Category: Compassion

Good Stuff

Good Stuff

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It is easy to look around and see the terrible things happening in the world–the hatred and anger friends spew at each other over political, religious, environmental, human and animal rights issues–and think we have never, ever been in such a time of darkness. Our planet is heating up again and rapidly, people are arguing over the cause rather than joining together to work for solutions and many of us feel depressed, frustrated, angry and sad. Have you felt any of these things?

But then there are so many people working for good. Working to bring light and peace and love into this world regardless of the cynics, regardless of how hopeless it looks. And when I take time to see these miraculous stories of hope, I realize that true change is not only possible, IT IS HAPPENING! (Shouty capitals written from joy and hope!).

We have the intelligence to make the change and more importantly, we have the heart of compassion within us…every one of us has this spark of light within that only needs attention to grow. What we dwell on increases. If we focus on all the bad, it increases. But if we dare to give our attention to the good, the light-filled path, the heart of compassion….well, this grows and expands. And to think of how this can grow, starting with a few hearts lifted in love and surrender to the common good….oh, this is exciting indeed. And hopeful. And catching like a wildfire on dry grass.

We hunger for peace and light in this world. We have believed the lies and allowed those in power to separate us by putting us in boxes, in categories and we end up in the boxing ring of power for more. It’s time to walk out of the competition and come together. First, by simply acknowledging the beauty of each other and this wonderful planet.

Who is in? I am all in!

Merrily, Merrily…Life is But a Dream

Merrily, Merrily…Life is But a Dream

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This morning the wind was painting the clear blue sky with wisps of white–feathery clouds that floated overhead as I paddled my SUP board. While I heard evidence of humans, I saw no one. The sounds of traffic faded and my focus became the splashing of water droplets when they jumped as my paddle sliced the surface of the Magnolia River.

My mind needed time to slow down and process everything that has happened in the past two weeks…this entire summer. Cooler temperatures and lower humidity, heralds of seasonal changes, prompted me to reflect as I paddled.

When Hurricane Isaac passed south of our coast, we really didn’t have much to complain about compared to those who weathered a direct hit. But it did pose a problem for some very special beings, still incubating in their eggs buried under the white sand beside the Gulf.

As the waves roared to heights of twelve feet and the frothy water churned, the beach slowly disappeared along the Alabama Gulf Coast. Not all of it, but enough to begin to wash away sea turtle nests–loggerheads protected under the Endangered Species Act. As soon as Little Lagoon Pass bridge re-opened a few of us went to check on the unhatched nests. One was washing away as I crested the dune. I found a baby half out of her shell, washed on top of the dune. My heart sank. Two other team members arrived and we collected unhatched eggs and egg shells. Because of flooding, the babies were coming too soon but were coming never-the-less because they have a reflex that takes over when their nest is flooded. They were emergency hatching.

With howling wind and driving rain and waves that were shaking the beach, these premie turtles were making a break for it. Emotions within me were scattered just as the egg shells were after waves had eaten the nest and dispersed them. But there was no time to stop and connect with feelings because of the work necessary to save these babies. And we saved as many as possible. The experience left me raw and unhinged.

But today….this beautiful pre-autumnal morning–there was time to allow a space for everything I have experienced this summer. Joyous births of hundreds of sea turtles over the course of the past few months, connecting with nature-lovers and people who put wildlife first, night skies filled with shooting stars, laughter and more all drifted effortlessly through my mind. And challenges I’ve had surfaced as well. But everything that floated through my mind  lazily moved by just as a piece of driftwood or leaf blown by the slight breeze.
This summer I’ve immersed myself so deeply with nature that trying to fit into a world of humans and machines has been challenging. I’ve wanted to simply allow nature to take me and teach me  the instinctual wisdom that many of us (as humans) have forgotten.

Sea turtles have called to me for many years. I’ve collected art–like a raku turtle hatchling that sits on my desk or the art tattooed on my body–and named my business, Turtle Island Adventures, and had experiences with them while diving or walking along the shore. All of this feels like bread crumbs along my Path, leading me to this point….this place of remembering.

The language of the wind, the Earth’s heart beat, star energy and the ancient instinctual wisdom of sea turtles has filled my summer and I’ve never felt so in sync with my purpose. If I could have dreamed up this life, I can think of few things I would add to the experiences unfolding….maybe world peace and renewable energy instead of fossil fuels….two more things to dream up. Will you join me?

