Intrepidly Daring: The Adventure Awaits

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It’s alright to be audacious…as I’ve said before, and, I’ll say it again. Much of what we love has to go! Sad and true. Even with my knowledge, letting go is the hardest thing I’ve ever attempted.

In my heart, I know the class system is unjust and immoral. We’ve been living in a age of imitation for much too long. Humans are as a big baby crawling around the planet with no consciousness or care for what we do.

Words like ‘poor’, ‘poverty’, ‘hunger’, ‘homeless’ must be eliminated from our language. Along with contaminated, poison, adulterated.

I like the word flourish. Let’s face it. We can’t flourish as long as those words exist! Those words define an existence of suffering and strife. Suffering and strife can not be our norm. It totally rubs me the wrong way…thank goodness I’m not alone in this thinking.

Throughout history there have always been those who have said ‘no’ to suffering and strife. I join those ranks. I say no more to the inequality running rampant. I join the long line of woman who fought and died for the right for women to vote and the rank of those who fought and died for civil rights.

Someone has always championed morality and justice for all. This too is the norm. There will always be people who protest injustice! TRump will always ‘protest’ our right to ‘protest’ injustice! Stupid. The rebellion is here! It will never go away!

We’ve always had audacious leaders like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. History is full of those who want to make the lines between the top, middle and bottom go away, or at least blur. Their ideas are not new, they’re just and need to be integrated into our government. We need Foundational Pillars that begin to blur the lines of inequality. We need Well-Being legislation, and less focus on Economic Growth as our only measuring stick for prosperity!

Empowerment

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Not much is said about ’empowerment’. Why is that? What is ’empowerment’?

Webster says Empowerment is

1: the act or action of empowering someone or something : the granting of the power, right, or authority to perform various acts or duties
 
Isn’t this something we all want? I can definitely say yes. I want empowerment. There is so much I want to do. There is something missing though. Unless we can empower with love, then we miss the most important part of the equation. Empowerment through love is the greatest gift of all. 
In many regards, I’m like like everyone else, I let my ego show. It’s human nature to do so. However, my passion for the change I want to see has never wavered. It remains the same as it was in the 80s while working in Washington, D.C….I’ve a much smaller platform here in Colorado Springs, CO. Few know me or the work I’ve done.  However, my passion remains the same, I keep doing what I’ve always done. My passion for being the best steward of our planet I can be lives deep inside my heart. Acknowledgement or not.
 
Recently I ‘Commented’ within a post responding to Richard Kirby (http://agrinomics.com/) and his feelings about not receiving ‘credit’ for the incredible work he is doing with Biodynamic and organic agriculture. He feels farmers are duplicating his work without mentioning how they come to do so.
 
Duplication is the highest form of praise. However, acknowledgment is ‘Empowerment’. When you acknowledge someone for the work they have done and continue to do it broadens their platform enabling them to have greater impact. Which is a great benefit to the changes we so want, everything benefits.
 
Of course I want acknowledgement. Don’t we all. I want to be empowered. I want people to know what I have done and continue to do. We all need to empower one another as much as possible.
There is so much work to be done. I want the broadest forum I can get. I want people who are of like nature to support each other. By empowering each other we can go forth and multiply our efforts. We can see the change we want to see happen at a more rapid pace.
Happy Empowerment Trails

How Education Reform Heals Our Planetary Home

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Our intent on separating ourselves from nature has limited our vocabulary. Our lack of understanding of nature and our place within makes us deaf to the heartbeat of our world.

Education reform must be the priority of our nation. Mandatory curriculum’s’ must reflect our well-being, the well-being of our communities, cities, states, countries and the planet; at all levels in our educational institutions, never-ending and free. Appropriate time must be allowed for such intricate education. It must not be hurried if we are to heal ourselves, nature and our Planetary home.

Understanding how we arrived at our present state is best explained in a YouTube video titled ‘The Happiness Machine’. It reveals the influence of Sigmund Fraud and his Nephew Edward Bernays had in shaping our ‘ self-based’ society…which still prevails! We are not here at this juncture by accident. It was planned and based on ‘economic growth’ entirely, without thought of the consequences to ourselves and our planet.

