Hill - One makes the difference: inspiring actions that change our world

This book is dedicated to you, the reader,
deciding to live Love in Action and helping others to do the same.

And to the incredible spirit of all the unsung heroes of the world
who see an injustice and decide to be the one to make the difference.
They, and this beautiful Earth, are our inspiration.

If you think youre too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito.

BETTE REESE

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

RUMI

This is a book about love. A book about love in action. It is that simple. And it is that profound.

The first twenty-three years of my life on this Earth were filled with the struggles common to young people interwoven with my own unique experiences, difficulties, triumphs, heartbreak, and joy. From the moment of my birth, my family taught me that being good, believing in God, and being saved were the most important things I would ever do with my life. Society taught me that getting good grades so I could go to a good college so I could get a good job and make good money and spend even more were the most important things I would ever do with my life. Good in whose eyes? Until I reached my teens, I followed what was virtuous in my parents eyes. They would tell you that I did what was good in Gods eyes.

When I became a teenager, I did what every good child of that age doesI rebelled. I was very attracted by other rebels; though, they were mostly the ones without a clue or a cause. Then I bought right into the sales pitch of the American economic system and began to work very hard to be good in societys eyes. My lifes value was based on how much money I could make and spend, what I looked like, and how others perceived me. I lived this way until a severe car wreck altered my life. This intense experience changed the way I viewed the world and my place in it. My spirituality broke free from the confines of my parents religion, and my heart overflowed with a desire to find my true purpose in this life. Not the supposed purpose placed upon me by others, but the purpose intrinsic to who I amthe purpose given to me by the Creator.

Why I am here? Why am I alive? These questions led me on a quest. This search then led me to northern California, where I experienced a deeply spiritual epiphany when I entered the majestic cathedral of a redwood forest. I saw God as I had never believed possiblein the trees, in the ferns, moss, and mushrooms, in the air and water, birds and bears. I finally saw God with all of my senses, with all of who I am, from the inside out. God, both male and female. God, more than male, more than female. God of all life, in all of its forms.

When I found out that 97 percent of the original redwoods had already been cut down, and that the little left was still being destroyed in an extremely toxic and devastating way, I was sickened, heartbroken, and angrier than I can ever remember being. How could this be happening in America the Beautiful? My navet was washed away by my flood of tears. I had seen what was beautiful, profound, sacred. Then I saw that the Sacred was being destroyed. I knew I had to do something to try to stop it.

When I first began to consider getting involved with the environmental issue, Ibeing the human that I amcame up with 101 reasons why I could not, and should not, take action. Reasons like, I dont know enough or have enough experience. Or, There are plenty of people working on this issue, so I should just go on my planned travels to find my sought-after purpose in life. I have since learned that anytime we come up with excuses why we cant or shouldnt do something, its usually because we are afraid that we can and that we will do it. In my prayers, I received a message loud and clear: Julia, if you walk away from this injustice, your inactions will be as much a part of the destruction of the redwoods as the actions of the CEOs of those lumber companies. Over and over in my mind like a mantra: My inactions are a part of the injustice in the world, just as surely as the actions and inactions of others.

I ended up climbing into a redwood tree, estimated to be more than one thousand years old, that was marked to be cut down by the Maxxam-controlled Pacific Lumber Company. I had planned on staying in the tree for three weeks to a month. I wound up living in it for 738 days without ever once touching the ground. I did this in order to protect this tree called Luna and to bring attention to the destruction of our old-growth forests around the world. During my time perched in this magnificent tree, I gained a whole new view of our world. I saw intimately how interconnected all of life truly is and how everything we do affects this beautiful planet and us, the people and animals who call it home. This book is about learning what is wrong and what is right and finding the love and power to decide to do something about it.

We have become so good at pinpointing what is wrong in the world, and yet these problems are reflections of our actions and behaviors. With so much of our cultural and natural world being destroyed, mutilated, and oppressed, everywhere we look we can catalog the issues that urgently need to be addressed before its too late. But every time we point out the damage being done, there are still three fingers pointing right back at us. When we point at what is wrong, we must take responsibility and try to embody and enact what is right. For me, these digits pointing in our own direction stand for power, responsibility, and love in our daily life, community life, and global life.

The first finger represents power. We are all powerful beyond our wildest imaginations. We have been conditioned, numbed, and manipulated over time into giving our power away to name brands, corporations, and governmental officials, just for starters. Its time we take the power back!

We have the power to change the world. Everything we do and say does change the world. Even our inactions have impact. If I had walked away from the destruction of the redwoods without trying to stop it, my inactions would have had as much adverse impact as my decision to live in a threatened ancient redwood tree. In every moment of every day we make choices, and every choice has an impact, positive or negative. We are moving either toward the problem or toward the solution.

The second finger stands for responsibility. Because we are beings of tremendous power and energy, we have the responsibility to choose carefully, compassionately, courageously, and consciously. We have become addicted to, and transfixed by, our right and freedom to choose. Yet, all the while, we accept less and less of the responsibility for the impact of our decisions and how those decisions ripple out and affect the planet, its people, and the future. Every time we do not take responsibility for our choices, some other person or place is paying the price for itand that price is high. Compound interest is not just an economic reality; it is inherent in the equation of life.

The third finger symbolizes love. Why love? Why not! What else would we want to do with our lives than offer them in loving joyous service to the Earth and all its inhabitants? With love, hatred and anger transform into fierce compassion; struggles and challenges become opportunities for growth and strength. Responsibility transforms from drudgery and necessary evil into a newfound happiness in our ability to respond. The greatest, most positive, and longest-lasting change will always come from a shift in consciousness in the heart.

As we point out all that is wrong in the world and see the three fingerspower, responsibility, and lovepointing back, we realize they lie in the palms of our own hands. Our ability to change the world lies in our hands, minds, hearts, bodies, and spiritscommitted in action. Its not only that we can make a difference, its that we do make the difference. The kind of change we make is up to us. Each and every one of us has the power to heal or to hurt, to be the hero or the destroyerwith every moment, with every breath of every day.