Oh yeh, I am spitting mad!

I am angry. I mean really really angry. The kind of angry that is a little overwhelming and makes you feel all squished inside. I also feel a little helpless because what I am angry about is so hugely important, so awesome, of great impact to all of us and to future generations. It is the kind of angry that will both spur me to action in many many ways and will sit and boil inside of me.

I have been an environmental advocate for quite some time. I reference the beauty of nature in my work and am constantly AWED and fascinated by it. It provides escape, surprise, contemplation, pretty much every emotion available to us.

For some reason, when I started reading my latest issue of Sierra magazine it really really hit home. I don't know if it was the article on the editing of documents on global warming done by the bush administration (substituting "maybe" for "is" and crossing out masses of information from documents and questioning findings). Maybe it was the stunning images of the Galapagos by Sebastiao Salgado. But I think mostly it is the article entitled "Year One, Climate Chaos Has Arrived" and its accompanying photos of Hurricane Katrina, and disappearing glaciers.

I mean really - who do we think we are? What gives us the right to decide that we can live an ultra disposable lifestyle without concern for our HOME PLANET, without concern for FUTURE GENERATIONS? What happened to the Native American theory of living in such a way that is sustainable for 7 generations? I just can't believe how blind and stupid we as humans (as parasites) can be able the destruction we are inflicting upon the very thing upon which we rely for LIFE? Science won't solve all of our destructive and selfish habits.

There is a growing awareness of environmental consciousness, but what are we really really really doing about it?

Time for me to walk the walk. I have given money to environmental causes (Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, etc), and I have thought about trying to make work that relates more directly to the environmental desecration. So I am going to volunteer, I am going to make that work, I am going to speak out more to friends who aren't thinking about it (watch out everyone). There are so many issues which I feel are important (the UN millennium goals, equal justice, women's rights, animal rights, etc.) but if we don't have a planet on which to enjoy them, what good are they?

I hope I stay angry I hope I keep the fire burning to have that in my work. And I hope I get to show the work, and I hope it affects people. And I hope that it changes some minds, and I hope that drives people to action.

The image at top is from Sebastiao Salgado's Genesis Project.