Standing Rock : Nov 22

Our first full day at Standing Rock was absolutely that - very full. We've been here for just over 24 hours, and time moves slowly out here. The community is beautiful, inspiring, full of love and prayer and beautiful intention. Your donations are being sorted, gifted, accepted, and appreciated. And with the cold months ahead, your donations may literally save a life. 

I'm all checked in, I officially have my media badge, and I look forward to documenting life here in camp, and sharing stories with you all as I am able. Cell service is spotty, so I will update as I can. And for those of you who are prone to worry, instead of worrying, please pray. However that looks for you. Please pray for the health and safety of the Peaceful Water Protectors.

And please - stay tuned-in to what is going on here at Standing Rock. Share all the news that you can. Speak up. Speak out. Federal laws are being broken, human rights are being violated, and people's lives are in danger. All to protect a PIPELINE. Let that sink in.

This is all very, very real. Indigenous Lives matter, and this moment, right NOW, is our opportunity to build a new legacy, to honor and respect our Native Americans, to acknowledge the suffering they have (and continue to) endure, and to stand up with them for what is right. 

We've been reminded here that "We are responsible for what we do, and what we do not do." I challenge you to hold that in your heart. Water is Life. Mni Wiconi. Much Love, y'all.

Discrimination in Real Time

We are en route to Nouth Dakota, still....  I'm sitting in a small theater in Spearfish, South Dakota. Taking a deep breath as a goddess strums her banjo on the stage. Serendipity arrived today, again, and my mind is blown. In a way I'm not sure I've experienced yet.

Our van was feeling little crunchy this morning, so we made a couple of phone calls and pulled over... to visit the one and only mechanic open on a sleepy Sunday in small town South Dakota. He sounded nice enough on the phone, like he may turn out to be our road angel for this unfortunate situation we were finding ourselves in. Our experience in person, however, was quite different....

"Where you headed?" he asked
"North Dakota" we answered, trying to keep it neutral.
And then immediately he fired back... "You going there to protest?"

We felt the tension. And it was strange - unexpected - everyone else we'd encountered thus far had been so lovely - grateful even - literally thanking us for our pilgrimage to Stand with the Water Protectors. So we didn't quite know how to respond....

"We're delivering some supplies" seemed like a neutral-ish answer, not realizing that his mind, at this point, had already been made up. He was going to refuse us service, and silently inside of himself he was calculating exactly how he was going to deliver this message. He looked over the van, and got busy typing things up on the computer. When he finally walked around the counter, he was shaking. "Here's what you will need," he said, "but I will not work on your van."

....wait, what?!

"I don't agree with what's going on there, and I don't agree with what you are doing, so I won't be working on your van."

There was no budging his stubborn and bruised heart. No human-to-human empathy. Nothing.

Unbelievable.

For a couple of white women, alone on the road, and accustomed to the privilege that comes along with being born into this skin, this was a discomfort unfamiliar to us. And a powerful one.

Discrimination. Let's talk about it.
It's very real, my friends. And in a way, I am grateful for this opportunity to feel the sting. There are many people among us who feel this sting every single day. Who always have. There are many people who have *never* been treated equally - because of their beliefs, their trajectory, their skin color, their religion, their identity, their gender, and beyond.

We cannot continue this way as people...
This is not the way of love.
This is not the way towards a future where there is room for everyone.

So now we know what it feels like to be refused service for our beliefs. And I can tell you this, as you may already know far better than I, it doesn't feel good. 

My heart, today and every day moving forward, is open. Compassion expanded. Complexities revealed. Gentle footsteps laden with intention. Onward. Together. In Love. 

be like water

Video Proof of the generosity of SLO County... and the fun we had packing, and packing...

It's a strange out-of-body sort of experience
that I'm still here..... 
My heart is already in North Dakota. 
It's been there for some time. 
But my body and I, anticipation pulsing constant... 
My body and I have been almost-leaving since 7 am. 
exhale
And now our collective sights are set on dawn. 
One rotation beyond our guestimation. 
And strangely enough, it's a beautiful non-inconvenience. 
We are like water. Flowing. 
Time is taking it's time so that everything may happen in alignment. 
We've been moving nonstop, and we are finally ready. 
Van full. Hearts overflowing. Wings open. Ready to fly. Grateful.

THANK YOU for sending us off on such a spectacular wave of Love.
Tomorrow we travel to Standing Rock.

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. 

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” - Bruce Lee

The Future is Love

Today I feel a heaviness within my heart that I've never quite felt before... I feel the darkness trying to swallow us whole... and I've been looking for words since the tears began to flow late last night.

I truly believe, friends, that the only way forward is Love.

Love for each other, and love for the Earth. We must learn this, truly and deeply, and we must put this into practice, every single day.

And though it may not seem at all connected in this moment, please hear me out... While we learn to love each other, we must also learn to grow our food, our soil, and our communities. We must do this together, and we must begin today.

Please, take care of yourselves and each other, no matter your opinions, no matter your skin color, no matter your identity, no matter what...

