With the official beginning of winter just days ago with the winter solstice, the Christmas lights are up just in time as we head into the year’s shortest days. Figuratively, as well, these can be dark days — the country is still divided over the election, millions suffer worldwide from war and hunger, and ecosystems teeter on environmental collapse. Meanwhile, at home, many face their own battles with depression, addiction, loss of loved ones, and the daily struggle of putting food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads. Yet through the dark, the twinkle of holiday lights offer the metaphor for the light we collectively hope to come — love, oneness, and world peace.
This holiday season, will the glow of lights help us see our own inner light, so that we can each do our part to make the world a brighter place? What are our “first principle” values from which our goals for the New Year flow, and what steps will we take to follow through to live by these goals to manifest them into reality? Not mere New Year’s resolutions as to what we want not to do — eat less, watch less TV, etc. — but positive commitments to consciously choose to sow the seeds of peace. We can do this by first identifying and living by the virtues that contribute to peace, then living in integrity with these in our own lives, through our daily personal choices to live and act with kindness, pure hearts and bodies, love, trust, respect for ourselves and others, honesty, commitment and loyalty, at every moment possible.
This may sound too “new agey,” or even too religious or “preachy,” or, at minimum, simply lofty ideals that are rare luxuries in which many of us have little or no time or money to indulge. Yet values dictate our actions and the society we live in. In my background in nonprofit environmental law, for example, the environmental decisions we face on this planet boil down to moral decisions, which flow from our own individual value systems, or lack thereof.
Most of us, however, are too busy fighting for our lives, struggling paycheck to paycheck to ponder our own values. Indeed, some would go so far to say that those in power benefit from perpetuating, if not orchestrating, such a system, this hamster-on-a-treadmill effect in which we, the “worker bees,” have little or no time for introspection to reflect upon civic or personal values. Yet this time of year gives us a rare chance to pause to consider what “light” means for us: what do we value, and do we walk our talk? If we truly seek to promote “peace on Earth” as the tidings bid, what virtues that contribute to peace do we embody in our own lives?
And for those of us who extend the notion of love and peace to the environment, how do we choose to live in integrity with these virtues in a way that is kind to the planet? Mankind has treated this precious gem as a trash heap, a quarry pit, construction zone, you name it—as if the planet were transitory, replaceable, of no consequence. We slash and burn the ancient boreal forests that create the oxygen we breathe, we poison and drain the ancient aquifers of the water we drink, we exhaust the once-vibrant oceans that supply food that billions depend on to eat, and we destroy the atmosphere that keeps the planet habitable for us to live.
How did we get here? If we are honest with ourselves, do we treat our own lives any differently? Do we value the precious qualities loved ones bring into our lives, just like we should value the precious qualities of Earth? Likewise, so we treat ourselves — our bodies and minds — and others with utmost care and respect? Are we true to our word, are we loyal to others and follow through on our commitments? Do we show the strength of perseverance and determination through the hard times, or do we cop out to take the easy route?
In short, do we radiate the “light” we want to see in the world? This winter season, what seeds of intention are you planting to bloom in the coming year?
Shawna Ganley, Esq. practiced public interest environmental law and is now a writer living in Hawaii.