Environment Archives - Page 2 of 27 -

The Yin and Yang of Energy Production

By Simone Lipscomb | September 25, 2013

The general tendency for humans is to not change until we are forced to…mainly because we don’t want to deal with the discomfort. Whether its emotional discomfort from facing our dysfunctional behaviors that negatively impact relationships with lovers, coworkers, and family or the physical, economical discomfort that comes from having to change the way we live on the planet….we don’t like to change.

It’s easier to continue in status quo rather than make changes necessary to become consumers of clean, renewable energy.

Our country as a whole is an example of this mentality. There has been definite progress toward positive change….recycling, re-using shopping bags, banning plastic bags, using less packaging, increased organic farming, vehicles that get better mileage…but politically and economically it is still big business to drill for oil offshore, frack for fossil fuels and use potentially deadly nuclear power. Very few in leadership positions will take the political risk to piss off the Big Oil Companies. It’s so much easier to be quiet, fill up offshore bank accounts and relax into a lifestyle that does nothing to help solve the problems our planet–and all people who reside here–are facing.

“There comes a moment in history when ignorance is no longer a forgivable offense….a moment when only wisdom has the power to absolve.” This quote from Dan Brown’s latest book summarizes my thoughts perfectly.

Ignoring a problem is NOT dealing with it.

There are two energy extremes that we know as Yin and Yang. The polarity of these different energies make up a whole, a balanced perspective. Yin energy is passive, receptive, deep, still, slow, quiet, feminine while Yang energy is active, expressive, aggressive, fiery, dominant, restless, producing, masculine. (Not to be confused with women and men or male and female). An example however can be given using women and men and the expression of these energies.

A woman might have a vague idea about a problem she wants to solve so she might ponder ideas, kick around scenarios, write about it, compose poetry about it and mull over where a man might immediately take action to fix it…and fix it now! Both are ways to deal with issues and both can be valid….no doubt. So take the example a step further and take gender out of the equation…person A likes to mull it over, think about it, write about it and person B wants immediate fix-it action!

When a country…or world leadership…tends to lean to one extreme or the other imbalance is experienced. Our need for immediate energy cannot be solved by shutting down all fossil fuel production today; however, we do need to implement renewable energy production NOW to help meet our needs in the near future. And as renewable energy production increases–wind, solar, wave–we need less fossil fuels….which makes our planet cleaner, greener and healthier. Balance.

What if, in the 1970’s when the first buzz about fossil fuel issues began, we had fully implemented wind and solar energy production? How would our lives be different now….40 years later? How would our children’s lives be different? Our grandchildren’s lives? When is the right time to bring more Yin energy to our problems and ease up on the Yang way of dealing with life?

Now. Is. The. Time.

Finding Our Voice

By Simone Lipscomb | September 18, 2013

In her book, When Women Were Birds, Terry Tempest Williams writes about what it means to pair voice with inner truth. She shares two examples that reminds us to keep speaking our truth, even when people refuse to hear it.

She was at a public hearing speaking up for Utah wilderness lands that were being put on the chopping block by politicos. As she stood to speak Congressman Jim Hansen began coughing, yawning, shuffling papers and in general trying to distract her and show he wasn’t listening. She stopped speaking and asked him if there was anything she could say that might change his negative perspective on wilderness. His reply? “I’m sorry, Ms. Williams, there is something about your voice I cannot hear.”

It wasn’t the microphone he was referring to; it was a metaphor of the politicians, elected to hear comments from citizens– more than 70% of whom wanted more wilderness, not less–to show their displeasure in having to listen. Their mind was already made up without consulting the will of the people.

In another instance Senator Larry Craig stood up during the conservation delegation’s testimony and said, “This one is your Senator Hatfield,” and walked out of the hearing. Senator Hatfield then read a book during the entire testimony before Congress.

The result of the senator’s behavior fueled the determination of those speaking on behalf of wilderness. They hurriedly got writers and poets to submit a piece of their work on wilderness, had a graphic designer work for free to design a book and produced Testimony, which was eventually read aloud by various senators during a filibuster about the wilderness areas that were proposed to be sold. The vote that was eventually taken upheld the law that set them aside. The vote favored the protected the wilderness areas.

