By Katie Lavallee
Please join our commUNITY for the Environmental Awareness Club's (EAC) 6th annual RGV Climate March Sunday at the beautiful, National Butterfly Center in Mission. We’ll be coming together to reclaim the river, celebrate our collective strength and overcome communal challenges by harnessing the power of the people and the power of the planet.
I write to you from a mindful, heart-centered state with the intention of breaking down confining structures and build up an accepting architecture within us, within our community and within our society that has evolved from past trauma.
Before we break the physical border that is separating families and tearing up our land, we need to dissolve the emotional barriers within ourselves: We deserve to feel secure. We deserve to feel passionate. We deserve to feel confident. We deserve to feel love. We deserve to feel heard. We deserve you feel true in yourSelf.
We each face our own barriers. I personally struggle with anxiety and depression. But as I strengthen my relationship with Self, I gain more control over these egotistical responses by transmuting them into desired energy-states. I encourage everybody to be mindful of your behaviour, conscious of your thoughts, and to trust your instinct to unearth all aspects of yourself; even those deep, vulnerable parts.
It is a worthy effort to understand we project our own experiences in everything that we do. We also reflect our individual state in our interpretations. With this shift of awareness we learn not to take things personally and avoid making assumptions. Our mentality shapes our reality so instead of allowing ourselves to succumb to negativity, we have the power to shift our energy to manifest a fulfilling existence, which we absolutely deserve!
Before we can achieve peace in this chaotic world we must first cultivate peace within ourselves.
As we grow into ourselves, we will also come into our natural place in this world more Presently. We learn our strengths and limitations, we are more confident on what we have to offer to our community, but we honour our individual needs to excel at our responsibilities.
As we build trust with our neighbours we feel comfortable seeking help because no one human can be the change that we need—it takes the whole, damn valley. We must set aside differences and unite in the face of aversion. Just like the mighty trees, whose roots break through cement when we channel our capacity to collaborate and to cooperate, we will shatter confines and grow into our collective strength, shaping a new order that represents us. Like a forest, our roots have no borders.
We are boundless, abundant, resilient.
To most effectively protect the Rio Grande Delta from the bigoted border wall, we need to acknowledge that this physical barrier mirrors our own internal blockages. Resisting the border is not just about solidarity or action, it is also about empathy and healing. I propose that we view the border wall issue through a lens that provides the opportunity to evolve.
We shall not fall victim, we will rise to create a new world that has adapted to overcome the conflicts that have pushed our limits. We shall counter the discriminatory hate by acting with love, striving for peace, counting our blessings, shining our light and through ourselves, through our community — UNITE.
You are warmly welcome to come as you are to the Climate March. Trust that you will be safe in this inclusive atmosphere created to empower and to join forces to defend for our rights! You play a pivotal role in this movement and we need YOU and your unique attributes to strengthen our resistance.
As a former member of the EAC that’s been to three climate marches, the rally offers an outlet for release of accumulated emotions. Let your voice ring loud, proud and let it all go. The picnic event offers the opportunity to play, to sing, to dance and allow joy to flow. The informative speakers offer educational awareness and networking possibilities to grow.
See you by the river
Katie Lavallee graduated from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley with a degree in Biology in 2016. She's pursuing a master's degree in Agricultural and Environmental Sustainability Sciences. After graduation, Lavallee returned home to Manitoba, Canada where she surveyed and documented rare and endangered plant species and worked in childcare for government-funded, community organisations. The UTRGV grad runs the Mighty Trees Movement which organizes yoga retreats that incorporate environmental awareness with a purpose to fund conservation efforts like reforestation in Indonesia, where she researched orangutans and rain forest conservation. Mighty Trees plans revitalization efforts along the Rio Grande Delta. She'll be leading a children's yoga class at this year's Climate March.
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