It’s no secret that in the fight for environmental protection, nature is losing. But sometimes, I look to great and funny minds for a little inspiration. These are my favorite quotes about the environment. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go plant a tree or two.

“What’s the use of a fine house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?”
― Henry David Thoreau, Familiar Letters

“Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,
For strip-mined mountain’s majesty above the asphalt plain.
America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,
And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.”
― George Carlin

“The poetry of the earth is never dead.”
― John Keats

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

HJ: Since the moment you were born, society has been both intentionally and unintentionally programming you to think, act and behave in certain ways that are not necessarily for your highest good.  Part of the journey of becoming fully conscious is recognizing this and beginning the process of reverting back to your true, unconditioned self.  This article can be a big step in that direction for many people.  It lays out some fundamental principles of what we all must essentially do in order to get back to who we really are — vessels for unconditional love and authentic self-expression.  Enjoy.

- Truth

8 Ways to Free Your Mind and Take Back Control of Your Life

By Marc Chernoff | Marc and Angel

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You were born whole, complete and perfect. You were born knowing how to love, how to feel the love of The Universe and reflect that love back. It is a remembering and remembering is The Universe’s gift to you. ~ Creator

Just like intending to soak up energy from the sun, it is a marvellous practice to take a moment to embrace the divine energies available to you during your holiday season. You are about to enter a time that will be featuring an influx of the Christed energy. Why not consciously welcome it into every cell of your being? It is a glorious treat for your body and soul. ~Archangel Gabriel

The Santa Clause: Lying is OK, so long as everyone else is doing it.

The Santa Claus Syndrome is the effect of societal complicity in, and/or complacency to, lies and the belief that’s ok.

Take a moment to imagine yourself an outsider and visitor to a new culture. Imagine if you will an annual global celebration so fantastic that people excitedly await it all year long. Imagine the celebration correlates the winter solstice. Imagine the celebration is so spectacular and grandiose that it spurs the sales of products worldwide and some businesses exist solely because of it. Imagine that nearly all businesses profit from it and promote it. Imagine that the main part of the celebration, for most people, aside from sparkling decorations and elaborate gift giving, is openly lying to young children!

Most everyone celebrates the holiday, but those who do not celebrate it are expected to go along with the tradition of broadly lying to children and accepting the excessive materialism out of consideration for cultural tradition.