What Does Earth Day Have to Do With Coaching Anyway?

It’s Earth Day on 22 April. It’s a strange concept really isn’t it, that there is one day in the year when we celebrate the Earth? Given it chimes with ‘birthday’ it makes some sense that it’s annual, perhaps. But imagine if we did this every …..single……. day. It wouldn’t need to involve lavish parties and ceremonies in the woods, just a collective appreciation for our one planet and its finite resources as we go about our daily lives.

In Western culture, we started to actively disconnect ourselves from the natural world around the 17th Century, nature became something to be dominated and utilised. Thankfully it is now starting to dawn on us that this culture of separation has led to the severe degradation of our natural capital – healthy soil, clean air, freshwater etc. You know, that stuff we need to survive.

In fact, we consume so much that if we all lived liked the average North American we’d need five whole planets to sustain us (don’t worry America, Europe is close behind!). We should be celebrating Earths Day but of course, there is only one Earth (close by at least), so in effect we’re stealing from future generations. Sorry.

Hopefully, this isn’t new information. We know we should crave less, produce less and waste less stuff. What we perhaps don’t know is how. Of course there is plenty to be done, actions we can take, but I believe that it is as much about love as recycling.

Love for ourselves; love for one another; love for other species.We cannot respect what we do not love.In the wonderful words of Charles Eisenstein ‘the more beautiful world my heart knows is possible is a world with a lot more pleasure: a lot more touch, a lot more lovemaking, a lot more hugging, a lot more deep gazing into each other’s eyes, a lot more fresh-ground tortillas and just harvested tomatoes still warm from the sun, a lot more singing, a lot more dancing, a lot more timelessness, a lot more beauty in the built environment, a lot more pristine views, a lot more water fresh from the spring.’

He continues, ‘we are all here to contribute our gifts toward something greater than ourselves, and will never be content unless we are.’ And there lies the power of the purpose-led Co-Active model. It can be a force that nurtures spirits; it does stimulate awakenings; and it must challenge us to go further or perhaps to turn back around.

Let’s make every day Earth Day.