This weekend, I came across the following clip while checking the latest news in the BBC, and my eyes welled up as I watched it to the end, although it was barely a minute long. Fortunately, there was no one else around down in my basement office for me to have been embarrassed. Nonetheless, this clip became the catalyst for me to write this post.
The emotional moment a chimp mum meets newborn
Perhaps watching this video will suffice, without requiring any scientific study, that all creatures posses the ability to feel emotions just like humans do, to include, perhaps, even love, happiness, anxiety, and deep sorrow, followed by that intense emotional feeling that cannot be described in words but only felt by a mother at the moment of reuniting with her infant for the first time after she thought she had lost the baby.
Animals, however, do lack some abilities that we humans have: greed for more and more, and the ability to over-consume, thereby rapidly diminishing the limited resources this planet has – from minerals to trees – and in that process wrecking havoc on this shared planet by spoiling its soil, water, and the air.
Ideas such as climate change, environmental preservation, etc. are now part of the federal government initiatives. Talking about these lofty topics are now fashionable, and sometimes even helpful for career development. But I would like ask myself some questions, and I hope you will do the same to yourself: do I really care about the environment? Am I doing my part, whatever that may be, to protect it from further harm, or am I rather part of the problem myself because of the lifestyle habits I have? Am I concerned about the well-being of people and other species, or am I indifferent and given myself to enjoying whatever I desire without thinking much about how it impacts others? These are hard and uncomfortable questions to ask, but must only be asked from within and the answers solicited from within.
“Do I really care about the environment? Am I doing my part, whatever that may be, to protect it from further harm, or am I rather part of the problem myself because of the lifestyle habits I have? Am I concerned about the well-being of people and other species, or am I indifferent and given myself to enjoying whatever I desire without thinking much about how it impacts others? These are hard and uncomfortable questions to ask, but must only be asked from within and the answers solicited from within.”
If you were moved by the face of that baby chimp, and that sound of intense happiness that involuntarily came out from the mother’s chest when her deep melancholy was suddenly lifted, then there are many things you can do that are within the hand’s reach. Among them are refusing to be victimized by corporate greed – to whom we are no more than numbers and analytics – by only purchasing things that are needed, not desired; buying good quality products that you hope to use for many years to come or even pass down to your children; purchasing used products and feeling good about doing so; going for natural products, including food, and avoiding those that have toxic elements, as virtually all synthetic materials do; and winning hearts to the cause of protecting the environment and the natural habitats of other species.
Every small act can help. To illustrate, recently I was in the lookout for someone who would take the extra vacuum cleaner that we no longer needed. I could not find myself to seeing this old but fully functional vacuum cleaner disposed off in the landfill and continue to toxicize the soil for decades to come. So, I gave it a good cleaning, purchased a pair of new belts to replace the broken one, posted a for-free ad on craigslist, and paid for the gas when a lady came from 40 miles away to pick it up. She didn’t ask for it, in fact did not even see it (it was dark when she picked up the vacuum) until she arrived home and opened the envelop that I taped with the vacuum, with a note of appreciation inside for coming to pick it up and thus help the environment. She was quite moved as was apparent from her subsequent note to me. If this helped her to develop an interest in environmental preservations, or she shows an act of kindness to another person, then that would be a big return on a rather very small investment. I must say that I would not have mentioned this story to anyone, but doing so now only reluctantly to stress the importance of doing whatever little every one of us can in order to save the environment, which is the home of all animals and species, not just humans.
In the Islamic spiritual tradition, we humans are considered khalifa on earth, which is best translated as stewards. Whether we like it or not, we are caretakers of this earth, including all its inhabitants. Animals do not exactly rely upon us, but at this point in time when we have largely destroyed much of their natural habitats, they are utterly dependent on us for their survival. So the idea of stewardship is much more relevant now than ever before, and it is well-exemplified by these two physicians who were performing C-section to save an infant chimp.
I am a certified Building Biology Environmental Consultant and Electromagnetic Radiation Specialist. The services I offer are listed here: www.yoursafeliving.com > Services
M-thank you for this timely post and for presenting your thoughts on stewardship and ‘doing one’s part’. As well, for sharing a beautiful moment between mother and baby. I’m inspired by your reuse of a vacuum cleaner, one less item in a landfill for now. My gratitude to you and others who remain engaged in the health of our planet and its inhabitants.