Lindsey Lou On The Move: Standing Rock and Beyond

Archives for March 2020

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Whole Earth Balance

We look at our world today and become overwhelmed.

But!  Do we ever ask – How the Earth heals herself? 

She does it easily with four beautiful systems of energy exchange and abundance. 

We are quite familiar with each of these: 

  • Fire, the sun, that brings golden light to all of our days
  • Air, the cleansing life breaths and movement of every single moment
  • Water,  and the original and absolutely perfect department of transportation
  • Earth, our foundation, the rich black gold of our soil

As you look to your own life, your own health and life spirit, Are you taking part in the sacred balance of our physical world? 

Our peace of mind in these times lies in these four natural systems – when in balance unlock the infinite bliss of the spirit. 

The whole earth heals when you set free the balance in the space that heals you, and that is a Hopeful and actionable idea! 

One person can become One People can save One Planet!

You can start right here, in the online space you occupy. Please take the first easy, peasy step for healing the space you are in and Mother Earth too…

Join OneClub by saving some trees immediately and automatically with every search!

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A Sacred Circle of the Red Road

Epic times. Hard to put words to.

Find your resolve and inspiration here; please feel welcome to join us in this sacred circle of healing and love…

I wish health and happiness for each one of us and my heart feels great compassion for those who are suffering.  Suffering, however, is not new upon the landscape of the human experience, nor is it inherent. This is why there is room in my heart to find much joy in this moment when the great storm of selfish power is ending. Mother Earth has waited for us to choose a better way all of this time.

Some of us are ready, we’ve been waiting – we are aware of our own innocence, insignificance and Great Oneness simultaneously.  For those of us whose eyes are open and ears are listening we are on a path of healing and also serving as healer, of learning while also teaching. 

It is a time for our great “Wisdom, Courage, and Compassion”

This then, is a Sacred Circle meant to gather up those of us who understand the call of Mother Earth. We are in process, growing in our Wisdom, Courage and Compassion as we continue to listen closely to learn from Her, from the ancestors of our past and the spirits of Truth who walk among us today. 

As a welcome, here is a special gift for each of us who come to this space to better know the story and the Way of the Red Road. 

This group is our tepee of many skins. It is a sacred circle and together we sit upon the earth across vast distances. We represent the beautiful blended rainbow of colors of the two-legged. 


This is a powerful space to find healing, learning, comfort, support, and focused energy for prayer and creation. 

It embodies and fulfills these years of immense transformation, of rebalancing – the feminine spirit flows strongly through this circle because it is a time of coming back to balance, and so the sacred masculine is just as welcome and necessary. 

Gathering in the Vision Plane

Because we are distant from each other and often even our own Being in this physical plane, we shall gather in the vision plane… visualizing our circle, our sacred pipe, filled with holy tobacco and even White Buffalo Calf Woman sitting among us, joining us in the rounds of sacred prayer. Her teachings were a gift for those of us listening, especially for guidance in times such as this.

As I send out daily Red Road words and song for your meditation, replace the pipe ceremony as you need with deep breathing or any other means by which you find your way to Relax into Oneness with all that is seen and unseen.

White Buffalo Calf Woman is but one great spirit that has come forth to peoples of history to awaken those they met. Her words in this space are to provide a guide. They are not meant to constrict the path of your spirit as you receive our daily Red Road readings and go forth in meditation; your intuition is a direct means of communication with your Creator Spirit, to deny it is to deny your Creator, to embody it is to find that Infinite Blissful Love, Peace, our given Power of Creation in Love.  

Join the Sacred Circle of the Red Road

Upon listening to The Story of White Buffalo Calf Woman and the Way of the Red Road and joining our sacred circle we will be linked in the physical plane, as we are universally, all of the time. 

