20 Year Old EC

If you are 20 years old and reading this then it won't be hard to imagine how it feels to have grown up being bombarded with messages of total planetary destruction and doom caused by human folly.  If you are not 20 years old then imagine being 20 again (elders who may be reading this will relate in terms of the nuclear threat that had them doing bomb drills at school) and as most people at that age looking for any signs of hope for the future - a 20 year old Earth Child - lost...yet seeking.  

That is how it was for me the day I was sitting in front of a computer at a developing EcoVillage in Arizona and the Earth Charter Initiative came up on a search I was doing for allied organizations for the ecoministry I was at that beginning stages of founding.

Those who have read the Earth Charter and had the same understanding hit them know of the experience that I had when I finished reading the 'Way Forward'...my heart had swelled in my chest to the point of bursting as my mind and will came into alignment.  

My mind instantly absorbed the myriad of possibilities that could emerge and manifest through the global agreement and endorsement of the values and principles found within the Earth Charter.  

My will awakened and I felt a deep urgency to take action in the direction of assisting the spread of the Earth Charter to all corners of the Earth.  

And my heart felt a surge of hope that unleashed within me what I can only describe as 'care' that had been forced into a suppressed state since childhood when despair over the state of the world had taken hold and began its numbing effect upon my emotional body.  

Since that fateful day now 12 years past I have had to do battle with crusty, cynical, and pessimistic minds that have insisted that I simply have a bad case of 'youthful idealism' or I was sporting a nice pair of rose colored glasses in my pursuit of the vision of a healthy, just, and sustainable world.  I have prevailed to this point in thwarting those who would attempt to infect me with their own mental illness that came upon them as a result of their short-sighted instant gratification agendas for global change.  

I was able to accomplish this through delving as deeply as I possibly could into a subject that an elder whom I had met in Colorado inspired me to study.  This man was a traveler and I had met him at a park near the famous 'True Grit' café & restaurant dedicated to John Wayne and the movie.  

I don't remember how the conversation even began but being a social person I often end up in conversations with people wherever my nomadic life led me.  After speaking with this man for just 10 minutes I became acutely aware that I had the good fortune of meeting one of those legendary wise men who disguise themselves as normal humans (often unknown even to themselves) and I did what any true seeker would do and began asking him all kinds of questions about life, death, religion, politics etc.  Four hours later our meeting had to end with the setting of the sun and I asked him what has since become a trademark question of mine to elders I meet who seem to actually have something of value to give to my generation:  "If there was one message you would want to give to young people what would it be?"  

Like most wise-guys his answer was one simple sentence:  "Learn your 5,000 year history"

I asked him why five thousand - why not ten or twenty or 100.  He said the last five thousand will suffice to know what is needed for what we need to do to change things and he said that once I begin to research history I would find that the history that we are taught and accept as the true story is merely a version told by those who prevailed.  I was intrigued by these words from that day I committed myself to his mandate.  

I never saw this man again and have since been blessed to meet a few more on my journey who became to me the standard of humans who were older than me that I respectfully call my 'elders'.  I immersed myself completely in studying all realms of history - even the history of 'historians'.  I came to realize that the man whom I met in Colorado 'words to pass on' were in fact probably the single most valuable advice that young people could have next to be sure to brush your teeth regularly.  

History is simply 'context' that allows us to shape our world views and role of how we interpret the stories we are told within any given 'context' determines our behaviors, choices, actions, identities, and ultimately the quality of our lives.  

The 20 year old EC - Earth Child - is still alive in me and has never had to succumb to the dictates of my particular culture because from what I learned from history, and still continue to learn, I discovered that every human has a choice of what kind of context and story they wish to live their lives by.  

The Earth Charter outlines 'values and principles for a sustainable future' and another more famous elder whom I have never met but have read his works once suggested that when you wish to map a life mission for yourself you should begin with the 'end' in mind.  

The exercise he recommends is to simply project yourself to your death-bed and look back on a life you would want to have been your own.  

When I did this I saw a life spent 'living' those values and principles that are in the Earth Charter not just through lip service but through every choice and action I made.  

I made a choice then that my 'endorsement' of the Earth Charter, and I believe this is true for many people who have also endorsed it, I was choosing to become an Earth Child - or Earth Conscious - for the rest of my life.  I also choose to believe that this made me a part of a very big family of Earth Children all over the planet - who although I may never meet in person - will impact the future in ways that Earth Children of the future will harvest the benefits of.  

