Oh, The Lovely Things That Find Us Along The Road

¨I am too alone in the world, and not alone enough to make every moment holy. I am too tiny in this world and not tiny enough to just lie before you like a thing shrewd and secretive. I want my own will, and I want simply to be with my will as it goes toward action. And in silent, sometimes hardly moving times when something is coming near, I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone.¨ -Rilke

A beauiful quote shared with me by an unexpected and delightful new friend I met along my journies. It has resonated with me and so I though I should pass it along. <3

Will write more soon. A muddle of thoughts, ideas, inspirations, and lessons are brewing.

Paz, amor, y buenas vibras de Lima, Peru. Peace, love, and good vibes from Lima.

Making Progress in the Fight to Save Sharks!

I copied and pasted this from an email....I thought I should share it with you all as an example of what´s being done. :)


Dear Lindsie,
Congratulations! As we approached the end of 2010, AWARE Divers succeeded in securing a win for sharks.  423 Members of European Parliament (MEP's) have listened to our collective scuba diving voice and signed on the Written Declaration for strengthening the European Union ban on shark finning, ensuring a majority needed for further action.

The European Parliament has now endorsed a resolution on shark finning calling on the EU Commission to deliver a proposal prohibiting the removal of shark fins on-board vessels.
AWARE divers, advocates and supporters like you were instrumental in bringing about this change through emails, letters and phone calls to your representatives. Together we have shown the commitment of European citizens around the world to the conservation of shark species.
Why do European fisheries policies make such a significant difference to shark populations worldwide?

• Spanish fishing fleet catches account for over a quarter of all shark fins brought into Hong Kong - a hub for at least 50% and possibly up to 80% of world trade in shark fins 
• European fisheries have a major impact on fisheries worldwide - Spain, Portugal the UK and France are among the world's top 20 shark fishing nations responsible for 80 percent of the global catch.   
• Non-EU governments and international fisheries policy bodies all look toward the EU when implementing their shark catch limits and bans.

Enforceable finning bans not only effectively halts the practice of finning but also provide important data about the species caught, vital for robust populations assessments and effective shark conservation and management.
This win could not come at a better time. Together we'll continue to battle for improved shark conservation measures, including work to ensure the EU Commission now comes up with an effective finning ban during 2011.

From all of us at Project AWARE Foundation - thank you.
Kind regards
Suzanne Pleydell
Policy Director, Project AWARE Foundation

When You´re By The Ocean, You Can´t Help But Think About Sharks....

Sharks have been getting a bad rap for years thanks to the media and movies like Jaws. People fear them because they do not know them. And I don´t blame people for not wanting to get to know them, oh but we must! Let´s just consider some facts, shall we?

They´ve been around long enough to watch the dinosaurs evolve AND go extinct, so it´s to say that they´re around for a reason....They´re the top predators of the oceans (well, until us humans came along) and thanklessly maintain lower oceanic populations within the food chain, which, in turn, maintain other populations all connected to each other in a beautiful web of life. Sharks keep the food chain in order which allows us humans to enjoy tasty seafood like various kinds of sushi, lobster, tuna, and shrimp to name a few.

So, what happens if we fish out the sharks? Believe it or not (and you best believe it!) we´ve already depleated 90-99% of EVERY SINGLE shark species! But how can this be so, you ask? Shark fin soup. When I say ¨we¨ have depleted shark species to near extinction, what I really mean is that Asia is the direct culprit. Hong Kong is responsible for 50% + of the consumption of shark fins. It is a billion dollar industry based on the false assumption that the shark fin is an aphrodesiac as well as it´s image as a swanky social status symbol. And don´t for a second think that they go about finning sharks in a humane way. More often than not the sharks (and other sea creatures) get ¨accidently¨ snagged on a fishing line, they get yanked out of the water to have their fins sliced off and then dumped back into the ocean to drown. Or they get brought to fish markets and thrown into piles to be butchered and sold. Mmm mercury! For that´s what they´re full of! Plankton absorb toxins that we humans keep pumping into our air and oceans, plankton gets eaten by macroinvertebrates which get eaten by tiny fish, which get eaten by bigger fish and so on. And all throughout this chain of consumers and predators the toxins continue to build up. So, as the top predator, sharks have a massive build up of toxins, such as mercury, which has been proven to cause damage to the brain, kidneys, and nervous system, heart disease, and is terribly dangerous to developing fetuses. (That´s why they say no sushi when you´re preggers!)

