Small Things and How to Save the World in 90 Days

"So much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens."

People have puzzled over this mysterious poem by William Carlos Williams...this morning i finally understood what it means for me. Gandhi supposedly said (his great-grand nephew told me he did not say it, but i take most things with a grain of salt), "What you do may seem insignificant but it is very important that you do it." Those of who are acting to Save Mother Earth need heed those words. Our actions, our EVERY ACTION has consequences.

Few people exist who are more committed to saving Mother Earth than Al Gore, Saskia Achilles, and Bob Linden. We all witnessed the very public persecution of Vice-President Gore who refused to take the low road and has risen up to spread the word and save the world. But few know about Saskia and Bob. Saskia has eight hurricane Katrina dogs she braved the devastation to save and is currently looking for foster homes while she puts her life on the line saving whales for the Sea Shepard’s Project Leviathan in just a few days. Bob Linden, “the Hottest Vegan Talk Show Host the World” produces wonderfully entertaining and informative programs every week at great personal cost to himself. Bob is practically homeless with about $1.08 in his checking account; he manages to travel all over the California interviewing leading-edge thinkers and doers in the animal and vegan rights movement. Bob and Saskia know about the suffering of animals and they cannot do enough to help, but what about the rest of us, cannot we do more, A LOT MORE?

These two people live there passion and don’t let “I can’t”, “it’s impossible” or “I don’t know how” stop them, they just see what needs to be done to help all the Earth’s creatures and they do it, no matter how stressed, over-committed, or burned out they should be, they do what is before them and just keep on going on.

The Bible says “Those who wait upon the Lord shall have their strength renewed, they shall rise up on wings like Eagles, they shall run and not be weary, the shall walk and not be tired.” I do not know what the spiritual beliefs of these two relatively new friends are but this seems to be a Universal truth.

How do I know? Because with their inspiration I too am living my dream, acting to Save Mother Earth NO MATTER WHAT.

Since early November I have hosted four MoveOn.org events at my house at great personal cost to myself and have found a deeper joy and strength than I ever thought possible. As I sit writing this my teeth have probably not been brushed in five days but my vegan, organic diet is so pure that I can do that without consequence, (after all our ancestors did not have modern dental care). My hands have wounds from working almost constantly, getting two to six hours of sleep a night, my personal ambition of creating and sharing inspirational art has been put on hold, my husband is recently our of jail, and unless some of the many caring people in the community help he won't be home for Christmas, but i am too tired to make another phone call, i need help. I have flunked the web design program I was in (but designed three real world websites in that time), spent thousands of dollars, and I have run out of pet food and it is too late to get any until tomorrow for my four rescued cats and dogs.

So you may ask “what is the matter with this woman why is she not taking care of herself?” Well the truth is, and I always speak the truth, I am taking care of myself. I like many woman elders am an empathic, a healer who identifies so closely with the Earth and her children that I suffer when she suffers, so I MUST do all I can to help her or I will sicken and die. Fortunately like the Earth I am very tough and can absorb a lot. But, like the Earth, I am getting tired and overburdened by unconsciousness so I have decided to expose to the world who I really am and share my Earthy wisdom.

It also says in the Bible Ask the Earth and it will tell you, as the animals and they will guide you. That is what it will take to save Mother Earth. Along with everything else I did this week I adopted a near killer dog who failed two aggression tests and had to pull a bleeding apparently dead chicken from his mouth. (In fact I would have sworn “Thanks” was dead but she is fine now, thank God) and in just five days “Angel” is as gentle as a lamb and nearly perfectly obedient. I used my natural knowing together with his natural intelligence to rapidly transform him because his life and the life of the other animals depended on it and the impossible was done. Renamed Angel by the neighborhood kids, he was recently a death-row inmate saved by Saskia. (The kids thanks to Angel’s magic want to learn all about veganism and many of them will be coming over on Christmas day to sample vegan treats) Angel is rapidly learning to be vegan because I ran out of dog food two days in a row now. Bob Linden will be happy to know he’s evolved so quickly from a near chicken killer to liking organic chicken and I am easily and effortlessly keeping my promise to investigate that option. Bob will be happy to tell you all about vegan dogs, one of which is thirty years old. He encouraged me to try it even though I was committed to raw meat since it has been so good for my animal’s friends. Listen to bob at http://www.GoVeganRadio.com

Gandhi words I have experienced have for more meaning than what is just apparent on the surface. Having the MoveOn.org events has taught me much I would like to share. Tonight I will focus on the most recent event two days ago, the showing of “An Inconvient Truth”.

