Very poignant. I think you could write a wonderful book on the topic. And with ME caused/exacerbated by environmental illness, these two topics are indeed intertwined, perhaps even one and the same? Moving myself to the forests of southern Colorado was by far the best thing I ever did for my health, better than 30 years (and hundreds of thousands of dollars) of alternative medical treatments. I take care of my land, and it takes care of me.

I can’t help but wonder if nature has decided that humans don’t deserve to live on this beautiful planet, and has revved-up our self-destructive tendencies in order to get rid of us all.

During a period of particularly low energy and dark mood, the universe recently reminded me that, as you wrote, I could contribute to the world in a small but meaningful way- I found some tiny abandoned kittens and raised them in my little camper. All I really needed to do was love them, one of the few things I can still do. All of them have been adopted to good homes. One of these homes has recently been torn apart by a divorce, and I have watched two of the kittens mend the broken hearts of the children in this family. Just like you said in this post- a small action that I could still perform that changed the world for the better.