One Hummingbird.

Mottainai. One little Japanese word that had changed my day. It basically means "a sense of regret concerning waste when the intrinsic value of an object or resource is not properly utilized." The expression "Mottainai!" can be uttered alone as an exclamation when something useful, such as food or time, is wasted. In addition to its primary sense of "wasteful," the word is also used to mean "impious; irreverent" or "more than one deserves."

One word and a story called Flight of the Hummingbird, by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (of Haida Manga), with Wangari Maathai (of the Green Belt Movement).

I reacted pretty pretty poorly at first to the story. No hope. Impossible. Sad. Depressing. Apocalyptic. Etc. But then I read the preface and afterword in the book. And I re read the story about 5 times. And thought about it all day. Mottainai is something that is explained in the preface and makes the rest of it mean so much more.

"Self confidence and enthusiasm are the keys to a successful life and to success in any activity one is engaged in. We must be determined and must have an optimistic outlook; then, even if we fail, w will have no regrets. Once you have made up your mind, you must go forward with a single-minded devotion in spite of the obstacles." - the Dalai Lama (afterword from the book Flight of the Hummingbird)

The reason why this story ended up making me cry and then rejeuvenating my sense of purpose is that it is just a little reminder that we're just humans. Individuals. All we can do is all we can do. And that's enough. We just have to all be doing it and doing it well, with our hearts and brains.

If I, as my own one tiny human speck among billions of other humans can manage to live right by nature and by other humans, then that's all I can do. That's all I want to do. I've made my small changes and will get to see some result and grow from them.

It's all like Miss J on ANTM said last week: "If you keep doin what you're doin, you keep gettin what you got."

Right?