Did you participate in Earth Hour last night?

We did; but we took things a little further, by participating in our own 12 Earth hours!

Instead of simply switching off the lights, we switched off our electricity where it came into the house last night and didn’t put it back on until this morning. We put candles in our rooms and spent meaningful time together. We talked, connected, focused on one another and had nothing to distract us.

The sound of silence

What struck us most of all was the silence. Do you ever have days when the world seems so loud or bright or intense? Days where you feel total sensory overload and you don’t always know why?

Last night, as the clicking off the fridge stopped, the hum of the fire pump, the buzz of the electric phones and clocks all gave way to the hooting of owls outside and the sound of flickering candle flame we were plunged into silence.

Heartbeats and rhythms

I lay and listened to my heartbeat, the sound of my breathing, even my tinnitus! The latter is not pleasant, but it really gives you space to listen to the messages of your body. Mr Green and I talked about our day, enjoyed listening to the world outside and felt a closeness through our lack of diversions.

Connecting to the world

I felt a real connection with the millions of people participating in this worldwide event. The thought that Sydney Opera house, the Eiffel tower and Table Mountain in Cape Town were all plunged into darkness blew my mind and was an emotional moment. How there are people all across the world who do care about the environment and want to show global leaders that they want strong action to tackle climate change.

Hour after hour

As we lay next to one another by candlelight, Mr green mused that we shouldn’t do this for just one hour a year. We should make it a regular and frequent event. Even if people don’t care about the environment, everyone cares about money - and what better way to save money than to turn off the  lights - even little bit helps, right?

What about you - Did you participate in an Earth Hour event? We’d love to hear about it.

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