The Good News!
by Catherine Jennifer Walbridge
I am a human being who is composed of 70% water, just like you and the surface of our planet! An American with a Bachelor of Science degree in anthropology, I thought up the term “sea emocean.” It came to me when I broke my arm and spent a lot of time at home, recovering, typing with one finger. Above my chair hung my eighteen by twenty-four inch photo of a Pacific Ocean starfish reposing in seaweed.
Six years ago, the Obama State Department ocean conference was called by John Kerry, U. S. Secretary of State, and Under Secretary Catherine Novelli. I was very excited about the conference, and printed out John Kerry’s speeches. In the words that follow, I have utilized some of his remarks in a manner that he did not necessarily intend, in order to highlight the fact that just a hard scientific approach to considering and coming to cooperate around the ocean will not save it: we need to integrate other methods of helping the world. Also, the ocean issue could provide a rallying of humanity that will solve both our human world’s and our physical Earth’s problems and lead us into a green—and secure—future!
Busy for the last months of this summer reading Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril (editors Kathleen Dean Moore and Michael P. Nelson, 2010) over again, I was so delighted by the news that next year, 2021, is the first year of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030)—and that there is an international ocean conference coming up—that I dug out my old Sea Emocean papers and started writing this, for you and my website, foolsfortheydonottakethelongview.site . This Decade follows the U. N. International Decade for Action—Water for Life, 2005-2015; yes, we are wet and salty, and hopefully there will be tears of joy, soon, here on Earth!
“Because the world is so extraordinarily interconnected today—economically, technologically, militarily, and in every other way imaginable—instability anywhere can threaten stability everywhere,” writes John Kerry in an article for his group, World War Zero. Since we are so interconnected, mental health should be a major concern—along with physical health and spiritual health! Maybe one nation—for example, the U. S. A.—does not have the guiding light on health of this nature for its citizens; perhaps we have to get direction from other States, cultures, and peoples, looking out instead of in.
In 2012, I attended the Nobel Conference in Minnesota, “Our Global Ocean” because I wanted to share the idea of “Sea Emocean” as a possible U. N.-declared World Ocean Year. I imagined the potential for us humans to use this event to explore healing emotion for our physical world and its creatures, including ourselves—without maintaining that we people are THE event on Earth.
The Economist’s February 22, 2014 article, “Free exchange: Valuing the long-
beaked echidna,” discusses the initiative called The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, which attempts to “put numbers on, and publicize, the economic benefits of biodiversity.” Other attempts at this goal have been made, but, as the article states, it’s not that easy; “economics cannot quite capture the value of all the creatures sharing this planet.” We need to go beyond such efforts, if we believe in our worth as a species.
I must make the point that we are a generation older than we were in 1998 at the time of the last World Ocean Year— and we must act like it, for the health of the ocean and ourselves. Without psychological health, Earth’s people can hardly be expected to contribute to saving our ocean. Yet it can be done—by using the ocean to rally us, a new World Ocean Year with a series of nourishing events can help humans grow, and apply ourselves to fixing the globe which we call home! The less we share the sea with other living creatures, the less it works for us, making our oxygen, getting rid of our carbon, and giving us things to eat and ways of getting them, not to omit how it moves and inspires us. Plus, the less we share our experiences of and gain from the sea with other humans, the less we will find interconnection and a future—for all countries, all peoples!
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We know that, as the United Nations tells us on its “Sustainable Development Goals” website, “The fundamental challenge facing human beings on planet Earth is the escalating level of our greenhouse gas emissions. They are the cause of the climate crisis and they are the reason the ocean is acidifying, deoxygenating, and warming – and warming results in the death of coral, rising sea levels, and changing marine ecosystems. To this challenge, we must add the effects of detrimental human behavior in the fields of marine pollution, stemming mostly from land-based activities, and some of our fishing habits – notably overfishing, illegal fishing, and the subsidization of industrial fishing fleets.”