In contrast, and left out of much of our history, ancient sages felt knowing thyself so important they chiseled ‘Know Thyself’ in stone over the tomb of the mythical god Apollo. Why did they take the time to chisel these words in stone? The answer is complicated. Perhaps, it can best be answered in a poem by a presidential candidate, long before she was a candidate, Marianne Williamson.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

We are ‘powerful beyond measure’ if given the ability to get there. Ancient sages believed:

“Self-knowledge is all-encompassing. What is learned on one scale of experience can be applied to all scales. It is the highest form of knowledge, surpassing all other knowledge. Self-knowledge is also timeless, which means that what is gained in one era, benefits all subsequent generations.”

Knowing oneself has intricate beginnings. Time-consuming beginnings. Beginnings which are apart of every living being; soil, water, air and all we see and don’t see. The connections are innate and undeniable. Everything has a purpose and is connected.

Going beyond the name of a thing is the language of science. It is a language humans must learn to speak. Life in all its forms is precious and necessary. All life that surrounds us sustains each of us in ways we do not fully understand. Making the appropriate time to understand the language of science will take a shift in how we approach education. We need to do more than churn out a workforce.

Currently, our Education Standards are geared to produce a workforce. Humans are more than a workforce and must be educated accordingly. We, each of us, are stewards.  Stewards of maintaining the well-being of ourselves and our Planetary home. The two are not exclusive of one another…we are intricately connected and we must educate ourselves accordingly.

Making the language of science a mandatory part of our un-civilization will unlock the mystery which lies within each of us. Learning the language of science will answer that question which is always gnawing in our being, alluding us and seems unanswerable.

When we learn the language of science, we learn who we and the life around us are, how to maintain optimum well-being, which we each deserve and how we connect. Doing so, we learn our purpose within this network of life.

The world does not standstill. Neither must we. Change happens no matter what we do or do not do. My intention is to flourish. Join me. Make your well-being a top priority and the rest will fall into place.

We, humans, are fortunate. We have the ability and brilliance to direct these changes. What we do and do not do matters enormously!

Happy Trails!

Wild Horses of the Calico Mountains

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Wild horses of Nevada’s Calico Mountains

The  Calico Mountain Wild Horses. Beautiful. Perfect. Look more closely.  Can you see the terror in their eyes?  Can you see the frozen sweat on their bodies? The hot breath bursting from their lungs? They have been running to stay free and wild. They can not escape the helicopters which track them down and corral them. I can almost hear them say, Where do I go? Why is this thing chasing me? Terrified, screaming and running as fast as they can; their families scattered like the wind.

One hundred years ago an estimated two million mustangs roamed the Western range. Now there are under 35,000. Most ranchers want our Public Lands for their Livestock and want the Government to Stick It to Wild Horses and Taxpayers. Ranchers who graze their cows on federal lands are hellbent on taking wildlife and the public along with them for the ride. The Livestock Industry require more food, water, land, and energy than plants to raise and transport livestock. Cornell University ecologist says the U.S. could feed 800 million people with the grain that livestock eat. Never mind that a single cow, on average, releases 70 to 120 kgs of methane per year. Now, it is important to remember that we’re talking about a single cow. Worldwide, there are approximately 1.5 billion cows and bulls, each emitting that much methane. Where does the methane go? Into our Planetary home’s atmosphere!

“Every time you or I take a bite of beef we are saying, ‘it’s okay to run off these once free wild horses off there land and separate you from your family’.  You don’t matter! It’s okay for us to terrorize you and run you from your home…think about this the next time you order up a Quarter Pounder!”

Doughnut Economics: Planing for Planetary Well-Being!

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Women (and some enlightened men) are rising up everywhere. The broom is in hand by Wild Women: we’re cleaning up men’s mess! Women are becoming more engaged than ever before in their communities, city, state and national governments!

Now what? What course do we women take? How do we make a sustainable home? And, as Kate Raworth asks, what language do we need to speak to make the changes in the world we want to see? She believes its ‘Economics’. I agree. Kate went to college to become an economist. However, she soon discovered our economy was not rooted in anything she cared about.

How do we create an economy which supports well-being for all? She has an answer: the theory of ‘Doughnut Economics’. Guess what, it turns our current economic system on its head! Which is a very good thing as far as I can see. Good for our Planetary home and all life! Remember the theory of ‘what’s good for the goose is good for the gander’! Same principal.

Looking back to where we come from and how we got here helps us to understand how to plot a more sustainable course. Our centuries of imitation reveal men at the helm. They have knowingly and unknowingly plotted a short-term course, without thought to the repercussions of their plotting.

