Our place in the world

Let us start with the self and work outwards.  The self shall be called “I” and can be applied to any human being. I am an intelligent integral cell or fragment of the earth, Gaia. My actions, my thoughts, my interactions with the whole, all affect the whole. My actions with any part: other person, animal or plant, will affect the Whole. My actions include my thoughts, my feelings, my aspirations, hopes, fears and dreams. My actions towards any part of the whole include my eating and drinking, my personal voiding and creation of waste, all my use of the resources of our Earth. I, the self, any self affect the whole.

            The earth and all upon it come from the stars (are originally made from) and are a part of the Universe which is our home. My relationship with the earth is intimate, each organ, cell and atom I am made of, is of earth and part of Gaia.

            The earth is almost a closed system, everything recycling round and round.  Not quite. Gaia’s energy system depends upon the Sun.

Water and mineral matter enter our atmosphere from beyond in comets and their fragments. See a falling star or a meteor shower and see fresh sustenance reaching Gaia. At the same time there is evaporation and dissipation out of the atmosphere. There is no real boundary, but a boundary layer. The atmosphere becomes thinner and more dispersed further from the planetary surface. There is a constant exchange of stuff at that indefinable edge.

            The only life I know is within the thin skin of Gaia, very like the life on the skin of any animal, including myself. I wash myself and disturb all the life thriving on my skin. Below the skin of Gaia, the biosphere is much more. The internal life of Gaia is very slow in my terms, but always active. The movement of the outer core produces the magnetic field that gives us some protection from the constant onslaught of particles from space. Not complete protection. High powered particles from supernovae slip through to the biosphere all the time.

            Consider the earth is alive.

I feel that Gaia lives.