Happy Earth Day: Go get hugged!

‘They’ say we need 8 hugs a day to be at our best.

A celebration of earth’s bounty: ‘Spice and Tease’ at NYC’s Chelsea Market

‘They’ say each person needs 56 trees’ oxygen to offset her personal production of carbon dioxide.

How many hugs then do trees need – or deserve – for taking care of us each and every day?

Before you read further:  go hug.  Hug a person and/or a tree.

Not aware of Earth Day?  It’s probably because it’s not a Hallmark holiday.  That’s a good thing –  (wasted) paper would exhaust the very resources to celebrate:  trees and water.

But the downside:  it’s not well celebrated – and our survival depends on it.  Literally.

Wikipedia  ‘facts’:  Earth Day (the first in 1970) and  International Mother Earth Day (by the United Nations in 2009) is observed annually on April 22  in support for environmental protection.   Around the planet, people are listening to music, learning about eco-friendly technology, recycling electronics, clothes, bottles and cans, and participating in cleanups.

I’ve done beach clean-ups, including in the Hurricane Sandy devastated Rockaway’s.  One long-time Rockaway resident observed:  ‘lots of people come here to clean up on one day.  Then, nothing.  Nobody comes to clean when the beaches get crowded – and dirtier.’

It’s true of course.

We put a lot of momentum into one day, and then go about our business.

That one day is our consolation, and a commemorative prize.

Aveda’s annual water campaign provides awareness and clean drinking water!

But I wonder: why do the beaches need to be ‘picked up’ so often?   We’ve picked up cigarette butts, toys, bottles, cans, socks, towels, styrofoam cups, those big plastic cups, straws, and suntan lotion bottles. In April or May. Long before beach season begins.

People must believe it’s okay to bury their garbage along with their heads or feet in the sand….  Or that small stuff, like thousands of cigarette butts won’t make a difference because they are small.

Btw, cigarette butts don’t degrade.

Saturday, I volunteered with Riverkeeper, at NYC’s Hudson River Greenway.  The bright sunny day masked the freezing wind, keeping people moving along the beautiful green space that parallels the High Line and the Hudson River.  This event brought several environmental groups together to share information.

Solar One: those little black squares are solar panels and the little colored things are spinning around

(Interestingly, I was told, environmental groups compete for attention and funding, often not communicating and sharing thoughts and action.)

These groups do amazing things – not many people because it was FREEZING! Panelists including: Riverkeeper, Waterkeeper, Grow NYC and Hudson River Greenway

The passing public collected ‘swag‘:  reusable bags from Magnolia Bakery, Aveeno face cream, and pamphlets.  People love free stuff.

Swag (bags from Magnolia Bakery) roadkill?

I asked one event participant why Earth Day wasn’t a widely celebrated ‘event’.

‘Exhaustion from being over publicized’

Is this really what we want to hear?jbblogfloprotacohvac.com

I wonder if it’s become like the boy calling ‘wolf’:  the environmentalist calling ‘global warming, global devastation’ one time too many.

And we deal best with catastrophes when they strike –  all of us trying to stay afloat between devastating events from super storms to job loss.  Exhausting!

It’s almost understandable that clean air, water, healthy food, the diverse ecosystems that provides these things are exhausting to think about. Much less do anything about it.  I’ve often seen bottles in cans in Whole Foods garbage cans when a recycling bin is steps aways (and yes, I take them out and settle them in their proper receptacle!)

But here’s the most interesting thing:  Earth Day and Holocaust Remembrance Day are days apart.  

Coincidence?  

Maybe.  But these two days are joined in a tight hug.

This WWII poster says it all!

Last year I wrote about the Bielski Partisans (movie: Defiance) WWII survival in the forests.

Wars, hate crimes, genocides ultimately are over resources.  Natural resources that come from the Earth.

People are killed over land, water, diamonds. Food.  Not to mention Nike’s.

www.ffwdweekly.com

So my thoughts on this beautiful Earth Day are:  Stand-up!

Hug a tree.  Hug a person.

Fight Genocide – fight for a healthy planet.

You can prevent war- reduce your consumption of ‘stuff’, turn off the water, drive less, recycle.

Let’s focus on quality – not quantity.  Let’s care enough about ourselves and future generations to leave them a real inheritance.

Stand up by donating time, money, and energy.  Talk about and share these organizations:

Riverkeeper

Grow NYC

Waterkeeper

JNF (starting planting trees in Israel in 1901!)

