Feel it.

As a conservationist you sometimes find yourself knee deep in statistics, facts, figures and that little voice in your head says, "I'm okay with this." But then that activist on my other shoulder rebuts and says, "No one walking down the street is going to give a flying fuck about your geeky message. Relate Heather. Relate."

After reading a scintillating article by Grist, I learned that we perceive and respond to risks only when we feel them. Hows that for a cosmpoliton of heavy and hippie-trippy all in one huh?

We sustainability geeks continually catch ourselves at a crossroads between wanting to share the deeply fascinating facts & figures we've worked hard on developing over the year and spreading the message that we not only are paid to communicate but passionately believe in both at the workplace and at home. There's a delicate balance we have to find while preserving our integrity and numbers. It's an artwork that really cannot be explained until you're right in the thick of it- spreadsheets open, media releases scattered throughout your desk, various communication pieces and ideas jotted down on scrap pieces of paper. Until weeks of ethos, pathos, logos later and you finally have something tangible to stand by. And it feels damn good, I must say.

Lessons learned.

Allow the person[s] engaged to leave feeling an activist. Don't let them see it. Let them feel it.

Make them take their hands off the rollercoaster bar and touch the sky.

All for now,

xxxh

Feeble Fairytales Come to Fruition

There are many things that I could write but alas, few words come to mind. I'm sitting in the back corner writing feeble fairytales for goodness sakes. Does it seem like life is more than a complex mirage for me right now?
I've been gone for quite some time. Correct. But the feelings in my soul, the rhythm in my heartbeat, and the thoughts in my mind have done anything but falter. Life has changed quite a bit. My solo adventures into the piercing backdrop of East Africa have transitioned to a more local Redsand. Grand Canyon National Park is my new home. My new alma mater if you will, for it is at this breathtaking scenery that I am learning the very depths of sustainability in the realism. They say it all too often, nothing can prepare you for the menagerie that is the real world. There I was sitting in post education bliss, drunk off the beauty of life and all that it had to offer. Yet over time that beauty dissipated, quickly blending in to play along the fine lines of sanity and madness. Some say there is nothing greater than time on your hands to inspire creativity. I in reflection say that there is also far and few as imbecilic as time on your hands with no where to put it. In the wrong atmosphere, wrong mindset, and total abandonment of the very passion you sunk your teeth into day in and day out- life can be quite dull. But that's a whole other story, for now you'll just have to listen to this one...

This was scribed on my iphone on October 18th, 2013 almost 4 months into my journey here at the Ditch. Safe to say my hands now have plenty of places to put time.

I'm Still Here.

Upon my first few weeks on the job I wrote this:

"Aways make life a priority. Whether it’s writing a scintillating entry in your journal or cooking a damn spectacular meal. Anything can happen. That doesn’t mean everything will happen, or exactly what you dream of will happen, or necessarily what you fear most will happen. It just means all cards are somehow on the table. One may be out of reach, right in your hand, or hard to find- but they’re out there. And life is always shuffling the deck to keep you on your toes. But whatever you do- don’t stop strategizing, don’t stop taking a chance, and never stop playing because you never know when you’ll win big."

It really is true, you never know when you'll hit the jackpot. What's even more of intrigue is that you never know what your mind will consider a jackpot. The variations that our minds prefer are endless. One man's jackpot can be another mans crackpot. One thing's for sure, for me- things are most certainly happening.

It's been a little while, hasn't it? Sometimes life happens and you forget to record any of its precious moments. Since we've last met, I took a job in Grand Canyon National Park as the Sustainability Specialist. Those two words, so complex, can have a lot of connotations and believe me- there are a lot. But we'll get to that later. Going into my ninth month out here things are finally starting to feel like home. There have been mule rides, midnight strolls at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, life sized condor pinyatas, invigorating jam sessions, shaved snow off a stranger's car window, bowling alleys, ripped pants, train rides, composted open toilets in the middle of nowhere, winter boat rides through narrow canals, animal skulls, mud flung car rides, wrangler photoshoots, a chipped tooth, and one very interesting camping experience. But let's save that all for later shall we? After all, we can't give it away all at once.
 

In case you're wondering. This was at Horseshow Mesa on New Years Day, 2014.



Until next time,


--h--