On Vernal Equinox 2018

13 years ago today I sat with my almost two-year-old son Mictla, under the stars of the Mesoamerican sky in one of the Plazas in the great city of Teotihuacan. We sat up all night by the fire watching the stars and listening to the ladies share stories, trying to keep warm, it was chilly up there in the hilly countryside of central Mexico. We danced at sunset and deep into the night. And at sunrise we got up and journeyed into the ancient city to the plaza at the base of a 5000 year old building now known as the temple of the moon.

There we prepared to meet tribal members of the great Hopi nation who had come running from their home territory to this ancient capital of Mesoamerica, bringing with them the memories that their grandparents held of a great connection that had been lost for over 500 years. A migration that had once occurred on a regular basis in order to account for the counting of time and to ensure that balance continues on our continent and among all our people.

Without any sleep and in the dry heat of the Sierra Madre mountains, it was very hard to dance that day. But it was a beautiful, epic moment. One of those moments that you know marks time for all of humanity. And so I just wanted to remember on this sunrise on the morning of March 20th, 2018. I  wanted to take a few moments to remember and reflect on this amazing event that took place 13 years ago. And to honor the beauty that that memory has for me and to do what I can to pass that on...

Ometeotl.

 Here's the link directly to this spot in the video :) we were watching the H2OPI Eagle dancers, then after, we shared our version of the Eagle dance.
https://youtu.be/aoEY8XYJUyY?t=3457

 Spring Equinox sunset at #MiramarPinelandPark 2018

And finally, a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has volunteered, shared, supported, fed and hired me this year. A special recognition to Broward Cultural Division, Puffin Foundation West, Inc. and the Broward Chapter of the United Nations Association for the support you all have provided this past year, without the encouragement, it would be difficult to get through the rough times!

Join me this Friday for a pop up celebration of #WorldWaterDay at #FTLhistory on the banks of the New River in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

How do we move forward? #WhatNOW?

Healing crisis is a constant necessity in today's complex, stratified, divisive society. The events that unfolded 9 days ago in #Parkland, near Coral Springs, Florida have pushed many of us to the tipping point. And yet, in communities throughout Florida and the US and around the world, crisis, especially children in crisis is an ongoing issue that has required attention for a very long time... generations in fact.

A post shared by Tara Chadwick (@bawshkeengwabigun) on Feb 15, 2018 at 11:53am PST

This week, while our attention south of the border has been on dealing with grief, funerals and the immediacy of school safety issues within the nation's sixth largest public school district, our neighbors to the north were dealt two completely independent court decisions in which the killing of two Indigenous youth by two different people, in two different provinces, in two very distinct circumstances, both resulted in European males receiving not guilty verdicts, while the children victims are no longer alive to tell their side of the story.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/tina-fontaine-verdict-march-1.4548692
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/world/canada/canada-saskatchewan-murder-indigenous.html

It is imperative that we all employ our intrinsic critical thinking skills in everyday decision making. Especially so in this day and age. It is equally important that we also take time to allow the growth, repair and healing of our emotional skills as well.

We need both, together, integrated and healthy. After a week like this, wholeness and restoration of wellbeing is going to take some time and effort. The students, teachers, healers, counsellors, administrators and decision makers must all be included in efforts to intentionally regain wellness, within our selves, families and communities.

Here are a couple of resources courtesy of thunderbirdpf.org that have helped other communities move forward after experiencing traumatic crises. Check em out. See what you think. Call,text, msg. Reach out. Let's chat. Let's build together!!

Preparing for earth time

For parents and everyone the advent of Summer inevitably brings along with it a string of seasonal wonders and a certain set of challenges, scheduling changes, and out of school time activities to determine and implement.

Finally got my sisters to @FrostScience ♡♡♡ pic.twitter.com/sd27tFYL5U

— Tara Chadwick (@wabigun) June 13, 2017

For me and my family this summer was no different. There was camp to organize. Summer trips to consider. Summer work schedules to juggle. And the age-old question of what to do with a teenager, camp, work, volunteer, or couch potato?

...wi deh pan di road!