Women can do better! The roundtable of ‘Doughnut Economics’ offers a plan for well-being for all! And as Kate asks, What if economics were based on human well-being? Let’s each take a journey to the ingenuity of creating well-being for all!

Happy Trails!

The Elusive Unconditional Foundation

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I’ve been reading a ‘Forward by John Paul Jackson’. To what, I’m not sure. I found the forward in a stack of papers on my desk. I did look the guy up and it looks like he has published a great number of books about Earth, who we are, and, where we come from.
 
John Paul Jackson says in the beginning sentence of the Forward, “The Earth is a wonderful and mysterious planet. It is unique and one of a kind.” I think we can all agree here. Then he says, “In all of creation, no other sphere contains the beauty and variety of life this planet does.” For me, this perspective seems narrow. Or, maybe my perspective is a bit broad. You decide.
 
We look with our human eyes and see little of what the universe is made of…we only see the 4 percent of physical form…and infrequently acknowledge the 96 percent unconditional foundational energy that is ever present. We each have, what I call an electrical pulse. Frequency.
 
I’m all over broadening the human perspective and bent on fulfilling my purpose. Increasing my effort to cleans the Earth, our home, and myself, Acknowledging my purpose in the Network of Life is paramount in healing and creating a flourishing planet, which we are meant to be.
 
All of us exist in the elusive 96 percent unconditional foundation. How we perform there is up to each individual. Your frequency tells a story. One of well-being and happiness or something else. You are the master of your fate.
 
I applaud John Paul Jackson in his research and the valuable information he writes down.

Olympe de Gouges: She Dared and Lost her head!

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Why look back? What’s in the past worthy of mine time?

Confucius said,”Study your history and you may define your future.”

I believe Confucious made a good point. To me, our past seems like a tsunami blanketing the Earth! For myself, I’m curious and audacious. Much as I know Olympe de Gouges lived her life. Imaginative. Creative. Strong. I would have loved to have set and shared a cup of tea or wine. As a would-be farm girl, I fear we would have traveled in different circles. However, I’m sure our paths would have crossed.

Looking back I discovered the documentary ‘The Ascent of Woman’ and became captivated by the story of Olympe de Gouges. She fought for the Rights of Women most of her life and was found guilty of sedition and executed (they chopped her head off) by guillotine at 4 PM on November 3rd, just 18 days after Marie Antionette. The ultimate price to pay for speaking out.  

Olympe de Gouges wrote and published the “Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Citizen” modeled after the “Declaration of the Rights of Men and of the Citizen. Olympe extended the same Rights of Men to Women. Asserting that women had the ability to reason and make moral decisions, establishing that emotion and feeling were a virtue. That woman was not just the same as a man, but his equal.

French women fought in the French Revolution, yet, were denied French Citizenship. Rage comes to mind. No wonder they stormed the castle.

Liberty Leading the People, Eugène Delacroix, 1830, Louvre, Paris

Today, France has a special place for burying its favorite men—the Pantheon, built in 1790, a giant, marble mausoleum to honor the greatest Frenchmen. Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, Comte de Mirabeau, a scholar and early leader of the French revolution, was the first man to be buried there. Since then, the mausoleum has been filled with 73 bodies. Only one of the honored dead is a woman: Marie Curie. But now, France has announced it will add two more women to the Pantheon.

So glad I stumbled upon Olympe de Gauges. I’m spurred on. I’m so outraged by what I find in the past…much seems outrageous, ludicrous, immoral and unjust. Thank you Olympe de Gauges. You are brave. You are strong. You are special.

 

 

Un-Choking the Planet, Reading labels, and Ditching the Dryer Sheet!

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Who the heck has time to know about this stuff? Right. Well, there are a few of us out there. If you are reading this, you’re probably someone who reads labels. However, If you’re like most, you’re cramming as much as you can into your day, don’t like shopping and do it as quickly as possible

Think about it for a minute. If 7.4 billion people, give or take a billion here or there, are using Dryer Sheets, what are those sweet smelling toxic chemicals doing to those we hold dear…and life as we know it?

This thought about dryer sheets came to mind after reading about Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change agreement. His decision angered me. Then, while I was separating clothes into what I could dry quickly outside and what I would throw in the dryer, I reached for a half a dryer sheet, which I seldom use. Bounce was on the shelf. Concerned sustainability advocate that I am, I wondered why I had Bounce, and what the heck is in it? I’m sure this would be the last thing Trump would ever think about!