As you can see from the pictures (to be added later today or i will never have my sink back, but i have to find the energy to get a better camera and focus) my sink is still full of dishes and the counter is pretty funny with its “Golden Rules for Living” surrounded by the trash of my well-meaning guests. What makes this ironic is that my invitation said very little: “You must respect the space” and “there is enough ORGANIC VEGAN food, but if you have something delicious please share. Make it vegan and organic to set an example of caring for our Mother Earth.

Bring a medium smooth stone (or more) for the oven. We've been heating the house with just the kitchen oven for over a month. It works great with stones in it, and if you wrap some in a towel you'll be toasty on the way home. (Our very inefficient furnace is being replaced with a lot of solar and a little wood soon.)

No one brought a stone but one person who paid attention warned to beware of wet stones explosive danger and critiqued my preference to natural wood to pellets. But I do my homework and know what I am doing most of the time and fragrant woods it will be. Non-vegan bread was brought; of course vegan means no animal products. I personally do not have a problem with animals and humans who feel they must consume a little milk or eggs if it is produced in a cruelty-free way, but that is not how modern agriculture works thus far. Unless you are educated about where these animal by-products are coming from and the details of how they are produced you are almost certainly participating in a horrendously cruel practice to innocent animals. Cruelty-free dairy can become a reality that is also beneficial to Mother Earth at Equal Vision, a non-profit using contempary solutions based on ancient principles of wisdom and compassion http://www.equalvision.org

Obviously during the Christmas season almost everyone is feeling the stress and very few have mastered their time, my guests put aside his or her personal needs to come and “Get Informed, and Take Action” the title of my event. I honor them for this. Several heroes and sheros came days or hours early to help make this a successful event. To quote Plato “Please my friends be kind, everyone is fighting a hard battle”, I do not blame anyone for failing to help clean up, and two thoughtful souls even asked if I was okay with them leaving the mess and I said “yes,” and I am because it gives me an excellent chance to share these thoughts.

What does having a messy kitchen for two days have to do with saving the world? Well anyone who does energy work such as I do will understand without me having to say much, but I will tell you the mess impacted my whole life and had consequences of subjecting me to great stressors when I could not find things I thought I desperately needed like my address book that got buried under some of the dishes of all places!

The point is if we are acting to save Mother Earth and her animals from this incredible assault of unconsciousness polluting her, we need to be conscious ourselves of the little things and pay attention to details. We need to pay attention to ourselves and what we truly are capable of doing. Some people cannot take on more and should take care of themselves and they deserve to take the time to do that. But many of us need to step up to the plate and take their place so that people like Bob Linden and Saskia Achilles can have some semblance of a normal life and you can experience the incredible joy of living a life without limits.

Ships and airplanes are huge machines going at incredible speeds, yet their whole direction can be changed by just this tiny little thing, a screw I think, that moves the rudder or whatever it is called, I don’t know the names of these things but I know the principle is true, there are many examples in life, “for lack of a nail the war was lost” etc. One person emailed me to tell me she could not find the place and drove around for hours, even though I had explained I receive far more emails than one person can possibly respond to and to asked to be phoned instead. Obviously she had too much on her mind and should not have been at the event. I am fine with that because she gives me an example of why we must pay attention to details as well as think creatively and outside the box if we are going to save Mother Earth and her creatures more rapidly than the “experts” think possible.

The following parable says it all, if you want to save the Earth, break through your personal stuff and give your ALL, you are capable of so much more than you realize, you only have to commit to a higher vision and the way will reveal itself to you and you will be so glad you did.

The Wedding Guests

Each guest was asked to bring some fine wine to the grand affair. It was all to be added to the Great Cask. When the guests became thirsty the Great Cask was finally opened. It was full of plain, undiluted water. Every single guest had thought that what he or she did or contributed did not matter. Each had thought before the event, "I'll just bring water, with so many other people it won't matter what I do.”