However, we are all indirect culprits for we learn about it and do nothing.

Yada yada what´s with the rant on sharks?? Well my goal with this post is simply to share information. Get the word out. Help people to become aware of this horror and to encourage people to take part in putting an end to it. How? By becoming informed, talking about the issue, doing what you can, when you can, become proactive. Pretty simple. Eventually the right people will get the facts straight and hopefully make the necessary changes. After all, 7 out of every 10 people depend on the ocean for their main source of protein. So what happens if we fish the sharks to extinction? Well, I´m not even sure I want to think about that. All I know is I LOVE seafood and would like to be able to enjoy it with my children someday, so for now I´m 95% vegetarian. I´ll only eat it if it´s caught or hunted locally and sustainably. None of that industrial ¨meat.¨  Enough with the packaged in plastic, shipped to the supermarket, pumped with preservatives crap. No wonder America has health problems! And I won´t even get started on the high fructose corn syrup and monosodium glutamate found on every ingredientes label....All I have to say is I eliminated them along with a list of other things from my diet and lost 25 lbs. And it just keeps melting off. As for exercise, well, I´m a dancin´ fool and I do a little of this and a little of that. Things that trick you into exercising. Yoga, kung fu, pilates, capoeiera etc. Lately surfing and slacklining.

A Few Fun Facts
More people die every year from vending machine acciendts and lightening strikes than from shark attacks. True statement. And as far as the increasing number of shark attacks, well what do you expect with a world population so out of control? More people swimming in the oceans = More shark attacks (and rightfully so). However, sharks don´t actually eat people. When they ¨attack,¨ they´re just trying to figure out what we are. They´re not the vicious, blood-thirst predators films have made them out to be. Most deaths associated with shark attacks are due to blood loss and insufficient or unavailable medical care. Not because someone got eaten by a shark. That´s just absurd.

I want to thank those of you who read this in it´s entierty for sticking it out. While some of it may seem irrelevant it is all connected and important in it´s own regard. These topics have come to mean a lot to me, for it was my experience at a fish market in Ecuador and seeing first hand the carnage and waste made me decide to pursue a career in Marine Ecology thus leading me to where I am now. In addition, as I continue  my journey in learning to take better care of myself, I pass along this information to you, my friends and loves, in hopes that maybe you learned something new and are therefore more enabled to take better care of yourself. Gotta have each other´s backs!

Sending my love, always.

The Way......To a Stress Free Life of Bliss and Tranquility

Neigong is simply a breathing pattern that means ¨inner work.¨ A friend and teacher, Richard Meyer, literally threw a Neigong ¨how to¨ packet into my lap one day. I was so overcome with joy at what I was reading that tears began to stream from my eyes. Could it really be this easy? Have I found the thing I´ve been looking for? Can this really be the way?

Yes, to all of the above questions. And what else can I do but share this beautiful practice with everyone? I myself, went to take this particular Neigong class at the Madison Daoguan center (I put their info below!) in mid December before embarking on my journey south. I had to learn more, or at least have it explained to me so that I could practice as I travel, and my, what a help it has been. :) So with further adue, it is my pleasure to present to you all the wondrous and simple practice of, Neigong.

 As stated earlier neigong means ¨inner work¨ and is an ancient practice of developing and maintaining tranquility (contentment) and good physical health.

We begin with Daoist Alchemy:
- Cultivate Jing (essence) and transform it into Chi (life force)
- Culitivate Chi and transform it to Shen (spirit of vitality/clarity)
- Culitvate Shen and transform it into No-Thingness (no preferences/ the still point above opposites)
- Cultivate No-Thingness and transform it into Oneness (Dao/Nirvana) i.e. no distinctions, freedom from suffering reflected as pervasive tranquility and contentment

The essential Alchemical Strategy
Practice Mindfullness:
- Breathe consciously.
- Soften and relax the body.
- Feel the earth.
- Simplify your involvement.
- Eliminate conceptual design.
- Be non-judgemental.
- Be patient.
- Maintain a ¨beginners mind.¨
- Trust yourself and your feelings.
- Be accepting, be willing to see things exactly as they are in the present moment.
- Cease striving, ¨There is no where to go and nothing to do. You are already perfect.¨
- Let go/detach.

