life learning: a natural education
“Observation more than books and experience more than persons, are the prime educators” Amos Alcott
Self observation. Lately, I have been frantic about finding a job and “figuring things out”. It’s been lousy feeling that my formal education didn’t prepare me for a meaningful job. I wasn’t seeing clearly. I’ve had what I needed all along: life experience and passion.
Life learner. I am an educator despite the lack of “education certification” because, as W.B. Yeats would say, “Education is not the filing of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” It is through my life experiences that I’ve cultivated passion. And I have excitedly shared my life knowledge because it is, like heated molecules of a fire, ecstatic and un-con-tainable.
Seeding a natural love. A recent article said, “Seeding a love for nature in today’s youth is the best hope we have of achieving a world with respect for earth”. I couldn’t agree more. I share my delight in science and nature with people of all ages and backgrounds. I inspired kids in a rural Ecuadorian community to clean up their river. I mentored undergraduate students to care about biology beyond college credits. I recorded a series of podcasts on sustainability to share tips on living an earth healthy life. Most recently, I’ve become a part of a natural mud building, urban gardening 4-H projects, and Cloud Institute Sustainability Educators team in New Jersey.
A healthy new leaf. My life education has lead to this moment. I am starting a new chapter as a sustainability educator. I agree with Oscar Wilde when he said, “Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.” I know passion is not teachable, but I hope to plant some seeds of inspiration and light the way for kids to experience themselves joyously through nature.
A healthy earth tomorrow depends on awe-inspired children today.
Biking Rules!
I’m proud to wish Bike Friendly Arlington 2 years of 100% pure awesome community activism. The grassroots group helped get a bike plan passed and is celebrating the implementation of the Norwood bike lane today. For 6 months, I helped BFA organize into a Board of Directors and helped secure fiscal sponsorship with BikeDFW. I have stepped down as Executive Director because I’ll be moving to the Northeast, but I am grateful to have been a part of the ride!
How I’ve grown on the road. I remember stepping into a bike shop 2 years ago, being overwhelmed by all the the cycling gear, and making it clear to the store clerk that I was just a “commuter bicyclist”. I just needed new inner tubes for my $90 vintage bike. No thanks, spandex. A year later, I have a new track bicycle named Lil G, I can average 19-20 mph on the road, and I have a new-found appreciation for spandex. All labels aside, cycling makes me feel hardcore.
Who is Bike Friendly Arlington? You! Bike Friendly Arlington is an inclusive, friendly bicycle advocacy group. We appreciate all of our members—the 700 of you who support us on facebook, those that have attended rides and events, and those that rallied together during the Hike & Bike meetings and emailed council members, and those community members that put “I Support Bike Lanes” signs in your yards and give friendly honks on the road. You make bicycles feel appreciated in Arlington. We really couldn’t have done any of this without your support. Thank you.
Celebrate good rides, c’mon!
Happy compost happens, part 1
“My whole life has been spent waiting for an epiphany, a manifestation of God’s presence, the kind of transcendent, magical experience that let’s you see your place in the big picture. And that is what I had with my first compost heap.” Bette Midler
I love composting. It’s like medicine for my nature-loving soul. It’s the best way I can think of to easily get hands-on with nature, reduce your waste, and begin a healthy garden. By composting, you’re creating a habitat for an ecosystem of microorganisms that will work for you to grow a garden.
Think of your compost as a living organism, like you and me. In order to thrive, your compost pile needs air, water, food, and a place to rest. Let’s start there. In part 1 of this series, I’ll give the basics about decomposition and places for your compost to live.
What is compost? Continue Reading →
Wild Health
“There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature.” Rachel Carson
I’ve been doing some major healing. For the past year, I’ve had pain in my gut caused by emotional stress and anxiety. I quit nearly everything outside of myself to fully embrace my inner self. As I’m rewilding, I’m able to open up to see the world clearly and experience new joys everyday.
The idea of “Wild Health” started when I traveled to Big Bend with my partner. Nestled between canyon walls, we bathed in hot springs and ate a raw omnivore diet underneath desert palms. I felt healed by the Earth, the water, and the sun. I’ve been getting more in touch with my true nature ever since.
It’s been tough. I don’t know where I’m going, but I know that I’m parting ways with this old self of mine. And how appropriate to be back in Tucson, where I started to really discover my true self.
I’m sitting in a tiny trailer in the sweltering hot Tucson desert. I am feeling parched and sweaty. I’ve been traveling a lot, and I don’t really have a steady home these days, but I’m fully trusting in what God and Nature will provide. I’ll find whatever I need anywhere I go.
Feel good do good tour
“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”~ Margaret Mead
At The Garden of Eden, I have experienced true unconditional love and acceptance and have shared in the creation of a chicken coop and the beautification of the garden. I have found a light and loving way to progress through life inspired by ideas and fueled by passion. I feel good, therefore I do good.
The Garden is changing hands and the feeling of the place has become less than peaceful. I have decided to leave. It’s bittersweet. I’m heartbroken and falling in love at once. I enjoy it here and don’t want to leave, but I take the change as an opportunity to create something new elsewhere and within my self.
I trust that everything I do with good intent will be exactly what I want.
Michelle “Maggie” Maggied (pictured left) and I will be setting off toward the Southwest to visit intentional communities, eco-villages, and to meet others living the sustainable American dream. Our idea is to travel from Texas to Arizona in March then to the Northeast in April.
We’re raising money for our trip and for organic non-GMO seeds that we will share and plant with do-gooders we come across in our journey. I will be guerrilla gardening along the way as a protest to Monsanto’s agricultural monopoly and ties to the FDA. (FYI: Monsanto controls most crops and sues organic farmers for saving seeds.)
We’re planning an event to benefit organic growers and small farmers, sustainable activists creating community, and individuals planting good in the world, so check back soon!
We are selling earrings as a fundraiser this Saturday at the Bicycle Swap Meet at Rahr & Sons Brewing, Co.
In love and with gratitude,
dumpster birthday surprise!
“Love is like a good cake; you never know when it’s coming, but you’d better eat it when it does!” – C. Joybell
I was that little girl standing in line before the birthday girl/boy to make sure I’d get the biggest and best slice of cake. I call this condition “Birthday Cake Syndrome”: awaiting my piece of cake excitedly, to behold it as a sweet luscious opportunity, and to scarf it down joyously as if it was a last meal.
Dumpster diving sends me to that birthday cake place. It’s a reminder of the giddy little child I am when I do what I feel. It’s an opportunity to be in ecstatic love with every moment as a surprise.
Last night, Maggie (right) and I found a whole decorated birthday cake and cupcakes on top of the overflowing bin. It’s as if they were there for us to celebrate the dumpster fare of the evening. Man oh man, did we celebrate! We found organic corn and breadcrumbs for our hens, organic chips, a pound of flour, organic juices and cereals, oatmeal, along with all the fruits and veggies we could ever need.
Rustic hands for roosting hens
Today I awoke to begin building a grand chicken coop. I remembered an old friend and neighbor Gladys, a witty hard working 80-something-year-old. She’s a serious powerhouse of a woman! One day I remarked about her strength and capability. She shot back quickly, “Can’t sit on your rustic hands!” I looked down at her hands in wonder and laughed realizing I’d misheard her in a beautiful way. What she really said was, “Can’t sit on your rusty cans!”
I was in pure admiration of her strong hands and her unwieldy self-attitude. I used to dream of being that kind of woman. Today I know I AM that woman.