What each one of us does at each and every moment adds up to all the Earth's problems or solutions. That is why my family is vegan, buys organic, carries a cup, brings bags, conserves natural resources and shares Earth wisdom where and whenever we can. We are not afraid to be labeled eccentric we are afraid to be labeled “normal” and let the Earth die.

I believe that the animals who touch our lives are truly angels, great spirits or bodhisattvas in animal bodies—choosing to be powerless except for love, speaking a language greater than words, awakening the language of love and compassion. May they inspire you to help heal the Earth, to help end the tremendous suffering humans cause animals, our Earth, and ourselves. Perhaps then we may awaken within our great souls that are worthy of the unconditional love that some cat or dog has almost certainly lavished you with at sometime in your life.

Post Script: i told Saskia that i was creating a new blog and asked for her blessing on writing about her. (I would have contacted talk show host Bob Linden too but everything is still in too much upheavel for me to find a simple thing like his phone number). She replied with the following: "got your ms. cannot pull this up when i click on it. but thats okay, i
am sure that whatever it is you are doing is good...have to go bail
out my dogs from jail now, 2 of mine got away while i was dealing with
3 traumatized ones yesterday. cops got them. stupid people could have
just called my nr from nametag. cositng them trauma and me time and
money now. i think ne w dog smust have broken the fence. will have to
get fixed. working on email to ask for help from as many people a s
possible. wish i'd have time to visit madeleine as she'd probably
donate something if she's meet me, besides she is memeber fo
seasheprhd.. but counting minutes here and workng day and night . dogs
and moving out is no picnic..until soon, kisses on the nose to
Angel..." You can learn more about Saskia at her brand new site http://www.compassionindeed.org/

A World-Wide Healing for Art

Always Depend on the Kindness of Strangers!

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”— Anatole France.

Losing a loved one is heartbreaking, and too often lonely. Little understood by those who haven't had the joy and sorrow of a truly deep human/animal bond, we have grieved alone. These site is dedicated to both the beloved animals and in honor of those unnamed and unloved animals who die unnoticed each day. May we one day realize that all animals matter and may no animal ever die unloved again. May the quotes below, resources and art bring some peace to your heart.

DO FIRST • COPE with Loss • Grief RESOURCES • LINKS • INSPIRATION

“It is NEVER a waste of time to pet a cat.”—An “Anonymous Kind Stranger” “A ray of sunshine is never lost, The green that it inspires must take time to grow, It is not always for the sower to see the fruits of the harvest.” —Albert Schweitzer “If we go to heaven, so do they…because if dogs are not there, it is not heaven.” —Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