A post shared by Tara Chadwick (@bawshkeengwabigun) on Jun 26, 2017 at 2:15pm PDT

I don't think you ever know as a parent whether you're making good decisions at any given time. You can only ever do your best to consider all the options and Hippocratically hope that at the very least your choices do no harm to your children.

And so it is that we model through the beauty and Heat that is the south Florida summer in search of shade from the intense sunshine and splashes of 85 degree water which we consider cool.

The search for balance is epic and continual. Just as you think you've got things figured out, something else happens to make you start from scratch.

#sustainable #water #transportation #canoe #dugout #dorey #wood #tree #carving pic.twitter.com/OoSFiGguB5

— Tara Chadwick (@wabigun) June 20, 2017

The newcomer returns, again.

This morning, in answer to a call from a young mother, I packed up my water bundle and headed out across the street to the recently restored wetlands, the only mixed use conservation area in our county. It was only 9 am and already one of those long days when you have to make a whole bunch of decisions regarding what path to follow, whether to stick to the plan, or if not, which options to follow in pursuit of a day full of meaning, growth, commitment, love, community and wellness. Another of those many days when one walks a precarious path to that distant and elusive goal: balance…

At every turn the questions bubble, push or pull, stay or leave, come or go… in which cases I tend to throw logic to the wind and do my best to follow whatever instinct I can muster. So was this day, even at its earliest point.

So I left the kids in bed, packed up the water bundle, and headed out on the epic journey across the street. As soon as I arrived, I was surprised at the park entry fee, which is only collected on holidays and weekends, and of course I’d forgotten that today is in fact the beginning of a long weekend.  So I doled out my buck fifty, and proceeded to find a spot in the nearly empty human half of the conservation park area.

It was a minimalist type of bundle – water, water vessel, cloth, a bit of Cuban cigar tobacco, and that’s about it. I did grow some tobacco this summer, but it was so hot, my plants all got baked before they bore any flowers! I’ll plant again now that #FloridaWinter’s arrived and it’s a bit cooler…

As I troddled down the paved sidewalk that links the park entry way with the wetland trail for humans, I was met immediately by an incredibly beautiful mature bald eagle swooping around just above the over water bridge trail. What a welcome greeting!  I somewhat sheepishly did my best to capture the moment on cell video and then put away the phone and enjoyed the swoops and circles the eagle made before heading out to the north.

Such a beautiful greeting this morning! #FloridaWinter #waterprotector #migizi #iztlicuauhtli #aguilablanca

A video posted by Tara Chadwick (@bawshkeengwabigun) on Dec 31, 2016 at 8:19am PST

Pleased that my intentions seem to have already been received, I continued down the path until I reached the westernmost edge of the eastern lagoon. Such a gorgeous mix of native water plants, grasses, sedges, trees and wildflowers! Terry the ranger says that this waterway running alongside the Florida Turnpike was once part of the canoe trail into the everglades.  I love the way that this field has been converted – restored to its original topography – a wetland, lagoon, pineland and live oak hammock. 

#MyBlock#LoveWaterNotOil#Water #WaterIsLife #ItsRightHereInMiramar pic.twitter.com/G2eMLqKhXT

— Tara Chadwick (@wabigun) January 1, 2017

After making my offerings of tobacco and songs, I spent a moment wishing my boys were by my side rather than still tucked into bed, so, in honor of the little one’s “thunderbird boy” creation earlier this month, I left a “thunderbird woman” on the snow white sand for all to see, until the next rain drops dance by to scoop her up for a whirl.

#heart #water #earth #creativity #love #sand #thunderbirdwoman #geology #history #future #waterislife

A photo posted by Tara Chadwick (@bawshkeengwabigun) on Dec 31, 2016 at 4:28pm PST

As I snapped the last documentary pics, and wrapped up my bundle to head back for my big babies, I was met by another incredible surprise, the eagle was back, this time, circling over the east side of the park, which is also the area where we live. This time, I felt like a happy little human, skipping along, playing with the eagle, opening my wings and pretending to fly.

