Sir David Attenborough, broadcaster, naturalist, and writer is 100 years old. For most people alive today he has been a constant enthusiastic champion of the natural world. His award-winning documentaries have awed and inspired millions. Hearing the views of a vastly experienced naturalist who understands how the interlocking layers of the natural world work is priceless. And having one who is highly skilled at bringing them in technicolour to our suburban homes has been a real treat. But remember this is about more than entertainment this is about where we live and who we are. Making wonderful wildlife programmes with knowledge and enthusiasm thrust Attenborough further into the limelight. This happened at the same time the negative impact of humanity on the planet was becoming more noticeable and political. Some activists have even criticised him for not doing enough to highlight humanity’s adverse effect on the planet. This small blue planet is our only home, are we looking after it well enough? Can we do better to harmonise a good comfortable human life on Earth with everything else that calls it home? Can we make our technologies work symbiotically, rather than antagonistically with nature? It isn’t always easy to encourage people to pay attention to the slow moving trainwreck of reduced biodiversity and human induced global warming. Particularly for Attenborough with such a prominent position in, what is essentially a state broadcaster. Going too strong too fast could turn people off, and maybe attract politically motivated censure too. Personally, I think he has got the balance right. But we are dealing with important issues here. People who are struggling to make ends meet don’t want the weight of having to ‘save’ the planet too. And developing countries want to catch up to rich ones without having to deal with the environmental issues rich nations created in the first place. The question for some is, should we make a conscious effort to reduce the human footprint on the planet, and move our energy needs away from carbon-based sources at all, let alone are we doing it fast enough. As I said, this is a slow-moving drama, do we wait till things are so obviously bad that more people take it seriously. If we do, will it then be too late to do anything about it? And who should be the ones who do something about it anyway?
One of the less obvious things about Attenborough is that he represents an example of what is possible in your life if you follow your passion. The idea of following your passion in life was promoted by literary professor, writer, and mythologist Joseph Campbell. One of his books was, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In it, Campbell introduced the idea of the Hero’s Journey. This is a developmental cycle which heroes and heroines traverse in our stories. In a very broad summary; a hero or heroine is called to go on an adventure, they may resist, but eventually they go, through the journey there are tests and trials, but also help, sometimes supernatural, as a result of the tests and trials there is death of the old self and rebirth of the new, then our transformed hero or heroine must return to help humanity. You can see this motif played out in books, plays, and films. Good examples of the Hero’s Journey in films are the Lion King, the initial Star Wars movies, and the first Matrix film. One of the things that Joseph Campbell said was, “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.” The best formula in life is to act on your passions, simply for the purpose of doing that, without expecting something in return. I do not know Sir David Attenborough personally, but looking back at his illustrious career and having watched many of his programmes his passion for his subject simply oozes out of him. I would recommend that you too follow your bliss and see where your life takes you. If more of us did this then I believe we will find the novel ideas, and the energy, social, and economic solutions to return our planet to a vibrant living eco system. One where humanity is the steward of Earth and not its CEO.
“No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced.” Sir David Attenborough