Our community…

  • Exists to help heal Mother Earth and to make miracles happen!
  • Is pretty organic. If something is contributing to the healing and learning of the times we are in, and in a spirit of Love, then it is a true gift and blessing to this community – it is welcome and appreciated; the ripples of it will describe Truth and evoke Beauty beyond what you may know. 
  • Benefits from the Buddy system. As you join this circle, please extend an invitation to anyone in your direct circle that comes to mind right now. 
  • Grows from your own inspiration and contribution to the playlist of our meditations and days
  • Is connected and strengthened by the Sacred Circle of Ceremony
  • Is energized by your Check-In!  For the sake of community and prayer power, it is amazing to hear from you when you sync into the reading and prayer. Feel free to share where on earth you’re sending your love and healing energy in from and anything you are lit up about or needing our love, support or prayer in. For example: 

Hey all, checking in with love and gratitude from the occupied land of the *Kumeyaay Nation, USA. Feeling blessed in the miracle of this new day which greeted me with one of the Mothers most fulfilling of experiences – a perfect rainbow, unbroken and clear, framed in a more subtly reflected but full, secondary rainbow. May your hearts feel full, as mine did standing in the soft, golden rain of the morning, the breeze caressing my cheek, the cool water conveying the message of life to my skin, and that perfect reflection expressing all of the Beauty, potential and harmony of this world. MUCH LOVE

*Please help to teach the others how to Honor, in gratitude, the lands and peoples of your story and/or the place where you are now, as often as possible

Please listen or read The Story of White Buffalo Calf Woman and the Way of the Red Road if you have not yet.

Cheers, to the perfect intuition, service and love which dissolves the fear-driven energies of the world away at once and for all time. 


The Sacred Circle is gathering.

If you have divested from Facebook, join here.

Welcome

Many blessings and gratitude to:

  • Ken Carey whose partnership with Great Spirit has brought us many teachings of times long passed as well as those of the unseen, infinite and timeless – including this retelling of the story of when White Buffalo Calf Woman came to the Buffalo People to gift them the ways of the Red Road, from Return of the Bird Spirits, the vibrations of which meet us as deeply today.
  • Joyce Sequichie Hifler, a Cherokee sister, who has gathered many teachings of our relatives throughout the history of Turtle Island placing them into easy to follow daily lessons.
  • Eub Motega whose vibrations in his song of Medicine Power bless the intentions of this Welcome, the beginning of this Sacred Circle

More Resources: 

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My Unexpected Pack Life

As I went through the process of restarting my life a few years ago, really simplifying my canvass to blank and then repainting a reality True to Who I Am I found myself wondering, at that time, how I might fund my mission when I couldn’t see myself using my time to make money.  It required really going to the heart of what I wanted to do, what I really wished would fill the minutes of my days. 

Health… starting with the basics I knew I needed health in my life but that I don’t like ‘exercise’ per se and by the incessant barking contributing to the cacophony of urban life I knew the dogs of my community were feeling as pent up as myself. From these two truths, I reached out to my neighbors on Nextdoor as their neighbor needing to run, happy to take their furry family members out as well – a dog runner! Not a trainer, a workout buddy.  For this, I had no price but the neighbors have graciously donated to the mission ever since. 

With each dog friendship I was lucky enough to make, I learned so much, all the way back to our coevolution. That there is so much more to our relationship than the go-to phrases among experts like “be the alpha” alludes to.

It’s one thing to take a dog out for a run.  Unexpectedly, over time, the dogs taught me that it’s a far more rich, deep and meaningful use of time to understand that it was they who were taking me out for a run. And even beyond that, by way of the wide landscape of physical adventure, there is even more fulfillment in realizing our bond as a true partnership, built around equality, trust, understanding and good communication. The evolution absolutely dissolves the imbalances between us.  Imbalances that ‘owners’ cannot stand and cannot ‘train’ out of their dog no matter what they try or even who they hire: aggression, incessant barking, anxiety, whining, leash pulling, lunging at living things like children and crows, ignoring communication, health issues etc. etc. 

The families now use the words ‘dog whisperer’ when describing me to people; this is humbling, and is much preferred to ‘trainer’ which I maintain I am not, but  respect and good communication are the keys to any magical relationship and so friend is really closer to the truth.  

