaceful, cooperative, undefended cities in so called prehistory.

But go back as recently as 1492, when Columbus sailed across the Atlantic

in search of a route to China and India.

Luckily for him and his crew,

there was land in between,

and after nearly 3 months of sailing,

they landed in what he named Hispaniola, in the Bahamas.

 

*"The Indians," Columbus reported,

"are so naive and so free with their possessions

that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it.

When you ask for something they have, they never say no.

To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone."

 

How he and his men responded to these handsome, well built people

who carried no weapons,

is shameful and obscene.

 

And thus began the conquest of the Americas,

spreading the European model of power and tyranny like a disease.

 

We are the descendants of these warring people

who believed in a winner take all mentality.

 

We are also the descendants of the peaceful, generous people,

who loved nature and life.

 

We can set our sights on making more and more powerful and accurate weapons.

 

Or we can set our sights on technologies that support life

and can turn back the clock on certain environmental collapse.

 

Love will get us there and respect -

for each other and for the world we live in.

 

Let's let our better angels have their day once again.

 

 

 

*From Howard Zinn's, A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 1492 - PRESENT.

 

 

A Mistake...

 

When you have peaceful, cooperative cities

that are unfortified:

no walls or fortresses -

that have not developed weapons of death:

there was no need for those things,

as their neighbors were friendly -

and violent warring tribes from the surrounding arid lands

invade and destroy everything in their path,

installing their vengeful, jealous gods to displace the nurturing goddess -

things change.

 

And they change dramatically and violently and relatively quickly.

1,000 or 2,000 years to undo 30,000 years

of human development.

 

In her book, The Chalice and the Blade,

Eisler makes the case that patriarchy and its elevation

of war and fear and power over others

is an anomaly,

a blip on the evolutionary screen.

 

The Pale Blue Dot

View from Voyager, Earth as seen from deep space. NASA

 

It's a detour off the path of human development.

 

A mistake that needs correction.

That must be corrected.

 

 

 

Photo of the Earth from deep space. APOD "ThePaleBlueDot"

Astronomy Picture of the Day, February 14th 2020.

 

 

Everyone is King of the Hill...

 

"Our hopes for peaceful human coexistence are not,

as we are so often told, utopian dreams."

                                                                           Riane Eisler

 

Peaceful cooperation existed long, long ago and set the foundation for civilization.

 

Human HISTORY OURSTORY goes back 30,000 years.

In most early societies technologies were developed

that supported and enhanced

the quality of life.

Otherwise what might have become of us?

 

These were cooperative societies,

with both men and women working together for the common good.

30,000 years of improving life for all.

Over millennia, these early societies developed farming,

fishing, the domestication of animals,

weaving, and even town planning.

 

The arts flourished.

 

As a result of that cooperative living,

10,000 years ago - thriving, complex city states were abundant in the fertile Mediterranean Basin.

 

Yes, these were "gynocentric, or woman-centered societies,

with the deity represented in female form,

symbolizing the generative, nurturing and creative powers of nature."

These peoples, our ancestors, lived close to nature and the stars

and had great respect for all life.

 

Was it a matriarchy? Not in the sense of being opposite to patriarchy.

These were egalitarian cultures that bestowed equal value on all citizens.

 

 "A partnership society,

in which neither half of humanity is ranked over the other

and diversity is not equated with inferiority or superiority."

 

Everyone is King of the Hill!

(Queen, Princess, Prince and Spot!)

Of the Hill!

 

 

 

 

Quotes are from the amazing book, The Chalice and the Blade, Our History, Our Future, extensively researched and written by Riane Eisler in 1987.

 

 

Revolution?

 

 

...It''s about my journey going from a liberal civil  rights lawyer

who was tinkering with the machine,

and believed that we could somehow get the to the Promised Land

if we just filed the next best lawsuit,

or met the the governor,

or organize the right number of people for the next protest,

to someone who now believes that much more revolutionary change is required,

and it's not simply a political revolution.

 

A moral and spiritual revolution is also required of us now.

