Fast Forward, Fall Tour

What a whirlwind we have been on! As a family, as a community, as a movement! I last blogged over a month ago, and just before we left on our most recent adventure. We had been camped out in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina for the summer, doing local events and festivals and enjoying our time with friends on their amazing organic farm. We were growing food and growing closer, families with littles, connecting to the land, bonding with mama luna. It was truly the rest before the upsurge of energy. And, energy we have felt, oh my! We were connected with the Sustainable Living Roadshow (SLR) by our dearest friend and amazing artist, Xavier Hawk. All things line up for a reason and all souls connect when they are meant to connect, and this time was no exception. On the day that the Occupy Movement started in NYC, we left the safety and grounding that our little piece of mountain provides, and ventured into the unknown to make some waves, to join up with the Sustainable Living Roadshow and their caravan of alternative fuel vehicles setting up eco-carnivals to educate and connect. Must have been the energy of that day, causing things to happen, people to move, change to stir, but we could literally feel it pushing us forward, heading north into the unknown.

I started writing this blog post in detail to catch up on our adventures over the past month and a half and realized I could write a book. So much has happened, so much has changed, so much energy has been stirred, for our family, our community of friends, our world. Mama Earth is a talking, and we have been a walking. From our time in Seven Springs, PA at the Mother Earth News Fair, to our trek east across Amish Country, to landing firm with conviction in New York City for the Right2Know March, we have been on the move, constantly evolving, blessed beyond belief, and full of this conscious energy sweeping for change. Upon meeting the Sustainable Living Roadshow crew, we immediately felt connected, a nomadic tribe like ourselves trying to educate and make a difference so that people can understand how we are all the same and how our actions impact our intertwined existence. It does matter if we recycle or not, it does matter if we support local independent businesses over big corporate giants, it does matter that we hold ourselves accountable for what we purchase and how we vote, whether that be with our dollars or our forks. And, it does make a difference that people are out there standing up for us all. We felt that with the SLR crew, and with everyone that joined up on this amazing Fall Tour. I was amazed at the conviction and energy of the people that came out for the Right2Know March, some traveling as far as California and even Germany! Some walking every single step, including a 30 mile day (whew!), some organizing all the logistics, some setting up all the events. Everybody's Kitchen fed us the entire March, and the amazing conscious music by Human of The Human Revolution and Saratone of the Earth Tribe Gospel kept our spirits up and fueled to continue. Plus, how can you not enjoy night after night of campfires, good food, conscious music, and the company of fifty new and dear friends. And, together we all marched 313 miles, from Brooklyn, NY to Washington, DC, chanting in the streets, educating people along the way, demanding that GMO foods be labeled, because we have the right to know what's in our foods! 80% of the food in our grocery stores are genetically modified, and there is no way for us to know and make an educated choice when shopping. In 50 other countries across the globe, including Japan, Australia, and the entire European Union, GMO foods are either labeled or banned entirely, and the United States and Canada haven't done a thing, c'mon! President Obama promised in his campaign that he would label GMO foods, we are now calling on him to carry through with his promise!

Whew! I know I could write a whole post on the Right2Know March, and will as well as upload the million photos we took along the way, just trying to catch up on it all... still. Someone on the March asked how we did it, activism, education, running a couple of businesses, with three children in tow. Well, we just do, it is our passion, it's what fuels us. It just takes a bit to catch up sometimes, lots of sleep is sacrificed, and well, sometimes, it takes me a couple of months to catch up on the blog ;) or post photos. To us it is not work, we feel so energized by the momentum that is being created right now in the world, that we want to keep on marching, across the country, across the world, demanding that GMO's be labeled, but also that we need to support our local farmers and businesses, we need to keep our money out of the big banks, we need to protect our natural resources for the future of our children's environment, and we need to demand safe food and water and air and soils for not only the health of our planet, but the health of our families. Mama Earth is shaking her brow, knowing that we have done wrong, and the world is a shaking right now with the energy for change. The rumblings of angst and apathy and anger are turning into positive change.

Over the summer we were introduced to the One Love Movement and the teachings of the Rastafarians, the Mayans, and the Hopis. We felt so connected to that message of spreading love and peace that we knew we had to continue speaking up and reaching out. Then, when we joined the Sustainable Living Roadshow for their Fall Tour, we were energized with the movement of people educating and creating change by connecting and having fun. On the Right2Know March we joined with such a diverse group to collectively speak out and actively engage through peaceful, educational protest. And then, along the way, as we gathered marchers from state to state and town to town, as the Occupy Movement was building and spreading worldwide during this time, I felt the energy coalesce, and the momentum build as one. It was as if Mama Earth stirred the pot, and the day we left on this life-changing adventure, the day the Occupies started, it all began to boil up and combine forces. We have met so many amazing people along the way, we have felt such a boost in positive energy, we know the world is connecting in ways it just hasn't been able to figure out before. And, we know it is all happening right now for a purpose.

Now that the Right2Know March is over, and many went their separate ways, we are all still demanding change from our own pockets of the world and in our own ways. We still want to educate, spread the message of peace and love, and activate other families to stand up as well. We want to demand labeling of GMO's, we want to share how we live simply and sustainably, we want to show families how important it is to vote with your dollars and your forks. We want to support other local businesses and demand change by not giving one cent to the big corporations that are controlling our economy, our food supply, our livelihoods. We also want to have fun, educate our kids with song and dance, have drum circles, share meals with friends, enjoy the stars under a big ole campfire, jam out with strangers, connect our energies with the natural cycles of the moon, and continue on this spiritual path of conscious change happening all over this beautiful world. We want to live passionately with compassion. We want to stand strong for our children and stand in solidarity behind the principles that will change the world for the better. Someone recently asked me if I thought change was really possible being that there was so much discourse in the world. Absolutely was my response. I am a mama, I have to have hope for my kids, it has to be possible. And, after this past month's adventure on the road, I know it is possible.

Thank you, all of you beautiful souls who are out there making a difference, who are standing up and speaking out, who are camping out in parks and peacefully demonstrating in the face of riot gear, who are marching 313 miles to make a statement and demand change, who are running ethically moral businesses making safe products and supporting our rights, who are making amazingly conscious soul music from the heart and making sure to shout it from the rooftops for everyone to hear, who are stopping people in the street to engage in conversation, to learn from one another and teach one another, and who are taking care of those ever-precious littles every day making the life-altering decisions on how to feed, and raise, and love them. Thank you all, for forming and connecting community, for creating a ripple of change, for standing ground on behalf of my littles, our future. From this mama to Mama Earth, I am thankful for it all, and can feel the rumblings of a new consciousness forming, one with thought and love and heart.