I am so grateful for the work of all who are intentionally and strategically building our communities, by sharing our histories, our personal journeys, our goals, our triumphs. It is truly an honor to witness and participate in putting together a path that will serve as a road, a guide, a map for ourselves, our neighbors and our children in the inevitable times of both tragedy and triumph that await just beyond the horizon…

For all those who celebrate this day as their New Year – happy 2017 – and for absolutely everyone – let’s build!

A Return to Turtle Road

Yesterday morning, I pulled up happily up to the entrance gate of John U Lloyd State Park a full half hour earlier than anticipated. Early morning weekday traffic to the South Florida Beach was a lot more user friendly that I thought it would be.  A friend from the South Florida Day of the Dead celebration invited us out to do a presentation on #FTLhistory at the summer camp she coordinates.

Mornings at the beach are a rare beauty for me. A beach visit, however fleeting, without my own children is something I hadn't experienced in over a decade! It is truly amazing the gift that just a few moments can be in one's life. I'd been thinking of a young friend this week, hearing news of the #Moonshot meetings, and missing the amazing person she was... but the intense light of the rising sun on the water and the graceful pose of the maturing sea oat pods distracted my thoughts.  I looked toward the horizon, wondering what beauty might still be ahead on my own journey through life.

As I traversed the few paces along the shoreline back toward the pavilion where my work day would soon begin, a peculiar pattern caught my attention.  I knew this u shaped track from seeing it once before, cradled in midnight darkness.  This was the evidence of a nesting sea turtle.  I was impressed by the realization that several hours earlier, a massive, 200 pound mature female turtle had emerged from the open sea at this precise location of her hatching 5 to 50 years prior.  Soon enough the park ranger arrived to investigate and document the nest. Fifty two days from now, the eggs should hatch, barring any hazards like racoons, coyotes, or overly rough seas.

That 20 minutes may be the most gratifying observation that I've ever made. It provided me with a much needed reminder that in life you may need to return to the slow road of a turtle, but the road of a turtle is strategic, definite, purposeful and carries a message that is intergenerational in its impact. May we all experience the beauty of a return to turtle road...

Turtle Track Pic

More turtle track pics

Last year's #WorldOceansDay #SeaTurtle nesting adventure

Sister Power! Part 2.

So, the year that I turned 13, I had the ultimate summer vacation.  It started off with a 6th grade graduation ceremony from the Montessori School I'd just aged out of (yes, it was still called graduation back then, not promotion or moving up or completion like we do now with any non-twelfth-grade achievement).  We started out with a one day cruise to Freeport aboard the Sea Escape. Ugh, the absolute most miserable day of my life - except for the few hours we got to spend on that lovely solid Bahamian soil... how I wish we could have stayed, but eventually, we did make it back to good ol mainland USA. Thankfully!

Me, my sister Adrienne and my late cousin Sharane eating tamales at the Belmopan market, still my favorite food.

Soon after, we took a whirlwind trip to Belize, not uncommon for us in those days, while Mom and Dad were both working, we took a family trip home most every year.  This one was a bit shorter than most, as we had my cousin Sharane along, it was her first time to Belize. It was pretty funny, the process of her acculturation - apparently her dad wasn't as adamant as my Mom when it came to passing on the subtleties of Belizean language and culture.  "What's a shilling?" and "There's not even a 7-11" were the two most memorable Sharane quotes of the trip.

And then finally, to round out the summer, I still got to take my annual trip to my own hometown of Scarborough to visit with my grandparents and aunt and uncle.  I loved those trips more than anything else in the world.  The connection to the land that I experience in Belize and in Canada are so similar and yet so different.  My return to "real life" in Scarborough was always an experience in going home to my grandparents.  Those beings who exuded so much unconditional love for me, that I can still feel it today, decades after their passing.  

That year, an amazing thing happened.  I got to stay in Canada.  My options were bus to Miami Lakes Jr. High, or walk to Carol City Jr. High. This was the 1980s - the advent of gun violence in schools was just starting to top the news charts, and metal detectors had just arrived at the front entrance of the latter. I got accepted to Pace too, but that seemed way too far from my reality to be a good fit.

