Our Planet Earth. The planet that hosts life, providing air for us to breathe, nutrients for us to eat, and a climate perfect for us to thrive. Crude oil forms over millions of years in the lower mantle, trapping and sealing carbon. Storing carbon beneath Earth’s crust forms part of The Carbon Cycle, and helps Earth regulate its climate. Small volumes of oil can naturally bubble to Earth’s surface due to changes in pressure, and little pools of surface oil can be stumbled upon in unexpected places.

Your Registered Nurse. We are trained to keep your body alive. We manage machines that breathe for you, we take care of your wounds to encourage them to heal, and we administer life-saving medications to treat your diseases.

Empathy is a trait of many in the caring profession, and it can play an important role in emotion regulation. While your nurse is providing your care, their compassion and empathy may bubble to the surface. They may cry your tears, show willingness to listen to your life stories with limitless patience, or may give up their time off to take you to an important event.

Following the discovery of surface oil, the world’s first oil well was established in 1859, allowing humans to drill deep beneath Earth’s crust and extract this precious resource. We now use oil to propel our vehicles around the world, to heat our homes and to generate electricity. But resources are limited, and supplies can run dry.

Following the discovery of someone with empathy, some people develop an insatiable thirst for more. Nurses work beyond their scheduled hours, unpaid. Nurses do the job of 3 different people at once. Empathy and kindness propel the healthcare industry and arguably, keeps it afloat. But resources are limited, and supplies can run dry.

Global wars thrash when Earth’s oil reserves are exhausted. Verbal threats thrash when your nurse’s empathy is depleted. We become accustomed to a seemingly constant supply of something that was never ours to begin with.

How long until Earth heats up? How long until nurses burn out?

When the cracks of exhaustion and despair begin to appear, does the fault lie with the giver or the taker? With Earth for not having strong enough boundaries, or with people for drilling deep and taking too much?

Birthing and raising a child is a sacrifice. You sacrifice your body, your identity, your personal space, your career and much more. Unconditional love is the glue holding you both together. Mothers are boundless givers. Children are boundless takers.

Mother Nature. Motherly Nurses.

Must these sacrificial responsibilities be thrust upon us without our permission?

 Without a maternal bond binding two entities together in unconditional love, how long does it take for the flame of resentment to ignite within the giver?

Climate instability. Caused by our neglect, our abuse and our repeated lack of response to Earth crying for help. We cut down trees and burn them while Earth watches on, its Ocean Eyes rapidly expanding. Earth internalises our behaviour, and begins to harbour storms strong enough to tear down its own trees, and host temperatures high enough to ignite wildfires across its own land. It cascades in self-sabotage. We cause climate dysregulation.

Emotional instability. Caused by a parent’s neglect, their abuse, and their repeated lack of response to their child crying for help. They scorn their children’s emotions, invalidating them and insisting their child is not good enough. Children internalise this, and begin to scorn and invalidate themselves, growing a deep-seated belief that they will never be good enough. They cascade in self-sabotage. We cause emotional dysregulation.

Stumbling upon a beautiful trait in another is a gift. What bubbles to the surface during interactions is yours to hold close and enjoy. We must treasure the precious commodities given freely in life.

If you find yourself walking around, specifically looking for puddles of surface oil, you have begun to expect gifts from others. Your expectation detracts from the beauty of the exchange, and disappointment is likely to follow.

And finally, if you find yourself crafting tools to dig deep and poach resources, you are manipulating the other and crossing their boundaries. What have you been through to feel the need to craft such tools?

Scientists began warning us about global warming in the 1980’s, yet 40 years on, global oil consumption continues to increase. 40% of nurses often or always feel burnt out, yet the pressure on healthcare staff continues to increase. The issue here is not lack of attunement; we feel the storms and we witness the mood swings. We are aware of the other cascading in dysregulation.  Yet, we continue to benefit at the peril of others.

Repeatedly upsetting the equilibrium of another can tip the scales towards resentment. Perhaps drilling deep within our own souls would provide some answers.

If you encounter something precious in life. Admire it. Appreciate it. And most importantly, only take what is freely given to you. Unfairly obtaining something valuable may feel beneficial in the short-term. But your actions will result in your own pain, your own suffering, and potentially, your own eventual demise.

With 5 periods of mass extinction under its belt, Earth has been here before. But have we?

Destructive storms are rife. Mental illnesses soar. The weather is bipolar. And perhaps, we are the cause.