Madame Butterfly

Over the last seven years, various individuals, producers, and studios have approached me, wanting to turn my story into a film. Even when there were financially lucrative opportunities at the table, I ended up walking away from all previous offers because there was a lack of integrity somewhere in the process. I feel truly blessed to be working with Participant Productions and Baldwin Entertainment on this project. I am working with people who have such a commitment to making our world a better place, and one of the areas they feel is a powerful place to do this is in the media and film industry. And they are highly accomplished and talented in their respective fields. Furthermore, this is going to be the first committed green set in Hollywood, and we are already implementing this in areas like offsetting carbon emissions for travel with wind credits purchased through Native Energy, a majority Native-owned wind-energy company. I feel this film is an incredible opportunity to get my message out in a really powerful way.

On a personal level, I have always struggled with the attention focused on me. My ongoing commitment, though, has been to do everything in my power to use this attention as a catalyst and opportunity for others to step into their courage, power, divinity, passion, and purpose. I want to see a world full of people finding their own version of their "tree," committing to living their lives for something bigger than themselves, and creating lives of meaning, joy, and connection.

I remain a war-tax resister. I choose to live below the poverty level so that the government cannot use money I generate to perpetuate war against the planet and its people. For information on what it means to be a war-tax resister, its history, and the various ways to be a conscientious objector around taxes check out the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee and our Activism Is Patriotism campaign for the many ways to use your mind, money, voice, and vote to make a difference.

Spirituality is not just a part of my life; it is my life. My religion is love and integrity. My life is my spiritual practice where I put love and integrity into action. A deep sense of the Sacred is my moral compass that guides my thoughts, words, and actions.

A lot of my work and the work of my nonprofit Circle of Life has been about creating powerful, fun, creative, and meaningful events and opportunities that reach into the mainstream and create a space for anyone, anywhere, at any stage in their life, to find steps toward contributing to our world and making a difference. At just about every event I have ever done, there are people who come just because they heard about me in the media and are curious. I love having the opportunity to interact with them and prove that we are all much more diverse and wonderful than stereotypes allow. Activism is not about stereotypes, labels, or cliques. It is about caring about your world and choosing to do something to contribute and make a difference.

In my commitment to be powerfully connected, I am connected both to the inspiring beauty, wonder, and magic, and to the deep grief and sadness. There is very rarely a day that goes by that I don't cry. As I write this, my mind and heart reflect on our prisons overflowing with lives we are throwing away, the ancient grove of Nanning Creek in Humboldt, Calif., that has recently been devastated, the last wild buffalo who face slaughter every time they leave the safety of Yellowstone, the starving and dying in Africa and India, the toxic "recycling" dumps in China, the bombed-out homes and lives in Iraq, Palestine, and Afghanistan, and the continuous cultural genocide of Native people in the U.S. And as I reflect, the tears are sliding down my cheeks.

We live in a disposable society. Especially in the U.S., we have one of the smallest populations with the largest and most voracious consumption appetite. We build in obsolescence; we emphasize cheap and fast instead of quality, integrity, and sustainability. We need to really hold ourselves accountable to the choices we make. The more privilege we have, the more responsibility we have. Personally, I have chosen to have surgery to insure that I never procreate. I feel we have not earned the right to give birth to children, because we are not doing a good enough job taking care of the children who are already here or the planet into which they are birthed. I tell people that if they feel they absolutely have to give birth, then choose to only give birth to one child and extend their love beyond their own self-interests and include the planet and the children who are already here. I look forward to the day I hear men having enough commitment, courage, and power to take elective surgery to insure they are an active part in reducing human demands on the planet and nurturing the divine beings who are already here.

The best teacher is leading by example. Hold yourself more accountable than you hold them on every level. Also, make it fun, interesting, creative, and engaging, and really create the space for them to do some deep questioning of themselves and even you, and show respect for their process. The more we value young people's wisdom, thoughts, ideas, and feelings, the more they will value ours. Create time and opportunities for them to be in service to their community -- human, animals, and nature. We have a nation of predominantly spoiled and ignorant children -- even the poorest among us are some of the richest in the world. It is really powerful for young people to see what life is like for others who do not have as much access to privilege. Finally, go to the education section of our website -- there you will find the Kid's Zone and Solutions You Can Use.

