A CHILD SHALL LEAD

It has been such a LONG time since I felt inspired to write.  But then I hear the voice of this young, INCREDIBLE child, and suddenly I think we ALL need to speak up. The Earth needs ALL our voices, everyone who is willing to be bold, even when it seems no-one is really hearing. Speak up anyway!

One of the final lines in her BEAUTIFUL song: "If we do nothing it will all be gone".  Or severely desecrated.  Yes Ta'Kaiya, thank you for INSPIRING us to speak out for the Planet! Or sing out, or dance out or even type! Just DO something. But don't stay silent in the face of what is happening. No more "business as usual."

I LOVE what she says in the beginning. Out of the mouths of babes. ENJOY! (click on the picture below)

Help Save Larsens Beach

Hello my dear friends,

For 2 1/2 years now there have been a group of people trying to keep the forest above my beloved Larsens beach, pictured above, from being cut down and turned into cattle pasture. Many of you have read my other posts about this. Most of the focus in the community has been on maintaining current access, but there is a much more global issue at stake here, which is losing coral reefs all over the world.
Up until now we have managed to stop the rancher, but today the fencing went up at the top of the hill. So we need to ramp up the vigil. It is no mystery that reefs die when the vegetation is cleared from the land above them and they get buried in run-off. This reef has been protected for a long time and is one of the only pristine reefs left on this island. But this is not a local issue. It is global. We are losing reefs everywhere and they are SO important to the health of our oceans.
So I ask for your help in saving a specific one right here in my backyard. Please hold the thought with me that the rancher is stopped and the forest remains intact and the reef remains ALIVE.
Say YES! Thanks for listening.

EARTH DAY 2011

I have not felt inspired to write for a long time. But how could I let Earth Day go by and not say anything?!!!! Forty one years ago this day was officially declared as Earth Day to bring awareness to what was already happening in the severe altering of this beautiful planet we all live on. But do you know what has happened since then? This is astounding: in the 41 years since that first Earth Day, we have managed to continue altering the Earth more than in all the thousands of years of previously recorded history! Doesn't that blow your mind? In just 41 years. Somehow the message of the first day didn't get through to the majority of the world. The things we were doing then to harm the planet we are now doing even more of. How did this happen? Part of it is simply population. In the last 40 years the Earth's people have gone from 3.7 billion to 6.8 billion!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes you read that right. In just 40 years. It took thousands of years to get to 3 billion, but only 40 years to add another 3 billion. WOW. There is no way the planet can keep up with this kind of growth and demand on her resources.

How do we turn this around? I know that every single one of those 6.8 billion people has choices to make, and every single one of us either helps or harms every day. There is no other planet to move to if we use this one up. So my prayer is that a WILD majority will magically appear that is conscious of how we are altering our home, and that we can shift this avalanche we have set in motion. What if by the next Earth Day it is an every day thing in people's lives to care for Her, not just once a year? This planet has forgiven us for a VERY long time, but now we are starting to see the consequences of the way we have chosen to live. It is time for HUGE changes in our relationship with the air we breathe, the water we drink, and where our food comes from, both land and sea.

PLEASE be part of the change. Before the next Earth Day how far can we transform our relationship with the Planet globally???? ALL people. Not just "environmentalists".

Be part of the healing. Right now. From now on. In EVERY choice. YES?
Thanks for listening, and acting.

SING TO HER

Today is Earth Day, where our beautiful planet gets honored more than any other day of the year. I invite you to join me in singing a song to Her wherever you are in the world, and cover Her with musical vibrations of Love. Here is my wish, set to music...

ECO WHIMSY

Wow, it has been a long time since I last wrote, and it's time for something "lighter". Most of the articles I read daily about our beautiful planet are dealing with how things are being desecrated, but every once in awhile I come across something that people have dreamed up to try and help our Earth that brings a big smile to my face, and hopefully to yours too. Here are a few of those moments of whimsy, all related to creating energy from unusual sources.

Dog poo lights.
Yes, it's true. Your dog poops, and you get light. How fun is that?!! There are several dog parks now that have set up incinerators right there at the park that people can scoop up their dog's gifts in a bag, drop it in, and voila: the energy creates power for the lights in the park at night. Think of the possibilities if there was one of those in your bathroom at home...

I-pad tapping.
Some clever person has invented a gadget that attaches to an I-pad to capture the energy from all the tapping on the screen and storing it in a battery to charge not only the I-pad itself but other electronics as well. Suddenly my friend who is trying to get her son to spend less time on the I-pad would in fact tell him to keep on it so she can power her house. Get back on that computer and TAP, I need to cook dinner!

Nightclub boogie.
More brilliance with using energy that we supply ourselves. There are nightclubs with specially rigged floors to harness the motion from all that dancing and turn it into electrical power. Dance marathons take on a whole new meaning. Let's get our groove on to create energy!

Pee Battery.
I couldn't make this up people. Urine is used to create a chemical reaction that powers a battery. Who invents these things? Brings me back to the dog poo lighted park. Maybe we need to put little cups on the sides of the trees and fire hydrants...

TreadMILL.
Do you have any idea how many people are walking every day and not GOING anywhere because they are on a treadmill? So all that energy is not actually propelling your body though space, it is just "wasted". Until now. A gadget has been invented to create power off the constant churning of the machine, and suddenly the name tread "mill" is appropriate. Like an old fashioned water wheel being pushed by people wanting to get fit. Be skinny for a good cause!

