Greetings, friends!

I was a nature-loving child when the first Earth Day was celebrated, back in 1970.

As I recounted in my environmental memoir, What I Forgot…and Why I Remembered, and as you can see from my childhood drawings at 8 or 9 years old, I was already in love with the natural world and concerned about the havoc humans were wreaking.


I’m still that same nature-loving girl on the inside—still painfully aware of all the suffering humans continue to inflict on the other living beings of this planet, and still trying to preserve the beauty I see, whether in writing, drawing or photography. 

Because here’s the thing, friends: most of us don’t really change that much on the inside as we grow older. 

Like old trees, our exterior may get wrinkled and hoary, but at our heart the sap rises as quick and full of vigor as ever. 

Old Man of the Forest, drawing by J. Browdy 2022

I believe that each of us is an emanation of the Earth, a remarkable expression of energy in matter, endowed with the kind of creative consciousness that can change the world. 

I want to be the kind of person who changes the world for the better. 

That’s why to me, Earth Day is personal.

It’s an opportunity to take to think more deeply about how I can be a positive, healing force—at least in small ways, in my own little corner of our great Gaian home. 

Because the truth is that everything we do makes a difference. 

Small gestures matter—taking the time to slow down and appreciate the beauty of the landscape around us, for instance. Taking the time to preserve our love for the world in writing or other creative arts. 

When we tap into the creativity at our core, we connect our inner vision with the outer world in a potent alchemical exchange of energy that can spark truly transformative growth and evolution. 

And as we explore our on-going relationship to Earth, we honor our Mother Gaia with the intensity of our attention, and strengthen our individual and collective intention to be part of her healing regeneration. 

Sending the blessings of Springtime your way! 

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