Heading to Washington DC to be Arrested

I remember well when I first heard the news of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  All of America was captivated by the underwater cameras captured the untold gushing volumes of black liquid spewing into the pristine gulf waters.  The media branded the event as the Gulf Oil Spill- an insulting name for such a tragedy where "spill" suggest something like knocking over a drink.  The images of dead, oil-soaked pelicans, turtles and fish; the distraught and shocked communities; the miles of oily sheen atop the sea and plumes below; and the defamed blackened beaches. British Petroleum worked extra hard to avoid responsibility, falsely assured our nation that all was well, and showed a callous indifference to the consequences of their careless and greedy actions.  Despite record quarterly profits in the tens of billions, Big Oil has invested marginally in developing the technology necessary for proper prevention strategies and crisis response.  We all saw it...guys in cheap suits laying pool noodles and using paper towels to soak the oil off the beach- really, that's the best we've got?  Our government allowed them to drop millions of gallons of dispersant into the sea which further killed and contaminated the waters and its living creatures.  Not long after the valve was shut-off, Obama stood up to the microphone and announced job well done.  The media's frenzied coverage of oil spill seemed to disappear over night.  Yet, I have not forgotten the atrocity of the Gulf Oil Spill and I suspect there are many more who feel the same way.  This was my tipping point where I resolved to use my body, mind, and spirit for the well-being of Earth. In this moment, I became an activist

I am heading to Washington DC to commit civil disobedience with hopes of being arrested in front of the White House.  Big Oil and government are at it again with plans ready to go to build the Keystone XL tar sands Pipeline that will span 1700 miles from Canada's Boreal Forest to Houston, Texas.  While destroying the precious Boreal Forest region (you should really learn more about what an amazing place this is), millions of barrels of tar sand oil (as bad as it sounds) will flow across the heart of America.  The Canadian Boreal Forest has the highest concentrations of carbon anywhere in the world and this carbon will be released into our atmosphere. Dr. James Hansen, renowned NASA climate scientist, calls it a "carbon bomb" that will end our hopes of ever stabilizing Earth's temperatures, let alone providing healthy air for all living beings.  President Obama seems to be stepping in line with Big Oil's pipeline as the State Department just released  yesterday an Environmental Impact Statement that concluded the potential for minimal environmental impact- what a joke.

Bill McKibben, Mark Ruffalo, Dr. James Hansen and over 2,000 people from all 50 states are taking part in a two week sit-in at the White House that began Saturday, August 20.  So far, there have been 379 arrests with many more to come.  Obama, alone, has the power to decide the fate of this pipeline and he will be held solely accountable for this decision.  We are asking Obama to keep his promise when he so boldly proclaimed, "This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal."   We are asking Obama to take global warming, climate destabilization, and the future health of our planet seriously.  We are asking Obama to boldly invest in clean, renewable energy sources for now and the future.  We are asking Obama to stand up to Big Oil and corporate interests and to make caring for our environment of primary importance.  I have come to Washington, DC to take a stand and say NO to the Keystone XL Pipeline and its devastating consequences for countless generations to come. Sadly, we cannot trust governments and big corporations to protect our environment.  As with all great movements, we, the people, must rise up and make our voices heard and remain steadfast in our commitment to protect and care for our one home, Earth.

I plan to blog and photo this amazing journey so please check back at consciousecology@blogspot for updates or sign up to receive notifications any time I update my blog. Your comments and feedback are always welcomed.  Please consider sharing my blog with friends and family. 

A Winter Walk in Nature

Our family took a winter walk along the Big Laurel Creek near Hot Springs, North Carolina.  We encountered a frozen waterfall suspended in mid-air with elegantly curved icicles.  Nature never ceases to amaze me.  It is here where I most often experienced  a profound sense of wonder, beauty, and peace.  We musn't forget how deeply rooted we are with the wild world.  We share much of the same ancestry- literally the evolutionary unfolding of the universe.  Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Mohammad, and countless other spiritual masters found their truths only after abandoning their cultures, seeking refuge in Nature, and then returning enlightened.  I wonder for a moment how Nature influences my own process of awakening.  

I notice the moving flow of the river, the yellow moss upon a decaying trunk, and the antics of a frenzied squirrel,  The river was particularly swift today as warmer temperatures melt away the snow of a recent storm. The river's unusually high volume energizes us and we delight in its countless waves, holes, swirls, and edies created by the forceful currents.  I do my best to be present and not to get lost, at least for too long, in my thoughts.  I want to commune with Nature.  I want to see, touch, smell, hear, and feel Nature. The small world of bugs, acorns, and pebbles capture my attention.  My children are quite adept at seeing the small world and often excitedly call to me to show me their discoveries.  I remember for a moment that I too am Nature and my Mind doesn't know what to do with this truth. The clouds part mid-way on our hike and we are treated to a shower of sunshine and a blue sky.  We welcome the warmth upon our chilly faces as we begin our journey, upstream, back to our car and off to Hot Springs to soak in a hot tub along the French Broad River. I am thankful to be alive.