I hope you have enjoyed these as I did, and I would love to hear what other clever funny things you have heard about. We need some HUMOR in this quest to help the Earth!
Thanks for listening.

THE QUEST

I love the word quest. It conjures up visions of long journeys through unknown and magical terrain. I have had many quests in my life, and here are 2 that are calling to me right now:
Continually looking for new ways to do more myself to help and not harm the Earth.
Finding ways to inspire others to do more to help and not harm the Earth.

The first one is so much easier than the second. I have become a voracious reader of online sites that have a wealth of new ideas for being kind to Creation, and I have friends who discover things and tell me about them. I get so excited when someone brings something new to me that I have not yet heard of or thought about to lessen the harm I do. But I have realized that I am very unusual in my desire to constantly find new ways to change my impact. I have some friends and family who welcome what I have to say, and even ASK me for ideas to do less damage. But then there are the ones who not only do not welcome what I have to say, but they somehow turn my efforts into a negative thing. I would like to explore this, because it feels REALLY important to me to not just give up in the face of opposition from people close to me. I recently had a very painful encounter of this kind. It is one thing to encounter animosity from someone you don't know or love, and quite another thing to be confronted with that when it is a person you cherish. And when the subject is something that seems like it should bring you TOGETHER, I am even more mystified. How does this happen?

Most of the people I know love God in some form. Most of the people I know love the amazing things God has created. But if I come to them with something they can to do stop harming Creation, suddenly it is not about loving God or Creation any more, but about me being "negative" or "attacking" them. Let me try an analogy. If you see someone beating up another person, are you "negative" for witnessing that? Are you "negative" for wanting to help the one being beaten? Are you "attacking them" for actually taking action to try and stop the person from being harmed? I see what God has made being damaged. I want to help this beautiful Creation. And I actually dare to take action to talk to the people I see doing harm to try and get them to stop. I have been told I should just work to change the impact in my own life, and not try to get other people to change what they are doing. But staying silent and not asking others to become aware and make new choices feels just like walking away when I see someone being beaten up. Why would I do that? Fear. Not wanting to "get involved". Not wanting to have their anger turned on me. But what are the consequences of NOT saying anything? More damage to something I love and am trying to help. Walking away is the exact OPPOSITE of finding new ways to help. Asking others to shift their choices IS one of the new ways I can help.

We need to find our common ground. We need to work together. We need to recognize that we DO love the same Earth and we can HELP each other to do less harm. And to do that we need to be willing to help, which includes being willing to hear when someone is telling you of something you do that is causing damage. We ALL cause damage every day because of the systems we have in place in our society. I am causing damage right now typing this on the computer, but it feels important enough to do it anyway. The quest is to find more and more ways to do less damage ourselves, and be willing to take action when we see others doing harm. If you are someone who dares to speak up, please don't just give up and walk away because others may turn on you. This Planet is worth taking some risks for. If you are one of the people who believes in God, then I ask you to act from THAT place inside you. Let your love of God and what God created on this Earth be the motivation for finding more and more ways to help and not harm. We need to make it not about the person who is pointing something out, but about the Earth.

Please be willing to find more and more ways to help. Please be willing to listen when someone comes to you with new ways that you can lessen the harm you do. Please be willing to ask others to help too. No more fear. Just love.
Thanks for listening.

SAVING LARSENS AGAIN???

My dear readers, today the unthinkable happened. After my last post of pure joy, we were all so busy celebrating that this sacred place was saved, and meanwhile the rancher started putting up the fence TODAY. Turns out the surrendering of the DLNR permit was just a foil, because he had a permit through the COUNTY, so he is going ahead with that permit. He was actually down there today and he stated to me his intention to cut down the trees on the hillside and plant grass for cattle. It was SO hard to face him and just listen. The run-off is already 5 times what it used to be on the beach just from the small amount he has already cut, and he's only just begun. I can't imagine what will happen to this important and beautiful reef if he is allowed to do what he wants to. So what we thought was over, is not.

You can imagine where my heart is right now. I had to weep long and hard. So once again I find myself asking for your prayers, in whatever form you do that, to protect this amazing land. Visualize the picture at the top of this page with all the trees STILL THERE. And once more, I look forward to telling you Larsens has been saved, AGAIN! Hold that thought.
E malama i ka heiau.
Hold this land in Sacredness.
Thanks for listening.

LARSENS SAVED!!!!!

A MIRACLE just happened. One year ago in October of 09 I wrote about my favorite place in the world, a beautiful coastal wilderness, being threatened with immense destruction. If you want to read it: http://lightoneden.blogspot.com/2009/10/saving-larsens.html The post finishes with the line "I look forward to telling you Larsens has been saved!!!" Well, it took a year and 3 months, but we GOT our miracle. Last night I received word that the permit to cut down the forest above the reef and turn it into cattle pasture has been surrendered! Incredible. When I got the news I didn't dance in joy, I sat very still in complete awe. Stunned. But somehow the whales already knew, because when I had been down there at the beach in the afternoon they were having a PARTY! There were DOZENS of them and I have never seen so much jumping in my life. At times there were 2 in the air at once, jumping again and again. Truly a celebration. Well this morning it really sank in, and I rushed over there to tell all the ocean creatures that might not have heard the amazing news, "your home has been saved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I like to think that on some level they understand. Then my own celebration began, and continues still. What a way to begin 2011!!