So, my aunt, Andrea Chadwick-Maguire, extended an invitation to my parents to consider allowing me to stay in the Toronto area that year and attend Fern Hill School in Oakville where she would be teaching.  I was ecstatic.  I could not believe that my parents said yes!

That year, I studied Latin, learned Ukranian dance, got a steady job babysitting, and spent every weekend with my beloved grandparents.  For my birthday, I got my first ever hair cut at a barber shop. Mullet head. I was so proud! I even started wearing eyeliner for the first time... much to my mother's discontent.  It was a momentous part of my life journey, now looking back. That ability to forge an identity outside of my parental expectations allowed me to grow into the determined, rebellious, hopeful idealist that I still am today.

On the set of the HMS Pinafore demonstrating Ukranian dance with 7th Grade Math teacher Christine Puhach

At the conclusion of my school year, maybe around this very time, I got a call from my mom, not unusual, I did miss my family and my baby sister Adrienne quite a lot during the year, even though I loved being where I was.  But this call was quite different.  My mom had something to tell me... and she was hesitant, like she didn't know what to say or how to say it.  If you know my mother, this is a trait that is quite uncharacteristic of her. I owe my blunt, undiplomatic, say-it-how-it-is nature to her.

Finally, she said, "I'm going to have another baby." I was floored, flabergasted, completely in disbelief. I think my reply was something like, "What?! You didn't even ask me!"  Ha ha. Pretty funny now thinking back. But honestly, I could not even fathom the possibility of my 37 year old mother even being able to still have a baby.  A baby!!!  OMG.  This changes everything!

So, another trip to Belize that summer! This time, with Mom waddling around in her Yucatec-style huipil... that was the year she took us to Xunantunich and declared, "You know you're part Maya too, right, Tara."  Another "WHAT? How could you not have told me this," response from me. 

And of course I, as the big sister of the family, felt obligated to return to my family and take up my daughterly duties.  Reina was born on the first month of the year.  She was noisy!  I got up and brought her into bed with me every morning at 2 am when I could not bear to hear her crying anymore.  After her, I never wanted to have kids. Or at least not for another 13 years anyway. But I learned how to be a mother through Reina.

My baby baby sister is truly one of the most special people in my life.  She is practical, super smart and she has always had an incredible gift for maintaining a healthy balance between work, life, family and community.  This girl is definitely one of the sparkles in my eye.  I graduated from Miramar High School just as she was entering grade school at Fairway Elementary.  I left home when she was so little.  More than anyone, this time, away at college, I missed Reina.  So whenever I had a chance, I bought a plane ticket and brought her with me to work.  Chippewas of M'Njikaning, Center for Indigenous Theater, Belize Department of Archaeology... Reina came to visit. It was fun, for me a way to mitigate our isolation from one another.

Center for Indigenous Theater at Kimbercote Farm

Today, my sister Reina, like our other sister Adrienne, has become a friend, role model and mentor for me.  Reina's passion and adeptness at marketing, public relations and communication has spurred me to look at the way we promote our businesses in a new way.  Regardless of whether they are arts, community, small business or non profit organizations, maximum reach is crucial to the sustainability of our work.  

Now she's on me to grow again... that's her other gift, in addition to always seeking the best possible position for her clients, she is also all about making sure that we are all placing appropriate value on ourselves as well... 

This was at the world premiere of #MayaHiddenWorldsRevealed in St. Paul, MN, now on at the Witte, San Antonio

Thanks for always encouraging me Reina.  Without you, I would never have started to blog, or learn how to use social media.  I look forward to what the future holds for you, my baby sis.  Till then, I better keep on truckin' or I know I'll get a call with some "encouragement"...  :)

See some of Reina's recent blogs at: Americans for the Arts and The Leaky B@@b 

The Magical Month of March: Whiz... Blurrr... Wheee...!

Watching the spiral of the seasons change fly by at gale force speed; reflecting on thirty years of work in the field of museums, education and community building; ten years since the water forum in Mexico; feeling gleeful and daunted by that double four approaching just one equinox away...

The struggle of life is a good one, seems that we're always headed up hill, but that's how it is when you're engaged in the process of building, constructing, however, wherever it's possible to carve out a little space for equity, dignity, dialogue and learning.