Sierra Club

US Holocaust Museum

A Meaningful World (anti-Genocide)

Would you hide me? Or: WWID?

Afternoons, the ‘F’ train became the ‘fight train’ as I traveled to my NYU teaching gig.   High-schoolers’ pent-up energy ricocheted off subway walls, without regard to bystanders. Until the day this innocent was attacked by a flying jelly bean.  My gentle admonition to take care was answered with a threat to ‘beat me up’ – no great challenge for her and a lesson of caution for me.  A lesson to contain my ‘suggestions’.

An email discussion with my niece Emily found us chewing on the meaty topic of the Donner Party  (sorry….).   Revulsion aside,  Em wisely admitted she couldn’t really say what she would do in that situation.

How could she?  How could any of us?

Things always look easier when you are on the outside looking in.  Traveling to the past and critiquing the actions of others is easy.  It’s easy to slap  moral judgements and out-of-context beliefs on what was done in a time and place viewed far from the comfort of a book or LCD screen.  But when the going gets tough and push turns to  life and death, I always stop and wonder, “What would I do?’ (WWID)

In all situations, I  hope for the character and strength of Miep Gies, the family friend who helped hide and feed Anne Frank and her family regardless of danger to her and her husband.

Moral strength leads to moral pondering and to Nathan Englander’s  ‘What we talk about when we talk about Anne Frank’ (New Yorker 12/12/2011  (http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2011/12/12/111212fi_fiction_englander).

My teaser:  An obsession-turned-‘game’ finds its way into the  reunion conversation of two slightly drunk, slightly high, middle-aged couples, connected through the wives Yeshiva school days.  An afternoon of tension and discomfort laced with humor and startling revelations leads to the taunting pose between spouses:  ‘Would you hide me?’

See, you need to read this book!

Provocatively, ‘would you hide me?’ haunts my mind’s crevices and shadows conversations.   Staring matches in my bathroom mirror dares:  What would I do?

Can I trust my eyes with the answer?  Can others?

Surely we all say we will protect others.  Of course.  How can we possibly say no?  But how do we really know?  Is the strength to hide and protect fused into a person’s core identity?

A recent review of the Holocaust movie:  “In Darkness” implied enough already with the Holocaust.  This topic’s been exhausted.  Read Mr. Englander’s story.

I wonder if we haven’t had enough.  Surely there is something more to our interest in Hitler’s horrors against Jews, Gypsies, gays, and others.  A gnawing question knocking at our sensibilities as we watch and read.  A question turned inward forcing us to (uncomfortably) explore moral strength and identity:  What would I do?

Yes, more stories of the Holocaust and other genocides are needed.  More stories to prompt consideration of ‘WWID?’

‘Never Again’!  A Holocaust slogan reminds.    I’d like to say that there will ‘never again’ be a holocaust, and a threat to wipe Jews off the planet.  I’d like to say there will be no more genocides.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN-3yAvEHtM

I fear polar bears will become extinct before acts of genocide.  And people like polar bears.

Under the world’s watchful eyes genocides have threatened to wipe out nations around the globe.  Anti-Semitism is alive and far too well.

Every holocaust starts small.  In ‘small’, hate-filled people.  Hate-filled become haters.   Hate fills people slowly, as recipients of actions that expose rather than hide.   Actions that attack rather than protect.

‘Would you hide me?’  It’s small actions that protect and hide others.  From sadness, fear, hopelessness.  Actions we can all take.  These days it’s way too easy to poke fun at others using social media.  Too easy to exclude others who are sitting around a table if they aren’t part of the group.  Too easy to focus on our ‘stuff’ and not listen to a friend’s needs.  Too easy to criticize rather than compliment.  Or worse, purposely ignore an opportunity to compliment, to support another.

I think I can do the hard thing.  Can’t we all?

WWID?  I can do the small stuff.  Take  responsibility.  I can make decisions and take actions to demonstrate I am a person who protects and hides others.  I hope.  Even if I haven’t always done so, I can do better.

I can respect a confidence more than sharing a story on Facebook, tweet, or at a party.

I can resist the urge to say or post something about another that might in reality be insulting, even if it’s done with humor.

I can value a person’s sense of self rather than my need to be part of a ‘group joke’ – at someone else’s expense, even if that person isn’t there.

I can stop teases, taunts, and mean-spirited gossip – even if I can’t stop jelly beans shooting through subway cars.

Not yet.

It’s the decision to make little ‘random acts of kindness’ that turn us into protectors.  Right? 