For those of you who have never been to Larsens this may not mean much. But this place has been a CONSERVATION DISTRICT for decades, and the forest on the hillside above the beach has kept the reef alive. It is the only place on the entire North and East shores where the endangered monk seals have their pups. I'm sure they have chosen it as a nursery because the reef is still protected. All that was about to change drastically. How a permit got issued to create cattle pasture in a conservation district is a complete mystery. But perseverance from those of us that wanted to see it remain protected has at last paid off. It has been long and exhausting in many ways, but entirely worth it!

So if you are actively trying to save something wherever you are, DON'T GIVE UP! Miracles really CAN occur, and one just did. THANK YOU to all of you who have lent your support through this. All the creatures of this place thank you as well. Let's go save some more sacred places!!!!! E malama i ka Heiau. Hold this land in Sacredness. YES!
Thanks for listening.

5 DAYS OF CLARITY

During my daily swims I often find myself wondering what the creatures are thinking as they come close and look deeply into my eyes. I haven't yet learned to speak "honu" (Hawaiian Sea Turtle), or "seal" or any of the other languages out there in the ocean realm. But recently I had 5 days in sequence where I suddenly felt like I heard what they were saying, and it was SO powerful.

One of the delicious new things in my life is a practice of sacred council. A group of friends gathers in a circle, and a question is posed. In the last council the question was "What is Healing". Then each person gets to address the question through the use of a "talking stick". Whoever holds the stick may speak without interruption, so all others in the circle are just listening. It creates a beautiful and intense focus. I have attended a few of these councils now and they are always juicy!

Near the end of my swim each day is an area by one of the channels to the open ocean where the water gets deeper, about 15 feet, and the honu come and go through the channel so it is a wonderful place to encounter them. They often will swim up to me and circle me, but on the first day of this sequence a council was formed! I had stopped swimming as one approached and it stopped as well, just off to my right. Then another came and stopped to my left, and two more moved in diagonally and stopped, all facing the center of the circle we had formed! I realized the council had formed, but what was the question??? We all hung there for awhile, and then they began to disperse, and I found myself saying "wait, I didn't hear yet"!

The next day in the exact same spot one approached me and swam RIGHT UP TO MY FACE, looked in my eyes, and stopped for a moment. Then it swam off and the next came and did the same thing! And the next, and the next. I know they are trying to tell me something, but what?

On day three I have just had a conversation with a friend who talked about singing to the dolphins and how they LOVE it, so I thought I would try singing to the honu and see what happens. So I get to the magic spot and one swims up to me and I start to sing, and it literally JUMPS away from me in the water! I swear it frowned at me, and swam off. Thinking maybe that turtle was just crabby that day, I decided I would try again, and as 2 more came up to me I began singing again. The exact same reaction! But this time one of them turned to look at me as it swam off and this is what I heard: "What do you think I am, a DOLPHIN?" I started laughing SO hard inside my mask. I finally heard something! And then this revelation came. Turtles are completely silent creatures. Dolphins and seals and whales all make sounds and songs, but not turtles. O.k., so I will communicate in silence with them.

Day 4, and a HUGE ancient honu about 5 feet in length swims right up beside me and touches it's shell on my arm while it is looking deeply into my eyes. Then this enormous question washes over me: "Why are you doing this to my Home". I just started to cry. All I could say was "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Whether that question actually came from the honu, or from my own heart doesn't really matter. Because the answer is the same. I don't know why we are doing this to the ocean. Because we can? Because no-one is stopping us, and we aren't stopping ourselves. We are still dumping toxic chemicals down the drain every day, throwing plastic away every day, burning oil every day, eating seafood even though 90% of fish stocks have been depleted. Because we can. That is why we are doing this to the turtle's home. And the seals, and dolphins and whales. Because no-one is stopping us.

Day 5, and in the same spot there is a SEAL just laying on the bottom motionless tucked up against a coral head. I've never seen a seal do this before, and as I get closer I realize with horror it has what looks like a rope around it's neck. My first thought is it has been tangled in fishing gear, which often happens to the seals, and it has become stuck on the coral head and can't surface to breath. HELP! I have no idea how long it has been there already or if it is even alive, so I dive down to get a closer look, and it opens it's eyes. YES. So it is still alive. Then it begins to slowly move away from the coral head and I realize the rope is not attached to the coral. It swam right up to me and as it got closer I could see it was in fact not a rope but a scar from a rope that had been there, deep and black. And down the left side of it's body was a series of propeller scars from a boat strike, probably when it was entangled and couldn't get away. As it looked at me with those HUGE eyes, I heard a new question: "Do you see what you have done". More tears. Yes, I see. I see.

The addendum to this story came the day after I wrote this down to put it in a blog. Two honu came up to me, one nuzzled right up under my belly, and the other put it's front flipper on my right hand. This time I felt like they were thanking me, and this thought appeared: "We need you to speak for us. We don't have a voice."