About a year ago I signed up for a one hour telephone call where I could listen to a live interview with Terry. I greatly respect her writing and work as a voice for all things wild and was excited to be able to hear the conversation. I called a couple minutes early and listened to silence and then a voice came on the line, “Hello? Hello? Is anybody there?”

I didn’t say anything. Not wanting to connect with anyone really because I didn’t know what to say, I remained silent. The voice would occasionally say, “Is anybody there?” This went on for over five minutes as we waited for the interview to begin. Finally another voice came on line, the moderator. She began talking…talking to Terry who was the one asking if anyone was there. I could have been having a meaningful conversation with a woman I greatly respect and I chose to remain silent. Several minutes of valuable time with a mentor was lost.

It was a valuable lesson. I could have asked her about her work. How do you stay inspired when facing such apathy? Where do you find the will to keep working when the message goes unheard? I could have learned from this woman of power. Instead, I chose silence.

Is there something that needs your voice? A mountain? A river? Sea turtles? Manatees? Black-foot ferrets? Your heart?

Speaking our truth has never been more important. Bringing light to our planet, our communities, our homes is a practice that must be cultivated to help shift us from the darkness that we see and experience around us.

With compassion and love and gentleness let us speak from our hearts and together create something truly beautiful. It’s time to use our collective voice.

Letting Go Versus Giving Up

By Simone Lipscomb | June 22, 2013

The past two mornings on the river paddling my SUP board brought unexpected encounters. Two days ago I was squatting down on my board as it glided under an overhanging oak tree limb. An owl hooted directly above my head. And later the same (I suppose) owl flew across the river in front of me. A messenger perhaps.

That same day I officially met the osprey chicks, one of whom is now adult-sized and almost fledged with adult feathers. I also met her sibling, a week or so behind in development. Both perched with their parent on the nest as I paddled by them.

Today I heard a splash as I paddled by a pier and glanced over to see a rather large, brown triangular head swimming for shore. I felt a little shudder as I quickly moved past, thinking it was a water moccasin, but I decided to turn around and peek. I saw a squirrel, sopping wet, sitting on the dock shaking water from his fur. My laugh echoed from the banks of the river. It was a good, belly laugh.

And later, as I was headed upriver and nearing home, I heard a most raucous noise. I stopped paddling and looked high up in a pine tree from where the noise originated. The source of the noise was three great blue herons in a brawl. Evidently the nearly adult-sized baby was throwing a hissy-fit and was hysterical…another encounter that made me laugh.

This has been a difficult week of frustration, grief….sadness over the course humanity has set regarding the health of our planet. No matter what those of us working for change do, it never seems to be enough to create positive change that will truly make a difference. I see apathy and greed growing while suffering increases in humans, wildlife, and wild places.

At one point this week I realized it was time to let go. Not give up, but let go. This came after working on a design for a new business card. In the process I realized I really didn’t know what to call the work I do and this led me to go deeper within myself. It seemed as if the pent up frustration and grief needed space to simply be.

The Unknown can be a scary place. Several of my friends commented that they too are struggling with direction and a feeling of treading water, not knowing what to do next. Maybe it’s time to let go, not in an attempt to give up but simply as a way to listen and let the space bring answers and guidance.

My time in nature nurtured me so deeply as I dealt with big emotions and important questions. The soggy squirrel, the fussy teenage heron and the ospreys and owl gifted me with laughter and beauty. The experiences gave me hope that all is not lost on our water planet…not yet.

The message of the owl? Owls see in the dark so perhaps it’s time to look into the darkness happening on our beautiful planet and know that there is a way through. Even though we cannot always see, we will find our way as we open our hearts and minds to nature and reconnect with it. Perhaps nature itself will guide us if we listen, observe and then take action.

Staying Present with the Big Picture

By Simone Lipscomb | May 22, 2013

It was absolutely still when I pushed my SUP board out into the slowly flowing river. No wind stirred the air. There was not a ripple on the water’s surface. The warm, humid air hugged me as I began my warm up.

Clouds and blue sky reflected underneath me in the mirror-like surface of the river. It was as if I was paddling within the clouds and sky. This phenomena has happened before and it always puts me into a meditative state. Today I felt as if I was steering a barge in Ancient Egypt, working magically to travel through the sky on a boat.