Finding Balance in Working with Nature

Finding Balance in Working with Nature

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I’m immersed in sea turtle research. Stacks of books lay scattered about my office and every time I open one I learn something new and wonderful about these amazing creatures. There are scientific books with hard science and data, touchy-feely books that embrace the ancient symbols of spirituality that sea turtles embody, and there are a couple of books that fulfill both the language of science and symbology.

Carl Safina, in his book Voyage of the Turtle, writes of leatherback sea turtles, “Their mute plea, as they attempt to carry on as always, is that we will understand, while there’s time, the connections within this water-bound planet.” He’s writing about the shrinking world and the loss of life on the planet.

Being an advocate for wildlife species means going beyond the cold science and hard facts of data and interpreting beyond biology to something greater. What does the species need to survive? What can its potential loss teach humans? This is vital because mainstream humanity will ignore hard facts and scientific studies but will connect on a deeper level where beauty exists. And beauty cannot be measured by tissues samples, counting spent eggs or the dead trapped in a nest.

Yet both sides are vital to preservation and conservation of species. We must have the scientific data so we have estimates of population sizes, health of the species, and genetic tendencies. But ignoring our heart-felt, compassionate connection is what allowed the damage to the planet and wildlife species to be done in the first place.
Years ago physicians were not instructed in wellness or body-mind-spirit of their patients. It was all hard science. Studies show that patients have a better chance of being healthy when their physician treats them as a whole, not just as a physical body. I wonder if wildlife biologists and volunteers approached their work with animals from a holistic approach how the species would respond. Verbal language is not the only valid language and more studies show this, too, is true.

There is a place for science and compassion to dwell side-by-side. A place where the wellbeing of one turtle is as important as 90. Where wolves are seen as vital parts of an ecosystem, not villains and where great white sharks are seen as an important apex predators, not  human-eating-machines.  I believe we can find that balance as we work to heal ourselves and this beautiful water planet. What about you?

Moving Beyond Survival of the Fittest

Moving Beyond Survival of the Fittest

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I hadn’t heard the term in a while but it came up the other day–survival of the fittest (SOF). It has always made me cringe, especially when it is applied to new life arriving on the planet, be it sea turtle, squirrel, dolphin, whale or human. It seems so cold, so removed from compassion. So I decided to do a bit of research.

Herbert Spencer coined the phrase as an alternative to natural selection after reading Charles Darwin’s book and Darwin, in the 5th edition of On the Origin of Species published in 1869, credited Spencer with the phrase.

Biologists today don’t really use the phrase but rather use the term natural selection to reference differential reproduction as a function of traits that have a genetic basis. SOF is inaccurate because survival is simply a normal prerequisite to reproduce (duh) and fitness in biology has a different meaning than the way pop culture uses the term. It’s not about how strong or big or fast something or somebody is in biological circles. What Darwin meant by fitness was ‘better able to adapt to changing environments.’

Extinction of various species happens because of large shifts in the environment. So truly, fittest means those animals most suited to their environment.

If we ponder the sea turtle on the coast of Alabama, we see the natural environment has been substantially altered in most locations. Dunes have been bulldozed or significantly altered, light pollution abounds and roadways criss-cross what used to be natural habitat. So sea turtles, in essence, would become greatly reduced due to human alteration of the environment (they have already been greatly reduced in numbers). NOT because of weak hatchlings, but because the environment has been altered to the point where the turtles simply cannot survive there.

And if we look offshore, we see the environment has also been significantly altered through use of nets and fishing practices that have harmed large numbers of turtles. Even though some commercial fisheries vessels use TEDs (turtle excluder devices), not all do. Onshore and offshore, the environment has greatly changed and thus made it difficult for sea turtles to live and reproduce.

I think of cancer rates in humans and mysterious diseases and see that natural selection is playing out in our own species. We alter the environment, fill it with toxic waste produced by corporations, we purchase products by said corporations and invest in the very culprits altering our ecosystems to the point where we cannot survive.

Corporations can donate endless funds to politicians. This opens the proverbial door to the rape and destruction of our planet on a scale unimaginable to us. Profit-at-any-cost is how corporations operate. There is never enough wealth to fill their coffers. So profit-hungry corporations buy more and more into our government (contributing to campaigns), elected officials then ‘owe’ the contributors and therefore legislate to please whoever donated the most money. And no matter what ‘side’ you may lean, the Earth is going to lose and that means you, me, children, wildlife, wild places….all of these precious, sacred elements of this water planet will become expendable as corporate control of our country expands.

