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.