The season
to be jolly is done
and what remains is a pile of trash.
Maybe this year we can
do better?
No matter where you are in the world, you only have to look around you and find that still too many people treat their environment as a public trashcan. Especially after events or special moments, this becomes evident. For example in The Netherlands after the celebration of New Year’s Eve, when millions of Euros are shot into the sky as fireworks. It’s an amazing and very festive sight, but too few people clean up after themselves. Like they don’t care.
Now, I don’t like litter, and I don’t like what it does to the planet I want my children to live on. But that’s not what I want you to think about, this time. The point is about agency. Are we capable of making the changes we want to see in our lives, or do we sit back and wait for the government, our bosses, our business leaders to solve our problems? I like to think we have the power to act. I think we can make change happen. It starts with me. And you. Then, the rest of the world will join us. Or at least 15% of the people, as often that seems to be enough to make societal change happen. So, will you clean up after yourself, plant a tree, bike or walk to school or work one day per week, drink water from a reusable bottle, be kind to the people around you? Let me know in the comments. Or better yet: just do it.
The poetics of life
Abandoned buildings are fascinating. And filled with poetry. Malls are also fascinating, and even they can be filled with poetry. Abandoned malls are a very special category. Not just in America, even though this wonderful essay is all about the American Mall. I think you find familiarity in it. Then think of that mall near you. What’s the poetry you could find there?
Poetry elsewhere
Doing better. There are many places in the world for which you wish that they soon will be doing better. But if we don’t act and help, the sandcastles they build there will be only built to harbour not generation health or wealth, but generational hate and destruction. This beautiful poem by
asks us all to do better.My poet-friend Ashwini Dodani is always encouraging himself and the people around him to be better. With positive messages and a focus on taking care of your mental health. He is kind and generous and his poetry is a beautiful reflection of that. His poem Mind Chroma is a beautiful example.
They say you need to love yourself before you can love others. And if you want to do better, really do better, you also have to accept that our perfectness, our loveableness, hides in our imperfectness. This poem by
celebrates just that:
"It starts with me. And you. Then, the rest of the world will join us. Or at least 15% of the people, as often that seems to be enough to make societal change happen."
The tipping point.
Thank you Arjan for celebrating the change makers and encouraging all of us to act.
P.s. loved the bonfire poem by @manonhuntjens
We are of like mind, Arjan! I’m a a tree-hugging granola-girl from way back! I live near the ocean and frequently walk the shore where I pick up trash along the way. I carry what I can, then walk up the sand to drop it in a bin, then back to the shore I go. It adds to my step count and I feel doubly productive (and, let’s face it, somewhat self righteous… I’m working on that!) I’ve used reusable bags since the early nineties, when doing so thoroughly embarrassed my children because no one else did that. I say no thanks to plastic lids and straws, recycle nearly everything and compost the kitchen scraps I cannot use to make broth. All my laundry and most household cleaning products have no plastic containers. And still, I am amazed at the mountains of trash my household can produce. It is daunting. And you now have me heading to the studio to either sketch or write about my wasteful ways…