As the New Year dawns, I find myself in the "City of Dawn:" Auroville, a place where an international community of folks have gathered to celebrate human potential, and care for The Mother, our earth. The cabin I have been renting is named “celebration.” A not-so subtle reminder to me to celebrate the changes we are facing on the planet, and remember possibility exists in every moment. I have documented many examples of this celebration of creativity, and living well with the earth, including a musician who is working with ex-gang kids from the Auroville area; bored Tamil youth apparently, in search of themselves like youth the world-over. He teaches them how to collect natural materials, and make their own musical instruments; some are a fusion of traditional instruments, while others are clearly tribal, and still others are other-worldly, like the black granite device that is rubbed with water to create a sound that is near angelic.

It’s Christmas day, and I’m reflecting on where I was this time last year: holed-up in a bungalow for 24-hours preparing for an arduous 6-hour trek up the virtical grades of the Sierra Nevada mountains of Columbia. Tears collect like pools in my eyes as I remember the message of Mama Ramon; a message that echoed the four other Mama’s I met on that trip, about the future of the planet, and our task as Human Beings. That message is sealed on video, untranslated, and no one but myself has witnessed it. It waits with the rest of my my documentary footage, focused on ancient prophecies, and modern-day seers warning of a grim future for the planet, and us as a species. I realize I put the project down because it became too disheartening, and I too identified. I had begun to wear the content of the film like a mantle, and lost my vision. I recognize all too easily the precariousness of the planet, and the responsibility we humans must accept for treading more carefully, yet one cannot “do” anything, and in the same breath if one does not take personal responsibility for what one can, who will?

After a 48 hour trek, complete with three flights, three airports, surreal layover’s, and a 4-hour jeep ride along windy, pock-marked roads, I have connected with Ricco in the Northern-most Indian city of Gangtok. Gangtok, the capitol of Skiim, is touted as the "Ultimate Eco-tourism destination of India,” and home to roughly five hundred thousand bustling, and alive people: peaceable, and happy is my first, and strongest impression of these folks, nestled in the shadows of the awesome Himalayas.

Bon Voyage Contemplation:

A prayer "the unexamined life is not worth living."  A quote by Etty Hellison which will forever be etched in my heart, having read the diary of her life during the events of World War 2, her ultimate imprisonment, and death, together with millions of others. Her life was beyond rich, despite the horrific circumstances that defined it. She knew something few of us do: there is no other life to live but the one we have been given. Rather than waste one moment on self-pity, hopeful notions of escape or worse, fill her days with hatred toward the Nazi’s, she instead filled her inner-life, one filled with wonderment, and passion for this moment. Life lived "As It Is." I have taken inspiration from her writing, and the story of her life many times over. When fear, doubt or worry about tomorrow gets the better of me (and it does all too frequently) I try to remember Etty, and her unbounded realization.

Life is uncertain, and brief to-be-sure. Risk is inherent in every breath. So live boldly. Audaciously. Take the radical leap to live the life we have been given, and don’t waste a moment of regret, blame or what if? Easier said than done. But if Etty could fully embrace the life she was given, as horrific as the concentration camps of Nazi Germany were, we too can lean-into this moment as if it were the only one we have, and committ to live the 100% responsible life. As damndibly difficult as this is when it is far easier to blame our government, "rage at the machine” for its insidious consumerism that is unsustainable, and bringing about environmental collapse or get angry at the unconsciousness of the neigbor whose dog is barking, 100% responsibility is the key to the “examined life” Etty lived with joy. Like it or not things won’t change until we do. “Be the change you would like to see in the world,” the great Indian change-agent Ghandi once said. Sadly the saying has lost much of its essential meaning, being tossed glibly about on bumper-stickers. We may need to digest the admonishment on the bumper in front of us longer that it takes for the light to turn green in order that the great saints' words might pierce us deeper than a superficial "right on!" The advice is indeed timeless, and could not be more imparative today with such terror-a-foot, uncertanty and an endemic disconnect from the heart. The Kali Yuga which the Indian's have called this time, is said to last many more years. If that is so, we best take 100% responsibility now while we have breath, and not wait for the other to "get it," realizing what Etty realized under the most degrading, inhumane, and terrorized of circumstances. Our life, our actions, thought, speech, is and are the only thing for which we can be responsible.

  3 days prior to departure:  
As my departure date nears, I am greeted by the morning news, telling of a bomb blast near Calcutta, India where I will land in only four days. Images of the incident graphically reveal the madness of these actions, and beg the question, "why?" If only I could meet those who did this to inquire. 

Our civilization is facing terror, hatred, cruelty so inhumane many of us simple choose not to notice, as our environment teeters dangerously on the brink of no return, while millions of people around the world go to sleep at night with no food or clean water. Bombs blowing up on trains, killing innocent children, is a loud cry from of a world desperately out of balance. If you are one of those people who maintain a vision for balance, and basic sanity, where such cry's of desperation are no longer necessary, please join us here at the Edge OfThe World Viewer, and BraveNewEarth.com, where others like Willy Whitefeather, and dharma dog, are eager to spread the word of HOPE, and plant Seeds of Change. View these videos freely, and share them with others who want to stop the madness.

I depart Sunday, November 26th to connect-up with Rico early next week. Stay tuned to our journey here, where we will meet those rare folk who choose, rather than to focus on the cruelty, fear and terror, focus on simply doing good right here, right now. I look forward to meeting these earth stewards, and those voluntarily choosing this life of simplicity. I hope I will allow their service to humble me, to see the beauty amidst such darkness.

Bruce