Dear Earth, today we are voting for our leader.

I’m no political expert, but I do know people. People are selfish. People make decisions based mostly on what suits them, and on what keeps them safe – even the decisions that look to most people like altruistic ones.

A pessimistic view? I find it a realistic one, and a deeply liberating one. It gives me permission to see my own deep selfishness, and to expect this selfishness in others.

Why are we like this? Because we are astonishingly, heart-achingly vulnerable. We walk around with our everso-thin skin and a chest-full of complicated organs, dependent on your perfect mix of gases for every single breath, dear Earth.

Other humans might pierce this fragile body-bubble at any time. We also depend on other humans for our tribal sense of safety – whether we’ll be sheltered by the safe arms of the group, or expelled into the wilderness to perish. Our brains are hard-wired to scan continually – who is a threat? Who do we need to keep on our side? Who might protect us?

I could go on. For me, the miracle is that in amongst this desperately-not-wanting-to-die, we are graced with moments of utter shining generosity. We open a door for a struggling mum. We give our last fiver to someone who needs it more than we do. We leap into the road to save someone else’s child.

I think that you see all this, darling Earth. I think that you know how frightened we are, and how much of what we do is an attempt at shoring up our defences. I think you feel tender towards us. When I remember this, I feel tender towards myself, and to others.

How should we vote for our leader? By being curious. What are we afraid of? Where are the limits of our generosity? What truths are we avoiding? What dirty work do we hope our leaders will do for us? When we’ve acknowledged all this fear and sent love to it all, we’ll be more likely to wonder about what might be best for our friends, for our enemies, for our country. For you, dear Earth.

Whatever happens next, you need us to keep speaking up on your behalf. We can’t trust other selfish beings like us to get it right all the time. We need to keep using our own power, like 76 year old grandfather Peter Cole. At the time of writing he has been without food for twenty four days for your sake.

His offering is a radiant star in the night sky. When we come together our sparks of generosity become a torch, and they will light the way.

Love, Satya <3

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Gratitude for the photo by Paweł Czerwiński on Unsplash