Please Hold My Hand

Women of the world, I want to put your hand in mine and say all will be fine: environmental degradation will stop, desertification will stop, flooding will stop, warring will stop: you can securely provide for your families. Holding hands, you will feel my love for you.

This is the day I pray for.

For this day to come, there is work/play to do. First, I need to join hands with American sisters and acknowledge our immense power.

The feminine spirit is universal worldwide, yet we American women have something setting us apart. We are responsible for 85% of all U.S. consumer purchases* in a world where we lead in consumption per capita. We have a monumental role in the world arena.

For no matter how well intentioned we are, it is our lifestyle choices, which causes us to be the uber-polluters of the world. While we caretake family and friends, work in the world, contribute to charity, volunteer our time and give micro-loans, we’ve neglected to consider the consequences of our everyday actions.

Unwittingly we aren’t asking the hard questions we should have been asking all along: how is every single thing I buy made, how is it maintained or disposed of, what are the ramifications?

Sadly the lifestyles we have chosen leads directly to climate change, environmental degradation, desertification, sea level rise, flooding, crop failure, contaminated water, obesity, starvation, disease and death.

Our sisters in the developing world and our children are at the mercy of our daily choices.

American sisters, holding hands we feel our power and humbly accept the role we have unwittingly played in creating today’s world challenges. Linked together with our voice, our vote and our pocketbook, we will swiftly re-envision our nurturing ways, change lifestyle, change policies, and change laws to get the job done. Joyfully we will go about caring for all life.

Then we will hold hands with all the women of the world and smile, knowing we have done our best.

American women, please put your hand in mine so we can grow a network to revitalize our ways and our world.

Dorothy Reilly
Women’s Initiatives for a Sustainable Earth
www.youaresowise.org

*From: http://she-conomy.com/report/facts-on-women/

Women account for 85% of all consumer purchases…

91% New Homes

66% PCs

92% Vacations

80% Healthcare

65% New Cars

89% Bank Accounts

93% Food

93 % OTC Pharmaceuticals