Only a few years ago, I was a person that had never owned more than one rescue dog throughout my childhood. Today, the great landscape of my adventures with dogs has expanded to include a harmonious, self-maintaining pack, where ever my own travels have taken me, enjoying:

  • Swims at the beach
  • Hikes up mountains or into pitch dark caves
  • A nice cup of coffee among the patio regulars of a shop
  • A patient rest outside the store while I get some things checked off the list
  • Bike rides 
  • Scooter rolls
  • Walks anywhere and everywhere, on leash and off
  • A peaceful moment

Beyond these regular, lovely adventures of life together, we’ve also come through some additional layers of experience in some cases such as  post-surgery physical rehabilitation and service preparation training.

Merle Made all the Difference

There is a single book, Merle’s Door, which shifted my entire paradigm, catapulting my dog relationships into a far more expansive and fulfilling realm (much like your own experience with dogs can be).

One practical example synthesized from Ted Kerasote’s remarkable saga with Merle: 

These wolf pack analogies dog trainers lean so heavily on – they are conclusions based on wolves as observed in captivity, since for the longest time, that is the only place they existed.

 
Once reintroduction began, back into Yellowstone, biologists were able to learn for the first time the True social intricacies of the wolf pack and they are far more eloquent, egalitarian and dynamic than the historically referenced rigid alpha-male, tight-ship-or-else culture of hierarchy (a strikingly perfect mirror of the fear-based approach we have used to perceive and live out our own human experience in every aspect of our society today, as I write this during the great change and awakening gifted us by Corona).

His writing teaches the living example of our long history of coevolution with dogs. We are who we are because of them, and they are who they are because of us. Our partnership, before this unfulfilling age of disconnection, was perfectly mutually symbiotic – the lesser amount of cells we have within our own olfactory and auditory systems are balanced by the exceptional sophistication and exponentially stronger ones available  to our dog/wolf relatives who found the food, water or danger we would stay entirely ignorant to without their lead. While the exceptional strengths of our own reasoning minds, opposable thumbs, and optical systems are the ones that let us finish the hunt, prepare and preserve the food for lean times, and build the shelter from the storm, not just for ourselves but for our families… contributing, furry ones included.


These are the dogs of my own canine revolution:

Critical Books:

The Beautiful Books of Ted Kerasote, including Merle’s Door

Kinship With All Life, as profoundly important to my elevated understanding and connection with your dog. 

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Narcissism is Real, it’s time to Heal

There is a Flow that lives naturally within each of us; when you find yours, you’ll know better the path forward into a life Free from Fear – be it the kind one experiences under physical attack, or mental or spiritual.  

There was a time only a few years ago that I went out into the world on my own. Of course, we live our lives this way, going out in the world each day, all of us on our own – what I mean is… I wanted to be in nature, off the map, solitary.  I wanted to be on my own and yet, there were times when I would lay my head down in the darkness of the night and my fears would begin to replay, back and forth, across my mind to the point that I would forget Who I Was – I began to get lost in my vulnerability, mistaking it for weakness – a young woman alone in the darkness – a fragile creature to be attacked during sleep;  forgetting that I was exactly where I wanted to be, happy, healthy and strong; held in my place by all of the universe, exactly where I was meant to be, entirely secure.

There are many layers which contribute to that insecurity, built over entire lifetimes of human history as it has been for many thousands of years, for all of us; and we are all connected, so yours is mine and mine is yours. This is why I felt this way at the time, despite the Self Defense Instructor training I had just received across two different, back-to-back, 3-day courses. 

But I craved healing and freedom from this and so soon enough, my path brought me to one of the strongest women I’ve had the blessing to learn from. Her work can be seen in the landscape of higher education throughout San Diego County.  It is her passion to teach healing through the wide lens of training you give your body, the nutrition you provide it and the flow you give it through martial arts and preparation. She fills entire gyms of students who work really hard during her lessons of kickboxing, taekwondo, hapkido, aikijujutsu, eskrima, boxing, and self-defense strategy and technique.  With true passion and grace she invited me to train with her in every single one of them, 2 to 4 sessions per day, 6 days a week for many months. I learned technique but more crucially, I came to better know the Way of Oneness with mind, body and spirit, of place and time – the rhythm of defense as in life – is a flow. It was a great revelation to become aware that as much as I thought I was someone who ‘goes with the flow’, I wasn’t; not even close, rather I was quite awkward and stifled. 