But the question, “Q: How can innovation and technology address some of these challenges?” is not going to give us the answer we need: because for once, it is not only to science that we must turn for answers, but also to ourselves. See—mind; emotion—heart; Sea Emocean: Love Our Sea!—a World Ocean Year in the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development, is my hope. It would have to be a set of enjoyable, enriching efforts by the planet’s people and institutions to plan and execute, as we need solutions (and good times) NOW!
This is the answer to the above question on the UN website: “A: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made it clear that rapid, far-reaching, and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society will be required if we are going to succeed in limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This will require political will at all levels of society. Be it climate action, pollution control, or fisheries management, there can be little doubt that the application of our best innovation and technology will be key to our success.” Yet, I will quote Abraham Lincoln here—“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew,” and Albert Einstein—“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
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The Panel’s answer sounds daunting, but as U. S. Senator Elizabeth Warren would say, I have a plan for that—and like entrepreneur Jesse Fink in the book Moral Ground, “I can envision a world in which economic activity involving individuals and institutions will dramatically change in a short period of time” (p. 232).
Beginning soon—preferably, immediately—to implement Sea Emocean: World Ocean Year is important. Poor countries must talk to rich, and the inverse, both planning to exhibit their cultural ocean heritage, not for serious business’ sake—but for learning, and for fun! I can’t even imagine how much positive emotion would come from this global effort, as folks would grow to understand each other’s genius and the meaning the sea has for them. Plus, it’s time to begin caring about all of our fellow Earth dwellers—climate change has raised its ugly head, and big help is going to be needed by our friends and those the U. S., for example, used to call enemies, in an attempt to rule, instead of share, the world. This greedy behavior made more sense in the previous prime-of-life conquest age, but now things are different—meta-pausal, I would say—and it’s time to grow up and reach out.
Today—in this messy time—we need to halt our preoccupation with making babies and start using our science, spiritual direction and creativity to figure out what else is going on in our world—and to take part in this larger project: it is time to consider what our legacy will be to the youth and the other denizens of the planet. For example, the current time period has seen only metaphors of decent health care, nutrition and education instead of our real birthrights, on a global scale. Additionally, we’ve been living with racism and sexism—no ways to treat potential world citizens!
“[I]f we are going to be able to honor the ocean, the ad hoc approach we have today with each nation and community pursuing its own independent policy simply will not suffice. That is not how the ocean works,” states John Kerry, at the 2014 conference. I agree, and that is not how people work, either! I feel that humans are not going to change our habitual destructive tendencies until—not until certain laws get passed—but until they are moved emotionally to live more inspired lives. Is the ocean a puzzle to solve with our minds, and not our hearts? Or does everyone have a unique insight and possible contribution to make to the challenge of our planetary future—and I’m not talking about sending money!?
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Protection of our world, including our ocean and land, is a vital international security concern. “The connection between a healthy ocean and life itself for every single person on Earth cannot be overstated,” said John Kerry, at the 2014 conference. “The good news is that at this point we know what we need to do to address the threats facing the ocean. It’s not a mystery. It’s not beyond our capacity” to administer to the sea we have chronically abused. But how do we minister to ourselves to get ourselves to attend to these matters?
The problem is: all over the world, humans are doubtful of ourselves. We think in one way or another that we are wrong, sick or handicapped—and we are, even those of us who are physically well-fed and healthy. Why? Because we have not lived up to our full potential—though this is to be expected in a non-globally, not positively- connected place. We are deficient now, because each of us cannot remain fully conscious, all the time; we have not evolved to the next stage of humanity, to have the special experience of being world citizens. This sensation, part of getting to and being in the next stage, would cause us to feel better and to move, I think, to a new level, and in new ways, as we work out a world language, a necessary place from which to continue life on the planet.
All people not globally connected (everyone, today) have some sort of daily unconsciousness, I note; every culture is not wholistic—in different ways: no one people has a claim on reality—nobody is yet a world citizen! Plus, in the recent past we haven’t had the chance to stay in touch with the world because we’ve lacked the technology to globally connect.