 

Aspects of identity need to be taught.  As a coach, I help others develop secure identities, to be safely in the driver’s seat to turn right.

But I know it’s scary to be the face of reason.  The one saying stop when others look for Facebook likes.

How did we get here?  How have we not traveled further?

Take a leap.  It’s scary, but go ahead.  Take action.  Ask yourself:  ‘What would I do?’

Debora’s Naked Identity: Rated ‘G’

Keep your pants on:  there is no nudity in this post!

This says it all. Thanks to http://www.topix.com

Would you veer from success?   Change an aspect of yourself, one that others label as your identity, an identity that earns you money and fame?

I guess it's up to each of us to make use of all the colors in our palettes. Hard to do in a world that worships black

Can an artist’s expression journey seamlessly through mediums touching all the senses?  Can art successfully fossilized on penthouse walls evolve and breathe new life into distant space?

If an artist’s identity

is  her mode of expression in

paint AND lush felt AND thoughtful painted word,

how will others define her artistic identity?

And THE biggest question of all:

 WHY veer from success???

For more on the origins of this quote: http://dar-al-masnavi.blogspot.com/2009/05/dar-al-masnavi-re-appear-as-you-are_1721.html

I say if you want to know what an artist would do, ask the artist herself.  Debora personifies Rumi’s quote:  ‘Either appear as you be or be as you appear’ and veering is part of her identity!  Tall, slender, with  hair radiating exuberance we chatted over Turkish coffee.

Fascinated, my imagination turned Debora’s words to rich images as she shared her body of work, describing colorful canvas, lush felt

Like 'A Sweeter Stride' on Facebook to hasten its publication! (And nibble on excerpts!)

roses, installations of sound and word, and her most recent offering: a memoir.  ‘A Sweeter Stride’ unveils her captivating journey through ( occasional) colliding worlds of art and love in NYC over the last two decades and promises to be a fascinating ride.

Like it on Facebook:  ‘A Sweeter Stride’ to hasten its pilgrimage to print.

http://www.pubslush.com/book/view/179

Our discussion turned to her evolving

I think it's important to remember that art is participatory. Each of us creates beauty in what we see, make, and do.

artistic identity and colleagues’ fear and trepidation.  Others question how she will be ‘found’ post-art form migration.

Debora’s artistic metamorphosis is identity evolution.  New creative expression in naturally selected new niches.

My conversational journey exploring Jewish Identity unveiled identity evolution as  ‘Naked Identity’.  Surely there is more to that than meets the eye.

Can ‘Naked Identity’ be shielded from prying eyes by donning the latest fad

Something to keep in mind as we go spring clothes shopping.Image from library.sc.edu

and like the Emperor recreating himself with a new suit of clothes?

Or like Debora (and the owners of stories heard on my journey – see previous posts), fling off the trappings of others’ perceptions and flaunt that nakedness.

The Emperor wasn’t the only one who discovered, less is more when it comes to  ‘Naked Identity’.  Naked, a mid-winter tree stripped and bare, shows

'Naked Identity': Birch trees in winter. Without adornment of rich green leaves, fragrant flowers or succulent fruit, deciduous trees bare their souls so to speak in the heart of winter, taking care of themselves, not caring to entertain or enthrall or support others. Naked, the heart, soul and true identity of a tree is the reason for each new spring creation and display of beauty, taken down each winter. (thanks Wikipedia for the picture)

the tree’s true essence:  thin, gangly  limbs awkwardly – no ridiculously – jutting out from its scarred,  bulbous trunk.

Against a grey winter sky, urging the donning of warm woolens, the tree bares its branches taunting us to love it or leave it.

Trees remind us ‘Naked Identity’ is devoid of lush green finery  and shots of color and is  about the tree doing for, and being about, the tree.

Naked, the tree is still herself – her true self,  just without care of what others think and need.  Naked, she is able to build internal resources, building strength to branch out in new directions, seeking new opportunities (for sunlight) while being firmly rooted in where and who she is (physically and metaphorically).

True beauty is found in ‘Naked Identity’.

 Deborah’s art, like the tree, branches out, seeking glimmers of opportunity,  while firmly  rooted to her artistic core. Beauty drawn from internal resources.

‘Hidden’ Eastern European Jews, shared their identity evolution to Naked Identity is rooted in Judaism.  (see previous posts about my conversational journey – identity5772)

We are all artists, of a sort.  Our challenge is to get naked and bare our soul to uncover our core identity.   And as we know, getting naked is the easy part. 