I’ve since been on a continuous grand lesson of return to a synchronicity with life’s flow, of which I’m sure I will always be small and childlike.  Even so, I have gained a much better understanding of my own Flow; I know, because I’ve since gone out into the world alone, filled this time with a sense of confidence, the freedom of it, to live and be without fear. The freedom of knowing, within, of being whole, ready. 

While my sensei Heidi has the benefit of entire semesters and series of semesters with her students, I have short moments in time with those whom I serve. 

Additionally, outside of the credit-driven motivation structure inherent in teaching college students, some of the layers built into the fabric of our lives allude to something convoluted and taboo about women learning self-defense. Without unfurling a tome of study identifying all the layers of complexity, (the origins of them and perpetuation of them), I will simply say, the many threads holding these barriers in place are much like those that maintain the fight of our times… the aggressive, diverse and competing forces of climate change – the causality of which and solution of which cannot be simplified into something singular like converting from fossil fuel to solar, or even revolutionizing our democracy – it truly cannot be anything short of transformation within the very core of our Being, of Humanity; a rebirth of living what we value, our own re-awakening to Who We Are. It is all connected, all related. We crave the freedom of living our true selves, fearless, love-driven and a contributing member of Mother Earth’s great family.

We Crave Freedom From Fear

We crave the freedom of living our true selves… fearless, love-driven, powerful catalysts of health and balance, of wisdom, courage and compassion. 

I’ve found that even more powerful than the motivation for college credits, we are tired of living in fear. We no longer accept the fear-driven culture that we’ve been raised in to penetrate our spirits.  For example:

I know of mothers who fear that if their baby is taken from them, their own life will be over. That’s not freedom, that’s not life. It’s not even True to motherhood, a vehicle for the expression of perfect Love – imperfect within the suffocating grip and subtle bounds/habits of fear. Motherhood, nor even the loss of a child, is in and of itself the fulfillment, or loss, of one’s own purpose… again, it is one of the many vehicles by which we travel the Road of Love (interchangeable with ‘Purpose’) toward the destination of Love, Purpose.

Through much synthesis of Master Heidi’s nuggets, I’ve uncovered an ability to evoke the Flow that lives naturally within each of us; when you find yours, you’ll know better the path forward into a life Free from Fear – be it the kind one experiences under physical attack, or mental or spiritual.  

Find your Fearless, Live your Flow.

2018 World [Fall Semester, San Diego Mesa College] Kickboxing Champions. Sensei Heidi Sarmiento, center.

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Biography

Lindsey is a servant leader in stewardship of our Mother, the Earth, and all of Hers. The Way of this work is in learning the Ways of Love, healing, humility, and continuous growth; it’s the way of the Red Road. In practice it is:

  • Doing the hard work of remembering Who I Am
  • Often an immediate, response to a call for help
  • Serving locally to help bring about balance: building packs of neighbors’ dogs to be able to get them a bit more of the exercise and healthy social engagement for which they are all starving, regenerating soil, catching water, growing food, or within a multi-year, grassroots coalition of environmental and/or social justice
  • Living in flow, finding direction primarily by relaxing into the perfect instinct of the spirit, only secondarily stepping forward and thinking with the ego, sidekick rather than guide

In reflection, the drive to serve Mother Earth and people have always been her focus…

  • Within residential solar, her team redirected millions of middle-class dollars and millions of pounds of CO2 in fossil fuel costs by driving direct change to clean energy
  • In national service, as an Americorps Fire Team Leader, her team of corps members and hundreds of volunteers impacted dozens of communities and nonprofit organizations throughout the southern states, including more than a handful of disaster responses
  • While putting herself through community college, she began to learn the ways of leadership, canvassing and fundraising for change as she led a team to help drive through the landmark piece of legislation, the Million Solar Roofs bill, with the group Environment California

Even so, 2016 marks a time of rebirth… everything previous feeling like a different lifetime and everything since representing an exciting journey of Truth, remembering; a beautiful story of the really good stuff like freedom, fearlessness, wholeness, purpose and fulfillment! 