 

                                                                                          *Michelle Alexander

 

This is what is required of us to begin to treat each person decently,

with respect and love

and by extension,

the earth and all aboard her.

 

 

 

 

*(Author of "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness",

talking about her new book.)

 

 

Photo of Tropical Day Flower and Dragonfly, ©2013 Laine Quinn

Taken at Longwood Gardens, in Delaware.

 

So, Imagine This...

 

So,

in my alternate universe...

There was no degradation of the earth.

Clean Air.

Clean Water.

No lies, no wars in the oil rich Middle East, no lives lost.

The U.S. military would be doing what it is charged with-

protecting Democracy,

not dismantling it worldwide.

Cancer would still be a rare disease,

not the Big Business that it is today.

 

Our Government by the people, and for the people would stand by the people,

and not the greedy aggressive corporations that have given us this dystopia.

 

Family Farms would have been protected,

and the Giant Agri-Business would never have been allowed.

Our food would be wholesome and delicious-

the soil rich in nutrients-

bees would thrive.

 

And the peacemakers never would have been assassinated,

and they would have led the way to peace and prosperity for all people.

 

"You might say I'm a dreamer,

but I'm not the only one."

                                                        John Lennon

 

 

©2020 Laine Quinn, Earth Flag, Home!

John Lennon Quote from the song "Imagine"

Paradise Reclaimed...

 

What if, instead of multiple networks of highways,

America was crisscrossed with lines of light rail?

And there were lovely terminals scattered everywhere,

and people could travel safely and comfortably,

south to north and east to west and back again,

in climate controlled modern rail cars?

 

Imagine the lives that wouldn't have been lost over the last 50 years to highway fatalities.

 

Wakanda!

 

The fictional city in the Black Panther movie,

where women were empowered equally to men

and developed technologies of peace.

 

A City outside of the greedy capitalist unsustainable consumer economy

that we have spread through the globe like a virus threatening our very existence.

 

A fictional utopia?

Yes.

 

But we are living in a real dystopia,

one that with a few different choices would improve exponentially.

 

This Earth really is a Paradise that we need to reclaim.

 

 

 

 

 

Imagine This...

 

Imagine that over 100 years of air pollution from cars and trucks

never happened.

That the arduous task of extracting oil from the earth was abandoned.

 

When Henry Ford was building cars,

he experimented with bio-fuels,

namely Hemp, the versatile plant that matured in a single season

and grew in every state in the Union.

 

Unfortunately Ford Motor Company was subsidized by Standard Oil,

John D. Rockefeller's cash cow and defiler of the earth and air.

Hemp not only threatened oil production,

but could easily have replaced cotton

and the cotton industry was having nothing to do with that.

 

Same with Paper.

 

And Pharmaceuticals?

Forget it.

 

Hemp,

quick - renewable-

inexpensive

abundant,

and in those times of monopolized industries,

Banned.

 

The Titans of Industry and Wall Street have given us the world we live in.

The environment is decimated and we have endless profitable wars,

killing off the regular folks who just want to live a good life.

 

And now we have to fight a Sisyphaen battle to reclaim our right to breathe,

to be healthy,

to live to see our children's children.

 

One step at a time.

 

 

 

Researching information about Henry Ford unearthed some dark facts. To see the link above click on his name.

How long has this been going on?

Tsk, Tsk......

What if...

 

HELP!

 

What if, when chemical companies came up with the idea

to spray food crops with the deadly compounds

that were developed in wartime,

someone very important had said,

 

"This is a really bad idea."

 

OR

 

What if, 20 or 30 years later, when a bright caring poet/scientist

saw the effects of these deadly poisons first hand

and sounded the alarm, that birds were dying, bees and butterflies too.

And the chemical big wigs had said,

 

"Oh my, this is not what we had intended.

We can do better than this."

 

If either one of those things had happened,

we would have vegetables and fruits

that actually tasted like something, instead of tasting like nothing.

And the bees and butterflies wouldn't be on the edge of extinction.

 

The Earth would be healthier and her people and their children.

