Californication meets Tranpacificism

I’ll keep this brief since I never wrote it (Yet).. There was this great philosophy that was oft witnessed during my time in the CCC, and it was embodied by the phrase: “Each one teach one.”  During our monthly banquets would be great times to share a new skill or other type of knowledge, but it happened everyday, especially when new people came to your crew.

People that I think of as amazing can generally be thought of with the term ‘activists,’ and .. wow, this semester I’ve been meeting so many amazing activists, notably ones involved with Accion Zapatista (on campus, kinda).  It’s been REALLY awesome, I’m like, in love with them or something, or at least, way enchanted.  :)  And I’d love to tell you more about them, but.. no time for that now.
When I first got to HSU, I stopped by the Arcata Co-Op and met someone tabling for the local Earth First! chapter.  I took this as kind of a sign then, and took their flyer intending to participate in one of their nonviolence training workshops, but never talked to them or otherwise involved.  I would have been interested in doing the training, and ideally supporting a treesit in some way, but, didn’t happen.  Maybe just keeping the thoughts and ideas in ones’ mind is value in and of itself though?

But in the Spring’07 semester, Hillary told our Environmental Politics class about this SkillShare that was going on down in the Mattole.  I was curious, but never heard back from her.  Luckily, some of the AZ folks (Sierra, Verbena, and eventually Farmer) told me about the SkillShare, and luckily Verbena added me to her list so I got some updates, and so it happened!  I went to the Mattole Wildlands Defense Fund Skill Share, which you can read more about there.
In one of my last entries I was talking about my Winter Break. After I got back in January from that break, ~3 weeks off, I was completely unrefreshed. Somehow, trying to do nothing, sleep in, etc., didn’t relax me. Greg Handa told me that maybe I don’t know how to do nothing. I even had trouble sleeping in! He’s not right, it was really because I was so troubled and disconcerted. It was just.. such an unpleasant ending to this semester, having supervisors trying to get me in trouble, and at least putting the fear of getting fired in me, in addition to being a student and taking a heavy-load (And doing more poorly than I need to have in some classes, and so I was worried about failling them.) The lack of refreshment, added to all the normal stresses/problems/etc that go on, left me completely unable to enjoy this semester, or to do anything other than worry/stress/freakout. Until the Skill Share came.

I would have liked to go home, just for my parents sake, but that’s fine I Didn’t, that’s not enough reason for me. I’ve never been down to the Lost Coast either, and the weather there, I later learned, was AMAZING. It was great, to be in this activists space, to be greeted, and treated well, by these kind folks. A gathering of like-minded folks, which our Env. Politics teacher, Ralph Faust (possibly in relation to Emily saying things were too negative in class/world) is what is needed for one to stay happy/well in life. (That’s me oversimplifying, of course.) Meeting new, interesting and different people, having different kinds of conversations from the usual, spending time with passionate people, taking hikes, learning about nature, the world, ourselves.. oh! Just everything that is important to me in life, and so makes me happy! SO GOOD! Oh, yes.

Well, I could write a lot about the Skill Share, I took some notes in my journal (since I don’t use it enough, gotta do something with it! I did the same during the Ed Encounter a few weeks prior), and have a lot to say, but! Not now. You’ll have to come back to this entry later, I reckon, on my website, not on facebook. However!

To start you off, here’s a Slideshow from the Skill Share, my photos to be polished up (hopefully soon!), feel free to bug me!

In the meantime, here’s a nice one.. (This links to the album!–>

MAD props to the Forest Defenders community (and to Forest and Mystique for all their work putting this on!), for all their energy, good thoughts, sacrifice, etc.
(On a sidenote, I’m sure that, if there is a divide between SJ and Env movements, it’s not coming from these good-hearted folks! (at least not intentionally!))

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