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My Life is My Message – Commitments

Life. What I’ve distilled so far is that my great bird spirit continually guides me to living in service. I’ve synthesized from much meditation and prayer, reading and gaining support and wisdom from every experience, every lesson I’ve received from every interaction I’ve ever had, that my service must begin within myself and must always be centered in Love; it shall be a contribution to the great healing and learning of this time, that it may describe Truth and evoke Beauty.  

To remember Who One Is… as I understand it, is a process of getting to the bottom of one’s humanness, understanding the place of things like the anger and frustration that come when ‘arguing’ with someone coming back at you aggressively, even mildly, in their different prerogative; understanding the overwhelming pain that comes of ‘loss’, and the avoidance of that feeling in the cases that we perceive we have control of it; the stuckness of wanting to do something good in today’s world but feeling conflicted with things we perceive we ‘must’ do.  It is the patient, hard work of eventually coming to the place in which one finally feels…This Is Me, I Know Who I Am, I Must Be Who I am and I Must Do This with whatever time I have here and… I Am Entirely Fulfilled and At Peace with Who I Am and What I Am Doing; and… I Love Myself as I Love Creator as I Love My ‘Enemy’, I Am Love.

So far, I feel learned and committed to the following:

I commit to living my Truth and Purpose of embodied Creation.  

I commit to openness toward my own continued healing and learning, to remembering Who I Am.

I commit to describing Truth and Evoking Beaty with my life.

I commit to a life in service from a place of Love.

As a woman, I commit to answering Mother Earth’s call for help through my clear wisdom, courage and compassion.  

To fulfill this, my spirit has guided me to become Independent from the systems and means which would steal this from me outright or by subtle conditioning; and I must serve, with love, to provide healing and education to others whose Truth and Purpose is in jeopardy as such (this comprehensively encompases all the forms of embodied creation). 

Government, Money and Insurance

I commit to earning less than what is considered the federal poverty guideline annually as I wish to be outside of the:

  • motivation of money – unbuyable, free. 
  • mandatory contribution via federal taxes which fund many unacceptable things the government directs and perpetuates: the dark web, military wars, the ‘war’ on drugs, fossil fuel energy development, Corporate Profit over People and Planet, etc. etc.

The implications of this guide the simplification of my life and commitment in other things, for example, I do not actively partake, or intend to, in the benefits of the social programs funded by the tax system such as the modern healthcare/insurance system, Disability, Unemployment or Social Security.

A different kind of ‘economy’

The natural reaction to this in many cases is fear-driven… How will you retire??!?  What if something happens? Why don’t you work? How do you pay for things?

Actually, I do work, a lot, just not for money…rather, I create value through service. Now I live Fearlessly. I’m no longer fearful of the future because I am free to create it… I experience the freedom afforded by living my purpose fully each day, as if perhaps there won’t be another just like it or at all. I’ve found, while living in service I have more than enough to meet my needs and those of my little Cricket.

Many of the questions mentioned above are driven by the fear-based systems which sell solutions like, by investing your time into work and Social Security you’ll ‘retire comfortably’ and protect your family, by investing in healthcare you’ll be taken care of when you get sick. One could read a newspaper on any day to find stories which punch holes in these and many other false claims as the reason for doing anything for the majority of one’s life, like working for someone or paying into something over a lifetime. 

The Truths I’ve learned are that when you grow food, you have food; when you catch rainwater, then you have water; when you build a house (tiny, natural, temporary, etc.) then you have a house; when you do healthy things, then you have health; and when you gift health, freedom and love, that is what you receive in abundance! 

