Earth Day x Self-Care
In honor of Earth Day, I was inspired to express my mission: promoting and teaching self-care. See, I believe in my heart that self-care (which encompasses self-love, compassion, and kindness) is the most direct and realistic way to create justice in any domain. While today's focus is on the environment, the truth holds across all injustices—racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. The root issue? Our disconnection from ourselves and our world.
When you take care of yourself in a genuine and beautiful way, the natural byproduct is treating the environment better. In other words, when you are in harmony with yourself, you create harmony in the environment around you—whether it be the natural world or human interactions. When you feel better, you naturally consume fewer harmful goods and services, and produce less waste.
I'm not here to boast about my consciousness. This isn't about seeking recognition; it's about storytelling. Humans thrive on stories, and mine grounds this message. I'm no expert, except in my own experience. I'm here not to debate, but to relate, not to dictate, but to illustrate. I hope this somehow opens some new awareness inside of you or reminds you of things you have forgotten.
Consider me a case study: Today, I’m the most whole, healed, healthy, and happy I’ve ever been, with the smallest carbon footprint I’ve ever left. It’s not perfection: it’s progress. I also engage less with negativity as self-love grows. So between the quantifiable measures of environmental impact (on the natural world) and the more abstract woo-woo measures, I can confidently say I am operating from a spot that leaves this place a little bit better than I found it.
The most surprising part is that I didn’t aim for this environmental impact. It’s a byproduct of my healing journey. Honoring my body, I hurt the globe less. Loving my humanity, I am more compassionate. At this point, you are probably like, “Okay man, but what does that look like in practice?”
Let’s take the gloves off, you ready to tap in?
Let’s start with honoring my body. I'll just scratch the surface of one facet of honoring my body, which is through the food I consume. Over the past 6 years, my diet has changed drastically, all starting with a bet from a soccer teammate. I have monitored and figured out what makes me feel the best, and it also happens to be a diet with an extremely low carbon footprint. I want to stress, that this just happens to be a "coincidence.”. If anything, I was narrow-minded and selfish, just solely focused on what was best for me… and voilà, it happens to be best for the environment too.
Now let’s take a more intangible example of the emotional environment we co-create. My accident a few years ago propelled me through the most humbling time of my life. It made me grapple with my mortality and humanity at an uncomfortable level. The most painful part of it has been, and will continue to be, feeling my own emotions. Those old insecurities of myself, my egoic mind, and the hate I harbored inside were all cancers to my own happiness. They numbed me out from my own humanity.
The cure was switching up the feeding regimen. Instead of doubling down on fear, I fed them love. When we recognize and bring love to those parts of us that we are afraid of internally, we naturally combat other injustices externally. When we create the space to love our own humanity, we then unthaw the numbness we have been living in.
In simple terms, we want to feel more.
When you begin to feel more, you begin to appreciate and understand the human condition at new levels. You naturally develop compassion for others if you can do it for yourself.
I could write a freaking book on this subject, but brevity calls. Self-care isn't solely an individual journey; it's the pathway to healing our world. Social movements and laws are crucial, but change begins within, rippling outward. Listen to your body, honor your emotions. They guide us to a better future, creating a vibrant present.
Happy Earth Day.
