Air Quality

This week was literally wild. Raging wildfires in Canada that destroyed at least 800 million acres of land (much belonging to indigenous peoples) found its way over here, atmospherically. New York air quality was deemed the worst in the world for a couple days. That is a staggering and frightening assessment. Pictures saturated the internet with our air photographing as fully orange. New York everyday pollution mixed with the residue from the wildfires (in another country!!) was scary and dangerous to breathe in. Masks reappeared on the streets and many stayed home. It was absolutely reminiscent of Covid. Breathing, every living creature’s natural born right, was unsafe. My 13 year old son immediately felt something was wrong as we left the house early on Tuesday morning. What I dismissed as an overcast sky was indeed a huge natural disaster. My son googled and confirmed the Canadian fires. I was amazed that he knew right away, at his ability to feel beyond what we could see. That natural intuition is such a guide. It connects us to nature in a way that the mind doesn’t catch up to. This led us to a discussion about how we are so deeply interconnected and affected by one another. I told him that if a tsunami happens in one part of the world, then all the oceans are affected. This is both daunting and uplifting to me at once. The responsibility we have towards each other and towards our earth is tremendous. Our actions never stay in our own atmosphere. What we do, say, and think will be breathed in by others. Our energy is felt by everyone around us, even by beings not just directly in our midst. If my fires are raging inside me, I guarantee you’d feel it and it likely would not feel safe or healthy. Humans have the capacity to burn each other down with word and deed. We are never acting alone. We often take each other for granted, just like we take fresh air for granted (I know I certainly did before this happened). 
So what is the quality we are cultivating in our individual atmospheres, that in turn affect those sharing our air space? What choices am I making for what I breathe in and therefore breathe out? What we inhale and take in is a very big deal. Each breath is an opportunity to either improve the health of our atmospheres or detract from it. Even periods of sustaining our health requires more healthy intakes. We can only maintain the quality of our inner landscape by watering and fertilizing it with beneficial choices. What am I reading, scrolling, eating, thinking, saying, doing, how am I reacting? What is the quality of my relationships? How am I spending my time?What repeating thought patterns are harmful to both myself and others? What pervasive emotions are taking up too much space? Where am I procrastinating in my life/not appreciating myself/getting stuck? What am I inhaling that blocks my own flow? These are such important questions. We ingest so much detrimental crap without ever realizing it. This week was a gift in that way. It was a shot of perspective about atmospheric health, and how it must not be taken for granted. I was struck not just with how clean air is a gift, but that so is each moment to moment opportunity to breathe in every sense, literally and metaphorically. 
We were understandably freaked out over here and focused on our own impact, rightfully so. It was scary to breathe. After I came out of my bubble of self absorption I thought about the homeless, the animals, the flowers, the plants, and all beings in nature who had nowhere to seek refuge from the unhealthy atmosphere. I thanked god for a house where my family and I could remain safe, that we could protect our lungs and bodies. Many are not as fortunate in this way, and it was heartbreaking to think about it. More heartbreaking not to though; since we are completely interconnected when we lose sight of that, things go awry. We don’t function healthily in any form of separation. To hold each other through pain and sorrow, as well as joy and celebration, is nature. 
I spoke about this topic at the nursing home where I’m a chaplain intern. The seniors deeply responded to the questions around atmospheric health and wellness. Even many folks in their 90’s never learned that they have the power over what they breathe in. Most go their whole lives without understanding their own power of agency and choice. No one told them otherwise. It’s certainly a new concept for me as well. 
Let’s take care of ourselves and each other one good decision at a time, however small. Let’s create inner atmospheres of well being that support us and those around us. We are all sharing air space. What a blessing to contribute to the health of all beings. What we take in is what we will put back out. Our choices determine the quality of our air and our lives, which as I’m writing this seems like the exact same thing. To breathe is to live. To cease to breathe is to die. Each breath is so precious. 
Wishing our friends in Canada much healing and regrowing.