Naturally then, my actions are proactive, ‘preventative’; I reduce my own risks by the choices I make each moment.   I have control over the things I put in my body – on a physical, mental and spiritual level; and I have control over the things I do with my body, mind and spirit – for example…

  • Beyond bucking the pretty big modern norms mentioned above, I no longer rely on a fossil-fuel powered personal vehicle… I walk or roll on human-powered wheels just about everywhere. This has enabled me to divest from the car insurance and the fossil-fuel industry effectively reducing my own risk, decreasing my footprint, and exponentially increasing my health, happiness and freedom by traveling at the speeds my body is naturally built to go.
  • Eat mostly whole, organic, local (in-season) food 
  • I definitely avoid eating processed things, this includes refined sugar and most packaged items with long ingredient lists which include sugars, gmo’s and preservatives (and wasteful packaging of course)
  • I buy from the bulk sections in stores like Sprouts, reusing my bags and tags many times
  • If not growing food or getting it from farmers market, or rescuing it, I’m helping people to find a good CSA to join – the benefits of this are abundant, one example is the reduction of our footprint even further by taking the individual weekly travel to and from stores/markets out of the equation, as one part in a whole membership base in which delivery is focused to one delivery truck per many households, for example.
  • When I eat meat or eggs, I avoid those that have not been raised free and natural, therefore my diet is mainly plant-based as that level of quality is cost-prohibitive in many places
  • Usually, I eat congee for breakfast, a midday big salad (cooling) or lightly baked veggies and soup (warming) with some beans, quinoa, lentils, tempeh or tofu.  Fav toppings are a little salt, pepper, sunflower seeds and nutritional yeast with a small drizzle of oil. Again, all based on produce in season.
  • I try to catch my water and filter it 
  • I drink two big glasses of neutral temp water first thing and throughout the whole day
  • Fasting is a consistent, regular part of my life
  • Try to get in 8oz of homemade kombucha per day
  • Spending a good long moment of awareness with each bite, with each sip 
  • I strive to grow my own, free, clean food wherever I am/help those whom I serve to do so
  • I limit time on technology, on it or near it – for example, screen time ends a couple of hours before sleep (ideally before sunset), fully shut down and kept in separate space than where I sleep
  • I give much time to reading, writing, creating, learning, practicing skills, yoga, and teaching
  • I touch the earth with my bare feet daily
  • I stretch and play daily, with Cricket and usually with a pack of dogs – dance, run, jump, swim, roll, stretch, yoga, bike, hike – on natural earth and barefoot as often as possible
  • I wear zero drop shoes
  • Cold last minute (in the shower) or natural shower even better!
  • I meditate each morning, at least, filling myself with great gratitude and receiving it abundantly, returning to the Oneness of all things, as I often slip outward according to my bossy ego humanness throughout the day
  • I use the word LOVE freely, even with strangers, humans and creatures alike, who are not quite strangers but those I’ve come to know as my brothers and sisters, no matter their color or beliefs; to experience love is to feel the highest human experience – I work each day to heal so that I may know Oneness and when faced with sadness or anger, for example, I can remember the peace within the circular relativity in all things of this world; when I feel something less than, I go inward trying to find the original source as, for myself, it seems awareness precedes understanding which precedes healing and then change/evolution, elevation
  • I ‘buying’ from thrift stores or play-it-again sports stores
  • I avoid feeling overwhelmed with the world, my own health and what to do by letting nature guide my balance 

…On my best day!

Of course I’m human and so lots of days don’t look just like this! This is when I’m reminded about forgiveness, the impossibility to judge anyone, unconditionality, love, patience, prayer, gratitude and so on. 

I always have more than enough. When you are truly giving of yourself and your gifts, people, Earth and the Universe reciprocate with all that they have been gifted in return.

Rob Wisdom

For further reading, I have loved and gained MUCH from Rob Greenfield’s Journey. For more full and comprehensive insights on these topics, he is an excellent resource for the people regarding many of these things. His experience and teachings have empowered much of my own development in thought and practical application.

