I woke up this morning to birdsong and rain; art and movement.
It made me wonder, Mother Earth brings us a plethora of gifts. Personally, that was the best and least-panic inducing alarm I’ve had.
What gift do I give back to her? My carbon footprint?
We as a species are quite selfish. We take Mother Earth’s space, her resources and give pollution and endangered species.
I will always fight for policies to protect our Earth, remain vegan, try my best to reduce waste and pick up litter. But in the grand scheme of things, how can you repay one that has created you, fed you, given you air to breathe and water to drink?
We can raise our children to be gifts to the Earth, rather than burdens. That is how. The root problems of our society stem from children being underloved, not taught to share or exercise empathy, aren’t given freedom and space to explore their own morals and beliefs and are instilled an attitude of self-superiority, whether as a coping mechanism or a taught belief.
I think parenting is much more than feeding and housing a child. It’s unconditionally loving them, no matter their passions, beliefs or sexuality. It’s providing them with a holistic and wide perspective on our existence, not pressuring them into maths tutoring but sitting down with them and truly hearing their take on different philosophies and concepts. It’s reading with them every night, no matter how tired I am from work. It’s listening to them, truly and deeply listening to them because it is vital each being feels heard. It’s creating environments that make them feel safe and loved, and deeply instilling the importance that they make others feel safe and loved too. It’s teaching them to care for and fight for things bigger than themselves, through empathy, passion and perseverance.
I don’t care what ATAR my child gets. I don’t care if my children will be biological or adopted. It will always be up to my kids to decide their own life path and who they are.
What I truly do care about is that they are emotionally healthy, they feel nourished and loved and are respectful responsible members of the Earth. There’s more to babies than their giant, googly eyes and tiny hands. That baby is an entire life, completely depending on your guidance to shape their spirit. It is a massive responsibility, let’s start treating it as such.
This is a decade away but I hope my kids come across this post someday, and they know that I loved them so much before they were born, I will always have so much pride and excitement for them and they are a worthy and wondrous gift to Mother Earth that I am so utterly honoured to give.
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