oh Memories ... so what I was doing 6 years ago ... gathering samples ... for a lawyer .... what we have learned since .. don't always believe what you are told ......sometimes there are people with ulterior motives that you will never understand ... WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED SINCE ... that the top scientists in the world can't tell you about the harm tar sands oil is going to do... because there are so many chemicals .. (and in a spill combinations of chemicals) that it impossible to list all of the damage. Quite often you will hear of 1 chemical which benzene ...but the current thoughts is there is between 24 and 29 that are cancer causing  ... or as I asked the toxicologist of Enbridge in a private meeting between citizens and their company... which one of those 10 thousand chemicals are good for humans.... (yeah I have been snarky my entire life)  Yes we know that they are hiding crap... they use the same bs science and lawyers and media spin doctors that the tobacco industry used...
   Some of started out in this battle fighting because we saw the illnesses  and health issues from the beginning ... Some of us started in this battle because of the love of nature.....Some of us started in this battle because of the love of community.  Some started in the battle because of worries about climate change...  (something I did not believe in at the start of this journey) But if you open yourself to listening to others ... you may learn something.
   I often say in my posts to do it with Love .... someone asked me do what with Love ... the answer is everything ... because if you do your work from a standpoint of love ... you can't go wrong.
 I once went to the an enviromental law conference with several activists from my spill.. after the conferance which the presentations went pretty well.... as we were returning to our car an argument broke out among some of the activists... I deliberately stayed out of it because I thought it was time that our advisor and mentor should see what was going on... they continued screaming (yes literally screaming and yelling ) at each other for 3 to 4 blocks to the parking garage past thousands of people...
. I just kept walking past the garage as they stood there screaming at each other .. told my friend to pick me up at the end of the block... I had tears streaming down my face because I realized that not one of the group got it... (I cry when I am pissed off ...) Here I had neighbors and friends sick and dying ... and they were standing there screaming at each other.
  Later my mentor and I was discussing this ... I who in the corporate world could choose people to work in a team and succeed magnificently could not get these people to work together...  She wisely said ... sometimes you work alone and can get more done. When people are doing it for money or ego's or personal gain you are going to have problems ...
  Last week I was on a conference call for an enviromental issue and the moderator asked us to say our name and what organization we were with ..... I said Michelle ...just me... most of these people knew me so it was no big deal... I have worked with most of these groups in the past at one point or another... I appreciate and love the work that they do ...but I don't join their groups or organizations. I join in when I can and for the most part they are ok with that.
   There are lots of people, groups, and organizations fighting for a lot of issues ... water, air, soil, trees, animals, health and justice. A lot of them do it from a base of love ... just open your mind and realize that not all do... there is an old business saying know your rabbi ... which meant choose your boss or mentor careful.. you shouldn't allign yourself  with someone that was going the wrong direction or was on their way out of the company.
 Remember that lawyer.... turns out he was an industry insider ... he harmed hundreds,  if not thousands of people... he destroyed lives and the industry won... Â
  So analyse why someone is doing what they do...  are they doing it from a place of love... ego or fame... political or monetary gain. Sit back and watch them... talk to others who have dealt with them... join in on stuff that you believe in... and do it with love.
