Peter
Buffett, son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, is an Emmy
Award-winning composer, NY Times best-selling author and noted
philanthropist. Currently, he is releasing socially-conscious music and
touring his “Concert & Conversation” series in support of his bookLife Is What You Make It.
As I thought about a Thanksgiving themed blog, I was sort of
overwhelmed with various places to start the conversation. Personally, I have
many things to be thankful for, but we all know that there are lives filled
with such pain and complexity that it’s hard to tick off all the things to be
thankful for without some sense of survivor’s guilt.
But is there one thing that we can all be thankful for? The obvious answer: the sun.
And then I started thinking about how hard it works every
day. Massive interchanges of energy without a single thought of how important
it is. It has no sense of whether we’re “entitled” to its output; no judgment
about how deserving we are of its hard work. Of course, it’s not hard work–it
just comes naturally.
It’s being perfectly the sun. It’s not trying to outdo other
stars, or wishing it could cool off so we would visit.
You may be thinking at this point that I’ve lost a little
bit of my mind. But I think if we could all remind ourselves–and be humbled
by–the significance of this event that is ongoing in the sky that allows us
to live our lives. And how this star is also a lesson in how we can become our
best selves. It might bring us all back down to earth a little and remind us
that the very best lessons are all around us in the natural world.
We will be reminded if we stray too
far off the path that keeps us connected to the natural world around us. And
the sun may just be the first in a series of these reminders. Yes, the climate
is changing. And there’s no reason to think that the fifth major ice age was
the last one. But the sun just has to burp a little to deliver the knock out
punch that brings us back to, say, a few hundred years ago–before electricity
was king.
So this Thanksgiving, when you’re listing off the things
you’re grateful for. Remember old reliable–the sun. And remember that just
like it, being fully you–fully present in your humanity and your connection
to the world around you–is all you really need to be.
And you might want to keep an eye on this website: http://spaceweather.com/
What do you think? Share your story at changeourstory.com. Visit www.peterbuffett.comto learn more and Change Our Story to
join the conversation on how we all can become active participants in shaping
our future.
Image courtesy of NASA Goddard Photo and Video, licensed underCreative Commons.
