Very hot right now in D.C. The type of heat that makes you want to curl up and go to sleep and wait for darkness. Kinda like in the winter when the cold makes you want to curl up and sleep until the sun comes out.....

I've been reading a bunch of stuff on non-violence and love guiding your actions in life. I think it's particularly applicable to direct action activism. Sometimes I want to react violently when I face stupidity in my life, but that's a base reaction, and upon further examination, it proves to be equally destructive and counterproductive.

I am dedicating my life to the environment and the oceans, but what I'm starting to realize is that environmental work and social justice/activism are not mutually exclusive. I think I've always known that deep inside, but thought that because the struggles are so demanding there was no way I could meaningfully contribute to both struggles.

But I can. If I take it one day at a time and live only in the present. The now. As I've been learning more and more in my Buddhist teachings, the past and future are only illusions. They are distractions that pull you away from the real; the present.

Relax the mind. Breathe. Again and again. And I slowly start to remember that the only thing that is real is what is happening in my life right now. My heart is beating. My lungs are breathing. Just this, here now.

And suddenly I feel like I can do anything. There are no barriers. I am brave and not afraid of death, because righteousness will outlast evil, and death is only a conclusion of one chapter and the start of another.

America is in a lot of trouble. The world is in a lot of trouble. I am not afraid. I will go down swinging with a smile on my face and love in my heart.