He has also posted wonderful commitments and vows, many of which my path has also aligned me with…

Aligned Commitments 

I vow to donate 100% of my earnings from media to nonprofits

Agreed, if/when I get those, yes committed.

I vow to earn no more than the federal poverty threshold per year.

Agreed, committed, fulfilled since September 2016

Others paying expenses on my behalf

My mission involves being present with a lot of people and that takes a serious amount of my time and energy. As I have said my income is capped but my aim is to increase my ability to affect positive change with these guidelines, not hinder it. So I will allow for money to be spent on my behalf under the right circumstances.

Agreed, committed. 

Non-monetary gifts and sponsorships

My policy is that I support the gifting economy and will gladly accept small gifts. On the larger end of gifts and sponsorships I will at the very least be 100% transparent with what I accept and will aim to keep what I receive to necessities. If a large gift is sent my way I will likely send it to a nonprofit that can use it to make the world a better place.

I will likely work with financial sponsors at times to help me complete my missions. I will aim to always work with sponsors who share my ethics and morals.

Agreed, committed. 

I vow to own a minimal and reasonable value of possessions and financial assets. 

Agreed, committed. Still working on this, this is truly a process, it has taken revisiting many times to continually have less each time and I still have further to go!

“Rather than make formal, taxable organizations” I will be partnering with other nonprofits to carry out my work. 

Agreed.  There are enough orgs in the world to collaborate with, saving resources and amplifying the impact of a shared missional goal.  Committed. 

Financial transactions

I bank with a local credit union (Mission Federal Credit Union) and no longer have any credit cards (A few years ago I had about five credit cards). Credit unions are nonprofits and invest their money back in the community and often give the money to good causes.

Agreed, I divested from corporate banking and moved to a credit union; I still have 2 credit cards on which the balance is $0, have yet to cancel them.

Charging for my work

There are many things that I think should be free in a just and intellectually advanced society. Some of these include air, water, food, simple housing, education, reasonable levels of health care, and access to all nature. Those are just a few things but there are many more. I think information on health, sustainable living, and how to be good to the earth should all be free too. In my mind, it makes no sense to charge people for health and happiness. Maybe at times it makes sense in our current society but that is not the society I am functioning on. So because of that my work is free to access and free to redistribute under a creative commons license. This includes all the content that is on my website including my photos, videos, and blogs. Simply put I will not personally charge for my work unless it is also available for free. In this manner, it is the choice of the person paying because they want the information in a more special manner rather than the free version I have available.

Simply put I will not personally charge for my service unless it is also available for free. In this manner, it is the choice of the person paying because they want the information in a more special manner rather than the free version I have available.

If you are deeply analyzing this philosophy you may find that it’s not perfect. It’s a heck of a lot better than what’s currently going on though.

Agreed, committed. I’ve also found that many still wish to Donate funds to the mission. 

Advertising

My policy is to never advertise for a company or product that I do not strongly believe in. And by “believe in” I don’t mean that I just like them or they are my friends. I have committed to not advertise for anything that causes destruction to the earth even if it is to take the money and give it to a good cause. 

Agreed, committed. 

Sponsors

I will only take on sponsors if our messages are deeply inline.

Agreed, committed. 

In summary I vow to:

Practice financial transparency.   

Agreed

Earn no more than the federal poverty threshold per year. Donate rest.  

Agreed 

Own a minimal and reasonable value of possessions and financial assets.

Agreed

Timeline

These vows begin today on 04/08/2015 and I am taking these vows initially for four years. Too often I see people make lifetime commitments and all too often I see these “lifetime” commitments last a fraction of their life. The frequency of priest celibacy scandals and the high American divorce rate are two examples of that. So because of that, I am making this vow for four years until 04/08/2019 at which time I will be 32. I chose four years, the length of presidency in the USA, because I wanted to feel how long that is so I can understand how so many of them break their promises in that time. I would imagine that I will renew these vows after four years but only time will tell that.

  • Agreed, committed. Today 3/24/2020. To assess and renew 3/24/2024 🙂

Here are some more Excellent Rob Resources: 

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