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Accepting the Centennial Leadership Award from the National Parks Conservation Association at the National Museum of the American Indian April 6, I said my vision for the future of our national parks is that we will no longer need to “protect” them as they will be loved and cherished by the entirety of the American population.
By subscribing and signing on to my vision, you help build momentum because the Nature of our National Parks is our salvation. Everyone deserves to know and have a relationship with our National Parks as they are expressly protected “for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people.”
Through the Joy Train, I aim to help arouse the feelings holistic healer Deepak Chopra referred to near the start of the year:
“In the right frame of mind, we can start to create a pandemic of joy. And we need that right now.”
I am striving to help create a “pandemic of joy” by sharing how I find a consistent and renewing source of joy in my life in the hope that my experience might help others find more joy and fulfilment in theirs. My stories will intertwine my experiences as part of an adventurous Black couple exploring America’s national parks and forests; a Jamaican woman living in sight of the magnificent Blue Mountain range – a national park; recipient of Centennial Leadership Award, 2022; a purveyor of joy on social media since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, and an advocate for equality and justice.
As an environmentalist I have striven to make a difference by writing to and visiting my elected representatives at the local, state and federal level to let them know the issues I support or oppose. Doing so as a member of a national organization magnifies my effect, because now instead of being just one pesky citizen I’m part of one million. So on the Joy Train we will discuss pressing issues of environment and politics, and provide a way for passengers to make a difference with the press of a button. I will suggest where we can have the most positive effect, and you may be amazed to find out how good it feels to DO something that can affect the outcome for our country.
In 27 years of advocacy, I’ve often felt that there is a selfish attitude toward joy in some areas of conservation. It’s as if some “leaders” did not feel that people of color deserved or could appreciate the feeling of joy and satisfaction you get from being an advocate for the Earth. It brings to mind a bawdy joke my husband Frank told me, that upon discovering a certain activity, the queen asked her husband, “Do the common people do this as well?” Upon being told yes, she replied, “Oh No! It’s much too good for them!”
The Joy Train aims to spread the good, to give each one interested the feeling that is his or her birthright – of belonging, of mattering, of being part of the solution. I have proven this to be a basis of my happiness.
I’ve been blogging for many years, including at the Huffington Post. Now I’m asking for subscriptions that will help offset the time I devote to just this subject. (I could hardly devote MORE time)
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