So much happened last month that I haven't been able to take a breath and write. These are some of the highlights:
On September 8, I took my little one to her first march, in San Francisco.
Rise for Climate was an extraordinary gathering of approx. 30,000 people. They say it was the largest march for climate on the West Coast. The energy was amazing. No violence, no hate speech, just an ocean of people walking and singing peacefully up Market Street. And carrying an important message to world leaders who were about to kick off a week-long summit on climate change.
On September 15, we did the International Coastal Cleanup, again in San Francisco. It was fun, disappointing, heartening, and complicated all at once. Fun because there were so, so many people joining up and down the coast; they were EVERYWHERE.
Disappointing because we barely filled up the bottom of a large trash bag. I mean, what good is a coastal cleanup when you've got little trash to collect?
Heartening because... we barely filled up the bottom of a large trash bag. It's a
good thing if you can't find a lot of trash on your beach. Unfortunately I can't say the same of our freeways, where trash is starting to pile up. We'll have to start an International Freeway Cleanup effort.
And complicated because there really was a lot of trash, overall. But it was so spread out that it took numerous people a few hours to find and collect it all. And when they did put it together, we saw that our beaches do have plenty of trash. Just like in the ocean, which is vast and deep and beautiful, trash gets buried and hidden until... there's too much to hide.
On September 18, we officially released our latest title, Joseph Rain's
The Unfinished Book About Who We Are. It's an unusual look at the human power of designing your own life, in the context of the science, philosophy, religion, and philosophy that has informed our (Western) experience for many centuries. My favorite aspect about this book is that it incorporates quantum physics with spirituality. That's not something you come across every day.
Finally, on September 27, we had a lovely reception for Aria Luna's
Fusion Tide
exhibit about the ocean and plastic pollution. More on that below in
Mini Muse, along with pictures of the above events.
For me, taking part in events like the march and the cleanup isn't about politics or pointing fingers. It's about coming together as community, and feeling gratitude that there are, in fact, many more people trying to do the right thing than you ever imagined. They just don't get as much press coverage.
~ Birgitte