2012 - The Beginning of the .ORG free Earth Charter Initiative

It is springtime 2012 and this first post is dedicated to humans all over the planet who have committed themselves to the successful transition to a sustainable future! 

Official Logo given
to org's by Earth Charter
Secretariat

The Earth Charter has been predominately governed and implemented by the .org world (NGO's, non-profits etc.) since its inception yet the Earth Charter is a document of the people of Earth written by civil society and cannot be 'owned' by any singular entity.    

The Earth Charter - Actions & Perspectives of an Earth Child is a testimony/record of a 21st Century Earth Child's efforts and experiences to uphold the official 'endorsement' that was made when the Earth Charter Initiative launched in the year 2000.  This site is also a web portal to Earth Charter projects that do not fall under the dictates of the .org control or ownership issues that many still deny exist.  

Ultimately this site is dedicated to the yet UnBorn - the children of the future who will organically embody the values and principles found within the Earth Charter.  Yet special acknowledgments are due to those alive today who have had a powerful role in articulating and anchoring those principles amidst a climate of massive social change that required intense navigation of the inherent difficulties/challenges which are a natural part of such evolutionary processes.  Those people will be highlighted in future articles on this site.  

As primary author I choose to be called 'Earth Child' because in reality the actions, experiences, and perspectives that will be shared were born from a solidarity with Earth Children all over the planet who comprise my generation.  The intentions behind all of my efforts was to uphold the 'endorsement' that was made when I first discovered and read the Earth Charter.  However those efforts and actions were on behalf of those whom I was ultimately accountable to - my generation and future generations.  So as 'Earth Child' I speak from a pluralistic perspective and a view point that comes from the symbolic convergence of my generation.  

A note on the word 'authority' - I have always translated that word to mean 'Author of Reality'...we ALL author our own realities because a reality is based on 'story' of who and what we are.  Using that definition I place myself in an 'authority' position in relation to the Earth Charter and its birth into the 21st century - not just as a witness but an active participant that did not give away my power or grant automatic authority to those within the Earth Charter movement just because they had a résumé or 'years of experience'.  These days experience can be a liability if it is always used as the main reference for choices that demand a new way of thinking.  

The meaning of 'The Beginning of the .ORG free Earth Charter' title of this post is just that - the birth and nurturance of projects and efforts to uphold individual or group endorsement of the Earth Charter without having to answer to organizations or individuals who have made ownership claims through copyright websites, logos, and databases.  

Many of these .org entities have proved to undermine the efforts of thousands of 'endorsers' by simply refusing appropriately acknowledge and empower their efforts unless they either had kissed ass through the self-important hierarchies that are always present in the non-profit world (though mostly denied) AND/OR they made a significant enough financial contribution to warrant some highlight spot in their newsletters/websites AND/OR their efforts were exploited to make the .ORG entity look good for their own reputation/gain. 

The unhealthy social behaviors and outdated hierarchies of our elders who have been at the helm of the Earth Charter Initiative need to be addressed so that the torch can be passed between generations without toxic residue dripping down the handle and burning the hands of the receiving generation. The passing of the torch between generations in a healthy and celebratory way has been obscured by generations of denial and control of 'resources'.  

The people of the 22nd Century will look back on the 21st Century as when the whole 'non-profit' and 'for-profit (subtext 'good'/'evil') structures underwent the necessary (critical) evolutionary transformation that allowed the landscape of civil society (and the inequitable economies that polluted the environment they lived in) to change in ways that finally liberated mankind from the yokes/chains that the human species had been dragging around through centuries of dualistic systems, models, and structures.  The key ingredients to that transformation was the power of the 'word' and right use of technology.  

This is the time that will be remembered as the 'Information Age' and the time of the 'Great Transition'...and the Earth Charter will not only be alive 150 years from now (7 generations) but will be embraced globally as the first charter of the people of Earth and no one is going to give a rats ass about the 'Who's Who' sick social hierarchies that unfortunately are still being pandered to at the beginning of this century - due mostly to the fact that the previous generations whose lives revolved around guru worship and inappropriate power displacement are still currently alive on the planet.  Unfortunately their social system shadows still influence and linger in the social spheres of my generation but they are getting older and their imprints will not hold sway beyond 2020.  

2012 is the 'End of the 13th Baktun' and my generation is the 13th generation since the inquisition ravaged European refugees landed on the shores of the pristine North American continent.  Time for new beginnings...