Keep Your Head Up

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COMING SOON: My talk with my life partner, former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber on deploying spiritual poise and understanding in the current challenging political climate.I was struck by these gorgeous poppies growing out of the asphalt at a car wash.

I was struck by these gorgeous poppies growing out of asphalt at a car wash.

Oregon is on fire. In Central Oregon, where I live, the smoke is thick, darkening the sky, stinging eyes, blocking any sight of the nearby mountains. At the same time this region is in a massive construction boom and all around trees and habitat are being destroyed, bedrock dynamited, soil crushed under expanding asphalt.

I realized last week that because I don’t like looking at destruction zones or toward smoke-obscured mountains I had subconsciously constricted my vision, focusing closer in. I’ve been getting out into community less, steering away from the biggest destruction sites, avoiding crowded hiking areas, and finding more of my nature fix in my own yard which is alive with flowers, bees, chattering sparrows and jays, hummingbirds and squirrels. A few days ago, on the way back from a dog agility competition on the west side of the mountains, I stopped to let Olive swim in the Santiam River. I’d been playing swim fetch with her for a good five minutes before I picked my gaze up and noticed the clear blue sky and clean, sparkling water. I made a commitment then and there to resist constriction.  

As a lifelong professional environmentalist I have studied and interacted with nature a lot. I’ve worked on environmental projects from military bases and farms to the wilds of the Amazon and Siberia. And one thing I know is that nature does indeed find a way. Nature adapts and heals. I believe there will come a time when humanity regains some sanity and shifts into a healthier relationship with the rest of nature. It’s possible now that the ecological damage is so obvious – from climate change to plastic pollution – and that damage is now causing direct harm to humans – from deadly heat waves to microplastic in our food and bodies – that we will proactively shift. If not, the transition is going to be harder, not only on other species but also on the human species. In either case, one way or another, big shift is coming.