“With freedom, books, flowers and the moon, who could not be happy”
-Gertrude Stein
Indeed. Small and large wonders around us when noticed and absorbed in their fullness can create happiness. There are thousands of other wonders but freedom, books, flowers and the moon are a really good start…..
“One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, “What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?”
-Rachel Carson
There is a road from the eye to the heart that does not go through the intellect.
~Gilbert Keith Chesterton
“Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn.”
-Elizabeth Lawrence
From Minds.com on October 19th it is reported that Bolivia has passed a ten article law, The Law of Mother Earth. The tenants in the law are fundamental to the ongoing health and healing of the earth. This earth must be respected and honored in this way as it provides sustenance for all of us…nourishment for the body and the soul. I loved knowing and reading about this…
“The Law of Mother Earth (“Ley de Derechos de La Madre Tierra”) holds the land as sacred and holds it as a living system with rights to be protected from exploitation, and creates 11 distinguished rights for the environment. It was passed by Bolivia’s Plurinational Legislative Assembly. This 10 article law is derived from the first part of a longer draft bill, drafted and released by the Pact of Unity by November 2010. Can we please spread this law? There has to be a way for the free market to interoperate with reverence for this planet. Period.
In accordance with the philosophy of Pachamama, it states, “She is sacred, fertile and the source of life that feeds and cares for all living beings in her womb. She is in permanent balance, harmony and communication with the cosmos. She is comprised of all ecosystems and living beings, and their self-organisation.”
“It makes world history. Earth is the mother of all,” said Vice-President Alvaro García Linera. “It establishes a new relationship between man and nature, the harmony of which must be preserved as a guarantee of its regeneration.”
The law enumerates seven specific rights to which Mother Earth and her constituent life systems, including human communities, are entitled to:
To life: It is the right to the maintenance of the integrity of life systems and natural processes which sustain them, as well as the capacities and conditions for their renewal
To the Diversity of Life: It is the right to the preservation of the differentiation and variety of the beings that comprise Mother Earth, without being genetically altered, nor artificially modified in their structure, in such a manner that threatens their existence, functioning and future potential
To water: It is the right of the preservation of the quality and composition of water to sustain life systems and their protection with regards to contamination, for renewal of the life of Mother Earth and all its components
To clean air: It is the right of the preservation of the quality and composition of air to sustain life systems and their protection with regards to contamination, for renewal of the life of Mother Earth and all its components
To equilibrium: It is the right to maintenance or restoration of the inter-relation, interdependence, ability to complement and functionality of the components of Mother Earth, in a balanced manner for the continuation of its cycles and the renewal of its vital processes
To restoration: It is the right to the effective and opportune restoration of life systems affected by direct or indirect human activities
To live free of contamination: It is the right for preservation of Mother Earth and any of its components with regards to toxic and radioactive waste generated by human activities
“The one red leaf, the last of its clan,
That dances as often as dance it can,
Hanging so light, and hanging so high,
On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky.”-Samuel Taylor Coleridge
“Autumn mornings: sunshine and crisp air, birds and calmness, year’s end and day’s beginnings.”
-Terri Guillemets
“There is a harmony
In autumn, and a luster in its sky…”
~Percy Bysshe Shelley
Autumn’s harmony is deeply felt and completely absorbed. This is a season of completion and reflection, and of shimmering beauty, luster and radiance. The grasses and trees are shining forth in full fruition of their potential. The forests rich in greens and yellows.
The gifts of Fall’s presence, endlessly giving.
“I promise if you keep searching for everything beautiful in this world you will eventually become it.”
-Tyler Kent White
“No Spring nor Summer Beauty hath such grace
As I have seen in one Autumnal face.”
– John Donne
“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are October’s”
-L. M. Montgomery
“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.”
~Jim Bishop
“The time of the falling leaves has come again. Once more in our morning walk we tread upon carpets of gold and crimson, of brown and bronze, woven by the winds or the rains out of these delicate textures while we slept.
How beautifully the leaves grow old! How full of light and color are their last days! There are exceptions, of course. The leaves of most of the fruit-trees fade and wither and fall ingloriously. They bequeath their heritage of color to their fruit. Upon it they lavish the hues which other trees lavish upon their leaves….
But in October what a feast to the eye our woods and groves present! The whole body of the air seems enriched by their calm, slow radiance. They are giving back the light they have been absorbing from the sun all summer.”
~John Burroughs, “The Falling Leaves,” Under the Maples
