There doesn't seem to be a good way to start this week's blog with a quote. So I didn't. I just want to share from the heart. So I did.

Acknowledge Earth Is Our Home

Burning.

I spent last week in the remnants of an area that burned hot and heavy 4 years ago and will bare the scars for a long time to come.

Tonight as I write this, I'm sending big love and Oregon waters as the Los Angeles air fills with smoke, streets fill with fire, and ashes remain.

To all the humans, animals, and life that call LA home...

Focus on health right now.

Here are some resources shared on Hollywood Climate Summit's Instagram account.

To all those that will hold the scars for a long time to come...

Let us know how we can help you build back with Earth at the center as our Home.

Discover Your Earth Archetype

Even with the fires burning in LA which we can attribute to the overall hotter temperatures and drier conditions...

I ask you to please...

Stop saying "Save the Planet."

We are not superheroes.

Marvel is a wonderful fantasy.

Star Wars even more so.

So many other stories exist beyond the hero's journey.

And let's face it... How many of us are willing to go to the extremes needed for such a feat?

But what we can do...

What humans are actually very good at it...

Relationship.

We are social creatures.

Clubs. Cliches. Communities. Oh My!

We flock together.

And just like nature, we create systems to organize them.

And it's not necessarily "Survival of the fittest" (aka another hero story."

Darwin will even tell you, that cooperation and collaboration goes a loooooong way.

However, sometimes our wacky, big brains get in the way.

We build systems that are divisive, inefficient, alienating, and worse.

So what I finally allowed myself to say out loud in December and now what to shout from the rooftops...

Stop saying "Save the Planet." Burn it!

And in it's place, let rise from the fire like a phoenix...

"Relate with the Planet."

After all, we ARE nature.

And who you are matters.

If you don't know where to start...

Discovering your Earth Archetype will help you on the path.

Work Together in Community

This step used to be titled "Work Together across Differences." And I still think of it as a key component of making change together as a community. We need a wide variety of skills, resources, traits, ideas. Diversity is a vital part of resiliency.

So then, when is it ok to burn the proverbial bridge? What differences are worth a bless and release?

I've had to do this a few times in my life. The most critical relationship was with my own biological mother. I talked to her only twice in the 22 years before her passing, and the last time, she told me I was the worst thing that had ever happened to her.

Yep, that stings. And warrants some necessary distance.

Yet the journey and lessons from such a relationship taught me at the very deepest levels that we are all doing the best we can with what we have. Sometimes that's pretty rough circumstances.

So distance actually seemed like the kindest move I could make.

But it doesn't have to be so dramatic.

I had an experience of it just this past week.

Someone that I met once at least 10 years ago listened to the Earthmates Podcast episode called "Shift VS to WITH."

And he took the quiz.

He left extremely long comments on the podcast, via an email to me, and in response to the quiz.

And (in my opinion) a bunch of shadow traits of the Embodiment type were vomited in those words.

I tried twice to respond to his emails but his words were very dogmatic -- in fact almost cult like.

At the end of the second, I even asked for clarification of what the discussion was even about so I could respond better.

When his third email continued the trend and did not clarify as asked, I simple replied...

"I wish you all the best on your journey."

It was my way to bless and release.

And he chose to dig in with one last reply that positioned him and his ego in a superior location.

Now, perhaps if we were in person or I had more context, we could have navigated the discussion with more ease.

But my goal is to support the 70% of Americans, 80% worldwide, and 85% of Gen Z that want a better relationship with the planet but need a community of support to do so.

From what I can gather, he does not include himself in those stats.

PS. If you'd like to hear more of the story and see the emails, I'll be sharing about it in my behind-the-scenes membership. Click here to learn more.