What is value when we look at our life?  Do we ever stop and think about what our own personal value is to this earth?  Is value an extension of our skillset, education, trade or ability to create wealth?  Or, is value something bigger than that?  A lot of questions in an opening paragraph to ponder on, isn't it?

Value. 

We see value and create value in everyday life.  Price tags on consumable goods, contracts for services, fines for traffic violations and retirement portfolios.  Each instance of life carries a perceived value.  What we often forget is that we too, as human beings, carry value just by being who we are.  The perfectly imperfect souls we are, are valuable.  No matter what decisions we make, good things we do for our fellow persons, errors we make in the process of living and light (or darkness) we bring to this world; we are valuable.  We carry inherent value by existing.  Saying "thank you", forgiving someone who cuts into the exit ramp line off a freeway, doing a random act of kindness for someone we don't know and simply allowing the good feeling within us to resonate.  

The news media fawns over negative and pushes it at us in this 24/7 news cycle.  Why?  What value does this create?  I can't really seem to answer my own question there.  Maybe there is something of value for some folks, but again, I simply fail to understand.  Watching coverage of shootings, civil unrest, celebrity gossip and royal weddings just fails to bring value to me.  Maybe for some people it does, but in the end, why?

I am sure that like me, some of you all look at yourself in the mirror and ask, "What am I worth?  What value do I bring with me as my footsteps leave their energetic imprint on this earth?"  The answer should be that WE ARE ENOUGH as we are.  We are enough not only for ourselves, but for those close to us who truly value our presence.  The souls who appreciate us for who WE ARE at the ROOT of our being.  The souls who appreciate our quirks, weirdness, awkwardness and sometimes, outright dorkiness.  The ones who are always there and support.  Those are the ones who bring value.  

As I sit here listening to the soothing sounds of Tibetan Singing Bowls ignoring the chaos of budget development and the busiest part of my year around me, I stare out the window and allow my mind to ponder what my own value is.  We hear often about "values" a person possesses.  People are often quick to point out they are hardworking, determined and detailed oriented.  Do those truly add to the value of a person?  Maybe in the work setting, but I think it relating work "values" to what we are as souls, dilutes our TRUE value. 

Kindness, empathy, caring nature, open-mindedness, anti-judgmental, courteous and live and let live/love and let love truly are things which add to the value of a person.  Obviously, we can't live on kindness alone, but we can make (or at least help) others see their own value by extending kindness along the way.  Each of us has value.  We always have and we always will.  We may struggle to see it some days, but it is there.  

We are radiant beings full of value.  We can look at ourselves as grand threads in the magnificent tapestry of life.  If our thread was removed from the tapestry, it would become duller.  When we consider value in that sense, we can rest easy knowing that we are, indeed, full of light, love, beauty and value.  The days where we feel anxiety, depression, sadness and grief are normal parts of the cycle and circle of life, but they do not overshadow the value we bring and what we are as individuals.  They do not define us or the value we bring to this earthly realm. 

Look yourself in the mirror each morning and smile.  We all have value.  We all have a great deal of value.  Our value exists simply by being ourselves.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Our value isn't dictated by how much we make, by the size of our home or the type of car we drive.  It's about what light we bring to the world and how we share that light with others.  We are valuable because of who we are.  And that, friends, is more than enough.

Om Mani Padme Hum.  I send blessings to you all.  May Lung-ta, the Wind Horse, carry them, swiftly, to you and to all sentient beings throughout this earth.  

"Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures, kill nothing but time."

Namaste, friends.       

What does conservation mean to you?  What are YOU doing to help our Mother Earth?

Do you pick-up stray trash in parking lots?  Use the recycle bin religiously?  Compost food waste?  Avoid single-use plastics when possible?  Take reusable bags to the store?

Conservation.  A word that we as a society don't use or practice enough.  A while back, I penned a blog called "There is No Planet "B".  It spoke to natural resources and my ire at watching Notre Dame burn thinking of the thousands of trees used to construct it.  It spoke about mechanized drones in National Forests (a completely illegal activity).  It spoke to the loss of many species of animals over the last century caused directly by humankind.

