Several of the members on this forum have asked me about my name and my avatar. I thought that I'd offer some answers.
Gaia was the name which the ancient Greek people used to refer to the conscious planet on which they lived. The Greeks did not view the planet as a dead ball of rock, but as a living, breathing entity who was the mother of all living beings, including the other gods and goddesses in the Greek pantheon, and who provided nourishment for all living things. I chose the name because I hold similar views regarding this planet, research in the last 25 years or so by James Lovelock and others has shown that the planet does function in many ways like a living being. Is the planet conscious? Some have compared humans with the brain cells, and the communications network used by humans, including the internet, as the neural connections between the brain cells.
My avatar is a character in a Disney short film, the very last segment in Fantasia 2000. Disney refers to the character as 'Sprite', but I felt that she embodies and represents the growing and nurturing qualities associated with Gaia. I see her as a local manifestation of the planetary (and perhaps even universal) life-force which causes growth wherever conditions permit. I use the term 'perhaps even universal' because I believe that as exploration continues to other worlds, life will definitely be found on worlds where conditions are favorable, i.e. presence of liquid water, atmosphere containing elements which aid in metabolizing food, etc. The moon does not have life because conditions are not favorable, but in a Universe as big as this, there are bound to be many other worlds where conditions are just right.