I feel like making a plug for my favorite cause, but this really applies to the community.

We just had earthday and I am an activist for protecting the earth. I can remember waking up one night and thinking to myself: “this body is going to die and I may not see the earth and its creatures again” – why am I dedicating myself to this? Why, especially, am I thinking about things that are way past the present moment?

Then yesterday, a friend was talking about living in the present and her Buddhism in response to my commenting on how young people are depressed about what’s happening to our planet. After thinking about this for a while I saw that this paradox doesn’t really exist. Compassion is the issue. Giving of ourselves to something bigger than ourselves feels really good.

So my thought I want to pass along to anyone who is feeling bad and is visiting this site today is: try doing something for another, for the larger community or for non-human creatures or the planet (which is alive). This may help you feel better and it will help someone/something else (at least possibly).

This may be obvious and oft-repeated advice but I can’t help wanting to make it because I am acutely aware of the decline of our environment and (as with other crisis) it is out there even when we are sad and miserable and don’t know what our purpose is.