I wake up today, not really know what to say. It is a rarity for me, for most of the time words and thoughts flow through, inspiration my closest companion. But today…

Today I am saddened. I look around at this world and I think, ” how did we get here?” Donald Tump – a known sociopath – is president of the United States, Doug Ford, basically a junior version of Trump, is now Premier in Ontario, in other countries people are literally fighting their own government for their very lives; volcanoes are erupting, earthquakes are shattering, hurricanes are flattening entire communities, our oceans are riddled with plastic, and our Earth is so poisoned that we can’t even find quality soil in North America anymore.

How did we get here?

In evolutionary terms, the human species is still very young. In our current time, it’s like we’re a bunch of teenagers given free rein over the Earth, the only way to keep us in check is other teenagers deciding they’re the “leaders” of us. It’s still high school voting for the prom king and queen, but on a detrimental scale. Oh, yes, for the most part in western society, we voted those leaders in, but what other choices were we given? Yesterday was the provincial election in Ontario, and I thought for sure we would actually see some change and progression, and I sat there almost in tears watching the polls tally, announcing that most of this place hasn’t changed a damn bit. (Side note for my hometown, London – THANK YOU FOR VOTING FOR CHANGE!). People, for the most part, are still ruled by greed and convenience, leaving compassion and wellness behind in the dust. WAKE UP PEOPLE! Money is just bits of paper, metal and plastic, numbers on a screen, and if you think it means anything in the grand scheme of things, you are in for one hell of a wake up call. The fact that you cling like a scared little child to it should tell how very wrong things are in this society. Our Earth is dying, all around us, and she’s slowly taking us with her. Suicide rates are at an all-time high, natural disasters are climbing on the destruction scale, and almost everyone is an anxious mess. How could we not be? Our children aren’t going to have a world to grow up in if we don’t change, and do so now. We can no longer bow down to the almighty dollar. It’s time to move out of adolescence into adulthood as a species and start taking responsibility for the choices we’ve made.

Today is World’s Oceans Day, and I would love so much to focus on the beauty of the ocean, or tell you that story of my first time riding a wave. Instead, what rolls through my mind is the morning I woke up in Little Corn Island after a huge storm to find the beach, pristine the day before, littered with tons of plastic and trash. I remember the day I found a seagull strangled to death by a plastic bag at the beach I spent every summer on. Headlines flash across my computer screen about whales dying all over because they’ve swallowed pounds of plastic.

How did we get here?

We can no longer cling to our convenience. We must, as a society, as a species, and as part of this Earth, make change. We must take responsibility for our action AND the actions of those past. It can’t be about blame anymore. We cannot sit around pointing fingers and not actually doing anything. That time is well passed. We, as a millennial generation, have been fucked over. It’s not fair. We’ve been handed a big pile of shit, and we can either let it bury us, or we can begin to make this place better. We need to take accountability for ourselves, and the first step is asking yourself why you’re buying into consumerism? I know, it makes you feel better, it makes you feel accepted, and it puts a bandaid on your anxiety. It’s destroying us, all of us. I don’t say that to blame you, I say it as a wake up call to go look in the mirror and get to know yourself. Go inside for a while, and forget about the outside. The external world is not where we are going to find answers to the world’s problems. Every answer you need is inside you. You need to be inspire to want to heal yourself and the world. We all have to wake up and make change. We all have to get uncomfortable for a while, and be inconvenienced while we make the transitions necessary to heal us all.

Here’s the good news: it’s little changes that make the big waves. The internal journey is a big one, but it doesn’t happen all at once. As you begin to make changes, to start committing to healing this Earth, you will connect into the flow and it will inspire the internal journey. We all know the little changes that can be made, but how often do we practice them? Here’s a little list for you:

• Vote with your dollars: support businesses and politicians who ACTUALLY are helping the world. Take a little time, do some research on their business practices, their agenda, and the people behind them.
• Support local: there’s a wave of entrepreneurship happening right now, and there are so many unique businesses out there doing their part to make this world better. They’re not out to buy that huge fancy house or be millionaires, they just want to make positive impact and help the world move into a space of healing.
• Recycle, Reduce, Reuse: We know this, for those of us under the age of 35, it’s been drilled into us since our elementary school days. I’m sure most of us recycle by now, but do you reduce your plastic consumption? Do you refrain from buying needless packaging? If something is no longer of use, do you even to stop to think if you can repurpose it, or if someone else can?
• Plastic bags and plastic bottle are one of the WORST issues we have right now that can actually be turned around. Even those “biodegradable” bags, because it’s still going to take time for that to break down, and it will more likely find it’s way into a forest or waterway before that happens, wreaking havoc on local wildlife. Plus, we still don’t know the long term effects of plastic on the human body.
• Don’t be a dick: seriously, is it so hard to be kind? I know we’re all hurting, I know life on this Earth right now is hard, but do we really have to make it worse by treating each other like shit? As I said earlier, we’ve been dealt a bad hand, but let’s lift each other up so we can all rise to the level of positive change. This world needs you, the real you. You are here for a reason, and you were born with specific talents and passions. Don’t ignore them, for that’s your fire to bring you into your true purpose.

I’m struggling too. It is hard being human in this world some days, and even more so when you see the potential of us as beings not actualizing. My heart hurts, and I used that hurt to motivate me to heal, to help others heal. That’s my purpose here, and I embrace it fully, even when it’s hard. I write this post not to blame or bully, but to inspire you to take that look in the mirror, to look at your life, and to see where you’re selling yourself short. Convenience is a lie that harms us all.

In light of all that is happening right now, I’ve decided to post more frequently with sustainability ideas, and ways in which you can begin and continue through your healing journey. Don’t worry! There will still be lots of travel posts coming your way too, I can’t ignore my passion! But it all goes hand in hand.

Much love,

~ The Salt Yogi