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“There were times in the tree when I was sobbing – like when fellow activist David “Gypsy” Chain was killed – and I felt like giving up. And in one of those times, when I was praying, the tree answered with the message: “Julia, you must simply love.” And as I kept hearing that message, I got the image of a tree, and the tree kept getting bigger and bigger. And the branches were moving; they kept flexing, coming in and going out. I was so angry I resisted it at first; I didn’t want a message about love to come through, but that’s what was coming through. Trees taught us what the buddhist call the practice of tonglen (sending and taking): Breathe in the toxins; breathe out love. Take stress, negativity, violence, hatred, destruction in; transform it through my heart and breathe out unconditional, deep, profound love; take in all the things that rip my heart apart – breathe it all in; breathe out love. The trees taught me this – that’s what they do. Through this, I got what true love actually is. Trees taught ustonglen. Trees take in our toxins; they transform our toxins and give us life. And with all buddhist practices and yoga practices – as with all human wisdom – it’s all been learned from the evolution and wisdom of nature. It is precisely through this process of sending and taking that trees grow.”
Go Yoga seminar, 2013
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It’s so very rare to “meet” (well, I do feel that I met you recently reading your book about Luna’s Legacy) a person with real integrity. Self interest is so very overwhelming in our world. It brought me to tears many times – your book – as you went about finding the strength to love despite seeing Luna’s community being cut down around you day after day, despite the tragedy of that young man felled by a willful logger, despite 2 years of privation and struggle. And so I googled you to see what you are doing now with your life, and to see that you are still living the message of that book (despite giving up the activism that seems to have derailed your life) is enormously heartening.
I’ve been an activist too. And my life fell so completely apart (lost the love of my life, my family of friends, my home, my work, zero money to get by, all in the blink of an eye) that I am still struggling to pick up the pieces. For me, my saving grace was qigong, and then baktha yoga, or kirtan. And finding a way to love, to be open, to trust, in the face of the terrifying technology of geoengineering which has more or less been ongoing since the 1960’s, and which is wreaking havoc with all life systems on earth, is my greatest challenge.
Thank you for the gift of who you are. Just to know that there are some who will not compromise, not out of stubbornness, but out of love, is great consolation, and inspiration…
Hi Julia,
Twenty years ago I founded the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival. We screened your documentary and it moved so many people. It inspired me and helped me have the courage to continue on my journey as an activist (www.onebighome.com) and as a community member passionate about gathering people (www.tmvff.org).
So, as we prepare to celebrate our 20th Annual MVFF, I’d like to invite you to attend as my guest. I’d pay for your flight, lodging, and meals. All you’d have to do is show up and soak it in. If you’d like, I’d of course acknowledge you to the crowd and invite you to take part in our discussion events or movies.
My daughter is now 11. She and her friends worked to pass a law that forbids the sale of single use plastic bottles. They got it passed in 3 towns on Martha’s Vineyard–the first 3 towns in America to ban single use water AND soda bottles. Here is a 2 minute video of them at work: https://vimeo.com/330141360
Anyway, I just read your blog post about love and I agree. It’s about love. Please feel no pressure to respond–just know that your work and spirit have made a big difference in the world.
I wish you peace, prosperity, and courage to continue on your journey.
Julia, for some reason this morning I thought about you, and found this website, and your blog. I’ve been thinking deeply, all the way down to my roots about the Wish of the Dying Tree, which I read a couple weeks ago. And I want to hug trees, especially the great wise ones that are maybe two thousand years old. I want to listen to them, like you do, for their wisdom.
So you came to mind because you are the greatest tree hugger of all, and I cherish you. I hope you are doing well today, and that you are taking good care of yourself. If humanity and life on this precious, precious world can be saved, and I think it can, it will be the tree lovers and those who love nature, and those who love the cetaceans, we are the ones who will do it.
The trees are the voice of the wild for the land; the whales and dolphins are the voice of the wild for the sea. Blessed are those who can hear the voices of the wild.
“I wonder what Piglet is doing,” thought Pooh.
“I wish I were there to be doing it, too.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAY MONTHS 2020
I LOVE YOU, mom
Hi julia. I am working on a project poster on you. I wanted to know what have you been doing since the car crash. It is really cool that you lived in a tree!
Thanks, Nico
Its been over two decades since I helped defend the headwaters forest against the Pacific Lumber Company. Blessings Julia.
A very Happy Birthday to you Julia! I wish you the best always…
Jonathan VanCoops
Did you ever have a friend named Betsy and visit the University of Oregon in the fall of 1992 or the spring of 1993?
Not me Joy.