People ask why spend so many hours and put so much effort into a nest of sea turtles. Share the Beach was originally formed because sea turtles were not able to adapat to the human-created changes in the coastal environmental. That’s why they ended up protected by the Endangered Species Act of 1973. We have to move beyond the idea that species that cannot adapt to human-created changes (over-fishing, lights, destruction of habitat, pollution) are not worth saving. Otherwise the human species would be extinct…there would be no need for doctors, nurses, medical researchers.

Because we have the ability to be compassionate and recognize value in all life, we can move beyond human arrogance and the belief that altering the ecosystems to suit our own needs is okay. We can refuse to buy into the belief that corporations have the right to continue their pillaging of the planet. For every hour spent holding a space of compassion and light in endeavors to help others, whether its humans or wildlife or wild lands, we magnify the spirit of unity and love that is the answer to healing our wounded world, to healing our own woundedness.

So Perfect the Night

So Perfect the Night

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The mother loggerhead heaved her massive body on to the white sand beach during a coastal thunderstorm and laid a nest of 119 eggs in her perfectly dug pit. After being satellite tagged “Storm” crawled back to sea, leaving her babies to incubate in the summer heat.

Fifty-seven days later, during a ferocious lightning storm, 87 hatchlings crawled to the salty water of the Gulf and began their lifetime of ocean living. Two more siblings made their appearance later that night.

The next night five more babies crawled out of the nest amid island visitors ooohhh’s and ahhh’s and questions about sea turtles and sharks and sand and practices adopted to assist the turtles. Another emerged later cheered on by children and adults alike. And while it’s wonderful that people take an interest in hatchlings and sea turtles (and anything unrelated to television, video games and other human-created distractions), sometimes it is stressful for those of us charged with keeping the turtles safe as they journey from nest to sea. What is the fine balance between allowing up close and personal viewing and danger for loggerhead hatchlings–a species protected by the Endangered Species Act?

The following night arrived and a few people were still inquiring about the status of additional hatchlings. We heard noise when we listened with the stethoscope but it sounded like the turtles were not progressing past a certain point in their crawl up and out. Tourists lost interest and wandered home. Children were called inside by family and finally the beach got quiet.

The orange moon began to peak above the condos far to the east. Three of us ‘green shirts’ remained, softly sharing stories of animals and the intimate connection women develop with the Earth and four-leggeds, winged-ones, finned-ones and creepy crawlers. The instinctual knowing we have because of our own child birth experiences and the understanding we share with the Earth as she labors with these little hatchlings, draws us closer to each other and to the turtles in the process of being birthed from the womb of the planet.

Stars lit up the sky as they hung close to us, three women sitting with this labor, this unfolding of life. The soft murmer of our voices sprinkled with joyful notes of laughter wove a web of safety as three more hatchlings slowly emerged from their confinement of hard, wet sand. Quietly we crawled beside them allowing them to find their way to the water, encouraging them with low notes of song or words of encouragement until they found their way to the rolling breakers that welcomed them in watery embrace.

Some argue that the method we use to assist the hatchlings is unnatural–using a trench, redirecting them when they head toward artificial light sources. However, the only way to re-create a natural sea turtle’s hatching experience is to return the beach to a natural state….a complete blackout of all lights on the beach and/or removing all buildings and tourists. Extreme? Of course, so we hold up towels or block light these babies are naturally attracted to, otherwise they crawl directly to the light. In the case of this particular nest, every baby made a bee-line due east once they reach the hard-packed sand…directly to the brightly-lit sky of the ‘condo run’ in Gulf Shores. Or like last night, to the house that had an inside light on that was illuminating the sand above the nest.

If humans created the dangers for sea turtle hatchlings, then humans must be responsible for making this right in some way. It is the only moral thing to do. Even if it involves hours of sitting on dark beaches waiting…..waiting….waiting. And for many of us, the willingness to correct mistakes made by humans to help such a vulnerable species knows no bounds.

The natural beach is long gone in Gulf Shores but it is still a place where humans can try to undo harm done to marine species such as sea turtles by giving them safe passage back to their ocean home. In the process we are transformed, we become attuned once again to the cycles of nature–the coming and going of tides, the patterns of stars, weather. In the truest sense, we are healed through our efforts to help sea turtles. With each hour spent, with every turtle that makes it to the water, we right a wrong done when the beaches were leveled and condos raised.