EVERYTHING IS POISON!

That was a thought that came to my mind the deeper I got into reading Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. So maybe this wasn’t the best choice for my reading list during a global pandemic while I have consistent low-levels of anxiety which spike from time to time.

The book, originally published in 1962, is a classic and seminal book in the modern environmental movement. It brought the case against the pesticide DDT to the public and made a convincing argument against the widespread use of pesticides and herbicides in general.

Once I took a deep breath, I could step back from my anxiety and laugh at myself.

The most important takeaway for me from Silent Spring is how interconnected everything is. And I mean EVERYTHING. Kill off a certain insect that’s considered a pest can kill the birds who eat that insect. No birds means that small animals start to die out from lack of food source, and so on and so on. The unintended consequences can be vast. Even acts with good intentions can have devastating results in an area never thought to have a connection.

Sounds a bit gloomy.

But if everything is interconnected, that means I can have an impact. Little things done consistently over time add up. And in this time of pause, I’m able to be thoughtful about my actions. Very few things, it turns out, have to be done immediately.

There’s a line between thoughtfulness and inaction. Lord knows I’ve been caught in overthinking, of trying to make sure everything was just so. Often (though not always) that becomes an excuse for inaction, a reason to not do something based on fear — of failing, of missing the mark, of getting it wrong.

This pause has given me an opportunity to work on my own daily rhythm, one that finds a balance between thoughtfulness and action, that takes the greater good into consideration, that searches in advance for potential unintended consequences, and then takes action.

We can so easily get caught up in the bad news, the doom and gloom that surrounds us daily. Everything may seem like it’s poison, but the other lesson that Carson points out is that nature is extraordinarily adaptable. So, too, I’m learning, am I.