When our ancient, deaf, and nearly blind beagle friend Blossom went missing for over thirty-six hours I got a lot of criticism for my actions. A lot of it very sane, caring and seemingly valid criticism. But when one loves deeply I am learning sometimes it is okay to embrace my craziness and fear and act outrageously to get the results i want. I took action anyway because I love ALL Animals and Art. The Art i love is my husband, a seemingly ordinary guy, a blue collar worker who enjoys a beer at the pub and can talk with just about anyone. Beneath the surface, Artie Bock like so many of us, is a diamond in the rough. You see, Art is a sensitive. He feels deeply, and hurts for ALL actions that hurt the Earth and each other, and he especially feels for the suffering of animals. Unlike me, Art has not found it easy to be a vegetarian or vegan, but he does it anyway. His whole life, until now, has not been easy. Art has often felt like he does not belong in this time and place. He cares so much that he ALWAYS tries to do the right thing for the Earth and all life. He has been misunderstood a lot and often been the butt of jokes. He is a slow, deliberate man in a fast, fast world. Art has been hurt by the world and does not yet think that life is eternal. So the death and suffering of any animal touches him to the very core of his sensitive and huge heart. Art does not YET believe that good reigns supreme, so he does not know the power of prayer and positive visualization. Art does know the power of action and of communication with everyday people. On his 50th birthday, he rode his BIKE 3,600 miles to RAISE AWARENESS of Animal CRUELTY. It was very, very hard, but he did it anyway and he touched a lot of lives with little fanfare, and almost no recognition. He has wanted to do it again for twelve years. But didn’t, because his beloved mother got sick. The last two years, Art has worked at a dull job and spent all of his vacation time with his mother. I have been writing this 3,000 miles away from Art and not spoken to him since Blossom disappeared, I want the world to change for Art. I want to help empower him to find happiness in THIS lifetime. I am feeling our dear departed Mother’s spirit guiding me because she wants to heal all the Arts of the world. All last week while Blossom has been missing, he’s been carrying a huge burden, emptying his childhood home and saying goodbye to his old life of strife. I knew if he had one more loss it might destroy his budding faith forever. He lost our beloved Monty in June, and dear, dear Mom in July, and our beloved Trust Love in September. He could NOT lose Blossom too. So at the moment he releases his Mother's ashes I am going to press the button and send this to as many people as I can all over the world. It is ALREADY WORKING, Art just this moment called, he sounds like a different person, he has said for the first time that I have known him that he feels “truly blessed” by ALL the people who have been helping him. He has no idea how many people that is because he has not known anything about the massive campaign of action and prayer and visualization that is going on for over 36 hours to find Blossom and help Art. Art and I just coordinated the timing so at the very moment he is releasing his Mother's ashes we will press the button and release this message all over the world. I could have just relaxed and visualized Blossom’s safe return, but I needed to do more than that .I am learning to embrace my fear and anxiety and use it for good. While always speaking the truth I have told many, many people we needed to take action to bring Blossom home safe. “No heaven will not ever heaven be; Unless my cats are there to welcome me.” Quote by an Anonymous“Kind Stranger” People have taken action with their legs, hands, and mouths, speaking, writing, walking and making calls and people have taking action with their minds, increased the power of my intention with their prayers and visualizations. ALL took action with their hearts. Unbeknownst to many i did calm myself continuously and visualized a positive outcome, i could not have kept my vow of only two hours sleep a night for two and a half days without that. i didn't know for sure what that positive outcome would be. Sometimes very bad things can bring a community together. So i used ALL my creative energy to work for the outcome i wanted. I know I have broken a lot of rules in writing this. It may sound preachy, sanctimonious, misspelled, holier-than-thou, crazy, certainly too wordy, but I feel I should just strike while the fire is hot. You see, Blossom was lost on “World Law of Attraction Night” after showing “The Secret” at my HEALING ART Gallery It was my guests who inadvertently locked her outside while i was in the kitchen. At first I panicked. My old Catholic programming told me I had been too arrogant, too happy, too powerful, playing too big, NOW God was punishing me. Eventually I realized God plays a better game, there is a reason for ALL this and a positive outcome IS inevitable. I just did not know what that outcome was so I felt i had to work hard, together with the Universe, to try to effect it in the way i want. More evolved beings would not work so hard. I received a lot of caring criticism for my vow of sleeping two hours in twenty-four until Blossom was home safe or Art came home to a missing Blossom. I have learned a lot lately since I saw “The Secret” and decided to heal myself of two “incurable diseases”. Medical experts said I would need to take drugs for the rest of my life. Since September 4th of this year, I have lost over thirty pounds of past pain, and transformed my life. I am writing this because I want to help transform others lives.

