The great disparity in passion and ability, and why there is not such a disparity as we think

Sometimes I think it is some of the things that matter most to us that we are hardest on ourselves about. I have been thinking about this particularly with my sister. Emily has most of her energy taken by caring for her three children, so it is hard for her to set new systems into place, even though she would like to. She cares so much about the environment, and wants to spread awareness and knowledge, but has limited opportunities to do so, and I think she gets hard on herself a lot, because there is so much more she would like to be doing that she can't do yet.

But I think she is looking at things the wrong way. It is not what she personally does that matters the most. I think she sees me try all these new things, put things into place where I am able to cut back on my personal waste, able to bike more, and all sorts of things, and kind of feels like "Oh that's what I should be doing," even though she knows she doesn't have the energy to do those things right now, and that she will, and so much more, when she does have the time. But the thing is, take Emily out of my life, and 90% of those things wouldn't be there. They are not there because of my own personal interest, and my own passion. I don't really consider myself a "green" person. I am just an everyday person who has caught some of her vision, and so make changes for very practical reasons, that can make me feel warm and fuzzy as well. I get my exercising done while commuting. I cut down on the cost of disposable products.

But my real point is, while they are interesting and fun and practical, they aren't important to me. They do not define my life, and I don't feel like I am accomplishing my life's work by doing them. But everything I do there, I owe to her. And what she -does- do has a huge impact on me, and I've discussed the things we both do with other people with a stronger backdrop to perhaps influence them as well. When we can't do the work with our own hands, we share the vision, and the work can be enlarged, and it can be done by other hands.

I like being Emily's hands right now. Her influence on me is great, and I love that it is there, and love the things it inspires me to do. I hope that my passion and vision can also influence others, and that they can be my hands, when I cannot do all that I want to do.