Little Islands

Last night I was reading John G. Neihardt's Black Elk Speaks, and came to a paragraph that made me very sad. Black Elk explains:

Once we were happy in our own country and we were seldom hungry, for then the two-leggeds and the four-leggeds lived together like relatives, and there was plenty for them and for us. But the Wasichus [white people] came, and they have made little islands for the four-leggeds, and always these islands are becoming smaller, for around them surges the gnawing flood of the Wasichu.
- p. 9

I began thinking of Middleburg, FL, where I grew up, and where I witness the "islands becoming smaller" every time I go back. It breaks my heart so much that I cannot live there again unless I become much stronger of heart, or well-versed enough in policy to help restore the land and wildlife.

So, I decided that my next lucid dream action would be to help preserve the dwindling forests in the place I grew up. Because environmental lucid dreaming is so new to me, I don't have a cohesive plan for the project, nor has the project made a long-term vision clear to me. Therefore, my lucid dreaming goals are all over the board right now as the project and I get to know one another.

One scenario I have seen (and which makes my heart sing) is a group of people working and dreaming together to restore the native habitats of their particular bioregion. I am very fortunate to live in an area where this is a feasible trajectory. Until this time, I will focus my efforts on Middleburg, where lucid dream restoration remains, for now, a bit more of a stretch.

Below is the road to my childhood home. All the trees on the right are slated to be razed for the development of new strip malls.


And here are some more hopeful pictures of the beautiful native landscape at Gold Head State Park in Clay County, Florida.