One thing I have learned is the Universe or whatever you want to call it, at least for me, really supports my intentions if I am true to my WORD and totally honest, I always speak the truth. I want to play a big game and so i do not give my word lightly. After thirteen years experience of hardly sleeping I have been through the fire of insomnia and weaned myself from medication. The vow was a very conscious decision I knew I needed to make and could do. While going through my healing I have learned to stay as centered as I need to be to be effective on very little sleep and get maximum results. But not everyone is me and I don’t want anyone to have to go through that much pain to get that we can have a better world. This story has a very, very happy outcome that I want to share with everyONE who expressed interest, because it is something really good. As I wrote the following last night I was truly, deeply tired, but Blossom had been found because of the many people throughout the world who took action, prayed, visualized, and encouraged others to get involved. This little lost dog created something that is growing far bigger and will help many animals and animal lovers. It became clear during this search that no ONE should need to have sleepless nights worrying about their BELOVED family member—no old and disabled nor young and healthy animal should mistakenly think its abandoned, that we animal lovers can truly be a more powerful voice in the world. I ended the day Saturday at Animal Control where some kind stranger brought Blossom probably after she peed and pooped in his house after he gave her shelter from the cold night. Blossom is fine and apparently got to eat lots of fun food. (She only gets super-healthy food at HOME) She ran out of her cage expecting everyone around (we had gathered a small audience) to give her treats and was bouncing around with vitality; it was a happy moment for ALL, and a testimonial to good nutrition for an ancient girl. It helped that she is deaf, because the barking of the other dogs was deafening. A really unexpected high came from finding out i could comfort myself in all the chaos of barking and tension by offering comfort to the many other frightened and lonely animals. They really did quiet down when we were just with them, feeling their feelings, and accepting them exactly as they are. The lyrics from the Who: "FEEL Me, SEE me, TOUCH Me, HEAL Me" seemed so true. Many of these dogs will not be adopted and probably die soon, but they had a brighter day because we chose to spend a few minutes just BEING with each other. And the dogs loved licking “magic dust” off my fingers. Together with unconditional love it did—well—magic of course! We are truly far more powerful than we realize. You can visit them too at Dogs to Share Love With or DOGS near you at your local shelter. It will change your life forever, they will not let you forget them. i was also surprised to find so many overworked, caring people crying out for help. It is a hard job and a lot of caring goes on behind the scenes as they struggle to do their jobs. ALL the people I dealt with, but especially Ken, were flexible and went out of their way to help get my old girl home with minimum red tape and a microchip which they provide for a small fee to help prevent lost animals. All this work started connecting caring people who want to create an Amber Alert for Animals, and people are continuing to come forth. We think the name “Kindness of Strangers” KISS is good, do you, have a suggestion for a better name? Email us at Name for Animal Amber Alert. We have made many allies. If you are reading this, you are probably ONE of them, so please continue to lend your support to help establish this Animal Alert System. If you cared enough to read about Blossom in this crazy, busy world, you are a person who will want to help prevent a sadder ending for the next lost dog or cat. In my desperation to save Blossom, it became increasingly clear I needed to talk and listen to others about their concerns, especially the people I thought couldn’t possibly understand me, such as the people at Animal Control Donate to their good work and my neighbors in our HUMBLE neighborhood who seem to look at me like i am weird (i AM an artist, they are right!). (UPDATE two days later: I just had a long halting conversation with my Spanish-speaking Christian neighbor, (the first time we have ever spoke so long) as a result of Blossom’s saga i find she LOVES animals and we are planning to work together to help homeless animals, (you may translate this site to Spanish or thirty-three other languages.)i talked to strangers about barking dogs and angry neighbors needing quiet, about how the seemingly “vicious” dog could be like Blossom and really just think you have a treat for her or that you need some love. i realized i cannot educate if I don’t find the courage to talk. i met many neighbors in this effort, people who had really wanted to know me but where afraid to approach. (And, yes, sometimes it seems like it was a waste of effort to talk, but i took the risk anyway many times since the goal was so important, and sometimes the outcome was surprisingly sweet.) I believe we don’t need to “create” community—it is already here all around us, we just need to recognize it and allow it to grow. The fire is set, we just need to LIGHT it with the spark of our own creative CONSCIOUSNESS. Thank you all for your powerful intentions, prayers, visualizations, and caring in whatever form it may have taken—and MOST ESPECIALLY, ACTION—to help the animals (and we are all animals aren’t we?) I even thank those who ignored my pleas, had short tempers, and judgments against me—you are teaching me to be more effective, something each one of us who truly loves animals must do if we are going to effectively help the plight of the Earth's animals. Most of all, thank you to Sean Terry, an eight-year old with vision, who conquered his fears and talked to many people, and had great ideas to help save Blossom, We will have a neighborhood award ceremony where Sean, and other Kind Strangers will receive the recognition they deserve. Thank you Mary A. Quinn of AllAboard Animal Search and Rescue who really needs the $500 reward (and much more). She is working so hard, mostly unknown and unseen, performing miracles to help find and care for animals. Thank you Dian Hardy for great concern and tireless outreach, AND to passionate animal activist, Dana, a complete kind stranger who drove miles to my house, because my line was busy and she wanted to help, even though she was exhausted. Dana also needs our support to find an affordable home where she can raise two big dogs training to be rescue dogs for cats. Kind Strangers, Heroes, and Sheroes, ALL of you, especially those who helped and haven’t been thanked, because you did it from the heart, asking for nothing but the satisfaction of helping—YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.