Of Desolation and Beauty:

Thoughts from the Salton Sea

{Part 1 of 3} When I first wrote “The Last Days,” I wondered if the questions it asks were too blunt. But mere months later, we headed into a pandemic, and everything else the last few years has brought…

If there’s one good thing about this time in history (among many, really), it’s that we’re finally asking the hard questions.

Of course it’s heartbreaking when we see more and more devastation, climate refugees…

But we’re looking, our eyes are open – there is hope in that!

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from heartbreak – both personal and collective – it’s that allowing myself to feel it actually cracks my heart open wider, gives me more capacity to love.

But it does take really feeling – not running, not hiding, not sedating… It doesn’t necessarily feel good in the moment, embracing the not-so-happy feelings, but it is a cleansing, an opening.

The heart is a muscle that is meant to be exercised.

And the earth needs our love.

{Part 2 of 3} We visited the desolate Salton Sea right after shooting “The Last Days” music video in the Mojave Desert. Somehow it was an all too fitting extension of the message our film and song holds…

The devastation of our land and waters at the expense of liveability.

And for the benefit of corporate profit.

Why don’t we value the natural world simply for itself? Doesn’t it seem like we always have to benefit somehow, even if simply the benefit of “enjoying it for hiking and beauty.” When will we care for the earth simply because it is worth caring for? Because all beings deserve our respect?

I won’t profess to understand the full science and implications of what is happening at the Salton Sea (nor at the Great Salt Lake, for that matter, where I’ve been the last couple weeks). But I know that human impact on both is making landscapes and air that are unlivable not only for humans, but for migratory birds and other animals as well.

Is this really the legacy we want to leave?

As always, I invite you to continue to ask yourself questions such as: how am I making friends with the land? How am I protecting it? In what ways could I care and act more?

For Earth needs her spokespeople, her champions, her friends.

{Part 3 of 3} I’m not sure our video (and song) will be called pre- or simply apocalyptic. It’s a little of both, which I suppose makes sense as we stand in the center, in the Anthropocene…

That said, words like ‘apocalypse’ are a little strong for me. Let us still stand upon this earth, rooting deep, caring well, envisioning a future that is beautiful – for our children, for our children’s children…

It’s for them I ask the questions I do: “are these the last days…?” Because I hope not. I love this beautiful blue pearl far too much, and would like to see us turn this ship around. I hope you do too.

Thank you for loving in all the ways you do, and here’s to your wide-open, tender, humble, caring heart! ♡