Quote of the Day: Annie Bond on Starting Somewhere

What a heartbreaking rift our industrial society has caused. It's disconnected us from the earth and from the source of our food. We've allowed corporations to turn a blind eye toward their employees' health and welfare. What a terrible price we pay when our world is split between those who intentionally promote harm to babies, fetuses, and the environment through harmful products, and those who are working frantically to stem the terrible tide.

The rifts between the earth, corporations, and each other have to be healed. It is time. All we can do is start somewhere. So, where? A friend of mine offered some insight. He was visiting some friends whose land abutted 60 acres that had been clear-cut. The destruction was awesome and the grief of the land and neighbors palpable at the harm that had been done.

My friend said that in the midst of so much grief for the loss of such beauty, he realized that his grief wouldn't do anything but bring more despair, so he walked into the wreckage and slash and found the beauty that was there—in the new tree shoots and in the sun on the horizon. Where there was harm, he found healing by celebrating the beauty that was left.

We have to start somewhere. I can say it starts with the little things such as sleeping under a natural fiber comforter or eating organic food. Returning to beauty holds so many unexpected gifts."

—Annie B. Bond in Home Enlightenment: Practical, Earth-Friendly Advice for Creating a Nurturing, Healthy, and Toxin-Free Home and Lifestyle (2005, Rodale)