Let's BE the change we wish to see in this world. Let's BE Love.

We are heading to Standing Rock

Friends, I will be traveling to Standing Rock, accompanying my dear friend Erin Inglish, to join the peaceful demonstrations there against the Dakota Access Pipeline. We are feeling called to be there in person, and are honored for the opportunity to contribute in this way.

For those who live here in SLO County, we will leave November 15th, and we would like to fill up our caravan with as many locally donated supplies as possible, to help them get through the winter. The Sacred Stone Camp Wish List includes : warm winter coats in good condition, sub-zero rated sleeping bags, wool and/or fur blankets, heavy tarps, non-perishable food, cured meats, batteries, headlamps, wall tents, wood stoves, lighters, ropes & tie-downs, heavy duty storage bins, propane, solar power, and more. Click HERE to see a full list of their needs.

If you have, or can give, any of these items, please begin to gather them up. You can drop off your donations at K-Man Cyclery in Atascadero or Paso Robles, or Gulliver's Travels in SLO, any time before November 13th.  (The sooner the better!)

Standing Rock : Photo by Dallas Goldtooth : #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL

There are many other ways you can help too!

Click HERE to donate money to the camp directly, which we recommend.
Click HERE to donate money to their legal fund, which we also recommend.
Click HERE if you'd like to send money to us, so that we may purchase larger ticket items, or bulk items, to bring along with us to camp to donate.

THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts - for sending your love & support in whatever way you are able. #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL 

---

I recently had the honor of talking with Kandi Mossett, "Eagle Woman", an Indigenous leader on the ground at Standing Rock. This is her story in unedited form - and i think you'll understand why when you take a few minutes to truly listen.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

Water Protectors & A World Upside Down

Life feels heavy, my friends. There is much a-stir on our planet. Our Indigenous People, praying together as Peaceful Water Protectors, are being met with militarized police in North Dakota. Journalists there are being arrested for doing their job. The election approaches and continues to be an embarrassment. Undesirable predictions for our future are coming true. And Climate Change is no longer looming on the horizon - it is here now.

We need LOVE, now more than ever. We must work together, starting TODAY, to bring about a peaceful loving future for all life. Profits should never be more important than People. And this means that we likely need to look deep inside ourselves and ask some tough questions... What ingrained beliefs or behaviors must we change? What is standing in the way, in our own hearts & lives & habits, of moving us towards a just and equitable future? And what are we willing to live WITHOUT to arrive at that future?

So I challenge you... BE the love, my friends. Every day. To everyone you meet. Make decisions out of LOVE. Not greed. Not apathy. Just pure LOVE. Because the answer is simple... the answer is LOVE.

Standing Rock : Photo by Dallas Goldtooth : #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL

Have you heard about Standing Rock? Do you know what is going on there, and why it is of the utmost importance? If not, please get informed immediately. America is currently being forced to take a hard look at what it is founded on, and it's not pretty, my friends. It is time to Stand Up with our Indigenous People - United - against hate, against greed & oppression, against Fossil Fuels. We must stand together, with LOVE, for each other, and for our Mother Earth. 

I recently had the honor of talking with Kandi Mossett, "Eagle Woman", an Indigenous leader on the ground at Standing Rock. This is her story in unedited form - and i think you'll understand why when you take a few minutes to truly listen.

Sign a petition urging President Obama to reject the pipeline HERE
Donate to the Water Protectors, they need ALL the help we can give HERE
GO to Standing Rock. Stand with them. Find info HERE

#NoDAPL #StandWithStandingRock #WaterisLife 

So much has happened since my last email - WOW - please forgive me for bombarding you with so much info this time around - I promise I'll get better at sending out monthly updates - haha! In September I attended the National Heirloom Seed Expo in Santa Rosa and talked with some heavy-hitters in the world of Permaculture - John Jeavons, Christy Wilhelmi, Matt Thompson, and more. I filmed harvest at Tablas Creek Winery, a biodynamic winery near Paso Robles, CA. I attended the Greenbuild Expo in downtown Los Angeles to learn about radical advancements in net-zero architecture & urban one-site water reuse. I visited renowned Water Lawyer Eric Garner of BB&K for an informative conversation about CA water law. I attended the SAWPA Riverwalk and had an inspiring conversation with Celeste Cantu, GM of the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority, about the importance of managing watersheds as a whole.  

It was an absolute treasure to spend a day with the deep souls of Walking Water as they finished a pilgrimage from Owen's Valley to Santa Clarita, walking along the path of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. I attended a free (yay!) rain-water harvesting workshop at the TreePeople headquarters in Bevery Hills. And to round out two great months with an overwhelming bang, I attended the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, and talked with some of today's leading voices in the world of water, urban farming, and regenerative agriculture - Brock Dolman from O.A.E.C., Ariel Greenwood, Ryan Camero,and Wanda Stewart. Wow, friends... this story, OUR story, the story of WATER, which is truly the story of LIFE, is enormous. I remain humbled and honored to be on this journey. xo

I feel called to end this update as I started it - with a call to action. Let's BE THE CHANGE.  Let's live in LOVE. Let's uplift and support one another. Let's ALL be Water Protectors, in every choice that we make, every day. Let's all learn to care, truly and deeply, for each other, and for our Mother Earth. Let's challenge our current paradigm, let's question our outdated belief systems, let's stretch, let's grow, and let's do all of this TOGETHER.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

Where There Once Was Water ... there is Fire

My heart goes out to all those who have been affected by the fires raging - locally in Big Sur and at Lake Nacimiento, and throughout all of California. Be safe out there, my friends, and hug a Firefighter - they are truly heroes. 

