Realizing my Responsibility

     I opened a book by Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, the company that is one of my biggest inspirations. The first page read:

"The most important right we have is the right to be responsible." 

-Gerald Amos

     It was like an alarm early in the morning, when it's still dark outside and you were deep in a dream. Jumping to grab your phone and shush the dang thing. I literally felt my eyes widen and my breathing stop for a minute. I've owned this book for over a year now, I've read that exact line several times when opening the cover. Why is it just now hitting me like a freakin' freight train?

     The COVID19 crisis is in full effect. When I started getting whiffs of it a few weeks ago, something in my mind shifted - no, it wasn't panic. (Although I admittedly did purchase more food and toilet paper than usual in the weeks before). But really, I wasn't panicked. In fact, I almost had a sense of peace wash over me. Like, the things that really matter were suddenly lifted to the surface. Family, friends, food & water. 



    We were all brought to a basic level of functioning. I don't know what the future holds in regards to Coronavirus, but I do appreciate the number of people in my neighborhood that I've seen for the first time; walking their dogs, playing basketball with their kids, sitting on their porches. If you ask any of my friends, I already spent more than enough time on my porch, but it feels good to see others enjoying the slow moments as much as I do. Like, I'm not the odd one out for a bit.

    But with this reset on what is important, I opened that book and saw that phrase and it seemed to reset a part of me that I was never quite willing to acknowledge until, well... now. This pandemic has made me realize just how wasteful I can be, and I was already pretty in tune with maintaining a small footprint. I have started taking all of this extra time at home to research science and business and agriculture… I have come to realize that, yes, ignorance was bliss, but knowledge is inspirational and powerful. Never have I read so many academic studies (voluntarily) and watched so many youtube interviews of CEOs and documentaries on agricultural revolution than I have in the last week.

     After talking to my friend Courtney about her blogging process, I got inspired to write to my own blog… the one that had been dormant for quite some time. But, I don’t have facebook or instagram as of a few weeks ago to share my posts to. So, I will be writing these thoughts on my life and journey of awakening sustainability - or maybe I’ll call it a personal revolution - for my own reference. If anyone else happens to come across this journal of mine, then I hope we can connect in some way on shared thoughts or processes on loving this planet we are so lucky to inhabit.

Happy trails!

Dai

The book that started my personal revolution