Take it from a woman who lived in a redwood tree for two years and eight days to make sense out of this statement: “Take your worst attributes, turn them into something positive, and then focus on something that can make a difference in the world.”
Julia Butterfly Hill stood off corporate loggers, the authorities, and being called a terrorist by the media while perched in a redwood tree located in the northernmost part of California, named “Luna” for a record-setting 738 days.
The ordeal ended when she came into an agreement with Pacific Lumber Company, regarding its clear-cut logging policies.
What attracted her to this issue was the awe-inspiring affect that a giant redwood tree gave her when standing next to one for the first time.
Butterfly’s defiance gained her worldwide recognition as an environmentalist willing to use all means necessary to protect America’s rain forests. She said, “I had to figure out how to live in this world, being me.”
She addressed San Quentin’s Green Life group recently about what it means to be an environmentalist. She said, “I cannot control what life throws me, but I can control how I react to what is thrown at me.”
I’m probably one of the only
people who would tell you that you
don’t need to change, but you may
need to change your focus.
The Green Life is San Quentin’s version of a green movement, consisting of prisoners and conventional environmentalists who seek ecological sustainability for communities and individuals.
“I’m probably one of the only
people who would tell you that you don’t need to change, but you may need to change your focus,” Butterfly told the group.
She explained how the trials and tribulations of growing up poor and her steadfast stubbornness was a perfect combination for focused rebellion against the corporate loggers, who planned to clear-cut ancient redwood forests containing some of the tallest living things, some thousands of years old.
Butterfly’s message to the world: Listen to Mother Nature. She warns that we humans are destroying things in the environment that are intrinsic for the existence of humanity.
Read about Butterfly’s experience in, The Legacy of Luna.
