Essay

One step, one starfish, one tree

By John Gathright

Want to change the world but don't know how? Feel like your efforts are insignificant? Here's a story, adapted from a poem by Randy Poole, that'll cheer you up.

Once, there was an old man walking along a beach. He came across thousands of starfish washed up on the shore, and a young woman picking up the starfish one at a time and tossing them back into the ocean. "Oh, you silly girl," he exclaimed. "You can't possibly save all these starfish. There are too many." The woman smiled and said, "I know. But I can save this one." And she tossed a starfish into the ocean. "And this one." She tossed another starfish into the ocean. "And this one."

I love this story and it reminds me of a man I recently met - EarthWalker Paul Coleman. He loved the Earth when he was a kid, but he also knew that it was steadily being destroyed. He hated war, and he hated the senseless loss of life it entailed. He wanted to change the world. He knew he had to do something, but he didn't know how.

In 1988, he gave up his job and started a mission to save the Earth by walking and planting trees. Since then his efforts have inspired thousands of people the world over to plant trees and help the environment. Paul has walked at least 42,000 kilometers through 36 countries, speaking to millions of people, and planting trees for all the people ever killed by war.

As a fellow tree lover and environmentalist, meeting Paul and planting a tree together for humanity has been one of my dreams for the past few years. That dream came true while I was producer of the Growing Village Pavilion at the World Expo 2005 Japan. In the hope that Paul might visit I reserved a special EarthWalker spot for him to plant a tree. And he came! We bonded over stories of trees, people and the environment.

Paul has traveled to the four corners of the Earth and rubbed shoulders with beggars and kings. He often sleeps under the trees as I do in their branches. It was great to see his joyful appreciation of our pavilion, the circus trees, the growing furniture. He also liked our dramatic tree-climbing stories involving physically challenged people, including Toshiko Hikosaka, the first paraplegic woman in the world to climb to the top of a giant sequoia tree

We were moved by his efforts to draw attention to those who have died in war and to the need to protect nature. Kindred souls with similar experiences, we both shared the belief that each one of us can change the world.

Finally, Paul planted a tree. It was not a fancy tree or a big tree. Nor was it an ornamental or a rare tree. It was a common willow tree. Today, the tree stands in the pavilion garden as a legacy to Paul's efforts, and Paul is off walking and planting trees in Okinawa before he continues on his world trip.

One step, one starfish, one tree, no one is insignificant, no one is helpless to change the world. We all have inside us the tools to better what's happening around us. Our planet and our society just need us to act.

Shukan ST: July 8, 2005

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