I’ve written before that if you do something that kills people and you don’t want to kill people, you have to stop doing that thing, even if you like it. That sentence seems about as matter of fact as you can get. It’s not designed to make anyone feel guilty.

That polluting and depleting kill people isn’t an open question. We all pollute and deplete. Come to think of it, wouldn’t not feeling guilty be a problem?

But I didn’t start this post to talk about an old one. I started there to point out I’m not starting today to use the direct language of what polluting and depleting does (kill people) instead of the abstract talk I used before, since everyone else did, like: harming the planet, hurting the environment, acting unsustainably.

Another matter-of-fact thing that came to mind from yet another person defending flying and buying takeout as benign and necessary that people will act like it’s intended to make people feel guilt or shame, but isn’t:

If you fly, order takeout, or do the big things that pollute and deplete, I recommend making peace with the result that you fuel, literally, and fund killing people. If you want to make it sound a little nicer, you could say you fuel and fund industries that kill people. Then you can say “the industry” does the dirty work, though it doesn’t change the outcome or who is paying for it.

The value of making peace with the results of our actions is that it makes it easier to change those actions. It makes it easier to stop fueling and funding killing people. I’m talking about awareness. It’s hard to act on something you aren’t aware of.

Here’s a picture of me meditating from a few years ago, developing the skills to create self-awareness and peace.

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