Environment - 'Pon My Word

Wise Words For A Planet In Crisis

Maria Rattray — Sat, 04 Jun 2022 06:58:04 +0000

LOVE, the most powerful force there is…

Was it Albert Einstein? Maybe it was Margot? Who really did pen that letter “The Universal Force of Love”?

Spoiler Alert: It matters not, as it offers a universal message about our belief in Love’s conquering force.

So how did I stumble upon it?

A few years ago my husband and I spent some time living in Penang, Malaysia. There I met the most beautiful man, who to this day is a very close friend.

We shared similar concerns about the environment, about materialism, and the lack of care for the planet. The galloping and frightening pace of change from where we were less than three generations ago, to where we are today, we discussed at great length.

Then I asked about Penang…

When I first struck up a conversation with him I asked about why the tides around the island no longer behaved as they should?

His eyes filled with tears, and he asked me if I’d been aware of the constant noise around the island. That, he told me, was to do with dredging in preparation for building three islands, the size of Singapore around Penang.

Yesterday he sent me a bank of wildlife photos taken by another expat some years ago. Almost all of the animals have now disappeared from the island.

We discussed in great length, how inconsequential we think we are, to individually effect change.

This is when I found out about the Einstein Letter…

In response to this discussion, my newfound friend forwarded me a letter written in 1938 by Albert Einstein to his daughter, Lieserl on The Universal Force of Love, which is reproduced below.

“When I proposed the theory of relativity, very few understood me, and what I will reveal now to transmit to mankind will also collide with the misunderstanding and prejudice in the world.

“I ask you to guard the letters as long as necessary, years, decades, until society is advanced enough to accept what I will explain below.

“There is an extremely powerful force that, so far, science has not found a formal explanation to. It is a force that includes and governs all others, and is even behind any phenomenon operating in the universe and has not yet been identified by us. This universal force is LOVE.

“When scientists looked for a unified theory of the universe they forgot the most powerful unseen force. Love is Light, that enlightens those who give and receive it. Love is gravity, because it makes some people feel attracted to others. Love is power, because it multiplies the best we have, and allows humanity not to be extinguished in their blind selfishness. Love unfolds and reveals. For love we live and die. Love is God and God is Love.

“This force explains everything and gives meaning to life. This is the variable that we have ignored for too long, maybe because we are afraid of love because it is the only energy in the universe that man has not learned to drive at will.

“To give visibility to love, I made a simple substitution in my most famous equation. If instead of E = mc², we accept that the energy to heal the world can be obtained through love multiplied by the speed of light squared, we arrive at the conclusion that love is the most powerful force there is, because it has no limits.

“After the failure of humanity in the use and control of the other forces of the universe that have turned against us, it is urgent that we nourish ourselves with another kind of energy…

“If we want our species to survive, if we are to find meaning in life, if we want to save the world and every sentient being that inhabits it, love is the one and only answer.

“Perhaps we are not yet ready to make a bomb of love, a device powerful enough to entirely destroy the hate, selfishness and greed that devastate the planet.

“However, each individual carries within them a small but powerful generator of love whose energy is waiting to be released.

“When we learn to give and receive this universal energy, dear Lieserl we will have affirmed that love conquers all, is able to transcend everything and anything, because love is the quintessence of life.

“I deeply regret not having been able to express what is in my heart, which has quietly beaten for you all my life. Maybe it’s too late to apologize, but as time is relative, I need to tell you that I love you and thanks to you I have reached the ultimate answer!

“Your father,
Albert Einstein”

Love conquers all

How often have we used these words with little or no thought to what they actually mean? Three super-challenging words, once we understand them.

If we want to change the world we must first understand our own personal stance on the topic.

We must be a force of love.

We must demonstrate love.

We must learn to forgive.

By our actions we must be seen as love.

There are many ways to start…

The following are just simple ones to set things in motion:

giving to a cause, and then giving more
living with less so others can live
sharing what we have
doing with less, much less
being part of an agency for healing
believing that we CAN make things better
modelling ways to heal our world
diligently showing the effect of love

These are simple, doable acts of love.

But there are people in this world who are now taking love to a whole other level, who quietly work to heal our planet, starting in small ways. The ripple of small things can grow to become extraordinary. Meaningful change begins with an idea, and that idea can grow in ways we might never imagine.

Have you come across the Blue Economy?

Through Medium I have come to know Desiree Driesenaar and her work within the Blue Economy. “We, in the international Blue Economy network, are convinced that entrepreneurs will change the world by changing the rules of the game.”

Theirs is a network of love, maybe not quite the bomb of love that Einstein spoke of, but it’s a young network responsible for responding ‘to basic needs of all with what you have, introducing innovations inspired by nature, generating multiple benefits, including jobs and social capital, offering more with less. — The Blue Economy

‘In our current ways of working, people limit themselves in everything they do. They are reductionist. In Blue Economy thinking we unleash abundance. We restore ecosystems and then design new economic ways with everything nature has to offer.’

Desiree offers up the following Blue Economy businesses that might inspire hope, and love in us all. Check them out.

Award-Winning Entrepreneurs

There are many award-winning start-ups in our Blue Economy network. Have a look at some inspiring examples:

Dycle, changing the business case of diapers
Ekofungi, Future of Hope and Rotterzwam, changing the world with mushrooms
Blue City, changing the world with entrepreneurial labs, architecture, and collaborations
Straw by Straw, changing the world of plastic waste
Paper on the Rocks, changing the world with stone paper
Dutch Harvest, changing the world with industrial hemp
Novamont, changing the world with biochemistry
The Seaweed Company, changing the world with seaweed

Better still, read her inspirational post and see if you too can be inspired by what she and others do, all in the name of love.

