bt's blog #1: want earth justice? do this one little thing today

Are you willing to do a little favor for the “new guy”?
Here it is:
For one day, listen closely to the voices in your life. On that day, use your imagination to hear every voice as a whisper so that you’ll have to lean in close to listen carefully.
Don’t forget to listen to your own voice. Listen to what you say to other people. Listen to what you say to yourself. What tone do you use? What words do you choose?
You may wonder: “Why is the new executive director of an ‘earth justice’ nonprofit asking me to listen to myself talk?”
Maybe “earth justice” calls to mind things like clean air and water, fair trade and local sourcing, renewable and sustainable energy.
Those are big things. Hard things. Those are the kinds of big, hard things that make us feel helpless and small.
“Earth justice.” What to do? Where to even start?
What if we start with voices?
We can clear the air by listening to other voices more than we use our own.  
We can be fair by asking people to use their voices to help us empathize and understand.
We can renew good energy within and without by using our own voices to speak kindly and tell the truth.
We may not know how to solve the big, hard problems today.
But we can do something today.
Let's listen and speak with care and kindness.
Onward and upward,
  BT Irwin, executive director
  Voices for Earth Justice