Bounce label reads,

“Safe for all washables, but is not safe for use on children’s sleepwear or other garments labeled as flame resistant as it may reduce flame resistance. Keep out of the reach of toddlers and pets to avoid accidental ingestion.Bounce contains Cationic softeners and perfume.

A variety of toxic chemicals found in fabric softeners, including chloroform, benzyl acetate, and ethanol (currently on the EPA’s hazardous waste list). In a study performed by Anderson Laboratories, and published in PubMed, mice were exposed to air containing the fumes released by several types of fabric softener pads. The mice exposed to these fumes showed irritation of eyes, nose, throat, and lungs, and some developed severe asthma-like attacks. The results provide a toxicological basis to explain some of the human complaints of adverse reactions to fabric softener emissions.

How about this ‘science’ President Trump? Does it matter? What do you think? Is it okay? Do you need to have your own ‘study’? I’m still pissed off with you about your denial about the human race having anything to do with climate change. Do you even know what our climate is made up of?

As an asthmatic from childhood (I ran behind trucks spraying DDT through alleyways), this doesn’t sound good. Researching further, I found my way to Alex Scranton’s ‘Women’s Voices for the Earth’. Nice website. Alex is looking into lots of cleaning products and gives detailed reasons why using some dryer sheets is not a good idea. Thank you, Alex, for doing the research and putting such a great post and website together. Alex says,

“Ditch the Dryer Sheet. Some contain harmful chemicals – including hidden fragrance chemicals that lots of people are sensitive to – that vent off into the air we breath and rub off on our clothes and then onto our skin. Yikes! And the kicker is that dryer sheets aren’t even necessary to our laundry – so they’re just an extra source of exposure to toxic chemicals”

So, if you take the time to read the label you’ll find out most of those dryer sheets going into 7.4 billion peoples, give or take a billion here or there, dryers is poisoning all the air you suck in, the water quenching your thirst, and the land growing your food. Despite what Trump says, the planet is gasping! Isn’t this behavior like ‘cutting off your nose to spite your face’?

Serious choices require slowing down long enough to read a label. Doing so is essential to changing the fate of life as we know it. It’s serious business. Despite what Trump says, the planet is gasping! Isn’t this behavior like ‘cutting off your nose to spite your face’?

I’m fairly sure that slowing down is not what the government, industry and corporate power have in mind for us. But, slow down we must. I know, I know, many of you want the glitz and glimmer that all the magazines, radio and television ads say you need more and more of while going as fast as you can and that you like how soft those dryer sheets make your clothes.

Okay, I’m ranting. The problem being is that tiny dryer sheet used by 7.4 billion people, give or take a billion here or there, is choking me, you, your kids, your furry friends, and our home. We can no longer rely on government or industry to get rid of all the poisons in our food, water, air, and land? We have to do the work.

Vote with your dollar! If you must have a ‘dryer sheet’ buy an alternative one. They’re out there. They don’t contain noxious chemicals! They don’t poison you, me, kids, furry friends and they do not choke our planet! And let’s face it…industry only listens to the microchip in your debit or credit card and the cash in your wallet!

Happy ‘Ditch the Dryer Sheet’ trails!

 

 

“The World is a Filthy Bachelor Pad that Needs a Woman’s Touch”!

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So says my new found friend Laura Egan. And as Bob Dylan sang, ‘The Times They are a-Changin’. Women (and some enlightened men) are rising up everywhere. The broom in hand is held by Wild Women! We’re cleaning up men’s mess by becoming engaged in community, city, state and national government.

Do look back! It’s important for each of us to get a deeper grasp of humanities situation and where we come from.

Our centuries of imitation gives proof of men at the helm. In their childlike behavior, they plotted a course of war and destruction. While the other half of the world’s population were kept quiet and subservient. The crushing truth, we needed both men and women to navigate a more sustainable course. Humanities naivety has created as my friend says, “a filthy bachelor pad that needs a women’s touch” and the world’s undoing.

However, here’s a ‘wake-up call’!

  • The Organic Food Industry has grown 3400 % in last 20 years! No industry has ever achieved such phenomenal growth.
  • Solar energy jobs are growing 12 times as fast as the US Economy.
  • America’s Wind Industry is reaching record highs.

