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The text below is from the original email that I sent out to my friends
to invite them and anyone else to join me in doing one thing a week.
Hello friends,
I am writing to you to tell you about a project that I
am starting called "1 A Week". I want to assure you at the start that
this is a SPAM FREE project and that, if you would be so kind as to
read this email, it will be THE ONLY one you will receive about it; I
promise! I am concerned about Global Warming. I think that it is a real
problem, and that it needs to be addressed right now. In addition to
this specific problem, I feel that it is important to be conscientious
about the world and its ecology. I have wasted a lot of time worrying
about these problems. I have been extremely depressed, woken up in the
night with panic attacks, envisioned doom and destruction, and on and
on. Do you know what I got out of that? I ask rhetorically, and will
tell you rhetorically that what I got was a lot of depression, panic,
and I lived through a lot of horrible scenarios. What fun!?!?
I have
decided to abandon that approach, because I came to realize what I find
most scary and upsetting is the feeling that I can't do anything about
my concerns. That is why I am starting the "1 A Week" project. I want
to pick one thing to do for the environment every week that is easy,
quick and effective. It is important to me to pick things that will
yield results yet are practical. Something that can be done without an
investment of time or money which would create a hardship. I have come
to realize that it is not my responsibility to solve these problems alone,
but it is my responsibility to do something; to do what I can. I have
already instituted this commitment in my life, and I want to share what
I am doing, what I am learning, and welcome anyone who wants to
participate. In this email, I am going to include a link to a website
dedicated to this project. Are you ready?
Here it is:
http://1aweek.the-ma.com It will have two options for practical/easy things to do for that week, and any relevant explanations, information,
links, etc. I invite you to visit whenever you want and join me in what
I am doing that week. I also want to explicitly state that the other
side of that coin is, if you don't want to participate, don't do it! If
you want to do it sometimes and not others; great! If you want to check
in and do something when the mood strikes you; fabulous! If you are
really into it, but miss a week here and there; don't worry about it! You have the
website, you know the drill, I have already told you that this will be
the only email I send you about this; do with it what you will. That is
the strength of this project: no regrets and no guilt. If, like me, you
are concerned about Global Warming, etc., then do something and feel
good!
With this project, I am trying to answer the question that I have been asking
myself, "But what can I do?". The more I looked into it, the more I
found out that there are things that can be done, and people who will
do them with me. Yes, it
may be mostly gestural now, but every little bit helps, and the more
people that do something, the less gestural it is. Will it always be
the best researched, most efficacious, easiest possible thing that can be done in any given week? Probably
not, but I will do my best to find really simple, solid things, and I invite you to give me any suggestions
about future weeks. My only
request from you is that, if you choose to join me and want to give me
feedback, that you resist the urge to be negative or depressing,
because frankly, I can't handle that. This project is about action,
solutions and feeling good. This is not intended
to be a "rose colored glasses" approach, it is really just a practical
way to avoid paralysis.
The scope of this project and the expectations
about it should be very practical and reasonable. I really want to give
people a feeling of strength and accomplishment. I don't want this to
be a nagging, guilt-driven experience for myself or anyone else. This
project is intended to be convenient, dirt simple, and inclusive. Even
though I have my political biases like anyone else, this is not a
"Right Wing – Left Wing" political movement. I want it to be purely
stress relieving, and contain as little inherent stress in the task as possible. It
should be a place where anyone can go quickly, get something done and
feel optimistic.
I want my daughter and everyone else's child to have the
privilege that I had of growing up in a world full of many and various
thriving plants and animals. We are seeing more and more that having
these things is no longer a birthright; it will require effort and
commitment to preserve them. It will require that enough people stand up and say, "This
is important to me! This is what I believe!". In saying that, I am
saying that I have a commitment to making comparatively easy changes now, that will really pay
off in the long run. I have realized that I can't do everything, but I
can do something. So, let's do it!
Sincerely,
Matt Buckner
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