I'm sure my experiences with these magnificent creatures are not done, but these are my 5 days of clarity where I finally heard. So I will speak for them. I ask the questions of you that they asked of me.
Why are you doing this to their Home?
And do you see what you have done?

Thanks for listening, and caring.

HEAL THE EARTH

Well here it is folks. My first original song ever posted to Youtube! Sung for all of Creation.
Bring back the Sacred!
A sense of Holy we must renew.
May it be so.
Thanks for listening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmmaOYfBPF8

THE 11th GIFT

My last post was a blog called 10 GIFTS about alternatives in this gift-giving season that bless both the person intended AND the Earth by not harming her. Well I have participated in another one that is SO incredible it gets its own blog! Some of you Internet savvy people may already know of this, and organizations like it, but I'm fairly new to all this global computer connection thing and the wonders it can offer. So here is my new favorite thing.

It's found at http://www.kiva.org/ and the people who dreamt this up need all kinds of extra points from whoever is doling them out. It is a site where you can donate to help people living in poverty in countries all over the world. There are pictures and bios so you can pick who you want your money to go to and read about what they need it for. But wait, it gets better! This is done as a LOAN, so there is a re-payment plan set up! These people are too poor to qualify for loans from a bank, but they need money to help them out for some specific goal. It is empowering people rather than just keeping them in a cycle of poverty. Give them an opportunity and they do the rest. Often someone needs money as a start-up to buy something, and then they can fly! Sweet.

The first woman I gave a loan to lives in Cambodia and makes about 2 dollars a day selling veggies in a market. She was requesting a loan to buy a bike to help carry more produce to the market. Right now she probably carries as much as she can on her HEAD, and walks 10 miles with it! I saw that when I was living in Borneo so I can picture it. The minimum loan is 25 dollars, but what is 25 bucks to some of us in our abundance? To her it is 2 weeks wages. Wow.

But there's even more! When the loan is paid back it goes into my account at Kiva and I can withdraw it if I want to, OR I can use the same money to invest in someone else!!!!!!!!!!!!! Truly the gift that keeps on giving! You don't ever have to invest more money if you don't want to, but with the original gift you get to keep helping more and more people. Incredible. They have gift certificates on the site as well if you are doing the donation as a gift for someone you know, and that person can choose who they give the loan to! I'm so amazed by the whole thing.

So if you are looking for a beautiful gift for someone you love for this Holiday season, or throughout the year for birthdays or whatever, you could give gifts to 2 people at the same time! Someone in your life, AND someone who can use a helping hand. What could be better?
Thanks for listening.

10 GIFTS

Yesterday was the "official" day when all the shop-till-you-drop craze begins leading up to the big Holiday Season. (Cue the music...) Gift giving is such a BEAUTIFUL thing, but it has become really manic and destructive in our society. People wracking up debt because they feel they have to buy and buy, literally harming others in the quest to get something they think they must have, so much stress, so frantic. How about we step out of all that this year?! I submit some suggestions for a loving and stress free holiday season, helping the Earth in the process. We can give and NOT pollute the land, water and air. YAY!

1. Buy Less.
Seems a no-brainer. The more things we accumulate that we don't really need from people who think they have to buy us "something", the more that winds up in the landfill. While it is really fun to give, most of the gifts now are so destructive to the world we live in. So much plastic! So much manufacturing waste. We don't need to add to that in order to give.

2. Re-Give.
(What an odd sounding word.) There are many things you may have received that you don't use or enjoy that someone else may need or adore! When I was doing my huge "cleanse" to downsize before moving to Kauai, it was so fun finding new homes for things I didn't want to take with me. I thought I didn't have much "stuff" to start with, but it was amazing how much I had to give in my closets. There is an organization online at http://www.freecycle.org where you can get things to give to others for free! Craigslist also has a "free" section under the "For Sale" column. And of course you can post things there you want to give away if you can't find another home for them.

3. Donate.
One of the wonderful traditions started in my family awhile ago is making a donation in someones name to an organization that person would want to support. There is money flowing to a fantastic cause, rather than to a "thing" that sits on a shelf or in a store room. It is exciting to me that the Earth can get extra help at this time of year if people are willing to give in this way.

4. Talents.
When we are kids we make things for people. Like the painting Mom still has hanging and says she likes, or the pot holder she still uses. (Yes, it's true). But who says we can't do this as adults? One of the most delicious gifts I ever got was a 2 hour massage from a professional massage therapist friend of mine. BLISS! Someone may be able to offer tutoring on a computer to another who is lost. (That would be me). Write a poem or song as a gift if you are a writer or singer. I have a friend who is a pianist and donates himself as entertainment for parties as a gift. Is there some skill you have that others could be blessed by?

5. Time.
Even if you feel you are a talent free zone, time is a gift that many can use. Babysit for a couple with kids so they can have a night out. Be a chauffeur for someone who has no car. Clean someones car, or house. (Well maybe not the WHOLE house...). You can create a "certificate" to be redeemed for a certain number of hours of your time. Lots of people need gifts of time!

6. Free Tickets.
Give a subscription to season tickets for something fantastic! Or maybe just a single show of something passing through. A year's admission to a museum, art gallery, arboretum. That gift keeps on giving the entire year.

