A Clear Blur

A thirsty mouth is longing for water, a hungry stomach is asking for food. People with hot weather are asking for colder one and those in the latter are asking for sun. Where do we get these things? Well, the earth has it all. Our environment is very important to us, with its destruction what will happen to us? As I see it, people are the ones responsible for this nightmare. You are the one who live and dwell in this planet you called earth.

I once read an anecdote about the lion and the cougar.

“Once there was a young lion and a cougar. Thirsty, both of them arrived at their usual water hole at the same time. They immediately began to argue about who should satisfy their thirst first. The argument became heated, and each decided one would rather die than give up the privilege of being first to quench his thirst. As they stubbornly confronted each other, their emotions turned to rage. Their cruel attacks on each other were suddenly interrupted as they both looked up and saw a flock of vultures circling overhead waiting for the loser to fall. Quietly, the two beasts turned and walked away. The thought of being devoured by the vultures was all they needed to end their quarrel.”

So, how do we interpret this story? What is the implication of this anecdote to the present setting of the earth, specifically the Philippine environment? For now, it’s up to you to think, wonder and look for the answer.

The Philippines is known for having a hot climate. Many tourists come and visit the country to experience and enjoy this kind of weather. While they consider this as the perfect time to let their skin get tanned and have a perfect glow, many Filipinos are cursing and wishing to end this scorching heat.

Wherever you go, you will always see someone taking a bath in his own sweat. You will always see someone trying hard to grasp as many air as he can using his big fan. These are just some of the usual scene that we see every day.

It was a fact that the earth is becoming hotter and hotter every year. Due to global warming, the temperature of the earth is increasing day by day, due to the industry of greenhouse effect, the amount of carbon dioxide increases which also increases the temperature of the earth.

I always see people with frowned faces battling the extreme heat of the sun. I always see the same look in their faces every time they talk about such issues. I always hear and feel the blames that they throw in the government every time I hear them talk about environmental issues. I always hear complain.

I’m not blind I see things, I’m not deaf I hear them, I’m not numb I feel them. Yes, I do feel them, we all are. But I’m different from them. I don’t blame other people for the problems that I have and I can’t also blame them for my sufferings.

Isn’t it ironic how people rally and complain about the garbage around but every time they rally they bring with them their garbage and left it in the street afterwards? They also complain about pollution but have they done something to solve such thing?

A simple reminder to just walk if your destination is near is very hard to do, what more if you ask them for a bigger favor. There are trash bins on the sidewalk but they find it hard to throw garbage properly, they always litter. Those trash bins has biodegradable and non-biodegradable written on it to separate dirt easily but they’re too lazy to read and follow such simple instruction.

I don’t see the point of blaming the administration for this misery. In fact, the government implement rules and regulations on how to take care of the environment. In the Philippines we have several agencies that monitors the situation of the environment. We have the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Tourism (DOT), several sanitary agencies and a lot more.

The lion and the cougar best represents humanity. It represents hungry and thirsty people longing for survival. It goes to show how the people react and respond to everything that the nature offers. They no longer bother about the things that could happen as long as they get what they want. Yes, you only live once and you should enjoy every single day of your life but are you happy seeing other people suffer because of your selfishness?

The water represents the earth, everyone is in a hurry. It is somehow a race, a race where everyone wants to go first and enjoy the beauty of the earth. They no longer bother cleaning the mess that they created. They would rather die than to accept the fact that they are responsible for this mess.

Your whole existence is the poison and the threat in this environment. You’re just too numbed and blinded by the pleasure that you get from the world that it’s okay for you to see the earth suffer. You’d rather die consuming all the things that the nature offers than to die doing something for it in return. You are already eaten by your pride to the point that it’s okay for you to see your environment become poisonous, slowly liquefied, and suddenly die. The truth is, the earth can survive without you but you cannot survive without it.

Are we going to wait for the time where we look above and see the vulture waiting to eat us? Are we going to wait for the time where we look above and see the sky crying as we end up being trapped and eaten by our own mistakes? Is the only thing that could stop us from abusing the earth is its own destruction?

It is very clear that people don’t have a clear vision that they themselves created this mess. It is very clear that their vision is blur.