March 20 was the vernal equinox — the turn of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere and Autumn for our friends south of the Equator. Earth came oh-so-close to perfect balance, as night and day were ~8 minutes from being equal.
With Spring in the air, so too is rain (in some places). That offers a fluid segue to the theme of this edition of our newsletter: water.
Water is life
For reasons that become evident in the updates section below, water has flooded my consciousness for the last two weeks. I anticipate it staying there and eddying into the foreseeable future.
Reflecting on my life, I realize I’ve mostly taken water for granted. I turn on the faucet, and clean, potable water streams out at my desired temperature. I use as much water as I need for every use I can imagine — it seems limitless. The water that flushes my toilet is the same water I drink — each is equally safe. I use water once and dispose of it, though it could be reused or recycled. The monthly water bill is relatively inexpensive, so I don’t feel a financial pressure to conserve water.
Statistically speaking, many Americans experience and perceive water similarly to this. It’s there when we need it. Until it isn’t. And when it isn’t, we’re helpless.
We need to transform our relationship with water.
For my part, I aim to:
Be more grateful for water and celebrate its sacredness.
Be more mindful of its vital importance to our bodies, spirituality, and cultures.
Acknowledge that the water we have is all the water we’ve ever had and all the water we’ll ever have.
Protect and preserve water through meaningful, well-researched behavioral changes and effort.
I invite people in similarly privileged positions to shift in this direction, too, so we may collectively alter our awareness and practices.
Transforming our relationship with water also requires healing the trauma of colonization, environmental racism, and other injustices that disproportionately affect vulnerable communities — historically and today.
Millions of Americans do not have adequate access to water — including of Navajo Nation and other tribal communities, folks in Appalachia, and the people in Flint, Michigan. Over 2.2 million Americans lack running water, and 44 million lack safe drinking water (DigDeep.com). And then there’s the rest of the planet outside of America. 😥
People who currently lack water have a human right to access water from a faucet and trust that it’s safe and healthy. Water Protectors in Minnesota and worldwide have the human rights (and often treaty rights) to see their waterways and lands liberated from the threat of destruction by unnecessary, profit-and-power-driven oil pipelines. Front-line communities nationwide deserve justice, which requires everyone to recognize their respective roles in the injustice.
Water justice is part of climate justice.
Related info and inspo
🌍 Climate action
Actions and resources for good Earth stewardship.
📝 Write to President Biden to ask him to #StopLine3.
If you’re not familiar with Line 3, Winona LaDuke explains it in 3 minutes; and I recommend watching the LN3 Film (38 min).
🗣️ Write to President Biden to ask him to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline.
If you want to learn more about Standing Rock and the #NoDAPL movement, I suggest viewing the film AWAKE (and sharing with others!)
✍️ Sign a petition to urge President Biden to take action for the ocean.
“The ocean absorbs 90+% of the heat caused by our emissions and 25+% of our excess CO2” → the ocean’s waters play an enormous role in the climate crisis.
🤝 Allyship
Opportunities to be a better ally to BIPOC folks. Fellow white folks, feel free to join in.
$upport Indigenous artists by purchasing from their businesses. Here are three of my faves:
White Bear Moccasins by Shauna White Bear
Kokom Scrunchies by Mya (who’s ten years old!)
Thunder Voice Hat Co by Thundervoice Eagle and team
🕯️ Meditative moments
Add some calm to your day.
🌬 Sit with music from a flute.
My father recently turned me on to R. Carlos Nakai - a Native American musical artist who plays a mean flute. His songs provide lovely accompaniment to transcendence through states of consciousness. Listen and support him on Bandcamp, Soundcloud, and Spotify.
▶️ Now playing
Books, music, film, pods, etc.
🎥 FILM: Necessity: Oil, Water, and Climate Resistance — watch the trailer, support the project.
📚 BOOK: We are Water Protectors — a children’s book written by Carole Lindstrom (Anishinabe/Métis) and illustrated by Michaela Goade, who won the Caldecott Medal for this work (the first Native American to do so).
🎙 POD: How 2 Save a Planet episode: The Tribe that's Moving Earth (and Water) to Solve the Climate Crisis — learn about water’s role in ecosystems.
If water or any other topic here makes a splash with you and you’d like to dive deeper, hit reply or comment.
Know someone who might resonate with this? Please share!
Stay hydrated, stay healthy.
💙
Tim Falls
I've been a fan of R. Carlos Nakai since I was little. The first CD my folks bought during their transition from LPs was one of his. There are two songs of his that when they come up on the spa streaming channels I can still whistle note-for-note.
I appreciate the perspective on the challenges of water. From the natural resources governance side of things, all we ever do is fight about water. It's a fight represented by colleagues who are wicked smart, and lead with passion and purpose vs. those business interests that rely on water for their livelihood. We have such a tragic relationship with water.