Following this is a 3 stage breathing strategy which I could try to explain but it must be learned by one´s self. Or shown. So all I can really do is give it my praises and encourage you to give Dan and Katheryn a call down in Madison. Here´s their info....

Taijicoleman@yahoo.com
madisondaoguan.org
Telephone: (608) 251-4726

So find the inner peace that awaits and get back to breathing the right way. Then things seem to just fall into place. <3

Sending my love and inner peace to all, beachside, from Iruña, Ecuador.

El Viento Resonante What? :) Glad You Were Wondering....

While trying to open up my blog today, I came across something not unexpected, but so delightfully unexpected. Let me elaborate. The name of my blog is, el viento resonante, which in Spanish essentially means,¨ the wind that recieves and delivers information.¨ This, in turn, happens to be my ¨sign¨ according the Mayan callender. Now when we hear ¨Mayan callender¨some may think, doomsday, 2012. But this is not what I have learned. It is about getting to know who you are, what you are meant to do.

I first became aquainted with the Mayan callender about a year ago, thanks to my ¨brother,¨ Jose, and the first thing to do is learn your symbol according to the day and year in which you were born into this life.

Each day, according to the callender, has a purpose and symbols that go along with it. This is able to BE thanks to hundreds of years of extremely careful and precise stargazing and note taking done by the ancient Mayans. They eventually developed a 260 day, 13 moon/20 solar seal cyle (13 main joints on your body, and 20 fingers & toes) where they have noted the nature of each specific day (260 days is also the amount of time we all spend in the womb before we are born). I digress. :)

So, if ever you have felt in a funk that you can´t quite explain, maybe there´s something you´re not doing or think you are unable to do. Feels like there is something missing from your day or your life. Or, on the other hand, like in the case I´m about to tell you about, you experience an indescribable blissfull feeling that you´re doing exactly what you were supposed to do, and you ARE exactly where you are supposed to BE (and you´re always exactly where you should BE when you ARE there!)

For example, in my case, I happen to find myself at a beach lodge on the coast of Ecuador, south of Esmereldas in a place just out of Mompiche. Iruña, they call it. And I find myself soaking up the sun. Listening to the waves. One of the paradises I´ve been so lucky to know. But then again, everywhere I seem to be is a paradise within itself. :) Now that....that is bliss. Being perfectly content where every you may be. However, it´s funny how paradise can still be so lacking. If only my family could be here with me. And my love, Mike. Now that would be my paradise. Where ever we are all togegther. Yet I know that they are here with my, for I carry them in my heart. :) Mmm to be free from want.

Anyways, back to the story. So I´m logging onto the computer, trying to get to my blog which I have put under ¨elvientoresonante.¨ I come across another blog instead called, IN LAK´ECH, which is a Mayan phrase meaning, ¨I am you, you are me.¨ We are all one in the same. Beauiful, no?

Moving along...I decided to see if there was a post for today, which there wasn´t when I checked. So I looked at yesterday´s and here´s what I found.....It was all in Spanish so I´ve translated the concepts into English. No Google translator, thank you. :) Still, read with caution. Leelo con caución. :)

SOL RESONANTE AMARILLO - Yellow Sun that Sends and Recieves Information

SOL RESONANTE AMARILLO - Kin 20 – Portal de Activación Galáctica –Pacal Votan. (Things from the callender I don´t quite understand yet, but am learning! :)

SOL: Acción:  SUN: Action: ILUMINAR. TO ILLUMINATE. Poder: Power. FUEGO UNIVERSAL. Universal fire. Esencia: VIDA. Essence: LIFE.

RESONANTE: Acción: INSPIRAR. Poder: CANALIZAR. Esencia: ARMONIZACIÓN

The action is to send and recieve information. Power to inspire. To channel essence, harmonization.

Cámara Resonante, manda la Armonización. Sintoniza el servicio con la acción.

Cuando somos receptivos, el Sol es el medio de trasmisión por el cual recibimos todo lo necesario para hacer la magia de los encantamientos. Tu barita, puesta al Sol, se recargará de la energía suficiente para actuar cuando lo necesites. EL SOL ILUMINA EL CAMINO DEL MAGO BLANCO, PARA QUE PUEDA LLEGAR A SU DESTINO. ES TU ALIADO PERFECTO Y TE PERMITE PERCIBIRTE COMO UN MARAVILLOSOS SER SOLAR PRODUCTO DE LA CREACIÓN DIVINA. 