7. FOOD!
O.K, who doesn't like food? Maybe you want to not like it so it won't tempt you, but you DO. Everyone needs to eat. Making food to give as gifts feels very special to the person receiving. "You made this yourself? Wow." Even if it's not yummy to them, the love that went into it is what is received. Your shopping is no more than a few extra items the next time you are at the grocery store.

8. Re-use.
A lot of the wrapping, bows and bags that things come in can be re-used. I had such a collection of gift bags and bows from packages I got over the years I gave a bunch away on my big "cleanse" and I still have more to use this year. Even the wrapping paper if it is taken off carefully can be used again another year. Just cut off the parts with tape and voila, new paper with no trip to the store. (Just don't give it back to the same person...hee!)

9. Recycle.
There is so much packaging on new products but lots of it can go to recycling rather than the landfill. And all those holiday cards and envelopes can be put in paper recycling. Here in Hawaii they do not have curbside recycling (on an ISLAND!...don't get me started...), but ALL paper can be recycled, and both cardboard AND paperboard, if you know where to take it. Check with your local recycling centers for what they accept. In most places none of it has to go to the landfill.

10. E cards.
Lots of people give cards only at the holidays, and have a HUGE list! But now we have the Internet and don't need to cut down forests any more to send a card. Of course there are cards printed on recycled paper, but they are still made in factories adding to the pollution. We can step out of all of that. There are many online card "stores", and most are free! Even better. The cards can be SO creative, even singing and dancing for the recipient. How fun is that?! So give tons of cards and create no waste. Wow.

I know there are lots of ways not mentioned here to give gifts that don't involve buying at a store and more stuff for the landfill. I hope this list has given you ideas to make your own holiday season this year more loving and stress free for both you AND the Earth! YES!
Thanks for listening.

THANKSGIVING

It has been just over a year since I started writing LightonEden. A YEAR!!! Wow. That has gone really fast. Much has changed in the last year, and I would like to offer thanksgiving for many things that have happened.

I have no idea how many people have read these posts or how many may have become more aware of their actions and made shifts through reading them, but I would like to give THANKS for all the people who HAVE let me know of changes they have made to help our beloved Earth. I am SOOOO grateful every time someone tells me about some new shift or discovery they have made, so keep talking to me!!!! It gives me hope. And I also give thanks for the ones I don't know about!

I am truly grateful for the dear friends and family that I have who are actively searching for ways to do less harm and are willing to listen to my rants! It is always amazing to talk with someone who "gets" how important it is to everything that exists in this world that we as a species become aware of what we are doing. Thank you for caring enough to act.

I give thanks that environmental issues have become a GLOBAL conversation with more and more people realizing how we must act to help the Earth and do it swiftly. A few years ago "going green" was not the popular phrase it is now. More and more stores are offering CHOICES of things that don't destroy our planet, so as people become more conscious they can shop at the stores they usually do and still care for this place we all call home.

Then there is my Mom. I have been so moved by how determined she is to find ways to be kinder to Creation. This woman does research! I cannot tell you the number of phone calls and letters asking me about some new product to try or telling me of some discovery she has made to make a difference. And there are all the phone calls and letters to stores and companies to ask about Earth friendly products. Makes me squirm with delight. I am so thankful for all of it. YAY Mom!

Lastly, I offer here a song for this Thanksgiving celebration.

We come together to share our Stories
We come together to share our Love
We come together to blend our Voices
This is my Heart Song

We come together to walk in Sacredness
We come together to walk in Peace
We come together to join the Circle
This is my Heart Song

We come together to live in Thankfulness
We come together to live in Joy
We come together to be One Spirit
This is my Heart Song

So to all my readers, whoever and wherever you may be, I give thanks for you, and
Thanks for listening!

RAISING CARE

Lately I have been watching a lot of videos on enviro things rather than just reading articles, and I keep finding more I want to share. Here is another brilliant one, only 2 minutes long, and so inspiring! (The link is different from what I usually do. Just click on the picture below.) I find it really powerful when it is YOUTH teaching us about caring for Creation. I love this line: "Stop trying to raise awareness, and instead raise CARE"!!!!! YES. I have found what he says to be so true; people may be aware of an issue but not necessarily care enough to DO something. And I cannot even count the number of times someone I am talking with dismisses a harmful action with "I don't do it very often", or "it's not that much". I LOVE when he says "people need to not do it AT ALL!". Tell it like it is J.D.
So how does one inspire care?
Thanks for listening, and caring!

GO WITH THE FLOW

This gorgeous place that I swim every day has a sign at the top that reads "No Safe Swimming. Deadly unsafe currents have killed 14." So I get a lot of questions when people see me there every day with my swim gear! It is true that it is unsafe, if you don't know how to deal with a strong ocean current and don't know where the channels in the reef are that suck people out to sea. There are days that I can't fight the current even though I swim there daily, so I just have to get out. This daily shifting in the flow of the current got me pondering the phrase "go with the flow". I have read and heard SO many times that we need to learn to go with the flow and not fight it, and if we are not in the flow then we are going the wrong direction. My experience in the water and life has taught me something else.

