You Are Not Alone: Fighting Global Warming

To all of the powerful young voices speaking up about climate change, you need to know you are not alone. Some people have been speaking up for decades and not being heard, while others are just now awakening out of their sleep. Thank you, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sen. Ed Markey and Greta Thunberg, to name a few, for raising your voices loud and clear, for activating a powerful energy and taking this call to action, followed with actual action, to a whole new level. Thank you for having the boldness, courage and audacity to say what you are saying. You were born to voice this reality, at this very time in history. For the timing is right, while also being frightfully close to being too late.

So many activists/environmentalists like Paul Kingsnorth, former editor of The Ecologist, had been speaking up on global warming for decades, and some – understandably -- have gone the other direction, feeling that the window for redemption has closed, that mankind has not woken up in time. These luminaries weren’t heard and were the butt of jokes in films/the media and, often, in society in general. If they would have spoken up with the same rigor and bluntness as you all are now, they would have been deemed insane.

But things have changed. Enough people heard enough of what these activists said to start an opening and a shift. So now the time is ripe; many more citizens are receptive to your clear call for instantaneous action. Without a minute to spare, it sometimes takes an emergency situation to get people’s adrenaline kicking them into acting.

People have been kept busy and distracted, are overworked and under slept, just trying to keep their heads above water financially. The shows and films audiences have been viewing daily can keep people ignorant. They glorify the wrong character traits, maintain stereotypes and undermine the development of awareness and higher consciousness in the general public.

Many of the changemakers on this planet are too isolated from each other. There needs to be a real global collaboration. Everyone’s impact will be increased many times over. It also needs to be understood that there are a multitude of complex layers to the problems we now face. A foundation was laid thousands of years ago, a shaky foundation built on lies, greed and a desire to control. It created an imbalance and blindness that needs to be corrected if this planet and humanity are to survive. We just can’t continue to build on the old foundation. So, that is where the collaboration comes in. No one person can cover enough ground, nor one group. Just know you aren’t alone; there are many people working to heal seemingly unrelated and sometimes non-physical aspects of the world that don’t immediately appear to connect to climate change. But these shifts are actually imperative if a full and sustainable healing is to take place.

The inequality of genders, races, and economics/distribution of wealth, our disconnection with nature, along with our negative view of aging and our elders, have kept the world off-balance, because everything is interconnected, and we are missing out on valuable resources by not giving the opportunity for everyone of all genders, race and ages to share their gifts. We all have something to contribute, and whatever harm/disservice is done to one person affects everyone and everything, a fact that so many people in power fail to recognize.

Women’s voices have been suppressed, and powerful women leaders and teachers have been written out of history even since before biblical times. The gospels that were included in the Bible were not chosen by God, as so many people think, but rather they were cherry-picked by the heads of the government and church...humans, with human motives.

The gospels that encourage people to honor each other, no matter their race or gender, that empower us all to grow and transform as we learn from life, were left out ...and those that were chosen to be included, though still filled with vital information, were noticeably re-edited/inaccurately translated; the writing styles don’t match in parts, all to fit a patriarchal paradigm and give government and church the control. They ask us to believe exactly what they have handed us, rather than ask us to seek a personal relationship with God, which Jesus spoke of. Many religions, good at the core, have been distorted or misinterpreted and with that, creating a feeling of separation. This has had a tremendous impact on humanity, on how we perceive and treat each other, and the planet.

Story and the media have great power in influencing how we perceive things, and how we behave. Much of the media has been keeping us dumbed down, at best. That is why I have chosen filmmaking as the venue where I might have the greatest influence, and why I also founded the Conscious Media Movement. But women have mostly been kept out of the influential position of filmmaking, and because of that, the nurturing, compassionate feminine voice has been silenced. What an out-of-whack worldview we have when only one gender is allowed to share their stories and perspective -- even though women make up about 50% of the population! Women and men alike have so much to contribute. They each bring different problem-solving skills. We are all in this together.

More importantly, with the power and influence that film and media have, the most highly evolved and conscious people need to be the storytellers. However, it is the polar opposite in Hollywood, and around the world...but especially in Hollywood. Fix this situation, and we will have the tools to raise up and heal humanity, perceiving the world, nature, and each other in a new light. With this new perception, we would make the choices and take the actions that will heal the planet. The Conscious Media Movement is about creating conscious media and encouraging other filmmakers/mediamakers, and conscious storytellers of all genres, to use story to uplift society.

So, it’s exciting to see women stepping into leadership positions and finally having their voices heard, and their unique insights and problem-solving skills put to use, though with some resistance. But just look at the state the world is in! A highly patriarchal society is harmful to both men and women, just as it would be if it were the other way around, a highly matriarchal society. The world would not be so war torn, for example, if the masculine/feminine energies were in balance. Balance is necessary for a healthy existence.

But many individuals feel uncomfortable with any type of change, especially if it feels as if it will take an enormous amount of effort to accomplish, or takes them out of their comfort-zone. They will adjust and come on-board once they realize that they will experience an increase in the quality of their life, on multiple levels. I hope these people recognize the urgency for environmental action, for the sake of their future and especially for the sake of the future of their young loved ones. So it couldn't be more important than now to VOTE into office the people who will step up to the plate, fight the corporations and make the changes in policy to save the planet. It is a do or die situation, so everyone needs to do what they can.

And as far as the haters, who are sending you, Greta, AOC, and other changemakers nasty comments and criticism...these people are simply too scared to look directly at what’s going on. Thank you for having the courage to say what needs to be said anyway. Thank you for re-motivating those who were starting to grow weary. Thank you for sounding the alarm that it is imperative for immediate action to be taken, starting with the cessation of fossil fuel use and the unconscionable rate we are cutting trees...we need to start planting trees to undo the damage, stop the wasteful use of so many items, and as you’ve said, we need to protect, restore, fund.

Meanwhile, please know that you are not alone. To everyone out there, this is the time for the wise to rise and find each other in order to collaborate...and remember to VOTE into office those you have the best interest of the planet and those on it at heart. Ask yourself if your rhetoric and actions match who you are at your core. Are you part of the hatred, separation, ignorance, destruction and downfall...or are you part of the solution and healing? What side of history will you be on? Do you choose to sleep through this, or do you choose to be one of the conscious, compassionate, wise and courageous souls who step up to the plate, understanding the urgency of positive action at this time in history, and do you understand what is at stake? Help us to bring in the restorative changes that need to happen, if the planet and everyone on it is to survive.