My version:
When we are receptive, the sun is what transmits what we recieve, everything that is necessary to make the magic happen. Your magic, your magic wand (you yourself)- when you are close to the sun, you recharge enough energy to do what you need to do when you need to do it. The sun illuminates the white, magic road, so that we arrive at our destinations. It is the perfect ally and allows you to perceive how marvelous it is to be a product of divine creation.

With that said, I know I am exactly where I am supposed to be, doing exactly what I need to do. Working on my project of inspiration, for I myself am inspired. Inspired to share the light on this journey of enlightenment, so that all may have what I have. What has found me. So that we can live sustainably ever after. In harmoney with ourselves, each other, and what surrounds us.

PaZ y AmOr De EcUaDoR -  Peace and love from Ecuador.

p.s. I encourage you to look into finding your symbols too....lawoftime.org :) It´s marvellously interesting to say the least....

A Little Bit of Poetry

Oh to be a frigate bird, soaring through the sky.

Watching all the waves roll in and how the clouds pass by.

The waves are calm and steady, they make a soothing sound.

Now just breathe in, slow and deep, right up through the ground.

Feel the earth between your toes and and fill yourself with light.

And this you see, is how to BE, in harmony both day and night.

<3

Connected Communities = Connected Families = Connected Hearts = Bliss

And so continues this project of mine, and with success I must say. Sunday I went with Jose to a drum circle that his friends were having. They´re from Argentina and and make the drums- oh it was wonderful to have the musice beat through your body. The Argentine couple had just had a baby on part of the Andes range on a mountain called, Ilalo. Breathaking to say the very least. Their friends all came to bid them farewell and a safe journey home, and the send off was a pot luck lunch and a music sesh just the beats of the drums. And you could tell they had all done this before. The way they were in sync with each other and fed from one another´s vibe. The Argentine couple was too lovely. Mariana and the babe, Antu, nestled themselves in the grass with their little plate of food and played with the other babes as they discovered the grass and the drums.

The couple and their friends seemed so close knit, like one giant family. And so I asked Jose, ¨Do they use much money, these folks?¨ And he told me no, that they barely used money. But that they were indeed like a community, always helping each other out. That, it´s difficult to maintain a lifestyle where you don´t use much money, but that it´s much easier when everyone is helping everyone else out- like a family. Everyone with their craft and always wanting what they have and never needing or wanting more. Anyways, it struck me as quite beautiful- their way of life. So connected to the earth. So harmonious. So respectful. Now how to get more people live like that is the question....A transition it may be, but a beautiful one nonetheless.

Today as I was eating lunch I said to Jose, ¨Gosh I feel like, billions of dollars.¨ And we laughed,  not because we were enjoying our lunch by the beach looking out to the ocean. It didn´t have to do with location. And I could have farther from a billion dollars. But the feeling of connectedness we are able to experience is worth much more than money. We joked that billionaires probably don´t feel this amazaing. It´s sad though. If I could I´d bottle this feeling, which in the last year has become my state of normalcy. I wouldn´t sell the bottles for money, of course. I´d give them away. But the beautiful thing is that everyone can have what I would put in that little bottle. It´s just being willing to understand how to get it that gets in the way. But those who will understand and make the transition will know what I´m talking about when I say what a beautiful, amazing, indescribable feeling of aliveness and bliss all mushed together and wrapped but with pure love and happiness. That´s how feeling connected feels...well, kind of. :)

Something for the Soul

A Summed Up Statement of Our Mission and Direction. Read With Care and Enjoy. <3

From the enchanted islands to a spring-fed lake,

My friends and I would like to take-

Just a moment or two and share our mission with you,

‘Cause believe it or not, you’re a part of it too….

We’re propelling a movement, a dance if you please….

To share information and put our systems at ease.

We live on a planet sustaining more than its weight-

And the signs have all told us, Mother Nature’s irate.

Yet we’re caught in a system seeming to keep us down;

It extends ‘round the world in every village and town. 

Our hearts say fix this, there’s a better way to live;

But I’m only one person, just my two hands to give.

But fear not dear friends, for we have a solution;

A cure, it’s true! For this senseless pollution.... 

We’ll be the platform if you fill the chairs-

And we’ll share information ‘bout how take care.

Not just of ourselves- both inside and out;

But the planet we live on, the one that’s been forgotten about.

So help us help you, and we’ll all help each other-

And in turn we’ll help nature and reconnect one another.