Growing up I spent time in Boy Scouting (earning my Eagle at age 14) and became very aware of our duty as humans to protect natural resources.  My troop heard from Scoutmasters time and time again at the end of a camping trip that we were to "Leave No Trace" and police our camping ground so that we left it in a better space than when we arrived.  It is a practice I continue to this day.  I have taught both my daughters the importance of leaving our wild spaces free of human impact.  And yes, this means fire pits too (when out in the backcountry in wilderness zones).  For this very reason, I carry a separate trash bag each hiking and backpacking trip and whenever I see refuse and rubbish on the trail, it immediately goes into the bag to be packed out and disposed of properly.  I feel a strong sense of duty to ensure that whenever I am on a trail, in a forest or atop a mountain, I must be aware of human related blight and do whatever I can to ensure that blight is mitigated.

I can't even begin to hazard a guess at how much trash I have packed out of spaces, but I know it is quite a bit.  I have met other hikers who do the same and if you are reading this and you are one of them, continue to do the work and thank you for your assistance in the preservation and conservation of our backcountry spaces.  

I have also blogged about becoming SCUBA certified in 2021 and the journey I took to get there (Fear), but few know about the journey taken since those initial first breaths under water.  Since May of 2021, I have logged 240 dives (mostly local ones in our rivers and lakes, but also in the Monterey Bay as well) and dedicated a good portion of my diving time to clean up our sacred waters.  In that time since May of 2021, I've gotten my Advanced SCUBA certification, my Rescue Diver certification and most recently, moved to the professional diver ranks of my Dive Master certification (I am also enrolled in the Instructor program and working towards that even though my first love is always that of the trail and mountains).  Now, more than ever, I feel that I must be a steward of the waterways and do all within my power to protect and defend these waters as I do for trails, forests and mountains.  

Shortly after getting my Open Water SCUBA certification, I happened upon a local diver's YouTube Channel; Merman Mike.  He is a local diver in the Sacramento area and he dives the same rivers and lakes I do cleaning up trash and finding "treasure".  I was amazed by the things he found and the sheer amount of trash which came out of our sacred waters, so I decided that my dive buddy and I were going to aid in the effort and do it as well.  His motto of "If you are going to take the treasure, you must also take the trash".  It resonated with me deeply.  I have had the chance to dive with Mike several times and he is one of the good souls of this conservation family.

I purchased a luggage scale and large SCUBA mesh dive bags for us to carry on our dive adventures to clean up trash similar to what we do in the mountains and on trails.  The first year we collected just over 300 pounds of trash and treasure (2021).  This past year (2022) we pulled out well over 700 pounds.  I keep each dive logged in excel (a practice I have also extended to my hikes and backpacking) to tally up what we remove each year.  Each dive we weigh and log trash removed and separate recyclables and rubbish when able to.  I have a room dedicated to "treasure" (some may call it "Trashure") and display the finds taken from our waters.  Everything from hundred's of pairs of glasses, watches, hair ties, golf balls, toys, rings, phones, wallets, guns, brass knuckles, paddles, etc.  Phones, GoPro's, wallets and others that I am able to return to their rightful owners are done with speed.  Everything else becomes a story and a memory.  

I am proud of the 1,000 pounds we have removed in just under two years.  I have set a goal this year to collect 1,000 pounds of trash between trails and waters and know that it will take work, but this Earth is worth it.  I am proud that there are other organizations out there who value and dedicate time to conservation like we do.  Yosemite Conservancy, the Sierra Club Lake Tahoe's Clean Up the Lake Program and Jeremy Casebeer's partnership with Waste Management (he is a Pro Beach Volleyball player and has a wilderness heart like my own).  These organizations are what conservancy is all about.  The Lake Tahoe Clean up the Lake program is very similar to our mission in the fact it is run by SCUBA divers who value conservation and the sacred waters of the Ancient Washoe Indigenous who consider the lake to be the center of their world.  Thousands of pounds of trash is removed from Lake Tahoe each year by this group in an effort to keep its waters clean.