Looking inward, nourishing our roots,  silent and uncaring of expectations and needs of others, we can discover our gangly, bulbous perfections before going out on a limb to sell new creations.    As the days get longer, my dreams ache to branch out, seeking new opportunities, hoping my roots are strong and deep enough.

  What feeds the root of your creations?

 As spring beckons, where will you branch out to uncover and celebrate your ‘Naked Identity?

Best wishes for a lushful spring!

Safe Havens: Partisan Forests

The safety of forests! Over 20,000 Jewish and 30,000 Russian partisans found forests to offer refuge and lauch resistance during WWII

Traveling from Berlin to Warsaw and beyond, passing acre after acre of Birch tree forests, my imagination morphed  forests into  havens  for hiding partisans.  These 

Furst is a great historical spy novelist providing insight and intrigue into WWII. Try 'The Polish Officer'

visual images leapt from the page (Alan Furst) and the screen (Defiance) through my eyes to outside my train window.  

Eastern European forests offered a safe haven for Jews, Russians, Gypsies, political dissidents and others both fleeing and fighting the Nazi’s.  These forest bound partisan resistance fighters conducted guerilla warfare, sabotage, and, military intelligence.    Imagining the forest as homey and hospitable in the middle of winter is a stretch, yet forests concealed family camps living in dugouts complete with craftsmen and schools.

Belorussia, location of Bielski camp. While most partisans were in Eastern European, others were in France and Belgium

The most famous,  the Bielski brothers camp in Belorussia numbered about 1,200 in 1944 and is the basis for the movie Defiance.

From the movie Defiance: Bielski brothers fleeing into the woods after their parents were killed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defiance_(2008_film)

Of course it’s more complicated.  Jews sometimes joined larger (more powerful?) Russian partisan groups who were often anti-Semitic.

Russians air-dropped supplies to sympathetic partisans at the end of WWII.  Russian partisans turned  Anti-Soviet and resisted Soviet control from 1944 – 1953.

Faye Schulman, photographer and partisan chronicled her life in the woods in ‘Pictures of Resistance’.  The link: http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/37486/rare-photos-show-hidden-life-of-partisans-who-fought-nazis/

Theo, my Berlin Free Walking Tour guide (http://www.brewersberlintours.com) explained

German organization includes  numbering their trees:  4,100.   We count what’s important.  Money and barrels of oil are counted like partisans must have counted food.

In 2012, danger lurks outside ALL windows.

Birch forest view outside my train window

 Carbon dioxide levels have declared war with our climate – and therefore us. (Or is it the other way around?)  It’s a matter of time before we must all seek oxygen rich hiding places.  A matter of time before we all become partisans.  As modern-day partisans, it behooves us to know  the number of trees on the planet, and how many we need to be safe.

29.6%  of Earth is tree covered.  Once, it was almost 100%.  Between 1990 – 2000, 2% of trees were lost. http://www.ecology.com/2011/09/14/earth-glance/

Mr. Smarty Pants:  96 trees/person to offset our carbon balance http://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=1634

Each acre of forest provides enough oxygen for 18 people.  As you can imagine, it’s difficult to count the number of trees or even acres of tress on the planet. 

But I’m sure you  also know people far outnumber trees on the planet.  We  can still breathe a sigh of relief, confident we will be suitably oxygenated. But can we hide from the facts?

Environmentalists may seem to be crying ‘wolf’ about global warming.  But most European Jews didn’t believe the  warnings about the Nazi’s either. 

How much longer will forests provide safety?  A haven to hide?  Without  trees, where will our species go for safety?

Resources.  Wars and genocides begin over a scarcity of resources.  (Blood) diamonds, oil, and land have been washed with green(backs) and red. 

2% of forests have been lost in the last 10 years and will never be recovered. What if these trees were your source for oxygen? Would you allow these trees to be clearcut? Burned down for burgers (grazing)?

Wants feed needs feed power and lead to starvation.  Trees are harvested, burned to make way for more lucrative ventures like grazing land.  Land that will lead to starvation.  Of oxygen.  Because what resources REALLY are needed for life?  Water.  Oxygen. 

Without trees where will we hide?  Where will we go to be safe?

Is the human race out to destroy itself?                                                          (BBC quote from Auschwitz  2009)story.   

Organizations providing safety through tree planting:

http://www.arborday.org

http://www.jnf.org/trees

http://www.plant-trees.org

http://wwwspiritoftree.org/trees/trees.html