Earth Day 2024

I just scanned all of my posts since 2008 and was appalled to see that this is my first Earth Day post, although I did a whole year on Climate Change.  

I used to do a lot of activities on Earth Day. As a preschool teacher, we collected recycling all month and I hauled away a car full with the kids cheering. With older kids, we discussed nature and what we could do to help our planet. Children always want to help improve our planet. They are by nature optimistic. 

The first Earth Day occurred in 1970. I had married my first “wasband” and he was anti-political, so we did nothing. The next few years I was scrambling to put my life back together, and I wasn’t doing a very good job. So didn’t really pay attention to it. Finally, in 1980, I joined a journalist in the area where I lived to create an Earth Day event. It was in a small town, and the national press was playing down Earth Day as if it were passé. I didn’t let it get to me, because I had children by then and it meant a lot to me to ensure that they had a better quality of life.

I returned to my home town in 1989 with the kids, and was very happy to see the coverage of Earth Day in1990. Each decade has become more important as our climate conditions deteriorate, and now I am fighting for my grandkids and my kids. I’m grateful it has become a worldwide movement.

When I worked in technology, I remember a theory about change. First are the pioneers, the people who are on the bleeding edge of change. They are often discredited. Then come the early users, then the masses, and occasionally even the Luddites that don’t want any change. We have made it to the third stage, hoorah! People all over the world are solving our problems, fighting the forces that would condemn our planet to death. We can solve our problems, we just have to get past denial and work together!

The Opposite of Fun

I recently had some surgery that left me with a surprisingly painful recovery. I had no energy to read and TV was more boring than usual. I basically rested for a week. It was definitely NOT fun. I should have called a friend or family member, but I felt I had nothing to say. When we are in pain, physical or mental, it is hard to reach out to others. It was hard to find joy in those circumstances. I didn’t even walk my dog, which made us both  miserable.

My mom was a nurse, who stayed home with me when I was sick. When I would get bored from laying around, she would say, “Just rest.” It was the opposite of fun. 

As a single parent, I had severe migraines. When I could rest, I was still miserable. (The worst was driving fifty minutes  to get home, but that’s another story.)
Curiously, I discovered something about this period in my life. Every time I was laid up, there followed a burst of creativity. I came to accept the NOT fun times and look forward to what followed. I never knew if it would be writing, sewing or new friends, but it was always more fun than resting.

Pre-fun

More fun is planned for the coming month. Concerts, travel, Zooms, and my usual fun with famiy, quilters, singers, poets, and friends. You'd think I'd be happy, and I am, but for me, there is always anxiety. I calm myself by cleaning (presently cleaning closets), playing video games on my phone, and generally making a mess, which will have to be spotless soon. I have perfectionistic tendencies, which makes me clean my house almost spotless before I have people over. I know, that's why I never have parties. I am grateful for a doggie that takes me for long walks. That always lessens my anxieties. How about you? Do you get nervous before an unusual event in your life, like travel or hosting? 

Post-Fun, Revised

I had so much fun in January! I rested up from my trip to Cuba, celebrated the birthdays of two beautiful teenage granddaughters, and joined the Swedish Glee Club (https://swedishgleeclub.org/), which has great singers, beautiful music, and fantastic director. I attended the opera Carmen for the first time and had dinner with friends. Then I also attended the opera Cinderella for the first time and had lunch with friends beforehand.

Then I realized there is a downside to fun, and I’m calling it “post-fun.” After having a fun month in January, life is back to normal and that now seems more boring. I still sing in my church choir and quilt with friends and alone. So I am having plenty of fun in retirement, but the routine aspects of life are not so fun. Cleaning bathrooms and scrubbing floors are not fun. 

Even quilting, reading, and writing can be isolating. Solitude is wonderful, but rarely as fun as almost anything with family or friends. I am grateful for the beautiful memories of January.

It doesn’t take much to meet my needs. In the coming months I have plans to travel, go to concerts, a play, and another opera. They may or may not be fun. But I have goals I wish to achieve before I die. So having too much fun causes a kind of stress. But that’s another story.