EARTH DAY 2014

“True happiness begins with inner silence, and in a loud world, it is often hard to find happiness and joy. Sometimes we must give our minds and souls a break from the noise of society, and connect with the deeper, more natural world from which we all came.”

Earth Day is an interesting concept because it is just ONE day, dedicated to the appreciation of the Earth. Earth Day was created to help people realize that our Earth is the most important resource we have.  For many, it is the only day of the year that they appreciate our Earth. While this is a saddening thought, we must do everything In our power to connect with the Earth on this important day (if not every day),  and to do that, OSI is proposing a “Digital Detox”.   Computers, cell phones, MP3 players, and cars are just a few of the technologies that inhibit us from fully appreciating our environment, because rather than connecting us, we are actually disconnected from the natural world, the real world, our home.

We challenge everyone to separate themselves from technology for simply one hour on this Earth Day. Turn off your cell phone (totally off) for just one simple, quiet hour. Appreciate the beautiful planet that has been given to us without the interruption of technology for ONE hour. That is our challenge for you. Once you have decided to “power on” again, we’d be interested to hear about your experience. What did you hear? How does it feel to be “disconnected” from technology? What was the most surprising part of this experience? Tell us on Facebook.

Regardless of your ability to disconnect from technology, please take this opportunity to appreciate our Earth, and all of the things it gives us. Realize that while a cell phone may appear to be magical, it can not sustain our lives. We need the Earth to give us everything for survival: food, water, shelter, medicine.  Everything. So appreciate the Earth today and every day.  Without it, no technologies would exist, and neither would we.

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on Earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the quite stillness of that which is the true nature of Earth.