It's tough at times, intentionally participating in this collaborative venture to prevent oblivion with the few hundred ties we have to other members of this human species we proudly belong to...

And then there are times just like this moment, when in the process of making new connections, you come to realize how delicious it is to enjoy the tattered, frayed imperfection of those old and older relationships that have been there all along.

This month as I attended the annual Baron Bliss Day (aka Heroes and Benefactors Day) gathering of the Belize Association of Florida, I watched the older heads come in, with their grown kids, grand kids and great grands... and I watched my kids play with them the same way I used to play in my day... and suddenly I remembered my spot on the living room floor, folding letters and stuffing envelopes at just about the same age my pre-teen son is now. The memory was so sudden and vivid and it brought back a host of others... of floats & banners, buttons & beads...

The next day I checked the database... 30 years it's been since that moment! The Belize Association has been an active part of the South Florida community and the Belizean Diaspora for thirty years this year. That's my formative training. Do what you must to build something. Make the time. Find the resources. Keep it going. Make it happen. I am so glad that I happened to be here this year. To remember. To appreciate. To mark the anniversary of this work that my mom, dad and their friends did to build something for our community.

Of course, now... the question is... "what will I do..."  #laluchasigue

News Reel on Baron Bliss Day at Belize Association of Florida (minute 1:12 - 1:34)

On Preservation & Restoration

Just a few short words this month - early for a change - because they want to be said now. Here's what happened today at work. I was there a bit earlier than usual - it was my first day of tour listening and we knew we'd have a sizeable group to prep for. After a bit of running to and fro, a glint caught my eye and to my dismay, I saw a beautiful irridescent spotted butterfly fall to the ground just outside the replica of Fort Lauderdale's first school house. I froze in my tracks - worried that I'd inadvertently squished it. However, as my internal frames-per-second slowed down, I took the time to see what was happening in the micro habitat of this hopefully-not-squished butterfly.

To my relief and delight, the swish of my skirt had not squished the butterfly's guts out, but had knocked a recently hatched atala and its chrysalis - to which it was clinging - off the coontie plant that is their home. Upon further observation of the tiny neighborhood - I was treated to a beautiful surprise. What I had stumbled across was an urban neighborhood of #atala butterflies in both pre and post hatching phases of their life cycle.

These butterflies I knew were special because I had heard about them last year and how they are making a remarkable recovery from the brink of human - induced extinction. For anyone who's read my past work, interest in insects should come as no surprise. But to see a whole microcosm of atala life... with their beautiful sparkly wing spots and that remarkable red thorax... just a most incredible gift to witness. And I am so thankful!

Then after the noon day sun began to recede, I realized my second incredible  gift of the day. I was standing on the boardwalk overlooking the wetland trail at Miramar Pinelands. As the soft shell turtles swam over and the waxing moon tipped over the shallows... I remembered that this too was an ecosystem in regeneration - restored to its historical contours and hydrological morphology as closely as possible. By returning the land to the way it was at the time of the first European settlements, the ecosystem has been able to regenerate itself - naturally returning turtles, fish, frogs, foxes, ospreys, even an eagle and untold numbers of insects... (See my Miramar Pinelands media set on facebook)

These two distinct yet comparable success stories in human conservation and restoration practices are just what the doctor ordered in my current, not-so-stress-free analysis of what we need to do to get back to basic respect of each other and this beautiful garden we have the luxury and responsibility to live in and care for. No matter how many cool space travel pics NASA releases, as humans, we are still bound to this earth in a trust relationship with our future generations that we need to seriously reflect on and start acting like responsible adults. 

We may move slowly at times - but it is truly wondrous to see the fruit of an unfulfilled childhood dream come to life before your eyes - that is the miracle we call life unfolding around us each and every moment - if we just slow down enough to notice.

That's it for 2015!

Each cycle is a transition... and life is a series of cycles... birth, growth, expansion, contraction, transition... and repeat...

Here's an oldie but goodie:
"Reflections on the Reef"
from Tobacco Caye
back in 1998...

