The Okefenokee Model of Protecting Public Lands

One-third of US in Trust for 347 Million and Future Generations

It has only been a few days since the solstice but I can already see the sun starting back south over the Blue Mountains.

Happiest day, beloved Joy Train Rider! I love you! Bless you! I see you attired in raiments of shimmering gold as we settle in for our tour of the world today.

I’m inspired to look at the entire world because this morning we woke up in a world at war that, only four days ago on our last ride, we never dreamed was coming. This shows me how interconnected our world is, and how impulsive our leaders. The Act of War that unleashed suffering and death on millions more of our fellow humans was announced by our President on Social media, after the fact, with the portentous words, “Thank you for your attention to this matter.” (Who still says that?)

I comfort myself that this must all soon be over, because there can’t be enough people in the world that want to live in such violence and injustice when we could live at peace on the beautiful Earth.

I recently learned that “Everything you chase externally is already within you.”

And, “You can grasp all things in your thought.”

This brings back the teachings of Oprah Winfrey and “The Secret” in the early part of this century. They taught us to meditate and feel as if we already had what we desire. Now I’m learning that the brain doesn’t make a distinction between whether something we focus on is real or imagined. It only returns to us the conditions we’re focusing on.

This information is leaping out of my meditations into headlines announcing the findings of quantum physics. Over the weekend I learned that there is a worldwide group, the Rosicrucians, that practice this way of life, focusing on their thought and vibration to create the conditions they want. I can hardly wait to connect as this is a way of life that I feel aligned with.

Over the weekend I also had the privilege of attending the Charles Town Maroons Conference in Portland, Jamaica. The Maroons are descended from the original people led by Nanny of The Windward Maroons who resided in the Blue Mountains in the 1700s and successfully repelled the British from our shores. Many of their descendants still live in the area and practice the traditional ways and secret knowledge.

How incredibly blessed I felt to meet the PhD’s presenting, including the brilliant Dr. Melissa Buckley who is a descendant. It’s so gratifying that the next generation is telling their own story.

It warmed my heart when a young environmentalist visiting from the US recognized me and told my friend, “She’s a legend in the US. I hear her name all the time, mostly about environmental justice.” It made me feel our work is not in vain. And neither is yours.

Our friend Andrea got to spend her birthday at our jewel Grand Canyon National Park and said, “It took my breath away. I wept upon seeing it.”

Over the weekend we also got the incredible news that “a proposed deep earth mine near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is off the table thanks to a recent purchase by The Conservation Fund.