The post Wise Words For A Planet In Crisis first appeared on 'Pon My Word.

Dandelions Are Anything But A Weed

Maria Rattray — Sat, 28 May 2022 01:26:08 +0000

Once used in ancient pharmacies, they are also an incredibly nutritious food, root, flower head and greenery…

“If you find yourself worrying, go outside, take three breaths, address a tree and quietly say, ‘Thank you.’ If you can’t find a tree, a dandelion will do.”

Do your remember them?

‘A single stem of a dandelion in its post-flowering state with the downy covering of its head intact. The term is applied when the flower is used, or is thought of as suitable for use, in a children’s pastime by which the number of puffs needed to blow the filamentous achenes from a dandelion is supposed to tell the time.’

We’d sit on the grass at recess or lunch time, blowing those seed heads, not for one moment considering that we were doing Nature’s job, blowing them with the wind, dispersing them to places we would never be privy to.

But dandelions are something else…

Because they enjoy a much longer flowering season compared to other flowering plants, (from spring to autumn) they are the go-to flower for bees, post hibernation.

‘This simple yellow flower, according to the Buzz About Bees, provides much needed nourishing nectar and pollen for the hungry bees.

‘But dandelions are much more popular with pollinators than with people. If you are like most people who have lawns or gardens, these perennial flowers are thought of as annoying weeds that need to be pulled up by the roots and destroyed.’

But that was not always so

‘The botanical name for dandelion is Taxacum officinale, and it is a member of the daisy family. In its name we get a glimpse of this mighty plant’s importance. “Officinale” essentially means used in medicine: plants bearing the designation “officinale” could be found in ancient pharmacies.

Just exactly when did we lose touch with all things natural, especially the health benefits of garden plants?

No need to answer. It’s a rhetorical question. It’s when big corporations stepped in and showed us all how to have a garden that would be the envy of the neighbourhood.

A garden with no weeds.

With the ever-so-perfect lawn, bordered by perfectly-selected shrubs.

A lawn that was reliant on feeding and grooming, and being rid of those pesky ‘weeds’ especially the dandelions that show up in spring and hang around until autumn.

And shrubs beautifully colour co-ordinated, just to add the wow factor.

You just HAVE to get rid of the nuisance dandelion.

It’s big business

Well, it’s certainly become big business!

Corporations rely on your ‘bought’ addiction to beauty and perfection. It’s why they spend so much on advertising their wares, to convince you to get rid of weeds, the long-lasting dandelion in particular.

And we buy the spin.

Friend or foe?

What most of us are not aware of, is that dandelions are a gardener’s best friend.

If your soil is in poor condition, compacted, or hard, the dandelion will be the one flower to give you a helping hand, loosening the soil through its wide-spreading root system.
Lawn not so healthy? Believe it or not, dandelions are also natural fertilizers for your lawn.
Soil acidity not quite right? You could add lime but dandelions work on improving the acidity of your soil. They also add calcium.

Best of all, they don’t charge for the service!

You’ve been chosen!

The fact is, the humble dandelion chooses your garden, the reason being that your lawn is probably crying out for help. If you allow them to grow in your garden, chances are they might do their job, then disappear. How about that!

Dandelions are also, masters of survival, wherever in the world they are.

‘Before the invention of lawns, people praised the golden blossoms and lion-toothed leaves as a bounty of food, medicine and magic. Gardeners often weeded out the grass to make room for the dandelions. But somewhere in the twentieth century, humans decided that the dandelion was a weed. Nowadays, they’re also the most unpopular plant in the neighborhood.’

And yet, against all odds, the humble dandelions thrive.

That should give us all pause!

But here’s something to think about

Despite everything we throw at this plant, all the weedkiller, the digging out, the mowing, the dog shit and peeing, and the cursing about, this is one triumphant plant.

Maybe, just maybe it’s trying to tell us something.

Maybe it’s more accommodating than we deserve…so you don’t admire me in the garden, but what if I could make you more healthy?

The fact is that:

the greens of the dandelion surpass that of spinach and kale
they reduce inflammation
they manage blood pressure and
they control blood sugar in Type2 diabetes

What about a colourful salad?

‘Dandelion blossoms add a bright floral flavor to salads. You can also sprinkle the petals over grilled meats and vegetables as a garnish. To remove the blossoms from the flower heads, just hold the green calyx in your fingers and pinch the yellow blossoms off with a small twist or snap.

‘Dandelion greens are also edible. The best time to harvest the leaves is when they are still young and tender, before the plant begins to flower. Tender leaves taste great when chopped fresh into salad. As the leaves grow older they become increasingly bitter. Both young and older leaves can also be sauteed in garlic and oil for extra flavor.’

Foraging is growing in popularity

It’s little wonder, given the cost of green vegetables here in Canberra at least.

“A growing interest in weed foraging has seen “edible weeds tours” spring up in many major Australian cities.

“Susan Hutchinson, who takes urban foraging walks in Canberra, said learning the art of identifying edible weeds was rewarding on many levels.

“One of my favourite things about foraging is, it’s like having a new set of glasses, with a different kind of filter on them,” she said.

“You see food in all different places that you wouldn’t have otherwise anticipated … you would have walked straight by and not known.”

The thing is, discovering plants in the bush, dandelions in particular, you can be assured that none of them has been treated with herbicides.

There’s a lot to love about that.

Coming free, with a little bit of exercise and sunshine thrown in, EVERYTHING!

The takeaway from all of this must surely be, to embrace dandelions in your garden.

See them as the asset they are.

Afford them time to prove that they are in fact, a soil healer that costs you nothing.

Be an example to your neighbour.

And then there’s the bees…our planet needs bees. WE need bees.

Are you convinced?

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The post Dandelions Are Anything But A Weed first appeared on 'Pon My Word.