Beautiful. Needed. Deep bow of gratitude to this loving,
courageous, and wise soul. May she inspire us all. ❤ Molly
BY JANE GOODALL ON
Let me now share with you the New Year message that I wrote
very early on the last morning of 2017. It summarizes what I am feeling as we
enter 2018.
On December 23, I finally returned home
(to The Birches, the house where I grew up in Bournemouth, UK, where my sister
lives with her family and where I retreat between tours) after more than two
months without a break, “on the road”. Which means airplanes, airports, hotels,
lectures, meetings and so on. It was a crazy schedule that took me in that time
period to Osaka and Tokyo in Japan, many cities in the USA and Canada, Buenos
Aires in Argentina, various European countries – London for JGI events, Vienna,
for our JGI-Global biannual meeting, and then lectures, media and so on
arranged by Belgian and German JGIs in Brussels, Dusseldorf, and Munich. In
Munich, wearing borrowed boots that were too big, I tripped on a freezing
railway station landing most of my weight on one knee. Ouch! Then hobbled
through Kuala Lumpur, back to San Francisco and Los Angeles for three more
screenings of the National Geographic documentary JANE,
created in collaboration with the Jane Goodall
Institute — which may well be nominated for an
Oscar.
In LA, in addition to a very successful
and prestigious screening hosted by Leonardo DiCaprio, I was finally forced to
go and have my knee looked at and discovered I had fractured the knee cap. So,
how lucky that I am now at home until January 17, by which time the knee should
be healed – if I am careful. And I must be careful or else, the doctor told me
sternly, I would have to have surgery that would put me out of action for a
couple of months – and there is absolutely no space in my 2018 schedule for
that!
As I write this, it is just getting
light. Outside it is chill, grey, damp, and windy. It has been like this
throughout the Christmas holiday. And I have been thinking about the events of
the past year. For me, and for most JGIs, it has been a successful year. I have
been perhaps too busy, but every single event has gone well.
But for so many people around the
world, 2017 brought hardship and suffering, because of the hurricanes, floods,
droughts and fires due to climate change that have caused some to lose their
homes, their possessions, even family and friends. And climate change has
caused others to migrate from increasingly hostile environments. Then there are
the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing violence, war and genocide. The
horrifying number of people subjected to domestic violence. The poverty, the
rising number of the homeless and the millions, including children, subjugated
to modern day slavery. And we have inflicted unimaginable suffering also on
billions of animals in factory farms, those subjected to wildlife trafficking,
or to medical or pharmaceutical testing. And let us not forget the
shocking destruction of the rainforests, the pollution of the ocean, the
devastation caused by the unsustainable demand for the finite resources of
Planet Earth, the clearing of land for development and for industrial farming
with its chemical pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers. The loss
of biodiversity, the increasing number of animal and plant species listed as
endangered. A daunting and depressing scenario indeed. The list is endless.
But as I was thinking about all of
this, a little robin, with his cheerful red breast, flew onto the bird table
outside my window. I could just see him in the bleak morning light. And before
taking a beakful of food, he perched there singing his little heart out. An
exquisitely enchanting matins that found its way into my soul. I realized then
that he was delivering a message: reminding me that there is still so much in
the world worth fighting for. So much that is beautiful, so many wonderful
people working to reverse the harm, to help alleviate the suffering. And so many young
people dedicated to making this a better world.
All conspiring to inspire us and to give us hope that it is not too late to
turn things around, if we all do our part.
With his bright, beady eyes shining in
the light from my bedside lamp, the robin gazed at me through the glass before
flying off. He had played his part, rekindled the hope that leads to action.
Prepared me for the challenges that lie ahead.
So this is the message I share with you
now in the hope that throughout 2018 we shall be energized by the beauty that
is all around us, and rather than becoming discouraged and rendered helpless by
the ignorance and evil that is so obvious, we shall become strengthened by the
goodness and love that is also everywhere. And then we shall be able
to use the gift of our lives, to make the world that little bit better – every
day.
And, by the way, we must take time to
make merry, to have fun – and to laugh!
Let me wish all of you a successful and
fulfilling 2018.
Love,
Jane
Please go here for the original: http://news.janegoodall.org/2018/01/02/dr-jane-goodalls-new-year-message-2018/
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