04/22/2026
I cry every time I see pictures of the earth from space. All the division melts away; we’re all here, we’re all in this together. All that you love and all that you hate, all you distrust, and all you save. It’s pretty difficult to describe – do you feel it too? The interconnectedness of everything?
Greta Thunberg once said “I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.”
There is plenty of doom and gloom to be had if you’re paying attention, and there’s a reason for that. Humans have evolved what researchers call a “negativity bias.” We are predisposed towards fear and anxiety for good reason. If our ancestors thought there was a lion, but it wasn’t really there? We’d have a little needless fear, which would be uncomfortable but not deadly. Imagine the ancestor who actually was fearless. Not at all concerned about predators, they were killed pretty quickly and never carried on their genes. Our genes would rather us have a thousand false positives than one deadly false negative. So we naturally pay more attention when scary information comes into consciousness. We more easily store and remember negative information. We love to gossip about it.
There are a great number of things worthy of fear. We’re seeing record heat so often it’s hard to believe. We’re approaching or in the midst of the worst extinction event in 50 million years. Not to mention war, poverty, politics, etc etc etc. I love to say “Every day is Earth Day” and sometimes people scoff at me, as if the weight of caring about our home every single day is a burden too great to bear. I get it! It can be exhausting. It can be so depressing it’s tempting to shut down entirely, or ignore the issue altogether in hopes of distraction. Each person is a tiny part of the whole, and there is so much that’s outside of our hands.
We do not need to be Atlas, carrying the whole world on our shoulders. I’d like to offer you another quote: “If you plant a tub of milkweed on your little apartment terrace and a monarch butterfly finds it and lays her eggs, you have just lodged a protest against the forces that would cover our world with concrete; that would fill our rivers and streams with chemicals; that would lay waste to our forests and cut the tops off our mountains” - Tai Moses
Please take a moment (no, many moments) to realize that your motivation does not have to come entirely from fear, but love. If you have a child, you don’t just fear that they’ll hurt themselves, but also hope they will be successful. You find pride and joy in their accomplishments, and awe in their ability to learn to walk, talk, and become their own person. You don’t have to make a significant difference to the whole planet, but if you plant a native tree and a big fat bumblebee enjoys the nectar, you made a difference for that bee. You made a difference for yourself. And yes, as a side effect, that benefit ripples out to the whole world. It ain't much, but it’s honest work. Feel good about it, and take some time to consciously let that feeling sink into you.
Love does include fear, and doing good things will never eliminate fear. We shouldn’t try. We need enough fear to help motivate us, but ideally no more than that. Every day is earth day because every sunrise we witness, every breath we take, every time we love – all takes place on earth. Fighting for our home doesn’t have to be a burden, but a way to give meaning and purpose to life.
Happy Earth Day!