Thinking about that possibility of a multiverse - not the TV or satellite or gaming cube... but the mathematical, astrophysical, scientific concept of infinite universes...

Kinda makes sense, logically. And really puts a focus on how much our actions, choices and impacts really boil down to:  what is it that is so important to me that I can make no other decision other than to take this path right here.

Subjective, yes perhaps.  Lacking critical analysis... maybe.  Considered rebellious by the mainstream population... most likely.  But if we are careful to include continual critical analysis in our daily life habits, then the points at which we have the opportunity to take action will necessarily reflect an ongoing critical perspective.

Wellness is a state of balance that is constantly in motion... wobbling, either perceptively or not, between the range of possible extremes.

And so, we vow to continue on... and jump in to another cycle, with reverie, resoultions and respect for our own self discovery as individuals in relationship with families, communities, organizations and other individuals all over this beautiful land and infinite interspace...


Tara's Year in Review

Cheers!

The Season....

Photo credit: Jeff Holmes

It is upon us again... that time of year that comes with the official end and beginning of all things transformative in the subtropical paradise we know as south eastern Florida. Folks from the mid latitudes tend to think of this place as the South... little do they realize that perched on the edge of this peninsula... the trading happens in over 60 languages, across all seven continents, and if they were to look at their own achievement, health and equity gaps... they'd realize that the North is way more southern than south eastern Florida.

Photo credit: Yours truly

Nope we're more of a portal. The northern most tropical port in an interconnected continental divide that is rooted in 100,000 years of genetic memory carrying biological migration patterns that awaken in us like hormones in the endocrine system of a healthy young 12 year old. Like the karst and marine atoll topography thirstily absorbing minerals flowing south through the rivers, rivers of grass filtering out nitrogen, bringing in the memories of an ancient and distant volcano... if we sit for a moment and ponder... we realize we will never forget. Who we are. Who's come by. How we are related. What we must do.

Like every ant, beetle and spider, our ever so humble task:
Pass the torch. Continue the spark. Remember. Understand. Learn. Keep going.

No matter what, keep going.

So that is what we must do.

That is what we will do.

What I will do.

Keep going.

Photo credit: Adrienne Chadwick

Holding Silence

Full moon tonight/ tomorrow. Perhaps it’s true what they say… that you can create the life you want for yourself. But I’m just wondering… is this a superpower we’re all just gaining access to? ‘Cause I think I can believe it, when things are going great. But when everything seems like it’s falling apart… I’m not so sure I possess this power. And I’m pretty sure my great, great grandparents didn’t want to see themselves in the midst of an apocalypse we now neatly box and label “slavery” in our tidy file cabinet of life and human history.  Nor do I think it was the life intention of my other great grandparents to release a child into indentured servitude as a coal miner. This whole concept of “creating one’s own life” seems a little loaded given the hefty weight of history upon my life story…

But that in itself is something we do have the power to create.  The way in which we choose to reflect, remember and recount our own life his/her/our-stories is something that falls entirely within our own grasp.

Our audience, our listeners, the other half of our circle plays as much of a role in the stories we choose to form, shape and weave into the context of a dialogue or monologue, prologue or epilogue as we ourselves have. Learning, sharing and growing is a cooperative venture… a reflection of the community as much as the individual or family. All of our voices are valid and necessary… each of our dreams need to be realized and our potential attained in order for our collective well-being to reach its maximum.

Perhaps, in retrospect, it is easier to identify those paths or practices that did not lead to the results we anticipated.  In these cases, knowing and acknowledging what does not produce desired outcomes is just as important as knowing the steps to success. That is I suppose where exerting positive pressure on one another, like first aid to an open wound, is effective in encouraging each of us to take a step into the limelight, whether at the kitchen table, on the playground sand, or in the boardroom.  We must hold each other to the task of finding, knowing and sharing our own truths – even when that means holding silence so that something more might be heard….

Conscious design - present, past, future!

History - Rage - Creativity - Design - Future

Knowledge - Awareness - Understanding

Working to educate not incarcerate

Consolidate not incinerate

Learning how to listen

for OURstories in hisSTORY

Through the recycled

building materials

of life

Carbon

Hydrogen

Oxygen

Iron

We renew our commitment

to being human

every time we raise our

question

who are we

what have we come through

and where are we headed...

