The world needs my joy

a poem from a lay friend on transforming climate crisis despair

Picking up plastic today 
I wonder why I bother 
with the small amount I gather 
barely a drop in the ocean 

Yet there are multitudes 
of hands in this world 
and hearts 
and each accumulated bit matters

All I can do is my part 
one small piece at a time 
enough
trusting that with each small step 
heart by heart 
big things will come 

I must not reduce the beach 
only to the rubbish I see 
losing its nourishment around me 

Instead look,

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a poem from a lay friend on transforming climate crisis despair

Picking up plastic today 
I wonder why I bother 
with the small amount I gather 
barely a drop in the ocean 

Yet there are multitudes 
of hands in this world 
and hearts 
and each accumulated bit matters

All I can do is my part 
one small piece at a time 
enough
trusting that with each small step 
heart by heart 
big things will come 

I must not reduce the beach 
only to the rubbish I see 
losing its nourishment around me 

Instead look, touch, breathe
the extraordinary 
beauty in this world 

Let that hold me 

If I am happy maybe 
I will demand less of this world
and the violence 
of my fear, overwhelm and despair 
will not enter it 

This world needs my joy 
as much as it needs my hands

Plastic on the beach today
a practice on how to walk 
this world in peace

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What is Mindfulness

Thich Nhat Hanh January 15, 2020

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