Question 1: If you could talk to Mother Nature, what would you say?

I would tell her I am sorry for the members of my species that are causing her so much harm and pain and who do not understand or appreciate her gifts. I would tell her I am trying so hard and doing my best to fight for her and protect her. I would tell her I am on her side, as a re so many other people, but sadly we are a minority fighting to change the whole culture of rampant greed and individualism and reckless worldview that is destroying her.

I would tell her not to give up on our species, that we can still embody different ways of treating each other and relating to the natural world, but that it will take time and a lot of hope and optimism. Lastly, I would tell her I am always on her side and that if anything, I will always be fighting for her.

Question 2: Name a trend that is currently ‘out of style’ that you wish would make a comeback.

I wish being a hippie would come back into style haha! I wish environmentalism would be the hip trend that comes back around and become an even bigger trend than it once was or currently is. I wish all the celebrities were challenging capitalism and tearing down Big Oil. I wish veganism was the norm and all the omnivores were weirdos. I wish it would be popular to be a rad veggie-eating hippie and that fighting oppressive systems was cool. I wish it was cool to hold billionaires accountable for their exploitation of people and the environment.

Why can’t all this be the new norm or popular trend that never goes out of style? Why can’t fighting for the rights of people and preserving the natural world be the hip new thing that everyone is doing?

Question 3: It’s a rainy day. What would make it perfect?

Honestly, I hate the rain. But what I think would make rain tolerable, would be changing my mindset toward it. What would make a rainy day perfect would be if instead of seeing it as a nuisance to my activities, I could see and feel the rain on my skin, and know that this is what is nourishing me and all life on Earth. The plants and all wildlife need this water to sustain themselves. Rain is a beautiful gift from nature that should never be squandered. It is the one thing that all life needs in one way or another and we should cherish every moment that we get to experience its wonderful downpour.

(Cover art by Dustin Kalynuk on Instagram)