What are YOU doing for our Earth, dear reader?  Are you willing to help by picking up a stray piece of trash which didn't make it into a trash can?  Will you consider opting out of a plastic drinking straw the next time you go to a restaurant?  What about buying more whole foods at the grocery store not in plastic packaging?  What about the next time you venture out for a day at the beach, lake or hike, you too, bring an extra trash bag and do some clean-up yourself?  Don't want to touch other peoples gross stuff?  Grab a cheap pair of garden gloves and toss them into your bag or pack.  What's the harm in giving Gaia some love by cleaning up after the irreverent and and ignorant?

We have this earthly home now.  This gorgeous place of land, sea and sky.  We all belong to it and it belongs to us.  We are tasked with a duty and purpose to ensure the health of the planet for future generations.  To keep our waters sacred, the wilderness free of human impact and the air in the sky breathable and life giving.  Each and every one of us can have an impact.  Each of us can make conservation a part of our daily life.  It doesn't require SCUBA gear, hiking boots or thousands of followers.  It requires doing the simple things that help our planet stay healthy.  Recycle bottles and cans, eliminate plastics as much as possible, purchase "true" green products, stay away from chemicals on your lawn, pick up trash when you see it and dispose of garbage properly.  Make each and every day, an Earth day. 

This planet needs our help and it is our duty to give it the help it needs.  Please, do your part.  Together, we can have an impact.

Om Mani Padme Hum.  I send blessings to you all.  May Lung-ta, the Wind Horse, carry them, swiftly, to you and to all sentient beings throughout this earth.  May you take a moment to touch trees and truly know them, place your hands in our sacred waters, touch that water to your face and ask those waters to heal you, feel the wind in your hair and be thankful for the breath it gives and place your toes into the soil and give thanks for the plants it produces which nourish and ground us.

"Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures, kill nothing but time."

Namaste, friends.       

Tell me stories of what you have seen....

 I pledge allegiance to no flag,

nor to any country or being.

There is no republic to which I belong,

Oneness, in nature,

Kneeling to no god,

Free soul, Indomitable spirit,

Light and peace, to all.

The Pledge of Allegiance.  We, as Americans, are taught it at an early age and are expected to stand for it as well as the National Anthem.  Why?  Why would we pledge our allegiance to a flag?  A flag is a symbol.  A representation.  An ideal?

An allegiance to a flag means exactly what?  Does anyone really listen and understand what a "Pledge of Allegiance" is?  What it stands for?

With President's Day and Lincolns birthday upon us I think it is appropriate share my take on what an allegiance is to me.

Months ago, a pledge was made for the good of planet Earth.  Yvon Chouinard, legendary rock climber and founder of the brand "Patagonia", gave away (yes, you heard that right) his rights to his $3 Billion company.  He transferred ownership rights to a specifically designed non-profit and trust.  He stands first in line as someone with means, exposure and leadership to start fighting against climate change and making the natural world a better place.  His allegiance is to the earth.  

That right there.  Chouinard holds no allegiance to a flag, a leader or a country.  His loyalties lay elsewhere.  His loyalty lays with the trees, rocks, sacred waters, air, sky, mountains and creatures which inhabit these spaces.  I couldn't agree with him more.

Am I privileged to live in this country?  The good old U.S. of A?  Yes.  Yes, I am.  Our freedoms and opportunities make this place a country where dreams can come true if enough effort is applied.  That said, those said freedoms are no reason to pledge an allegiance to it's flag or to the country as a whole. 

There was a State of the Union Address to Congress and the Nation last night.  I didn't watch it and almost never do.  Reading about it today makes me sad.  The supposed leaders of this Nation cat-call, insult and outright slander each other in front of millions of its citizens and yet, we are supposed to hold an allegiance to them and their governing?  Makes you question why we blindly pledge allegiance to something.  Or, it should make you question it.

It has been a long time since I have held my hand over my heart for the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and it likely will never happen again.  I still stand up, respectfully, while others do what they feel is right for them and hold zero judgment or disdain.  Do I hate this country?  Not at all.  I disagree with some laws, priorities within the governance structure and how those people chosen to represent the populations within their local communities so often fail to do so in a meaningful way.  Far to often, polarization and power hungry people who lose their way and forget their oaths fail the everyday citizen and what their true needs are.  Clean water, safe food, a warm place to lay their heads and confidence in elected officials to do the right thing for the common person and for nature. 

Nature.  Now there is a place I find allegiance too.  The Healing Earth around us all.

