It was 2020, the year I realized that life is fragile—not just mine, but the entire planet—through immense consumption, pollution, greediness, ignorance, false bliss. This wasn’t the way I wanted to live my life, so I promise to actively make the change.

I want us to read this in future time and remember all the senses and views we witnessed.

I promise to wholeheartedly live my life with an awareness of my personal impact on our communities and our planet.

We are fighting for a shared cause, inspired by our strong and unwavering dedication to preserve the beauty and wonder of our natural world for our children, our grandchildren and their children, and for countless generations to come.

I am so sorry we didn’t realize this predicament sooner.

First of all I hope we succeeded in our dream that yours is a better world than the world of 2021. Today, the forests are burning, the sea levels are rising and wild weather is everywhere. But we are working hard and I’m confident we will succeed.

I plan to plant more things this spring, as we do every year in our garden.

Thank you — Thank you — without you, I would not hear butterflies singing, without you, I would not understand black bear humor, or the creativity of jays planning their breakfast, without you, I would not feel flora whispers of long-lived wisdom on the back of my neck while sitting in Padmasana.

I imagine at this point we have dropped our addiction to coal, gas, and oil and that our environment has made a turn for the better with the solar, wind, and other unimagined (at this point) alternative energy choices are in place.

The road I learned to ride my bike on, the field where I kicked my first soccer ball, and the park I ate my first ice cream cone at, could all be gone.