 

 

 

 

Silent Spring was published in 1962, by Rachel Carson who died of breast cancer 2 years later, in 1964.

"Though much is taken, much remains and much returns." John Elder quoting Wordsworth with an addition, in Courage for the Earth, Celebrating the life and writings of Rachel Carson.

Things we can do...feed the birds, and plant flowers that attract bees and butterflies and grow our own veggies!!!!  And buy organic when we can afford to.

 

 

 

Drowning in Plastic...

 

When you bought groceries in the '50's and early 60's,

they were packed in sturdy paper bags.

These bags were then used as trash bags that,

when full, were taken outside to metal trash cans.

(I can still hear the sound of the metal cans on trash day!)

 

Milk and soda came in returnable glass bottles that never made their way to the trash

because you could get money for returning them!

 

There was no plastic.

No Styrofoam.

Until there was.

 

And now the earth is drowning in plastic.

In those short 50 or so years,

drowning in plastic.

 

So...

Paper grocery bags?

Insist on it.

Cloth?

Even better.

Paper trash bags?

Why not?

Be creative -

small steps for mankind and womankind and children kind.

 

The Earth will survive human recklessness,

but humans won't.

 

 

Paper is a renewable resource, and with the return of the versatile Hemp plant, there is even more reason to have faith in paper.

 

Soul Ecology...

 

 

"...a soulful ecology is rooted in the feeling that this world is our home

and that our responsibility to it comes not from obligation

or logic, but from true affection.

 

...As long as the heart is involved, care of the place will follow."

                                                              Thomas Moore, Care of The Soul

 

 

The thing to understand is that this in not your fault or my fault

because we didn't recycle enough or we use too much plastic,

or we believed that Round Up was safe.

 

The problem is institutionalized.

From the auto industry to plastics manufacturing,

oil producers have held sway over these industries for a century.

Chemical companies have been spreading their propaganda since WWII.

And governments have been holding their hands ever since

and silencing concerned voices.

 

There are little things that we can do in our lives and homes.

And lots of little things add up.

More later!

 

 

 

Home sweet Home! The cat, the hammock, and the flowers are still with me in my new home!

 

 

Step 2 is Kindness...

 

"If kindness takes a little longer,

it's worth the extra time."

                                   Eleanor McEvoy

 

When we develop kindness towards ourselves,

we can change the atmosphere of our days and lives;

the atmosphere of our homes and work environments,

and our relationships.

 

Kindness, first for ourselves.

All love and peace radiate from our tender hearts.

 

 

They say we have ten years, it might be less, to get this right, to turn around the dire need that the earth is in.

 

If we wake up everyday with a kind heart and gentleness towards ourselves,

then we can appreciate the beauty that is all around us.

 

This appreciation for life can carry us to the finish line,

one day at a time.

 

 

The kindness quote is from a song by Eleanor McEvoy. I recommend the book "Loving Kindness" by Sharon Salzberg for some kind inspiration.

Flagler Beach pier love notes, ©Laine Quinn

 

 

 

 

This is Dedicated to...

 

 

Whenever I see a line of pelicans coming along the beach, over the waves,

their wingtips just grazing the water, I get a little bit jealous of how simple

their life appears to be.

 

It seems that the creatures of this world are better at meeting their daily needs

than the oh so intelligent higher mammals who actually destroy or poison

the very things that support them.

 

From now on, my blog is dedicated to our home planet,

the lifeboat that we - all of us - are sailing on through space.

I am joining the chorus of concerned citizens of Mother Earth

to do my small part to alleviate the pressure of too many years

of human recklessness that has threatened our time here.

 

 

My first step is appreciation, and gratitude for the beautiful world we still live in.

The wonderful old oak trees in my neighborhood, and just last week, the hungry caterpillar on the butterfly weed,

and of course the beaches and all the life bursting there, the birds and fishes and dolphins.

 

A heartfelt appreciation and gratitude.

 

Bowing in humility before the multiplicity of life, here on planet Earth.

 

 

 

Brown Pelicans doing what they do as they surf along the waves at St. Augustine Beach.

©LaineQuinn 2020