Sent on
March 13, 2017
by
Rachel Beglin
Send Your Own Message

To the children I hope to someday raise:

I am so sorry if the world you are seeing and inheriting is a ghastly one. But I hope that is not the case. I hope your lungs are full of nothing but the freshest oxygen, that you talk to flowers, that the honeybees are thriving, that Florida is not underwater. I know that generations before me have raped the Earth, and I know that it still happens today, despite our best efforts to stop blowing the tops off of mountains, stop pumping oil under the Great lakes, stop burning fossil fuels in the name of progress. But I fight every day, every single day, for you, the inheritors of Earth.

It’s why I stood proudly at Standing Rock when the Water Protectors put out a call for activists to stand beside them in unity to convey the importance of our sacred land and sacred ecosystems and the water that gives us life. It’s why the coffee I’m drinking right now is in a ceramic mug, with coffee beans grown sustainably and with fair trade certification, and don’t use the much easier plastic disposable k-cups. I’m far from perfect. Not every choice I make is always clean for the Earth and its critters. I know that. It’s not easy to be sustainable in American society right now; in fact, I would say it’s downright impossible.

But Life is the most resilient phenomenon I have ever encountered. It has pervaded through five global mass extinctions and continues to come back, regrowth, every time, taking magnificent and awe-inspiring shapes and forms, from mice to elephants to strangler figs. I know that she is bruised and aching right now, but we will take care of her, nurse her back to health. I’m not sure all of the beauty of life will make it through, but I hope a lot of it does. I’m trying. I study the Earth. I’ve taken classes that taught me how to meditate with it. I teach environmental justice to younger students and interested community members because it’s unfair that marginalized human populations bear the brunt of environmental degradation. I march for Climate Justice.

I want it to all be here, for you. For everyone. For all living beings, not just people.

It is the sweetest sight to see.

Love,

Rachel

Share on:
 
Send Your Own Message

More Messages to the Future

 

Dear Kids,

My mistake was thinking I needed to give you more to be a good Mom. Recently your aunt asked me what my favorite toy was growing up. I gulped, I didn’t have one- it was the outdoors, sliding down a ravine of leaves with my Dad, skiing and camping. Today is October 12th, 2021 and I am still going to be giving you a lot, it’s going to look a little different – love, experiences, education and a healthy planet.
 

Dear Tomorrow,

I am so sorry we didn’t realize this predicament sooner.
 

To future Geof,

Cool, now that your jetpack is put away in your garage where you keep your flying car; how did the aliens save us from our own destruction? Did they have this hyper advance vacuum that just sucks all the greenhouse gases out of our atmosphere?
 

To all the people here on earth,

Who knows what the future would look like? or what will happened in the future? No one knows right? That’s why it it’s scary because we don’t know what lies ahead. We couldn’t stop the future but we can always change it.
 

To older Rochelle,

You should’ve reduced your carbon footprint, should be using some source of renewable energy and be a vegetarian by now.
 

Dear Rosie,

But when you are reading this years from now, by the light of a solar powered lamp, know that your dad, mom and millions of others who burned brightly with love for our kids did what we could, when we knew the stakes.
 

Dear Valentina & Luis,

You both know I have made it my mission to get people to understand more about the state of our planet‘s climate and what was at stake.
 

Vitória,

Antes de realizar qualquer ação pense no meio ambiente para que suas atitudes sejam pautadas na sustentabilidade. Assim o seu pensar e agir localmente poderão resvalar na escala global.
 

Dear Lucie,

Lucie, I love you more than you could ever know and I hope that my promises help contribute to a better world for you and inspire you to take action as well as you grow into the amazing adult I know you will be.
 

To my grandchildren,

Ahora vivo en la ciudad de México y cuando debe de llover no llueve… cuando hace calor de verdad hace calor.
 

Dear Tomorrow,

No plastic straws, no water bottles, shop local, no meat.
 

Dear grandkids,

I believe this fusion of ecology and economy backed by the digital technology is our great achievement.
View All Messages

Send Your Own Message