The Preciousness of Life

As a reader of our journal, and thus caring about the world, about others, about Nature, I’m pretty sure you’ve had moments like I had yesterday morning.

Since the election, the internal framework we have assembled to protect our hearts will occasionally shudder. Mine did while walking with our pup Cooper in the park at the beginning of our day.

I’ve been working with our attorney to submit our final reply brief in our case to protect Nature from Cal Fire and others who plan to profit from their designs. The process has sent my mind into corners I’ve successfully avoided over the past year. In the final quarter of our 20 year fight, reflection is not far from my mind.

As Cooper and I strolled along, I started thinking about my dad and what he fought for in World War II; my mom, who picked up the pieces when dad returned. How they both valued honor and kindness. I thought about how our country began to recognize the importance of Nature in the 1960s and ‘70s and the laws that were passed to protect her. I remembered the tremendous progress we achieved about ten years ago when the US Forest Service finally acknowledged the importance of chaparral, how the LA Times began to accurately describe how too many fires are threatening our native shrublands, and how our messages regarding the best way to protect our communities from wildfire were gaining traction.

Then, as we have all evolved to do, I began focusing on the threats we face and the price we have paid in the past to keep those threats at bay. We’ve lost some ground.

Having not read the news since the day after the election, I’ve successfully avoided the fear machine that the media has become. It’s been peaceful. The time freed up has allowed me to expand my knowledge in areas I’d neglected, especially philosophy with friends. I’ve tackled and completed a number of projects that have accumulated over the years – refinishing furniture, building a little water feature to attract more birds, pouring the concrete foundation for a new mosaic like the one we saw in Pompeii years ago.

Regardless, the threats found an opportunity and broke out of their dark corner. I felt the abyss stare back at me.

After a few difficult moments, the light returned.

I remembered all the joy Cooper has given us over the past 16 and a half years, the wonderful Christmas we have planned with friends and family, and the fact that I was enjoying watching the egrets resting in the nearby Eucalyptus trees. My family is safe and healthy. I can still swing on a backpack and explore the Sierra Nevada. I feel grateful for the freedom my parents fought for, freedom that has allowed all of us to walk in the park and dream anything we want.

My internal framework settled. It maintained its strength. I reminded myself that today, no one, no challenge, nothing outside my control shall be given the power to steal the joy that the world has to offer. Not today. Life is too precious to do otherwise.

Much of strength within has been fortified over the last couple years through friendship. Developing and expanding friendship is one of the key principles of Epicurus, a favorite philosopher I’ve discovered recently. His entire approach is to seek a pleasurable life by eliminating the causes of anxiety through, in part, friendship and the exploration of knowledge. One of his sayings is especially poignant in this uncertain time. “Security amidst the limited number of dreadful things is most easily achieved through friendship.”

Enjoy your family, treasure your friends, and rejoice in life – they’re all precious.

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and a joyous, rambunctious New Year’s,
Rick, Cooper, and your friends at the California Chaparral Institute

Cooper, talking with a tree friend.