Revelation

I recently had a revelation. For those of you who know me well, this will be a “Duh!” moment.

I have done many things throughout my career, but since writing my childrens’ books I have lacked clarity as to what I truly want to do and who I am. I have a strong business side and I have a strong spiritual side. At times the two overlap.

Throughout my adult life I have worked with many spiritual teachers, and have incorporated different spiritual techniques into my daily routine. I have taken numerous courses on manifesting and purpose, you name it. I could not understand why it was so hard for me to get clarity. But I finally had a revelation that has brought it to me.

I have followed Tammy Mastroberte for many years. She has written two books: The Higher Help Method: Stop Trying to Manifest and Let the Universe Guide You and The Universe is Talking to You: Tap into Signs & Synchronicity to Reveal Magical Moments Every Day. Tammy’s advice is practical and focused on everything I believe in, i.e. we do have unseen helpers waiting to assist us every day. I love Tammy because she is one of those people that I know if we knew each other in person, we’d be super good friends! Anyway, I finally got to some of her exercises in the Higher Help Method book and it came to me.

Although I have published two children’s books (Clark the Mountain Beaver and His Big Adventure and A Bug-Lightful Discovery), and have stories published in the Common Sentience Series through Sacred Stories Publishing, I have not felt like an author in the true sense of the profession. In other words, I don’t have multiple stories mulling around in my brain screaming to get out onto the page like my favorite author Jodi Picoult seems to have.

But I do love to write. I write from experience and when something moves me that I feel needs to be shared with the world. I love formatting a sentence that flows across the page that will land in someone’s heart.

I love photography. I love photographing nature the most. I love the connection I feel to the subject in the moment. I enjoy the solitary nature of photography and the stillness it brings to my mind and soul—usually! I love how it opens one’s awareness to the little things. I love inspiring others with the beauty of nature.

All my books/stories are about our connection to the natural world. Clark teaches us how to embrace our uniqueness from an often unknown and misunderstood mountain beaver. Emelia teaches us everything has a purpose whether we know it or not—even bugs. My Common Sentience stories share the connections I feel with wolves and trees. All organic. All nature inspired.

So I’ve been defining myself as an author/photographer period. What I realized is that what I really am is an advocate for nature. My books and photography are just tools in my tool box for that purpose. This is the “Duh!” moment!!!

Everything that moves me, and has moved me since I was in my early twenties, has been doing whatever I can to protect the environment. Flora. Fauna. Habitats. Species. Water. Air. Soil.

I have supported organizations like National Wildlife Federation (NWF), The Wilderness Society (TWS), National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) since my twenties. The Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 was the catalyst that got me focused and involved with environmental issues.

What else have I been doing since my twenties:

Using cloth shopping bags for groceries before it was a thing. I still have my original two bags that my brother, Mark, gave me that say Save a Tree. They are a little worn, but I mend them and they are good to go on another trip to the grocery store.

I was recycling before there was curbside pickup. I literally drove the recycling once a month to a transfer/recycling center about 30 minutes away. This was back when you had to tear magazine covers off the magazine, and separate items like glass, aluminum, corrugated cardboard and newspapers. Drove my Mother crazy! But I did it religiously.

What else drove my Mother crazy? Me questioning her as to why she threw something recyclable out in the garbage or why she bought a certain unfriendly toxic product. When I moved out on my own, I bought my own recycling bins and began buying products that were “environmentally friendly”. But to be fair, my Mother’s generation didn’t have to worry about the things we do today, and they definitely didn’t have as many disposable single-use items.

Funny Story:

During the pandemic, when toilet paper was becoming harder and harder to find, we were getting low so I told my husband, Rick, I’d go to the store to get some. So with a mask covering my face I go to our local grocery store. The shelves were decently stocked, but there wasn’t a single package of recycled toilet paper to be found. So I went to the drug store next store and still no recycled toilet paper.

Now I was in a BIG dilemma because I ONLY buy recycled toilet paper. I went back to the grocery store and literally touched every brand on the shelf to see who manufactured the product. I received evil looks by those passing by me in the isle because I was touching every package. And every package was, let’s just say…not environmentally friendly. They were manufactured by the big corporations (Georgia-Pacific, Kimberly-Clark, and Procter & Gamble) using virgin pulp and cutting the Boreal Rainforest in Canada for TOILET PAPER!

I spent a long time in that isle contemplating my dilemma. We needed it, but I could not buy those brands. Every cell in my body was screaming to please protect the Boreal Rainforest. So I did the only thing I could do. I left without buying our much needed toilet paper.

Here is how the conversation went when I got home…

Rick: Were you successful in finding toilet paper?

Me: Not exactly.

Rick: Couldn’t you find any?

Me: Yes, I found some.

Rick: Then why no toilet paper?

Me: It’s complicated.

Rick: It’s toilet paper.

Me: (Momentary mind game of…do I tell him or don’t I tell him) They didn’t have recycled toilet paper. I couldn’t do it! All those brands they sell on the grocery store shelves are depleting our forests and most notably the Boreal Rainforest in Canada. I tried, I swear!!! But I just couldn’t do it. Every cell in my body was screaming at me.

Rick: After a bit of a pause….Okay. What are we going to do if we run out?

Me: Recycled paper towels?

Rick: No. So now what?

Me: I’ll go out tomorrow and I won’t come home till I find recycled toilet paper.

Rick: And if you can’t find any?

Me: Then you can go out and buy some, but don’t tell me the brand and dispose of the packaging so I can’t see it.

And so I went back out the next day and was eventually successful. Now, if that isn’t a commitment to the environment, I don’t know what is!

Clarity in purpose

So why now is this a revelation to me that my true essence is being an advocate for nature?

I don’t know! I think I was pigeonholing myself. Author. Writer. Photographer. Blah Blah Blah. Society is very good at conditioning us to use labels. Labels to easily identify who we are so the world can quickly understand us. But the truth of the matter is, we are ALL a combination of multiple skills and talents wrapped up in individual life experiences.

What I am is a person who uses my skills to advocate on behalf of the natural world. My writing and photography help connect people to the wonders of nature. And in return, they hopefully begin to gain a deeper appreciation for these wonders. To see the bigger picture of how we are all connected. That how protecting a species or its habitat protects us in the long run. That everything we do either contributes to the well-being of the environment or depletes it. Simple as that.

So now that I have clarity, I can use my writing and photography as the tools they were always meant to be—to help me advocate even further for a healthy world. That includes expanding my reach with action. Action by choosing and sharing products I know are good for both environments: the natural environment and our home environments. Because again, everything we do has a consequence and I am sure, much like me, you want your actions to have positive consequences.

One final note on creating positive consequences with action: Did you know…If every American replaced just one conventional roll of toilet paper with recycled content, it could save over 1.6 million trees, 1 billion gallons of water, and prevent 800 million pounds of climate-warming pollution—equivalent to taking more than 72,000 cars off the road for a year. If you’d like to learn more and see how your toilet paper rates, go to Issue with Tissue.