New Era; You can change the World today!
By Shantibaba
The only thing in life you can guarantee each day is some- thing will change! But most of us live our life as if we prefer to remain the same.
Familiarity, safety and certainty are things we try to create with our homes and neighborhoods. Life is evolving and maybe things do not look like they change too quickly in our immediate vicinity, but things are constantly changing and adapt- ing all around us.
We are now well into our industrial revo- lution and with the added knowledge of New Science we are well into a New Era where we are playing catch up to our tech- nology. However with creation comes destruction, it is Nature`s way of allowing us to shake out the wrinkles of slow change and to shock us into different ways. If you think about it with a little more depth, you will see exactly what we have been doing for so long to create all our time saving devices and methods and
Let me tell you, from my point of reference there is no Human or theo- ry that can pre- dict our outcome or the future.
There is however some merit in pre- dicting the smaller steps in time and our impact on the Planet. To be honest and if Man could take a good look at himself in front of a mirror, we would see we have sacrificed quite some pristine parts of Earth in lure of our
time saving comforts. In retrospect we have made some great mistakes in the name of humanity, yet our achievements have been equally astounding! So where do we go from here?
As a plant biologist and a strong believer in Science, I have come to respect balance and the eternal change of our knowledge, relative to our history. Studying how plants continually evolve to adapt to their environments it often makes me think whether animals or plants are doing a better job? Both have suffered and been lost to extinction with the progression of time, but we also see the birth of a lot of new species of both plants and animals.
Similarly I often think whether Man has and is adapting fast enough to his environments? Without looking for a single solution it would seem logical with the rise in our population that we are doing well, adapting to all corners of the Earth. Like all expanding and ubiquitous prolifer- ating species there is a point to reach before we begin to implode on ourselves.
Success is sweet while it lasts but being too successful means we peak before causing our own demise. No species can keep growing and expanding without serious compromise and consequences.
Earth is alive and continuously pro- ducing resources. Humans gather- up, mine, pump, and siphon off most the Earth is offering. But Earth is not limitless and one day soon we will be demanding more than there is to supply us all.
We are at the dawning of a New Era where we can make a difference, but
we must do this and remain aware, not fall into our old ways
of complacency. Easier said than done I am afraid, but with a joint effort,
doable nevertheless!
In my main work of breeding new strains of cannabis for medicinal users we are at a pinnacle of change. Twenty years ago all cannabis was viewed as gateway drug to the drug culture…However, in those years huge advance- ments have taken place in agriculture and medicine which have been applied to cannabis to carve new ways forward. Finding applications of certain natural occurring chemi- cals on the plant have made many sick and suffering peo- ple lives` better. We were unable to identify and measure precisely the dif- ferent terpenes profiles (aromas) and cannabinoids found on a single plant. We classed things according to what we could measure and THC was such a chemical thought to be the mind altering substance that caused such effect. In recent years and through some in-depth analysis and med- ical trials we now know there are some 66 different cannabinoids on a plant as well as all the numerous ter- penes. From developing our tools to quantify these aspects of the plant we have learnt that CBD if found in larger quantities and equal to THC in ratio, the positive effect on MS patients or chemotherapy suffers have been uplifting without mind altering experiences.CBD is found on non drug types of cannabis normally associated with hemp
production.
We are touching on a tender spot, where the terminal sick and hopeless patients without alternatives are reaching out to any form of relief without the grave side effects of pharmaceutical drugs. The sick and suffering cannot be denied help in any way possible and they are creating our new research from their demand. It is exciting to see the help these new CBD rich strains are having on this group of users and the positivity it brings to their lives and their families.
Looking at the big picture can be daunting and leave any one feeling it is of no consequence what they do, they alone will not make change come! A lot of single steps make a long journey. Single steps count. They allow us to
gain space and move closer to the distant light at the end of the tunnel.
The single step is the key to our future on Earth as a species. We cannot run back to the Past to change what we did wrong but we can be here Now and do our best not to add to the mistakes our ancestors unknowingly chose for us. We can look Forward from where we stand now and turn our folly into fortitude.
This will take an effort by all of us. Many people will need to make those single steps count and with some good fortune along the way we will turn our partial demise into our strength for creation once more. We will pay a
price as most do for making incorrect decisions along the way, a kind of Tax to Nature…but it will lead us to a New Beginning.