Sometimes the "flow" is taking you someplace that you don't want to be, or someplace that is dangerous. Like being swept out to sea, or joining the majority in making destructive choices for this planet. In times like these we actually need to work to NOT be swept away by the flow, and find our way out. As an example, my parents just moved to a new city and my Mom called 6 different stores looking for recycled toilet paper so she wouldn't be contributing to cutting down trees! Go Mom! She could have just "gone with the flow" of whatever they had in the first store she went to. Too many people just LET themselves be part of the flow and continue to make choices that are harming themselves and the home we all live on, because it is too much "work" to not do harm, and mainstream society has set up this path that is not aware of the consequences of their actions.

No-one likes being told they are doing harm. When I bring it to someone's attention that they are harming themselves or someone else or the Earth by the enviro choices they are making, there is a large range of responses, from actually thanking me for bringing their attention to whatever it is, to making me the villain for "attacking" them. From me it always comes from the same place, GREAT love and compassion for the harm that is being done and a sincere desire to lessen or eradicate that harm. It never comes from a desire to be cruel to whoever that person is. I have no control over how they perceive my showing them the harm they are causing. I can do my best to be gentle, but their reaction depends on their own mental, emotional and spiritual health and their ability to face difficult truths. Some people actually WANT to know the harm they are doing and welcome someone who is brave enough to help them see it. Others somehow think that in pointing out how they could make different choices to lessen the harm they are doing, that I am being nasty or unkind. It becomes about me, rather than what they are doing, and takes the focus off themselves which is really where it needs to be. There is a HUGE risk in showing people how they are doing harm, because so often they turn on me in very negative ways. I will always be grateful for the ones who don't turn it into being about me, but rather are willing to really look at the harm they are doing and make different choices.

So why do I keep trying to show people they are doing harm when it is so painful and risky? Because I believe it honors the truth that LIFE calls us to. I believe God, or the Life Force, or whatever you want to call that power, does not want us to harm ourselves, others or this magnificent creation. I could just stay silent and observe all the harm being done, but then my silence is part of the problem, not part of the solution. Speaking up is difficult, but imperative if anything is going to change. And so I continue to step out into sometimes very painful interactions, rather than going with the "flow" of what people are doing that is harmful.

I would like to propose something radical. Be one of the ones who swims against the current! Don't just get swept along with the millions of people who "go with the flow" and are not interested in looking at the harm they do. Be willing to look at the harm you do and ways to lessen that. And be brave enough to challenge those around you to make choices that bring healing rather than harm to this Earth and themselves both. Imagine a day when the "flow" of the majority actually sweeps you toward CARING for our beautiful home! Let's build a new current. Will you help?
Thanks for listening.

YOUTH TRUTH

Here is the video I promised in my last post. This kid is amazing. So full of passion and truth at such a young age. Tell it like it is! He packs a LOT of important information into a short period. Definitely worth 5 minutes of your time. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Id9caYw-Y

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

One of the extraordinary things about my current life is the ABUNDANCE of food that comes right from my yard on a daily basis. Besides my garden which of course I have to plant and tend, there are dozens of fruit trees that have been here for decades just giving and giving! The picture above is a yard harvest from one day. Beautiful! Since getting so deeply into enviro things, the old adage "you are what you eat" has become so clear and simple to me: what we put in our mouths becomes our blood and flesh and bones. If it goes in our mouths, it becomes part of us, unless we can somehow expel it. What has also become really clear is the circle that we are a part of. What we put into ourselves then travels into the Earth when we eliminate, and what we put into the Earth travels into us when we eat. So simple really, but it seems that most people don't make the connection between their own health and the health of this planet. The following are thoughts about food from a bunch of different articles I have recently read and there is much to ponder here about this circle.

This first one I have to quote directly because it is just so...well you'll see:

"The majority of people in America begin their morning with a cup of tea or coffee and a dose of DDT, malathion, paraquat, diazinon, and a bit of Round Up (sprayed on the plant). Milk or cream comes with acceptable amounts of bovine growth hormone, a shot of antibiotics, and a few steroid molecules for good measure. One or two teaspoons of sugar filtered through slaughtered bone ash prevents it from caking, and a bowl of genetically modified cornflakes carries up to 50 different pesticides just to bring it to the table on this lovely morning." YOWZAH. We are choosing to make this part of our bodies? Hardly seems possible, and yet there is the majority, every day.

We have SO many additives in food now and for quite some time it has become perfectly acceptable by the "masses" to consume all these things every time they eat. But now there are more and more studies appearing linking these additives to all kinds of diseases that are showing up in ever-increasing numbers. By the time the government "proves" the link and acts to remove the additive, great damage has already been done. The following is a list of food and drinks that have been "proven" to be carcinogenic, meaning they can and do create cancer in your body:

Red Meat

Processed sugar

Heavily salted and smoked foods

Farmed fish (wild caught fish has LESS toxins but still has plenty: 100% of fish tested in rivers had chemical poisoning above "acceptable" levels from agricultural chemical run-off. Again, the circle. We spray it on our plants, it goes into the stream or ocean, into the fish, and into us.)

Fries, chips and snacks with trans fats

All charred food

Artificial sweeteners like Aspartame

Excess alcohol

How many of you reading this consume some or all of these things? And how many of you actually WANT to get cancer. I'm sure the answer is no-one wants to. And cancer is not the only disease now linked to food choices. There are so MANY linked to food, from diabetes to heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Alzheimer's, and on and on. So when does the majority start to connect what they want in health to what they buy in food? I know SO many people that think they can't afford organic food, but they pay HUGE health care bills because of what the non-organic food is depositing in their bodies! So would you rather pay the farmer or pay the hospital? (I must give credit for that last line to a VERY savvy teenager who did an incredible talk about our current food system. I need to post his video for you to see.) The latest research has now discovered that the chemicals sprayed on plants are not just on the surface. They are actually absorbed from the soil through the roots so there are toxic chemicals in the cells of the plants. Yikes.

