Introduction to Whole Earth Care

Hello Everyone,
On the Tuesday of the 17th International Congress On Palliative Care, Dr. Balfour Mount asked a profound question. He asked us how we, Palliative Care Practioners, were going to respond to the present state of our Earth.

Our Earth is our Mother and our Earth is palliative. We have the same moral responsibility to respond to the suffering of our Earth and her sentient beings as we do to our human parents, families and communities. We, as Palliative Care Practioners, have developed specific talents that enable us to take on Dr. Mount's challenge. We can, as a multi-professional virtual community, focus on what we know best - the quality of life of our Earth family, the relief of our Earth's suffering, the prevention of further suffering and, by doing this, create the opportunity for a cure.

This will be our Thank You gift to Dr. Mount who has done so much for us in our careers and in our personal lives. In a joint international effort, we will support him as he creates yet another legacy for our Earth family.

I made a promise to Dr. Mount that I would do what I could with my talents to respond to his great concern. This is what I plan to do:

1. Send out a weekly email, which I hope to develop into a Blog within the next two months. They will contain ideas, suggestions, and activities. The first of these emails will appear on your screen next weekend.
The Blog will enable us to share information, ideas, photos, art, poems and short articles and links to relevant websites. From time to time, we will focus on a specific theme, such as water or air, or we will invite a "ecological" guest presenter to join us. When the Blog gains momentum, then I will consider creating a website to further our work together.

2. Gather ideas from all of you as to what we can do, from the simple to the more complex. 51 countries were represented at the Congress. It's exciting to think of the possibilities that can be generated from so many diverse and creative minds and hearts. As the ideas come in, I will send them back out to you.

3. In the next year, develop a small working group to plan a presentation, pick an excellent speaker and take our ideas and passion to Palliative Care meetings, education days and conferences. With your help and enthusiasm, we could go even further and bigger in 2010...

4. Find translators to help spread the word. At present, I am looking for French and Spanish translators in keeping with the Congress, but, in the future, I hope to increase the number of languages available to our virtual Palliative Care Community. If you would be willing to translate or know of someone who would like to help with translation, please let me know.

We will not be creating a new organization nor will we be fundraising. We will be collaborating, creating, honing our specific skills to respond to a larger community; we will reuse, reduce, recycle, reconnect, and rejoice in our new awareness and relationship with our Earth.

This is what you can do:

1. Send me your ideas, tell me what connects you to the natural world, give me feedback so that i can make the emails and the Blog fun for you. If you don't mind your name mentioned, put it at the end of your idea(s), your comments on the natural world or your feedback. By adding your name, you will be helping to create our virtual community. At the present, I am naming it Whole Earth Care.

2. Send this email and those that follow to your colleagues and connections in Palliative Care or to people you met at the Congress. Get more people involved. Give them my email:moczero@sympatico.ca

Let's start right now, gifting Dr. Balfour Mount, each other, our families, our communities, our country, ourselves and our Earth.

Looking forward to hearing from you, I remain hopeful.
Sincerely,
maureen