Most of us enjoy coming back to the comfort of our own beds after a long day of work or after a tiring ordeal outdoors. Our bed provides a comfort that is unmatched and unparalleled, something that most of us would dread exchanging with others. But can you imagine leaving behind the comfort of your bed and choosing to sleep on the branches of a tree and that too not because there is a compulsion or scarcity of choice but voluntarily and rather as a projection of one’s voice? Yes, this is almost out of the pages of a storybook but what is interesting is that this is real, and even inspirational.
Julia Butterfly Hill: an inspirational activist who chose a tree as a home
The story of Julia Butterfly Hill is very interesting and shows us how an activist can have great determination to dedicate her voice to the cause of the environment. She is best known as an American activist who spent 738 days living on a tree in an act of civil-disobedience to protect ecologically significant forests. From December 10,1997 to December 18, 1999, she lived on a 1000-year-old California redwood tree called Luna and by this act she drew great attention to the environmentally destructive logging actions going on in the area.
A young woman of just 23 years, she had no previous experience of environmental activism when she voluntarily agreed to devote herself to the cause. She never imagined that her environmental activism could make such a change in the world of environmentalism and draw so much of positive attention to the possibility of individual activism and the power of personal contribution. Her life choices have taught us that there is great power even in individual will and we can all do our bit in contributing towards the environment. Her example gives us a model to realise that our lives and unique expressions can be a gift to benefit the world.
Butterfly’s unique bond with Luna, the tree she spent many significant days of her life on
Julia developed a very unique and loving bond with the tree, Luna where she spent many days of her life. Her bond with the tree developed everyday and allowed her an opportunity to know the inner world of the tree, its deepest secrets, its pains, its aspirations and the mysteries of its deepest world. In many of her writings she expresses how the wisdom of the tree deeply motivated her inner world and how it made her a far spiritual person than she had been before. She has written much about the need for us to defend the rights of the environment, advocate against the destruction of the environment and do our bit in saving it. Her story teaches us how we can all do our own bit in making a change and saving the environment even by small acts of civil-disobedience.
Today she continues to exhibit her deep passion for the environment and she writes, speaks, motivates and enlightens people through her story, a story that is inspirational and life affirming.