There is another aspect to this circle of food and that is wasted food. Everyone knows that restaurants throw a lot away, but are you aware of how much food is thrown from U.S. households? The figure is 28%! Astounding. Just 5% could feed ALL the hungry in this country. And listen to this: more energy is wasted from food thrown away each year than is extracted from ALL the oil and gas reserves on U.S. coastlines in the same year. So we are extracting oil to manufacture, package and transport food that is going to be tossed. WOW! I have witnessed this kind of waste with my own eyes. Things get left in the fridge so long they can no longer be used and go in the trash. At the end of a meal all that is left over gets tossed. My niece used to call me "hoover" (affectionately of course) because I would clean up everyone's plate at the end of dinner so it wouldn't get thrown out. Why is it o.k. to throw so much out? Because we can. Because we aren't starving. Because we have money to go buy more. What if everyone suddenly didn't do that any more? What if you eat everything in your fridge before it goes bad and if you can't finish what's on your plate you put it away for another time? Think of the oil that wouldn't have to be pumped out of the Earth to keep this circle of waste going. PLEASE consider this the next time you are upset about an oil spill. How your own food choices are part of this circle.

We really CAN wake up people. And this beautiful Earth NEEDS us to wake up and look at ALL our choices because EVERYTHING we do is part of the circle. Even the cup of coffee or tea to start the day makes a difference. So go make a difference in every meal.
Thanks for listening.

SAVE THE OCEAN!

This is an absolutely beautiful 5 minute video shot entirely here on Kauai including lots of footage at my beloved Larsens beach! YAY! The baby seal in the film is one of "my" pups that I babysat for. It is titled "Save The Ocean For Our Sake", and was not only filmed and edited, but the original music was written and played, all by the same young man when he was only 16!!!! He is wildly talented. It won the student award at the Hawaii Ocean Film Festival last year, and I was privileged to be there at it's debut. Gabe, who created the entire thing is the son of a dear friend here on Kauai, and there are more amazing films coming from this inspiring young man. Enjoy my island home!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBngyoSPP8M

BEYOND THE SURFACE

Today I got a new gift in the water I've never seen before. I love that! I was doing my usual late day swim and it started to rain. If you have never seen raindrops from below the surface of the water, it is magical! From under water the surface looks like a solid rippling entity, like a sheet blowing in the wind. When the raindrops hit, rather than just breaking and becoming one with the ocean, the surface forms little cups that get pushed down several inches in little shafts by the raindrop before they blend into the rest of the water. Like upside down splashes! It is fascinating to watch. Well today, the SUN came out while it was raining, and this amazing thing happened. When the raindrops pushed the little cups under the surface, the sun would shine down the raindrop shaft so there were bursts of sunlight in little vertical splashes UNDER the water! Suddenly I was surrounded by hundreds of spontaneous columns of blazing light against the blue of the water. YEEHAH! I've never seen anything like it. And then the thought entered...sunshine and rain means....RAINBOWS! So I popped up above the surface and there was not one but two ridiculously beautiful arcs of color out over the open sea. So do I look at the beauty under the water or above? Decisions, decisions.

After the spectacle was done (sigh), I went ashore and began to clean up from the HUGE north swell that has come in the last few days. Big waves means lots of big trash, not just the small stuff I normally pick up over the summer months, but things the size of a toaster. And lots of them. It just breaks my heart to see all that is floating around out there in the beauty of the sea. But what makes me even sadder is seeing all the people that just walk by it and do nothing. It reminds me of the story in the Bible about the Good Samaritan. All those people in the story that saw someone who had been harmed, and walked by on the other side of the road. I am sure every one of them was a loving human being, but their love didn't come beyond the surface and manifest in helping. There was no spontaneous burst of compassion. It feels like that to me down at the water as I pick up the debris that is doing so much harm to the ocean and the creatures that live there. I'm sure all these people who just walk by it and do nothing are loving people, and would even say they love the ocean, but that love doesn't get transformed into helping her. So how can we get love to move beyond the surface into HELPING?

It occurred to me that people who don't spend time at the ocean have no idea how much washes up every single day, so here is a visual. This is from ONE person picking up on ONE day, on ONE beach, on ONE island in the Pacific. Multiply that by all the beaches in all the seas all over the globe, 365 days a year. Hard to comprehend. And the next day there will be that much again if there are big waves. The bottles in front are filled with smaller bits of plastic as this picture was taken before the big north swell when all the really huge things came in. Someone asked me once what is the point of picking it up if you are just moving it from one place to another. Well in a landfill it is buried and not becoming lunch for some un-suspecting sea creature like a dolphin or a whale or a seal or a turtle that then die from ingesting the poison we have created. Of course the best solution would be to not produce poisonous trash, but we already have, so at least take it where it will do the least harm.

