I have often thought about how we are entering the six extinction and I have been concerned about the impact of increasing outer stresses on our biology.

So, it was with pleasure that I found a new way of thinking of our environmental collapse.

It’s in an article I also referenced last month about 6 moral precepts from the field of bio-ethic

The article suggested we hold on to some ways of being together as we navigate these stressful times

The 6 suggested guidelines for our collective behaviours are:

  1. Work hard to grasp the immensity of the change
  2. Cultivate radical hope
  3. Have a line in the sand
  4. Appreciate the astonishing opportunity of life at this time
  5. Train your body and mind
  6. Act for the future generations of all species

I’d like to draw our attention to one of these, every month. Last month, I covered the first precept. This month, it’s the second: Cultivate radical hope.

This has been a hard one for me. I’ve gone from a sense of hopelessness over the years to resignation to acceptance. For a while, I would talk about the need to simply “be” in the face of the dying planet, as we would sit with a loved one dying.

I’ve changed in the last few years. Now, I see the need for active engagement. The notion of “radical hope” means to me that I hold the vision and hope that we can die as a species in a way that has dignity, respect, love, compassion and joy.

As the authors of the six moral precepts say in their paper:
“…the fundamental questions addressed by the maxims: what kind of person will you be, and what will you teach and model for your colleagues, your students, your families?”

Yes!

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