"In the beginning there was the gift. We are born helpless infants, creatures of pure need with little resource to give, yet we are fed, we are protected, we are clothed and held and soothed, without having done anything to deserve it, without offering anything in exchange. This experience, common to everyone who has made it past childhood, informs some of our deepest spiritual intuitions. Our lives are given us; therefore, our default state is gratitude. It is the truth of our existence." - The first lines of Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transformation. March for climate change day. AKA #icantbelieveistillhavetoprotestthisshit number 567. Ok, I am not joining some kind of protest march but this is one of those things in which I feel like that this needs to be on our everyday list of priorities. I mean, how effective are New Year Resolutions? Celebrating Earth day doesn't fix the planet because it has a mark on a calendar. You shouldn't wait until Thanksgiving to think of something to be thankful about. Why do we end up waiting for memorial day to make a big show and forget about it for the rest of the year? #rantover I'm having a #posttrailblues moment and feeling particularly crappy about the state of the world. #thruhiking taught me that selflessness is a necessary quality to being a better person. My nihilistic existentialism is a casual backseat driver wondering to why even bother trying to be a better person? So I'm taking a moment to try and remember what it's like being a happy dirtbag appreciative of beauty I don't quite understand. #cascadelocks #pnw🌲 #pct #takelessdomore #payitforward