On the first day of the big swell I didn't know it was coming and wasn't prepared with big trash bags. So as I began picking up I very quickly filled what I had with me, and began making piles of trash up out of the high wash line that I could come back and get another time. But there was so much and I had a show to go sing at, so I didn't have time to even move it all up so it wouldn't get washed back out again. I needed to ask for help. So I started asking others if they could please help since I had to go. I started with someone I actually know and talk with regularly, who I know loves the ocean. He was picking up shells and leaving all the trash, and I asked if he could please take some time to pick up the trash in that area because I had to leave. He frowned and said "maybe", and went back to picking up shells. WOW. Then came a couple who when I asked if they could help just gave me another bag so I could pick up more! Funny. And finally a woman who asked what I was "collecting", and when I showed her the trash in my bags and asked if she could please help, she looked at me as if I had just asked her to clean my toilet, and laid back down on her towel. All of them there because they "love" the ocean, and not one willing to help when they see her being harmed. How does all that love stay sequestered and not move beyond the surface of their hearts?

We need the love to come forth and manifest in helping the ocean. PLEASE don't just walk by when you see something harming her. We all need an internal rainstorm to create shafts for light to burst forth beyond the surface in blazes of compassion for our Earth. Anyone know any rain dances?

Thanks for listening.

GOOD NEWS!

I have good news! We don't hear that very often regarding the damage being done to the planet. But I have some things to share that are good news for our Earth, in the hopes that if you are feeling despair, this may give you a reason to keep reaching for more ways to limit the harm we do. YES! With so much devastation happening to our home right now, it is sometimes hard to not get overwhelmed and feel like there is no point in trying to help. But there IS light that appears.

A big one came when the current administration in the U.S. put a stop to ALL new drilling for oil in the Arctic. WHEW! It is temporary, while they review possible effects of allowing drilling in seas that freeze over, but if enough people are willing to work to get off oil it could become a permanent thing to leave the Arctic alone! I read an article the other day about a recent survey after the Gulf oil spill that revealed 27 THOUSAND abandoned wells just in the Gulf!!!!! Hard to wrap my mind around that. That is our oil addiction speaking, and it's time to change what we are saying. We need to start saying we don't want more wells dug, and we say it with our actions. Words mean nothing if we keep our oil "lifestyles" going full blast. So let's CHANGE what we are saying, by the way we live, and keep the Arctic free of drills!

Another big one came from the International Whaling Commission when they decided to uphold the ban on commercial whaling. Even though whaling still goes on illegally, if the ban was lifted the numbers of endangered whales being killed would have been berserk. The Commission had been lobbied so heavily by those wanting to kill more whales that they were actually considering lifting the ban. WOW. I am soooooooooo grateful they chose to continue to protect these magnificent creatures, some of which we have brought to the brink of extinction already. Keep on protecting what is left!

On a smaller scale, but still significant, the retail giant Costco now has recycled paper products!!!! YAHOOO! Now people who shop there don't have to destroy trees when they buy toilet paper or paper towels in those enormous packages. Anyone who shops there knows things in Costco are hilariously HUGE, so each package makes a big difference. They still have paper products that DO destroy trees there, but at least people who shop there now have a choice. I know people who buy all their bulk items there and would never go to a health food store for toilet paper, so this may have a large effect when you multiply it by the millions of people who shop only there. More choices to save trees!

Another grocery store chain called Big Save is local here on Kauai, but has many outlets serving a lot more people than the health food stores, and they now have biodegradable grocery bags at the checkout! So even if you don't bring your own bag at least you are not walking out with a plastic bag that is toxic to the Earth. In all the times I have shopped there I have NEVER been in a line where anyone else has brought a bag with them, so again this is no small thing when you multiply that by the hundreds of bags going out of those stores every single day. Less poisonous plastic in the world!

Those of you who have read my other posts know that even though these are small islands there is NO island-wide household recycling program here. Incredible. On Oahu they outgrew the landfills and are now shipping garbage to California!!!! (Sorry California.) That seemed a better solution than starting an island-wide household recycling program???? Really? Here on Kauai there are a few depots where you can drop certain items off to be recycled, but they are few and far between, and those who care enough have to store their items somewhere until they can make a trip to the depot. The nearest one to me is 16 miles away! So this is not something people can do daily, and most don't bother to sort and store things, so it all goes in the landfills. So where is the good news in this? Well just this past summer there was a program implemented here on Kauai to put recycle bins next to most public trash bins, so people now have a choice to conveniently recycle when they are in public places! YAY! (I don't know if they have done this on the other islands as well.) But guess what? There is a beach bin between where I live and town that I stop at regularly to remove the stuff that can be recycled, and I thought my job just got easier because it would all be in the recycle bin now. WRONG. (Sigh.) There is trash in the recycle bin every time, and cans and bottles in the trash bin every time. How can this be? People now have a REALLY easy choice to make with no inconvenience, and still don't choose to help. This is amazing to me. But at least you now can recycle in public places, and hopefully more and more people will choose to care, especially when it has been made so easy.

In facing all the damage being done to the planet, I believe we need to notice and applaud the shifts that take place that are helping this precious Earth. These are the things that need to be increased. Let's pay attention to them and give thanks for them, because we need the caring to expand! I'd love to hear what good news for the planet you have witnessed lately, and I invite you to leave a comment below.

Thanks for listening and thanks for caring.