Each time we ask

why, how or what...

on every occasion when we feel the desire

to act, heal or change...

there is a spark

of creativity

of potential

that we all have

to return

to our true

sane

original

selves

and to go together

through

endless work

of being

of becoming

human

together

through smoke - fire - water and drought

We have that spark

of hope

that will burn

into a fire of

accountability

of truth

resting on a foundation

of justice

that is not the

weapon of war

but the bedrock

of our mother

earth

A short spring photo journal poem: The conflicted life of a parent... Artist...

Sometimes I feel so supported and surrounded by the beauty and encouragement of family, friends, and of life herself...

And sometimes I feel forgotten, forsaken by all that walk and breathe and live...

 That is, I suppose part of the dance of life, revolving with the seasons....

Ever thankful for each moment of joy and freedom.

 Life... birth... death...

Let us see what mischief we can find while we can

What beauty and justice lies in wait....

Earn to Learn

Miramar monarch

Bromeliad ecosystem

Beautiful banana

In my current relationship with the world in which we live, I haven't quite disentangled the basic elements of my life: food, shelter, clothing - from the overarching socio-economic system that permeates and dominates every aspect of life here in the good ol' USA.

Garden lizard

Try as I might to liberate my mind and body, and those of my family, to develop a healthy spirit of in- & inter- dependence, autonomy and self reliance...

Pineland cocoplum

Tiny beauty

The road to recovering and reclaiming our ancestral indigenous systems of economics, governance, health, education, housing and food distribution seems as difficult today as a journey to mars... and yet we know there are many among us who are choosing and treading that path.

Valentines 4 change

"The Distribution of Food"

What would it mean were we all to follow our dream?

In the free market economy 

will we truly succeed

through

the

test

of

time

?

In this buying power system where everything is bought and sold 

- from food to body image, hair to headgear, makeup to multivitamins - 

We are losing our intrinsic systems of accountability, apprenticeship 

and appreciation for the learning journey.

With everything in the world available at our fingertips,

the process and discipline of earning the right 

to acquire knowledge, skill or materials is quickly becoming a lost art.

Earning to learn is a values based approach to traditional knowledge acquisition that has transcended millenia of wars, genocide and systematic targeting and elimination of knowledge keepers.

As we move toward solving the perennial question of how best to ensure inter-generational transfer of knowledge, we would do well to bear in mind that our process is at least as important as our outcomes.  In fact, a little self-paced sweat equity may be just the infusion of sanity that our US public education system is lacking here in the 21st century.

Just another sunset

Ecology IS our Economy!

Like all of LIFE, I am in a transition... in a state of invisible change, measured only by the wisdom of reflection and analysis which will happen AFTER the time of the present has passed.

Our gift is this moment - exactly where we are right now.  From here, we can observe, understand, learn, choose, acquire, release, assess and project our future past.

From right here, we can see our parents, and theirs.  We can watch our children and theirs emerge. This space and time that we occupy together is our place of power and joy.


Here is where I am learning that my life is connected to everything everywhere. Right here we can see the cycle of life on Earth - birth, death, human impact, restoration... a closed system with open minds, not withstanding the bottomless pockets and excess waste that only we humans can produce.

Here we begin again every day - living, reliving our life and the lives of all those who have lived, breathed before us. Here we begin again every day - the human search for knowledge, understanding, meaning, love, life...

We begin to ask questions, find answers. We begin to assess what is needed in our system - individual, family, community.

We begin again to understand that I am because you are.

"We are one and yet not the same"

That in diversity exists

the ingredients for life

And that with

each life lost

our system

dims and

must be

ignited

with the

hope

that

our

bio

diver

sity

will

flourish

once more!

Ecology IS our Economy!
Entrepreneurship is building our COMMUNITY!

Like a fetus in harmony with our Mother's body

We ARE the environment
our environment is US

We are the children of our Mother the Earth
We are connected to all of life

Yes, it's a simple concept - let's apply it!