If you have read any past blogs you know I have a bit of a hippy soul and nature centered heart.  I don't find peace in city streets, amongst tall buildings or in shopping malls loaded with ignorant zombies buying designer labels and driving depreciable assets which far exceed their means.  A snotty way to look at some folks?  Probably.  We all have our shortcomings I suppose.  I know I have many.

I find allegiance to the tiny Bristlecone Pine growing in harsh, dolomitic soil miles above sea level.  I find allegiance to the ling cod laying motionless on a reef waiting for its next meal to swim by.  I find allegiance to Peregrine Falcons trying to find nesting areas suitable for their broods high above the valley below.  I find allegiance to the creatures escaping forest fires started by ignorant humans whether they are from unethical power companies (this is YOU, Pacific Gas and Electric) or fools who feel the need for a campfire in the wild.  I find allegiance in the wind which bites with bitter cold as I approach a summit.  I find allegiance to trees, fish, wildflowers, birds, mountain summits, desert oasis', polar ice caps and so much more.  

I have never understood why Olympians cry as they stand atop platforms watching colored cloth being raised.  I hold that same view and sense of confusion as I see Mountaineer's place the same colored cloth of their homelands on the tops of earths highest peaks.  Why?  Are they claiming something?  Are they honoring the misdeeds wrought by that country (and yes, every country has its share of hugely negative things it has done to humanity; but also, most have contributed positively as well, which I do not ignore)?  Everyone has their own "thing" as they celebrate a successful ascent or accomplishment and I don't look down on that, rather, I choose to wonder instead.  For those who wonder, yes, I get my Buddhist Prayer Flags out for summits and say a blessing intended for all sentient beings who walk this earth.  Not a prayer of conversion, but one truly meant to bring peace, love and happiness to all who walk here.  To honor our earth and show love to all its beings.  I place my flags there as a way to say thank you to this earth and all of its beings in it.  To honor everyone and everything.  My allegiance to Mother Earth and all her creations.  

I show allegiance to this planet we inhabit.  The conservationists in whose footsteps I attempt to trod are there with me in every piece of trail trash, every discarded bottle I find underwater, every piece of litter on a sidewalk and illegal campfire ring I destroy in the back country (while bringing back to nature the place where the fire was set).  This earth, not its countries, gods or its monies, deserves our allegiance.  The people I respect and admire have done so much to shine their light on conservation.  People like John Audubon, Jacques Cousteau, John Muir and Henry David Thoreau.  People passionate about this earth and taking an allegiance to protect it.    

Each and every time before a hike or a SCUBA dive, I take a moment and offer a small gift (usually sage or rice, but I have offered tobacco as well) while asking for safe passage.  It's another of my own "Pledge of Allegiance" to the natural world and all the healing we find by being in it.  It goes a little something like this:

Om Mani Padme Hum.  Om Mani Padme Hum.  Om Mani Padme Hum.  Spirits and Guardians of the Mountains/forests/waters, I humbly come to you looking for renewal and cleansing.  I offer to you, this gift and my promise that I will honor this land/water while I walk/swim through it.  Please protect me and grant me safe passage to and from my destination and allow all other travelers the same safe passage.  Thank you for your presence here.  I bow to you in reverence.  Om Mani Padme Hum.  Om Mani Padme Hum.  Om Mani Padme Hum.

A simple honoring of what does not belong to me.  Something which I enjoy and am a part of and pledge an allegiance of sorts to keep the spaces wild, protected and honored as a true allegiance should.  

My heart, soul and spirit are for all of natures good.  My conservation minded mentality serves this whole earth; from its mountain tops to its ocean floors.  This giant blue planet has my allegiance.  The flag of Earth is where my loyalties lie.

Om Mani Padme Hum.  I send blessings to you all.  May Lung-ta, the Wind Horse, carry them, swiftly, to you and to all sentient beings throughout this earth.  May you take a moment to touch trees and truly know them, place your hands in our sacred waters, touch that water to your face and ask those waters to heal you, feel the wind in your hair and be thankful for the breath it gives and place your toes into the soil and give thanks for the plants it produces which nourish and ground us.

"Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures, kill nothing but time."

Namaste, friends.