Working as the editor of Natural Awakenings–Naples/Ft. Myers presents wonderful opportunities for me to continually connect with new people and learn what is happening in our community. Rich rewards this month include the inspiring stories of eight environmental activists who made writing “Champions of the Southwest Florida Environment” a true joy. Our conversations sparked several insights and favorite memories of communing with Nature as a child. I hope that you, too, will personally benefit from hearing about their efforts to make a difference in our local and global communities.

After speaking with Rosie Emery, our featured multimedia artist in this month’s Creative Expressions department, I decided to explore more about how we’re all interconnected. Just as her song lyrics promised, my trip to the Happehatchee Center for a women’s circle reaped a serendipitous encounter with Rosie as well as Tylor Compton, a leader of the Sanibel School Green Team whom I had interviewed by phone the week before. Our chance happening felt more like a reunion than an initial meeting.

Over lunch with Diane Rhodes of the Naples Network for Climate Action, I awoke to the importance of living my life from the perspective of a planetary citizen who considers Earth to be home and humanity my family of origin. This epiphany brought with it a deeper sense of responsibility to be a better steward of our planet’s finite resources.

As part of my commitment to behave as a universal citizen, I joined Oprah’s book club for the first time and along with hundreds of thousands of others, read Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth (see global brief, page 29). Now my sense of inner purpose is even more firmly anchored in living from a state of awareness. I’m now starting a local Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) group.

April’s cover feature, “Breathe Easy at Home” (see page 36), made me realize that I was fortunate to have moved into a new home during season a few years ago, when our weather was cool enough to leave doors and windows open. The off-gassing had five months to escape before the hot humid summer hit. Each winter I throw open the windows and announce to the Universe that I’m ready for the trade winds to blow in fresh air.

I will never consider myself on a par with environmental activists like Julia Butterfly, whom I admire for sitting 738 days in the canopy of an ancient redwood to save the forests. I do, however, have an active pen that I frequently put to good effect supporting the important work of local activists. Friends also tell me I have a knack for networking and bringing people together, which I’ll employ April 19 when I attend Earth Day activities at Koreshan State Park in Estero (see news brief, page 9). I’m confident that I’ll hear more stories that I can write about in future issues.

Linda Sechrist, Editor