My office, tours, events, and life are carbon-neutral. Here are some of the ways we accomplish that: light bulbs are energy efficient; heating and cooling are kept to a minimum with an emphasis on adding or subtracting layers of clothing; tours are done with a bus that runs on recycled vegetable oil; all new appliances purchased meet the highest energy-efficiency standards; we use 100 percent recycled paper and reuse scrap paper from other offices for our in-house printing needs (a whole lot of energy consumption happens in the manufacturing and distribution of goods); we have a vegetarian -- predominantly vegan -- office (eating animals for food in industrialized nations is a huge energy consumer as well as a forest destroyer, and forests help store carbon); many of us (myself included) are car-free in our daily lives, choosing instead to bike, walk, skateboard, and use public transportation; and, finally, after focusing on reducing our energy consumption, we partner with Native Energy to offset all our carbon emissions.

The future lives in the here and now through who we are being, the choices we make, and the stands and risks we are willing to embrace. We live our lives backward, saying that some day, if things are a certain way in our lives, then we can be what we want and create what we want. The truth is that who we are co-creates the world we are a part of. You want to know what the future will look like? Look in your life and see where your life and actions are in integrity, love, justice, peace, and commitment, and where they are not -- that is what the future looks like. Our greatest power in having a future that inspires us lies in living inspiring, connected, and committed lives now.

There is no "us vs. them." That is part of how all of us have inherited the disease of disconnected consciousness. We are connected to everything that ever has been, everything that is, and everything that ever will be -- positive and negative. And this is true whether you look through a spiritual, philosophical, or scientific lens. Ultimately my greatest and most authentic power lies in how I am connected, not in how I am disconnected. The more I look for ways to be connected to others, the more ways I find we are connected and the more success I have in campaigns.

The best thing to do is find out what is native to your area and plant that! Loss of native habitat is one of the leading threats to the health of our planet and our lives. Often, native plants are considered "weeds" so they are pulled out and destroyed, but native plants are important to the health of the entire community of insects, animals, people, and even other processes like water usage. Also, look into planting edible plants and herbs. The more we can grow our own food, the more we are connected to our place and our health.

Living in Luna taught me so many profound things; I do not think I could just pick one. It taught me that love and integrity in action are the most powerful tools I have for making a difference and contributing to the world. It taught me to remain rooted and connected, but also to bend and flow and not be rigid, including in my beliefs. It taught me that a deep listening with all of my senses is my access to wisdom, guidance, and connection. It taught me that my greatest power is not in power over, but rather in power with. And it taught me that we manifest what we focus on; if we focus only on the problems, we will be sure to have more of them. If we focus on and live solutions, we will have a more healthy and vibrant world.

The major difference is that with TV in a home, what I find to almost always be the case is that the TV begins to guide the person -- as in people spend way too much time staring at the screen instead of interacting and connecting with their families and community. If it is an occasional film or show, then it can actually be a tool that we use, but my experience has shown me that for 99.9 percent of people who have a TV, people become a tool of the TV instead of the other way around.

I am a highly adaptable person. I tend to flow with what is around me, so I am usually pretty good at being able to feel connected to wherever I am for however long I am there. I do feel, though, that part of the challenge facing our human species is that many of us are now able to migrate faster and farther than we as a species can keep up with while remaining connected. We have no commitment to place. If we do not like it, we move. We do not see the consequences of our choices, and we have less and less commitment to seven generations ahead. As my commitment is to always remain connected, I have created some rituals that help me remain so even when traveling. I have objects that are sacred to me and related to people and places that I bring with me everywhere I go. I also take time to search out something to be connected to everywhere that I go; sometimes it is a tree, a lake, or sometimes it might be a local restaurant or food co-op.

Economics and ecologics share the same root word, which means "house" or "home." Economics in its literal translation is "stewardship of one's place." Sadly, economics and capitalism are now talked about as if they are the same thing, but they are not. Clif Bar, Ecological Panel, Interface Carpet, Native Energy, and Patagonia are some of my favorite leading companies who are doing well financially by doing good for the planet and all its life, including humans. All money is green energy -- it is a way we have of exchanging, investing, and valuing energy. With this being the case, business has the potential to do incredible good. What we need is to adjust our values so that economics are used to take care of our place instead of exploiting our place, which is the idea on which capitalism is based. I am excited to know that you are committed to using business as a tool to serve our world!