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Oneness

Can you feel the Oneness of life in your heart and mind?  Take a deep breath and be thankful for the trees, plants, algae, and bacteria that create oxygen. Place your hand on your chest and feel the rhythm of your heart and the blood cycling throughout your body and be thankful for water that also cycles from mountains to sea.  Feel the warmth of the sun on your face and know that you are literally made of star dust. The next time you sit down for a meal, take some time to reflect on how many beings, human and non-human, needed to cooperate in order for your food to show up at your table. The process also doesn't end at our stomach but continues its cycle and, as they say, the party never ends.

A belief poisoned the Western "civilized" mind which falsely believes that humans are somehow superior to non-human beings (sounding a bit like Avatar?) and that we are free to exploit the "not human" world as we fashion.  This great lie has brought much suffering to our world.  You might say that many have lost their souls in the modern world and no longer experience sacred connection to which I refer as "Oneness", the unknowable with many names.  I challenge you to share one thing you did without the assistance of another living being.   This is impossible because ALL is ONE.  I once made my daughter a bed for her room.  The lumber I used was once part of vibrant tree living in a forest.  Humans took the tree and shaped it with machines and then used fossil fuels to transport it across roads of rock and dirt to a store near me.  Can you see the full participation of all beings?  Even the knowledge we carry in our mind is just a byproduct of generations of collectively shared beliefs handed down from countless generations.  Can you feel the truth in your heart and mind.

So how might each of us live differently if we were more present to the Oneness that life is?  The ability to look deeply into this mysterious and complex web might change how you see yourself.  When you allow yourself to absorb this truth you may discover how precious life is and feel moved to love, celebrate, and protect it.  You may look into your heart and sense that the Oneness is always there for communion.  Or perhaps, you simply sit in silence with the Oneness.  The more we embrace this truth about who we are, the more clearly we  know how to live our lives.  If we could only hear the Oneness then, just possibly, we would know how to live our lives with balance, humility, gratitude, and love. The great news is that we have a birthright to Oneness and are intimately connected to every over living being- past, present, and future.  We can experience profound joy when connected to the Oneness where giving feels more like receiving because of the amazing gifts and blessings that life bestows upon us.

I have a prayer that all of humankind can someday go forth with peace in their hearts and care deeply for Pachumama. Namaste.   

The Greatest Story Ever Told

Each of us owe our existence to 14 billion years of an unfolding universe.  Humans are just a blip on the Universal time-line. Our solar system wasn't even around for the first 10 billion years of the Universe. During this time, galaxies formed and many stars were born and died.  Our sun eventually came to be in the  Milky Way spiral galaxy that contains over 200 billion stars that rotate about a galactic center. The Milky Way is part of the Local Group which consists of 30 galaxies spanning a diameter of 10 million light years. Modern technology has allowed us to observe over 50 billion galaxies in the Universe with each galaxy containing an estimated 100 billion stars.  It is impossible for our brains to grasp such enormity but simply take a moment to breath this  into your being and realize just how minuscule Earth is when compared to the utter vastness of the Universe.

Our solar system was born from a rotating cloud of interstellar dust and gas, the remnants of a dying star that exploded its matter about the Universe.  The Earth remained a stewing, gaseous globe for 1.3 billion years before the Earth's crust hardened. The dance of evolution would need another 1.6 billions to manifest cells with nuclei, the building blocks for complex life. The emergence of plants about 425 million years ago drastically changed the atmosphere as they feasted on CO2 which eventually paved the way for dinasours who roamed the Earth for 185 million years before suddenly disappearing along with 70% of all life forms 65 million years ago.  It would be another 61.5 million years before our early ancestors first appeared in Africa. Homo Sapiens, a bipedal primate closely related to chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and gibbons, arrived on the scene a mere 200,000 years ago and we would need another 189,000 years before they began to develop agriculture and domesticate animals.

We share this history with all life on Earth which includes an estimated 62,000 species of vertebrates; 1.3 million species of  invertebrates; 320,000 species of plants; and 51,000 other species that include mushroom and lichens.  The history of the Universe is by far the greatest story ever told. Earth and all its life forms were literally created from stardust. We are born out of this mysterious and complex interdependent web of life that began so long ago. If we could trace our family tree back some 200,000 years, we would discover that all 7 billion people presently on Earth would converge to a common ancestor after 8,000 generations.  As we move much farther back in time, we would discover that we are all literally part of a great Tree of Life where we are kin to all life on Earth.

The greatest story ever told reminds us that we must remember where we came from as we move forward. This history lives within each of us and is our true place in the cosmos. We are not separate from the trees, the rivers, the insects, the mushrooms, or the mountains.  We are literally one in this amazing dance of life. Each specie fulfills an unique ecological niche.  Humans were graced with self-awareness that allows us to celebrate and honor life. Indigenous cultures knew this but the modern human has been blinded by self-absorption, arrogance, and greed.

The time has come to embrace the Great Story and share it with our children and grandchildren. Although we know much about our past, the future will always remain unknown and dependent on how we choose to live today. When we recognize the interdependent and oneness that life is, we naturally embody love, humility, and gratitude. It is when we remember our unique place in the Universe that we can awaken to what it truly means to be human. May we all find the courage, determination, and wisdom to do so.