July & August have been tremendously full, and I am thrilled to take some time today to share all our recent adventures with you. Thank you for your continued support for this project. Much love!

In early July a crew of us headed out to the San Joaquin River Gorge to visit the Lodge family and to learn first-hand about the beauty of the region, and the dangers of the proposed Temperance Flat Dam. I encourage you to learn more about this issue HERE - And to join us in asking Sally Jewell to oppose the Temperance Flat dam HERE.

I spent an evening on the shores of Huntington Lake, in the heart of the Sierras affected by bug kill, meditating and sitting with the trees... in the silence, listening... observing... feeling. Our forest... is dying. And for the first time, I sat and I cried with her. Maybe from exhaustion, perhaps sympathy, or even a passing wave of that oppressive feeling of helplessness... I don't know. But when you sit there, looking eye to eye with a dying forest - the lungs of our planet - for me at least, it was hard not to cry....

On a lighter note, my dear friend Mike Mariant and I flew the drone over Tablas Creek Vineyard, a local biodynamic winery in Paso Robles Wine Country, in preparation for filming a couple days of early morning harvest activity in the coming weeks. If you are on the lookout for delicious wine that is grown biodynamically, Tablas Creek is your place.

I traveled up to the South Fork of the American River to do some white water rafting with Friends of the River. Now let me just begin by saying that this crazy business was never on my to-do list, haha!, but alas, I went rafting on Class 2 & 3 rapids, and I managed to stay non-projectile and perma-grinning, the entire day.  Friends of the River is a state-wide river conservation group fighting to protect our rivers, and I definitely got to experience (and film!) some good fun "River Luv". You can join me next year!  Because, yeah, I'm hooked.

As always, thank you for your love and support! If you are interested in participating in this project, or if you know of anyone who might be a good contact, resource, or interview, please be in touch. Namaste.

Coming up...
The Heirloom Seed Expo : Santa Rosa, CA, September 6-8, 2016
SAWPA Riverwalk : Santa Ana River, CA, October 6, 2016

If you haven't yet, please sign up for our newsletter HERE - we send out updates about once a month, and if you're on the list, you'll never miss a thing!  :)

Regenerative Bliss & Head Bonks

This past Saturday I took a rather significant bonk to the head while photographing my husband's mountain bike race. Mountain bike vs. Spectator, if you're hungry for a visual. I mention this mishap because I am feeling quite lucky today. Lucky to be alive, lucky to have a thick skull, lucky to have a bad-ass gang of angels following me around, and lucky to be able to continue to work on this film, albeit at a slightly tamer pace for the next few weeks. I am a firm believer that life doesn't throw anything our way that we cannot handle, so onward and upward I go, gently....

This month I spent time in the northern reaches of California. I traveled up to Mendocino County as spent a day at Frey Vineyards in Redwood Valley. Frey Vineyards is a certified organic & biodynamic winery, and not only are they doing all kinds of good for the earth, they are making some delicious wine too.

I took a walk on Shasta Dam. The US Bureau of Reclamation wants to raise the dam by 18 feet, which would flood the Winnemem Wintu tribe off their remaining lands, cost taxpayers a fortune, and provide only a small amount of very expensive water to an elite few. Please read the fine print whenever you are given the opportunity to vote on what may, on the surface, seem like a "water fix", as the reality is often quite different.

I continued north to the tiny little town of Fort Bidwell, sitting in the tippy top eastern corner of the state, a part of California I had yet to explore, and WOW, I think my brain exploded (but this time in the best way possible). I spent two days with Abbey & Spencer Smith at the Jefferson Center for Holistic Management, a hub for the Savory Institute.

These beautiful souls are practicing Regenerative Agriculture and Holistic Land Management - mimicking the behavior of ancient grazing herds in order to heal and regenerate the soil. The incredible importance of healthy soil it is relatively new to me, my friends, and you would be amazed, as am I, at it's potential... not only in regards to healing the water cycle, but also in regards to reversing our climate crisis. This is a BIG deal.

And finally, a word about our trees... the lungs of our planet. After spending a couple of days in the Southern Sierras for hubby's mountain bike race I realized the gravity of the situation. Our Mother Earth has lung cancer, and we must do everything in our power to HEAL this planet, not destroy. With 113 degree days in June here on the Central Coast, and fires already raging all across the state, it's beginning to feel like we may already be too late. But I refuse to despair. We can do this, together, from the ground up, with love and care and community. Much love, my friends. Namaste.