Gently does it

I've spent some time this weekend doing some serious soul-searching. About why it is that I'm on this journey, and what it all means to me as a person. 

The guilt of existence

We seem to be bombarded with messages about all of the bad things which the actions of humankind are responsible for: (global warming through excessive carbon emissions, animal maltreatment, overpopulation, famine, etc), and I have to admit that I have a tendency to internalise things. I realised over the weekend that I have been harbouring tremendous guilt on behalf of all humankind, and tremendous resentment towards humankind, for creating all of these problems. 

So what do I do? Out of guilt I cease all forms of anything which might compound these problems. I flagellate myself for bathing instead of showering; I cringe when I switch on a light. I'm deeply apologetic to mother nature for living in a tarred, built up city which has displaced so many of her creatures. And while it's not a bad thing to be aware of our personal impact on the environment, I reached a point this weekend where I realised that this guilt will be the end of me. And in thinking through my existence guilt, I found some pearls of wisdom:

Take Me To Your Leader...

I've had this deep suspicion for a long time that the human race has pretty much lost the plot.

We evolved into a race with more power than many other species, in terms of our sophisticated language, and our sophisticated tools (see machine gun. See atom bomb). And it always seemed to me a little unfair that we should exert this super-natural power (I mean 'super' as in 'above': powers above what might be considered natural) over the other life-forms with which we share the planet.