The customer base fueling sustainable industries are intelligent and growing in number. We demand a sustainable approach to everything. ‘Putting all one’s eggs in one basket’ has never worked out well. Back off fossil fuel. We have alternative and safer ways to do fuel our world. Back off Pharmaceutical Industry, we have nature, clean food, and bodies that are capable of healing themselves if given optimum care and nutrition! We who fuel the sustainable industry are a new group of pioneers. Pioneer’s who are taking the time to listen and learn before we leap and make messes.

The Outdoor Life Conservation Pledge, written in 1946 defines what this ‘pioneer’ looks like. The pledge is short and to the point.

“I pledge to protect and conserve the natural resources of America. I promise to educate future generations so they may become caretakers of our water, air, land and wildlife.”

Wild women and that new breed of men have a moral compass which dictates bringing to the forefront our feminine nature, doing little harm to our body and learning what gives us optimum well-being. Just ask Tom Brady,  football hero at age 39 about knowing his body and what it means!

I propose a new pledge for our nation. Let’s combine the Pledge of Allegiance with the Conservation Pledge. It gives us a more balanced perspective! The last revision of the Pledge of Allegiance took place in 1954…we’re way overdue for a new revision!

“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I pledge to protect and conserve the natural resources of America. I promise to educate future generations so they may become caretakers of our water, air, land and wildlife.”  

Just a side note for all you ‘wanna be wild women’, there’s a Wild Woman Conference!

We understand our connectivity to all life. We are learning our place in our connectivity. We do not have dominion, we are caretakers. We are kind and look for harmony, not war. We are communicators. Get on board!

And yes, ‘The Times They are a-Changin’. As a sustainable life advocate, I’m continual discovering the changes in myself and the sustainable direction people are insisting upon. And, as my new found friend says, “The World is like a filthy bachelor pad that needs a women’s touch”!

Happy Trails!

Nurturing: It’s in Our DNA

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Outrageous!  Women have had it. We are hitting the streets, the halls of government and are saying ‘no more’. We are changing the course of our nation and the world. We will no longer be a party to what Market Watch has defined as human nature. Using Economic Growth as the single measurement of Well-Being and success maybe men’s idea and nature but not mine or the majority of women I know.

“There really is only one answer: Deep inside we love war. We want war. Need it. Relish it. Thrive on war. War is in our genes, deep in our DNA. War excites our economic brain. War drives our entrepreneurial spirit. War thrills the American soul. Oh just admit it, we have a love affair with war. We love “America’s Outrageous War Economy.” – Paul B. Ferrell, Market Watch

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Yes, America’s economy is a war economy. Not a “manufacturing” economy. Not an “agricultural” economy. Nor a “service” economy. Not even a “consumer” economy.

Ask the so-called ‘ordinary’ human how they feel? What’s important? What they would like to change in their life. I guarantee it would have nothing to do with going to war. It would be much more personal; like not having to work two and three jobs just to break even, a home and food on the table.

I’m 73, I’ve worked all my life; still working. My fear comes from not getting a raise in my Social Security, from the fact that I will never stop working, from the homeless eyes I meet on the street, from the lines of people at the food bank, from the starving people of the world and from the violence and anger on the streets of our nation.

Did you know the United States as of September 2014 was in 134 wars around the globe? Do these wars help you meet your mortgage? Keep you well? Have anything to do with your daily life?

War has been our ‘go-to’ answer for centuries and men have been pulling the trigger. We need to look at the outcome and results. War is not working for the majority of us. War does not benefit the majority of our citizens. The main beneficiary:

“America may be a ticking time bomb, but we are threatened more by enemies within than external terrorists, by ideological fanatics on the left and the right. Most of all, we are under attack by our elected leaders who are motivated more by pure greed than ideology. They terrorize us, brainwashing us into passively letting them steal our money to finance “America’s Outrageous War Economy,” the ultimate “black hole” of corruption and trickle-up economics.” – Market Watch, 2008

Those who would do harm to life on this planet must be stopped. However, life on this planet takes many forms. We need to re-evaluate our priorities about whose life we are protecting and how we are protecting it.

Men have kept us in an ‘Age of Imitation’ long enough. Women are coming into their time and are bringing our world out of perpetual war and into nurturing life. It’s what women have always done. Nurture. It’s an innate part of our being. It’s our nature and in our DNA.

Happy Nurturing Trails