“Earth as a biospiritual planet must become for us the basic referent in identifying our own future.” Berry, Thomas (The Great Work, 1999)
I have long considered myself an Animist with the view that everything is conscious, connected and everything is made from the same stuff. I can see no boundary between myself and Nature and by Nature, I mean everything including the laptop I’m typing on or the desk that I’m sitting at.
The world is a web of connection, mirroring the statement by Thomas Berry. It is how I interpret the world based on the think of others such as Lanza, Shopenhauer, and Emma Restal Orr.
It is a world that recognises that our actions have consequences and that what we do to the world around us, we do to ourselves and to those who exist in the future.
In my world there is a need to restore the damage that we have done, a need to minimise our negative impacts and to become increasingly in tune with others, human and non-human.
But the Earth has around 7 billion humans, many of whom think quite differently and are not aware of the real damage being done. I wonder what can be done to reach out to people, to help them connect with the world and Nature, to help them start to work on a new way of living. But I don’t know how.
Even as I type this I question whether I should even ask that question. Should I interfere? Do I have a right to? Am I not just building a privileged clique? What about the vast majority who struggle from day to day?
Huge questions on a life time of journey! I’d be happy to get some answers.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash