“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. “ ~Native American Proverb
I was just at the GreenFest in Seattle over the weekend where we were selling our organic and all-natural love products. Some people were surprised to see a company like ours promoting sustainable love. Some people walked by averting their eyes as though we weren’t there. More than a few people openly admitted to the demise of their intimate lives. It is tragically not uncommon for people to co-exist with no shared intimacy for years.
It is difficult to keep relationships vital without the adhering connections that physical intimacy provides. We are sexual human beings and even if our only relationship to our sexuality is to deny it, this fundamental aspect of our personality defines us in a complex multiplicity of ways that effect how we relate to most everything in life.
I had a chance to speak my piece on the Green Festival Community Action Stage and was grateful for the opportunity to have a microphone at my disposal where I quoted Sigmund Freud saying that, “Love and Work are the cornerstones of our humanity.” I explained my theory of how our intimate relationships are held in a fragile container, similar to the atmosphere that contains our planet. It is easy to take this container for granted, until it breaks, when we are required to bear witness and accommodate our damaging ways or perish. This is the message that the Green Festival is trying to promote and celebrate.
The truth is that the absolute most sustainable action we can perform is to nurture and heal our relationships. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the importance of respecting our use of resources. I was learning like the rest of the participants at the resource recovery center where they had attendants helping us to sort our disposable wastes. I love the idea of no trace left behind. But at the end of the day, at the end of our lives the only thing that we are going to really reflect on is love- who loved us and whom we loved.
Our other accomplishments and material comforts fall pale at the moment of truth in our lives. We are here to learn how to love and care for each other. From this love, we inspire the care and attention of the planet and all the life forms it holds. Learning how to love is the only thing that can and will sustain us.
