(Disclaimer: That’s supposed to be “and Why and How *I* Do What I Do” because I obviously borrowed the title’s inspiration from the original. My story is by no means as gripping…or long, but considering every word is equally heart-felt, I decided upon keeping the title and going along with it after writing it last night.)
Hello, SuperForesters!
I was going through our archives this afternoon (An activity I definitely recommend to all of you, especially on the noticeably “slow” days. You wouldn’t believe the treasures that are stowed away back there.) and I came across the interesting tidbit that on this day (October 1st) two years ago, my first post was published on SuperForest. It’s my “SuperForest Anniversary”!!! And I’m not going to lie, it’s a strange feeling. On one hand, I remember the evening as if it were yesterday. I couldn’t go to sleep that night, the excitement was too much. Instead, I was lying in bed staring up at my ceiling completely intoxicated with the unsurmountable feeling of overwhelming joy and wonder. At the same time, two years can feel like a long time. And reading those first posts caused me to reflect upon the obvious and extreme amounts of growth that have happened between the October first of 2008 and the October first of this year.
You see, three years ago I wasn’t really sure of who I was or what I wanted to be (a feeling I’m sure several of you can relate to). And I got the idea that I wanted to “improve myself” and “become a better person” or “make a difference”. I read a few New Age books, dug their message, started trying to eat better foods, bought a Sigg bottle…I can go on, but I’m pretty sure many of you already get the idea. Then I found SuperForest. It looked a lot different back then but the message and the energy was much the same: contagious. And before I knew it, I was visiting the website every day, curious and excited to see what sorts of information its authors would provide for us.
Then, in what seemed to be a snap, I found myself on the other side; a member of the team I’d grown so fond of. I can’t really describe how intimidating this was. At the time, I was nowhere near what I’d consider to be a “difference-maker” or even a “blogger” at that. I was just…Carla. And to be totally honest with you, two years later, I feel the same way. Career options have been narrowed down but are still pretty open, I read a wide range of books with “New Age” ones scattered in the mix, I rarely eat junk food but am nowhere near a vegan, I lost my Sigg bottle but try not to ever buy plastic water bottles, and I still visit SuperForest every day (it’s just way more intense). In summary, I’m still always aiming to try to “improve myself” and I definitely am always trying to improve my writing and blogging. Regardless, I am still very much “just Carla”.
But somewhere along the way, during these past two years of SuperForesting and absorbing all that this experience had to teach me, I began to worry less about the “better person” person I wanted to become in the future and instead, was taught to concentrate on celebrating the person I was today. Every day, I began to share things that made me happy through uplifting stories, incredible advances in technology, astounding artwork, and personal reflections. Eventually, in learning of humanity’s successes and the earth’s abundance, I was encouraged to reflect on my own. And it wasn’t long before I learned that “just Carla” was in all actuallity, “just perfect.”And I totally don’t mean that in a braggy sense, I mean it in the old Lao Tzu sense, when he says:
Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.
It’s a beautiful message, and it is one we try to celebrate in every post that we share with you here, every day. Consequently, by sharing and spreading this message with your help, we have created a community of the most wonderful, attractive, enthusiastic, and potent humans that the world has to offer; together, we’ve all created SuperForest.
Two years ago, when I’d first become a member of this team, I didn’t really know what to expect of my becoming a member of “Team SuperForest” (I’m not really sure anybody knows), but even in my wildest dreams, I don’t think I’d ever expect to participate in “Saving a Seed“, launching a project that would translate our Humanifesto into 23 languages, help write a children’s story about a sea-lion, co-create a game in which one “mountain cats” their opponent, meet and interview several incredible musicians, host a t-shirt launch party and contest with a talented designer, host a booth at EarthFair, give a speech about SuperForest in front of an audience, and make some of the most incredible and absolutely brilliant friends I could ever ask for. But I did. We did. And that’s why I’ve continued to play this game.
Every time I go to bed, I try to remind myself of that incredible feeling I had on the evening of October 1, 2008 and I try to keep some of that same excitement and joy toward what the next day will bring. Because even though uncertainty towards the future may at times be a scary thing, SuperForest has taught me that it isn’t anything we have to worry about because:
We are beautiful.
We are abundant.
We are perfect.
We are SuperForesters.
And together, we can create just about anything.
Love and gratitude goes out to each and everyone of you. For reals.
-Carla
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