Gulf Coast Healing

There is a Facebook group for people who Want to Plug the BP Oil Spill with Sarah Palin. That’s quite an image. It appeals to my cynical side. I considered joining just for fun, but decided against it. Healing is what is needed, and adding negative to negative doesn’t bring healing.

I’ve had several people email me tragic images of graceful, white egrets covered in black oil. It is an awful reminder of human mindlessness. The beauty of nature is now hidden behind oiled birds and soiled marshland. At first it seemed important to closely study these images. I needed to feel the pain of the birds and ocean as deeply as I could. But then it started to feel like a car crash. Who was I helping by staring at the helpless egrets?

This issue comes up again and again. While oil gushes into the ocean without a filter, raw and live data gushes around the internet, also without a filter. Is this a good thing? Does it make us more informed and passionate, or are we just becoming inactive voyeurs? Are we simply polluting our minds with more negative images and not doing anything that heals the situation?

I’ve decided not to watch any more television coverage of the oil spill, and I choose not to look at any more emails of black swans. I understand the gravity of the situation, and want to make a difference. I will make a difference by living mindfully and addressing my own unrealistic lifestyle choices. Others will continue to work on fixing the valve, and still others will work on policy and industry accountability issues.

I seek to be informed by the lessons of the tragedy but not dwell on hopelessness. I came across a verse from the Hebrew prophet Isaiah that puts the oil spill into awesome perspective. Isaiah 65;17 says, “For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.”

My take away from the verse is that a new earth is emerging. The Gulf of Mexico may never be the same again, but it will recreate itself. We will all play an active part in co-creating this new earth. The lessons of the past are integrated into who we are now, but there’s no point dwelling there. I am so focused on healing, and my mind is so full of restoration, that mistakes from the past and tragedy don’t even come to mind. I focus on the seed of re-creation and encourage healing.

Thich Nhat Hanh said, “I have noticed that people are dealing too much with the negative, with what is wrong. ... Why not try the other way, to look into the patient and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?"

My mind is full of images of a healed Gulf Coast, a restored new earth. I see it as it will be again – crystal clear water, and beautiful rejuvenated marine life. I am one with the ocean, the sea life and the oil. I intentionally shift my energy from tragedy to restoration. I see the oceans healthy and clear. I see the sea life healthy and growing again. I see everything flowing in its organic state.

To the whales, dolphins, pelicans, seagulls, fish, plankton, coral, algae and all creatures in the Gulf of Mexico,
I am sorry for my carelessness.
Please forgive me my mindlessness.
Thank you for your patience.
I am part of you.
I support your healing and restoration with every part of my mind, body and spirit.

Every cell, fiber and muscle knows deep unity with the earth, for our hearts beat as one. Love, restoration and healing to oceans and animals, and all affected by the oil spill. Namaste.