And yet I was very present this morning. The slight hum of water as it curled around the carbon fiber blade and shaft was felt in my hands. Droplets of sweat formed at the base of my skull and followed every vertebrae down my spine. Somehow, in this altered state of meditative paddling, I was deeply aware of my body as well as the little turtle sunning on the stump, the pelican flying beside me, the osprey arranging a stick in her nest….the mullet splashing to my right. And then it hit me: I was paddling a straight path.

Now this might not sound like a big deal but over the past several months I have struggled with zig-zagging and noticed that one side zigged more than the other. I changed my board fin and changed it back. I micr0-analyzed my paddle stoke–entry, position, pull…everything and it got worse. The more I focused on it the more pronounced it became until I felt like my board was possessed by a drunken spirit.

In this morning’s state of hyper-awareness I thought to myself, what’s different? Why am I going straight NOW? And then I knew. I had been gazing into the far water and horizon as I paddled this morning…keeping my head up. Before I was watching my stroke, keeping my vision very close to the board and surrounding water and it created a ‘situation.’

Then I realized that my paddling mirrored my life quite perfectly. I have been frustrated and felt like I was going in circles with my work. I kept focusing on the many environmental issues of destruction, death, neglect without plugging into the bigger view. I believe it is important to own our grief and sadness and allow it to prompt us to take action. But we must keep the whole picture in mind so we don’t become overwhelmed or lost.

Then I had a dream where my friend Ray told me he would help me see the sea turtle tracks in the dark, that he’d walk with me. Since he’s working out of the country I chalked it up to it being just a dream. But then he emailed me writing that he was purchasing a set of night vision binoculars that I, along with the turtle team I’m a part of, could use. This is helpful when babies are hatching since we can’t use any lights and our job is to ‘see’ them safely to the water. If any wander off over the beach we can more easily find them now.

Later this afternoon, many pieces came together for me. I’m not alone in the environmental work coming through me. There is support that will help me see through the dark unknown. It may come in the form of a stranger commenting on a blog post or a friend providing fiscal support, book selling, photographs used to educate the public, a pair of night vision binoculars that will help me ‘see in the dark.’ The metaphor is definitely not lost on me.

The work of writing and photography is by nature a solitary business. It takes a tremendous amount of time to organize, stay clear and focused and now…complete a photography book I started a while back. It’s easy to get myopic vision and see only this little space and time around me. But when I take the time to look up, to look out, I see the big picture. The key is to dance in both places at once.

Turning Point

By Simone Lipscomb | May 11, 2013

The dark, heavy energy has shifted. I’ve been sitting on my back porch listening to the rain, listening to distant thunder over the Gulf and to wind chimes slowly moving in the slight breeze, their deep tones filling the courtyard with celestial music and serving as background sound to drops splatting and thumping on the metal roof. Frogs sing occasionally, adding their baritone to the soprano whistles and trills of birds darting to and fro.

In the distance, the sounds of children laughing and playing in the rain provide nurturance to the joy taking root within the dark recesses in me that have stored grief over bad new– environmental reports this week that seemed endless. Swinging in my hammock chair with my buddy Stanley Kubrick purring contentedly on my lap, I realized that I have ridden the wave of grief to the other side.

A spark of light ignited this shift. A favorite musician posted yesterday on his FaceBook page, “So happy to be playing music. There is no finer place on earth today than Oklahoma.” Ben Taylor’s post planted a seed of light. I nurtured it by having a session of Thai Yoga yesterday afternoon that helped stretch me out of my funk. Then the morning of rain and gentleness helped me grow the light seed and expand it like a candle igniting a thousand inner lamps.

Being present in the moment and happy to be doing something I love to do is something to celebrate. Finding joy within a storm of bad environmental news gives me a stronger foundation from which to work and helps me gain footing on the Path so I can take the next step in my work. With my inner lamps rekindled I move forward with joy, in celebration of this beautiful water planet.

Stanley Kubrick and I celebrated this delicious, rainy, soft morning by dancing on the back porch while listening to Jolly Holiday. “Ain’t it a glorious day? Right as a mornin’ in May, I feel like I could fly….When the day is gray and ordinary, <Stanley> makes the sun shine bright!”

Staying present with grief, with joy…with beauty. It’s all part of this turning point in which we find ourselves on our Earthly planet.