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And could there be a language that could keep its speakers, globally, optimally alive and utilizing our full brains? Well, until recently, the social sciences have even lacked a system of recording and expressing our bodies’ movement (see Dynamic Embodiment for Social Theory, “I move therefore I am,” by Brenda Farnell, modern dancer and student of Native American sign language, 2012), other than ineffective film. But coming up with a global language must now be possible, since we have Farnell’s Labanotation. We could start with the funniest expressions from each culture, right? We are looking for inspiration—for ourselves; and wondering why we should reach out to save others on this planet. Enter World Ocean Year!
Kerry spoke in 2014 as I echo in 2020, “I know all of this sounds pretty ambitious. It’s meant to be…But look around the room [or world]…All of us [world citizens] can come together and each can help the other to ensure that every solution that we discuss [and experience] is directly tied to the best science [and creativity] available.”
The reason I add the word “creativity” to Kerry’s original plain “science” is that my idea of a plan for the implementation of techniques for human development—Sea Emocean, World Ocean Year—would take creativity from every nation. This is not a project just for rich donors and institutions, even governments, though they will certainly be involved—the solution must also be from and for the common person. You scientists, for example, would need to contribute creatively—to turn your observations into inspiration for the average kids and adults. I want to know how whales act, and to have their pictures in my home! Also, I crave to put my son or daughter’s crayon drawing of a dolphin on my window, and know he/she understands that there are friends out there who are healthy—and who care for each other like we humans should be doing. You NGOs can send out photographic ocean images to the poor, instead of saving them for wealthy contributors; this would help all of us, without leaving anyone out, and creatively sharing the tools for learning about and imagining our ocean friends would help fulfill the needs of everyone on the planet!
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We need to do a few things to meet the ocean where it stands: a new World Ocean Year could have many components. Firstly, isn’t it a spiritual sensation to just be near the sea? You may know of the Moslems’ necessity of pilgrimaging to Mecca once in their lives. Going to see the ocean could be like this, but in one year—World Ocean Year! Governments will need to cooperate and share the resources needed to send their landlocked inland populace to the seashore to get a sense of the main event on our planet.
The 1998 World Ocean Year was declared by the United Nations, which, “as the central forum for development of the law of the sea, has consistently taken an integrated approach to the subject of oceans and the law of the sea. This approach is based on the premise, as elaborated in the Convention on the Law of the Sea, that all ocean issues are interrelated and must be considered as a whole.” This sounds progressive. Yet, “As an example, navigation involves issues of marine pollution, national jurisdiction over maritime space, international rules for the safety of ships, exploitation of ocean resources, and so on.” This is quoted from the U. N’s website for “1998, International Year of the Ocean.” Their graphic features the famous Japanese Kanagawa wave with the words “Get into it!” But navigation is, besides the issues listed, thrilling and potentially life-changing, right? It creates such sensations as feeling at one with Nature; learning skills; perhaps praying for safe passage; practicing cooperation and team building; forging intercultural relationships; planning for future experiences and sharing stories and marine adventures with others—which ones? Why? How? What are we learning here? Where can we share this knowledge and grow from it?
How else we could do World Ocean Year, perhaps opening the door to this approaching Ocean Decade, is open to your imagination. I can see interculturally-shared songs, films and stories about the sea and its animals; art, especially that done by children, enjoyed around the globe; introducing seaweed, like my favorite, dulse, the red, salty popcorn topper, to people watching dolphin movies; music made with whale sounds; and exhibits of green, blue, and ocean-themed stained glass, among other ideas.
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We definitely should use Google Maps’ (or another computer program’s) ability to show our personal visual link with our planet from Space—starting with where we are on street level and distancing our viewpoint, going straight out to a view of the sphere where we dwell. Kerry notes that his heart was stimulated by the first Space photos of Earth in the 1970s. Our planet’s image has always inspired me, too, and probably does everyone else. I have written a “Poem to New Glory” about a potential Earth flag, with a photo of the planet, changed each year so all places would be represented (see end of paper). Our home is round and one—and beautiful!—and its image should be everywhere, for us to love! Our dwellings cannot be separated from those of our neighbors; I feel that getting a sense of that would help doors in our collective heart open, preparing us to work/play together and learn to be world citizens. I yearn to see photographic globes in libraries, post offices, cafes, and schools.
