Last weekend I painted a picture of the bouquet of flowers on my coffee table. After I\u2019d finished that, I wrote across the top, \u201cMaking It Better Starts Here.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was meant as a reminder to me that the opportunities to improve and shine surround us. That\u2019s why Making It Better isn\u2019t just the June theme of this blog; it\u2019s also my summer project.<\/p>\n
There is no shortage of projects right under my own roof, although my plans go beyond my personal environment. Impacting a larger world starts with small deeds inspired by a conscious decision to make things better wherever and whenever we can.<\/p>\n
It was a lesson I learned years ago from a dear friend.<\/p>\n
The most passionate environmentalist\u00a0 I\u2019ve ever known was Chris Utterback. To her, all offenses were equally serious whether it was defiling a public space with graffiti or chopping down a rain forest. She cared deeply for the earth and couldn\u2019t understand why everyone didn\u2019t feel the same sense of responsibility.<\/p>\n
One day we were driving through the quiet Connecticut countryside where she lived and came across a pile of trash heaped on the roadside. She slammed on her brakes and we jumped out of the car, picked up the litter, bagged it and put it in the back of her station wagon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As we got back in, I sighed and said, \u201cPlanetkeeping is a full-time job.\u201d Chris looked at me as if I\u2019d said the most\u00a0 brilliant thing and without saying so, we both volunteered to be Planetkeepers.<\/p>\n
Planetkeeping isn\u2019t just a full-time job; it\u2019s a demanding one that requires vigilance and a willingness to do more than our share simply because it\u2019s the moral choice.<\/p>\n
Planetkeeping is motivated by a sense of responsibility to nature and other people whether we know them or not.<\/p>\n
It assumes that we\u2019ll take care of whatever is ours to care for no matter how difficult or challenging that may be.\u00a0 Planetkeepers refuse to be influenced by the indifference and apathy of others.<\/p>\n
Planetkeeping also demands that we stop withholding our own gifts and talents and put them to work in the service of making the world a better, happier, nurturing place.<\/p>\n
Imagine, for a moment, how quickly things would change if everyone went through their days actively working to improve everything they touch. What would happen to road rage? To rudeness\u201d To the environment? To self-esteem? To greed? To our communities? To litter? To hunger?<\/p>\n
We may never eliminate all the Pillagers who have no sense of stewardship, but that isn’t an excuse for abandoning our efforts to make every corner of our own world as wonderful as possible…and spread out from there.<\/p>\n
Buckminster Fuller, a card carrying Planetkeeper, \u00a0challenged us to ask ourselves this question: \u201cWhat can I do that isn\u2019t going to get done unless I do it, just because of who I am?\u201d<\/p>\n
That’s a question worth answering every single day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last weekend I painted a picture of the bouquet of flowers on my coffee table. After I\u2019d finished that, I wrote across the top, \u201cMaking It Better Starts Here.\u201d It was meant as a reminder to me that the opportunities to improve and shine surround us. That\u2019s why Making It Better isn\u2019t just the June…<\/p>\n