The Importance of ‘The Greening of the Self’

Joanna Macy is an environmental activist who wrote a short work titled, The Greening of the Self in 2013. In this work, Macy writes about the importance of beginning this process of greening ourselves in order to help save our planet from climate change with a new perspective.

Before diving into the greening of the self, Macy explains what the self is: a metaphorical construct that includes our identities, agency, self-preservation, self-approval, and self-interest. In other words, the “self” embodies everything that makes us who we are, what makes us unique. 

Macy continues on to explain that the greening of the self involves extending our own senses of the self to include and integrate the notion that the natural world and all of its components are part of ourselves; we are connected with Earth in such a way that we co-create and rely on one another. 

I know this might sound strange to some people, like how can I be so deeply connected with the trees or the grass in my backyard? The best way to combat this is to challenge ourselves and our way of thinking.

We can start by deeply believing and understanding that the Earth is just as animate as we are; we are not the only living things on this planet. It’s also important to stop viewing nature from a personified lens and instead try to retrain our minds into realizing that nature is its own separate and sentient entity that is not the product of humanity, nor does it fall second to humanity. 

After we’ve accomplished this, the next step is to actually start allowing the greening of ourselves to be expressed in our actions. In other words, we need to start respecting and appreciating this planet with the honor and gratitude it deserves. 

It might sound intimidating to go out and try and figure out a way to save the whole planet before it’s too late, especially when you’re just a college student. So, the best strategy is to keep consistently doing smaller acts to eventually create a bigger change. 

This can look like going on hikes and cherishing the natural world around you, going to the beach and picking up any trash you see scattered on the sand and in the water, or you could simply start by going outside to do your homework. 

The whole point of doing these actions is to slowly start understanding that we are not so separate from the world around us. As a matter of fact, we wouldn’t even exist without the natural world. 

As Macy writes, the greening of the self allows us to reclaim our lives and stories on Earth so that it is centered around the notion of connectedness instead of the notion of profiting off of the destruction of Earth. Once we understand that there is truly no separation between Earth and ourselves, we can start seeing the importance of saving this planet. So with that, let’s all start giving thanks to Earth and believing that we are more connected than we think.

• climate change
• environment
• joanna macy
• the greening of the self