For quite some time now I have practiced living life one step at a time. In May of 2013 I left my homecity of 26 years in a camper I named Magic. I chose a direction and let the journey unfold, planning rarely more than a week in advance. The plans I did make always turned out different than I thought they would, so they were usually quite flexible. East across Canada to the coast. Write a book in Mexico. Provide a camp space at transformative festivals. I shifted my sails and let the wind take me on its course.

The beautiful part of this loose planning was the space it created in my life for the spontaneous, the unexpected, the things I could never plan for. Tree sitting in Trinidad. Writing a second book. Learning to love another family as deeply as my own. Discovering my love of creating Nature Art. Writing over 100 blog posts. Meeting new friends and deepening old relationships. Finding out what I am capable of. And more presently, connecting to the pain on this planet.

Why do human beings create and perpetuate painful acts of violence? Why do we hurt the ones we love? Why do we clean out oceans, drain wetlands, pollute the air, destroy forests, and abuse rivers? Why do we create hierarchies, judge others, commit murder, endorse slavery, and support exploitation?

So that we can see, hear, and feel our pain. So that we can recognize and acknowledge its presence. So that we can integrate its transformative potential into the very core of our being and give it the love and acceptance it so desperately needs.

I know I can feel it – the pain our planet is experiencing. It’s easy to see everywhere, just turn on the news. The real courage emerges when one is vulnerable enough to feel deeper into its source. Can you feel it? It’s like a background hum, and when your heart tunes into it you know its truth. We are all made of Earth. Many of you can probably think of a documentary you watched that tugged on your heart strings. Now imagine that amplified when observing it with your own eyes, because the screen allows for too much disconnection from the experience.

This is what I experienced in January 2014 when I drove down the 1600 kilometers of highway along the Baja, Mexico peninsula to write my first book. Hundreds of kilometers of highway lined with garbage and the sight of it tore at my heart. I stopped for a break at one point and a giant swath of land was completely covered in front of me. It brought me to tears. I felt into the cells of my body storing toxins, interfering with my body’s healthy functioning.

There is no denying the truth: our species has a lot of housekeeping to do. Thinking that we can just pave over a landfill, leave an island of trash the size of Texas in the middle of the ocean, remediate tar sands with sump pumps, or release toxic chemicals into the air – and not face the consequences – is the very thinking (or lack thereof) that got us into this mess.

I don’t know what we are going to do with all of the trash. What I do know is that it cannot stay where we have put it now. Step one is that we need to collect it.

A few mornings ago, I received my next step: I am going to Mexico to clean up the trash I saw one year ago.

It sounds crazy. I’m excited. I’m terrified. I don’t know what is going to happen. I don’t speak Spanish. I’m following my heart. I know I love to make Nature Art and this is the perfect transformation of a gift into service. This is the service that I am choosing to give back at this time. I am going to transform the trash into art as I collect it and see what spontaneously arises through the process.

I don’t mean to insight guilt or shame others for their choices. I don’t mean to sound self righteous, evangelical, or judgemental. These are the shadows of such an action and I can see them. I am doing this because I am both excited and scared to do it. I am doing this because I know the value in it. I am doing this because I feel the joy and fulfillment when I pick up garbage. I am doing this to express and humble myself while inviting others into their version of the same.

What beautiful thing do you want to create and give back to the world?

I need your help to make this dream a reality. Our current economic agreements often conflict with our innate desire to be of service. There isn’t any money in garbage collection. I would venture a guess that most answers people come up with to the previous question have the same challenge – there’s little to no money in it. That is why I reach out to others in community: to co-create new agreements that support valuable creative work that is too often left behind in the economic race to the top. Thankfully, I don’t need much to create this dream of beautifying a part of our home.

The Journey:

I will be driving into Mexico on January 19th to devote 33 days to picking up trash along the highway on the Baja peninsula.

Over the course of the 33 days, I am committing 198 hours to the collection and transformation of garbage into nature art, with the purpose of beautifying a part of our home planet and prepping it for alternative use.

In order to make this dream happen, I am in need of your support and trust. I am looking for 198 people who see the value in this mission to donate a monetary amount they feel is equivalent to one hour of this work.

Everyone who contributes $1 or more will receive:

• A daily journal of the 30 day journey written by Skye Dreamr
• Photos and media of the process and finished artwork
• Weekly updates when I refuel in town
• The knowing that you are supporting the beautification of our home
• Acknowledgments in the journal.

Resources needed for the journey:

• A refrigerator for the camper to store food and be self-contained for a week ($300)
• Gas to travel back and forth and refuel ($350)
• Cleanup Supplies: garbage bags, gloves ($75)
• Food to stay energized ($350)
• Tourist Card ($30) and Propane ($40)
• A few nights in a campground to go online, shower, and refuel ($100)
  • With 198 people that is a total of just less than $7 each!

Donations can be etransfered (preferred) or sent through paypal to iamskyedreamer@gmail.com. Feel free to contact me if you have any other feedback, comments, or ideas! Click here to join the facebook event.

Thank you!

Skye