Because we’ve never looked in a mirror as a group, enjoying each other as a whole, and seeing our planet peopled with folks who are psychologically together—individually, and as a group—we don’t know that we can help ourselves—we lack faith in ourselves and each other to be passionate, to act benignly towards each other and our environment. It’s good news that we could clean up our ocean and use it to appreciate each other—and to proceed with welcoming the future! Working and playing on a new level, in which we use our full bodies—brains, minds and hearts—is going to be really fulfilling, it is clear to me!
When we implement the plan for Sea Emocean, we will be securing life for tomorrow. We created the needy ocean situation by engaging in history, and now we have a responsibility here, and an urgent requirement—but we can solve the problem: “we need to change this” current situation, Kerry says, in 2014. “That’s our charge here, all of us.” So we must, even though the territory is uncharted!
My website has a communication method, so take part and join Team Worldwide, if you want—read my Proposal for Teamwork in the Welcome! section; it just gives one a sense of what I imagine it might be like to work for the world; your help is needed for turning your participation into play!
The U. N. needs to hear from you if you want to suggest that we have another World Ocean Year, so you can write them, too: www.un.org contact. I thank every person for their participation now and into the future. I love our Earth! Planet, you are art! You’ve been quite a great hEarth, allowing us to celebrate you and feast! Thanks for being yourself, listening and hEaring!
Make Earth Great—Awesome!
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** POEM TO OLD GLORY **
Born of love for God and country,
Flag that sets our hearts aglow.
Patriots bore thee on to victory,
Blood stained foot prints in the snow.
Our great nation, all one people,
Brothers, sisters, neighbors, friends.
Fruitful fields, rocks, woods and steeple.
All in one our nation blends.
Underneath our banner glorious,
Homes and firesides fill the land.
Freedom’s wings and ships victorious,
Vision peace to every strand.
Schools and churches safely cluster,
‘Neath thy peaceful folds unfurled,
Shedding Freedom’s radiant lustre
To mankind in all the world.
Tyrant foes may plot insanely,
Binding chains of shackled slaves.
While they rant and threaten vainly,
Freedom’s flag still proudly waves.
Cowards may quail and poltroons perish,
All their false religions fail.
Freedom and the flag we cherish,
Ever glorious. Hail! All hail!!
Inspiration of our nation,
Banner of the brave and free.
Jubilation! Jubilation!!
Glorious thou shalt ever be.
Edward M. Waring, 5/16/41
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Poem to the World Flag, with Photo of Earth in Space on it, View Switched Yearly
Poem to New Glory
Born of love for land and ocean,
Flag that sets our hearts aglow.
Spacemen saw Earth in their motion
And left Moon footprints as hello!
Our great Planet, all one people,
Brothers, sisters, neighbors, friends,
Fruitful fields, rocks, domes and steeple:
All in one our Planet blends.
Underneath our banner glorious,
Songs and stories by the band,
All free to play and be victorious,
Shaking peace with every hand.
Temples, churches safely cluster,
‘Neath thy tranquil folds unfurled,
Sharing concord’s radiant luster
With humankind in all the world.
Alien foes plotted insanely,
Invading, stealing lands from braves
But new and old world converse plainly,
Humanity’s great flag now waves.
Cowards may quail and fools may stumble,
Hypocrites’ religions fail.
Liberty, the globe, won’t tumble,
Ever glorious. Hail! All hail!!
Sharing human inspiration,
Banner of the true and free.
Jubilation! Jubilation!!
Glorious thou shalt ever be!
Edward M Waring’s “Poem to Old Glory,” 1941, Original; His Great Granddaughter, Catherine J. Walbridge’s, Expansion, 2014, 2019.
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