Calling all influencers
Gaia needs you now.
Back in 2022, I wrote an impassioned paean to “Interdependence Day,” talking about how we humans must come to recognize our embeddedness in the Gaian web of life.
In the hot July of 2026, I can’t hide from the depressing reality of the consequences of Gaian interdependence: we humans are dragging the entire web of life into another dramatic reset, known colloquially as “climate disruption” and “the Sixth Great Extinction.”
These changes are upon us now, and just as scientists predicted, the pace is accelerating. More heat = more storms = more deaths, not just of humans but of all life on Earth.
In 2026, this is not just the stuff of formal reports—it is part of our intimate experience, happening in our daily lives, in what we see out our window or front door.
The 250th anniversary of the United States could be a time for the US to raise its flag proudly as a leader of the generational fight to mitigate and adapt to climate disruption as fast as possible; to build resilience in every town and city—not just in the US but throughout the world, re-engineering and rebuilding so that as the planet warms, we can all continue to thrive—humans and more-than-humans alike.
This is entirely possible. It’s not even a far stretch of the imagination. These steps are underway, to various degrees, in most places on Earth.
But in the US—the country which has led the way in the production of the emissions that cause global heating and which is now the leading producer of oil and natural gas, and the leading exporter of oil in the world—I kid you not—we are stuck in repeating loop of 20th century thinking, the “drill baby drill” mentality that does not take the carrying capacity of the Earth seriously—that indeed cannot imagine any limits on human industrial growth.
If we use up this planet, the thinking goes, we’ll just get in our rockets and find another one. Space, the final frontier!
If you haven’t yet watched “Don’t Look Up,” the brilliant and biting satire starring Leo DiCaprio with an outstanding cast including Jennifer Lawrence, Cate Blanchett, Timothee Chalemet, Arianna Grande and many more—well, it would be a good pick for a hot night this summer.
I won’t spoil it, but the ending is absolutely on point as a critique of the current crew running the White House.
At some point, and maybe sooner than we can imagine, it is going to come down to survival on this planet, and in that, the future will be local.
Imagine a world where the tankers are no longer shipping oil around the world. Where electricity is generated by local solar, wind, hydro and geothermal. Where what we eat is grown locally and regionally. Where we travel less but enjoy life more.
I am not sure where our current internet-based screen addictions fit into this future. In an ideal world, will we find ways to keep our data centers and our vast online archives humming? Perhaps moon storage and satellite transmission would be a good idea?
It’s hard to imagine giving up our great hive mind in the Cloud, unless we are talking total civilizational collapse and a return to bare survival.
This could happen. But it certainly doesn’t have to.
On its 250th birthday, the United States is truly at a pivotal moment, and what happens in America will, to various degrees, affect the rest of the world as well.
I take hope from the young Americans proudly stepping forward under the “Democratic Socialist” banner first raised by Bernie Sanders of Vermont, to try, David vs Goliath-style, to take a principled stand in American politics.
Young politicians like Zohran Mamdani meet this moment with a sunny can-do spirit that represents the best of what the 21st century could be.
Each of us has the potential to step up and do what we can to make life better, in ways large or small. Each of us is an integral node in the great Gaian web of life, with a role to play in strengthening the wellbeing of the whole—that is the meaning of interdependence.
I believe, with Teilhard de Chardin and Jung, that there is a noosphere or collective consciousness surrounding our planet like a psychic network seamlessly integrated with the planetary biosphere. Harsh global events—seismic activity, extreme weather, species die-off or human conflict—affect us on a psychic level, especially now that we humans are so interconnected via the internet.
But just as the flip side of trauma is resilience, our interconnection makes clear our almost magical ability to affect the global noosphere. We do not have to cede our “influencer” potential to further the goals of crass capitalist marketing.
Each of us has the potential to be an influencer for the positive values that the original framers of the US Constitution, limited and biased as they were, tried their best to set down as an irrevocable trust underpinning the founding of the United States of America.
Every living being on this planet wants “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Life seeks flourishing—it’s as simple as that, and as profound.
Our task as 21st century humans is to become wise stewards of Life on this planet, seeking to maximize flourishing for each node of the entire Gaian web.
Each of us has a role to play, and we should not underestimate the role of “influencer” in our own social sphere.
Every time we show up with clarity, dedication and courage to speak out for the right of every Gaian to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” the ripples go out, subtly changing the frequency of the entire interdependent noosphere of our planet.
This Interdependence Day, become an influencer on behalf of Gaia. She needs us now.
Friends, it’s my pleasure and my passion to support you as we stretch towards living our lives creatively and to the fullest.
The motto of my author consulting business is “Writing to Right the World,” and the motto of my book publishing business, Green Fire Press, is “Books that Make the World Better,” also the title of my new podcast.
If these intentions resonate with you and you are working on a book, or have one in mind, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Supporting creative people bring their work more strongly out into the world is one way I try to make the world better.
Thank you Jennifer! Well said as always! I shared this with my niece Dana. Holding out hope! Sharon