Yes, it’s a big job, but you know what they say….

Many hands make light work at the end of the day.

So come stand beside us and we’ll continue this dance,

After all shouldn’t we give these children’s children a chance?

Where My Thesis Begins

To get to the point there are theories that as an organism, Planet Earth is reacting to human beings as a virus, a plague. And therefore natural disasters are occuring more often and are becoming more and more devastating. Pachamama, Mother Earth, to put it nicely, is quite upset. And as a species, the vast majority only seem to add to her fury, directly or indirectly. Scientists have been giving us the facts for years and yet we continue to turn our backs and choose to live a seemingly blissful life in a bubble where we do not think about or consider what we do not see in front of us. But this life, my loves, will not last forever. There are limits, and consumerism and on a larger scale corpratism and pushing these limits to an alarming and real breaking point. Our ways of life are sucking the life from our planet. We have been complacent to a system that  squanders our resources without thought or consideration to who will inherit this mess after us. So it is my mission to aid in the transition to a life where we are conscious of our actions, our impacts, and especially those we do not see. For we are not as disconnected as we may appear to be, on this big, beautiful planet of ours. We are but one, global community.

¨And now we have to see that the whole world is the community. And we must all take care of each other that way. It´s not just a community of human beings, it´s a community of plants, animals, and elements. And we really must understand that. That´s what´s going to bring us joy too. And pleasure. That´s what´s missing in our lives right now. We can call it spirituality, but the fact of the matter is joy comes from that bliss of connectedness.¨ - Quote from the second Zeitgeist movie series, Addundum.
With that said, a large part of my project- my experiment if you will, is to avoid the transaction of money. Money in the pursuit of self-interest is the single most motivating factor for this ongoing environmental destruction and social unrest around the world. Therefore it has become another part of my mission to avoid the exchange of money as best I can, subsituting it for whatever type of work or gift the good people of the world I encounter will allow for. It may seem impossible due to the fact we live in a monetary based economy where is the key factor in survival, however, I believe it is possible to steer away from it and still live a full if not and even fuller life.
So I wonder, is it possible to revert back to a simpler time? Free from material posessions, free of our egos? Can we adopt and transform to a life where we are not so easily spoiled by convenience? All I know is that we´ll do the best we can, with fervor and persistance. And most importantly forgiveness and healing, to ourselves and our home. All I can hope for is that this project will shed some light on a more conscious way of living so that we all may live a more harmoniously with nature and each other. All of us, for everyone, all together- one love.

With that I bid you good day, and may you feel the sunshine kiss your face and reconnect you to yourself and the universe.

And the Adventure Continues

First, let me introduce myself. My name is Lindsie Ann Wallenfang and I grew up in a beautiful, tiny town in central Wisconsin called, Green Lake. I spent two years at Loyola University Chicago with a focus in Environmental Studies and in, May 2009, I embarked on an study abroad adventure to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. I quickly fell in love with the country and the people and decided spend Fall semester 2009 on the mainland studying at Universidad San Francisco de Quito and Spring 2010 at USFQ´s campus on the island of San Cristobal located in the Galapagos Archipelago. While in Galapagos my educational focus was in Marine Ecology however after working on a few projects I found that my path lies in Environmental Educaiton.

With that said I returned home for the summer to find my path narrowing down more than I could have imagined. My grandmother (who taught elementary art through environmental education for 40 years) asked if I would help her in her proposal to turn our old, historical courthouse into some sort of environmental education center. Gladly, I accepted. A long and tedious road it has turned out to be but I have recently been pulling the pieces together and laying the groundwork for a community-based, not-for-profit people´s organization. It will serve as a platform for people to share information and increase awareness of cultural and environmental topics, both common and critical, so that we may bring to mind things that are out of sight and equip ourselves with the knowledge and skills needed to live a truly harmonious life- in balance with mankind and Great Nature.

As you may know putting together this type of organization requires a large amount of paperwork, and while I was attempting to make moves and get things rolling I found myself in a place where I wasn´t accomplishing what needed to be accomplished. Not to mention I have yet to finish batchelor´s degree. However, Environmental Education as a field of study is still in the process of being developed therefore making my mission all the more challenging. So, in a sense I have to pave my own way and I figured I´d best put myself in a good place to write out the bylaws for our people´s organization and get a head start on my thesis.

So now I find myself in Ecuador. Where the culture is warm and the vibes are tranquil.