My experience as an intern working for Groundwork has been and will continue to be a great learning experience.  I’m very fortunate to have crossed Leslie Reynolds and Kim Blough’s path when I did.   Although I’ve only been here for a few short weeks, I’m confident to say that I’m in good hands.  Since day one Leslie and Kim have done nothing short of making me feel at home here. The vibe I get from them is  very Humble.  Even though they are both some of the most Kind hearted people I’ve had the pleasure of working with in a professional environment, there is still work to be done.  And it seems to me like they never take their focus off of the work because whether the community sees it or not, this work is very important.  Our survival as a community and humanity as a whole solely depends on what nature gives us. It is very important that we strive to be conscious of our actions and our surroundings.  Everything  we need from food, water, shelter, clothes, air and even the things we need to heal ourselves all come from what nature gives us.  The least we can do is show our gratitude for all that this earth has done for us by keeping it clean and not becoming  an obstacle.
    So for those who choose to read this blog it is my wish that you find value in these words.  Not for me but for your consideration.  There are many organizations out there promoting the concept of “saving the planet.”   However, this is not the message I am trying to convey to the readers simply because it’s not realistic.  In terms of logic, look at how gigantic the world is and compare it to how small the human race is.In my culture it is said that  a human being to the earth is like lice living in a humans hair under the illusion that they are the ones controlling the body.  So I ask you this with absolute humility,Who do you think will need who?  Who do you think will save who?  The human race is just a tiny expression of the earth existence.  If a fish gets too far away from the water long enough it will die.  The same thing applies to a human being who defies the forces of the gravitational  pull that connects us to the earth(like an astronaut who travels to space without gear)will die.  This same concept doesn't stop there, it applies in many other aspects of our lives as well.   From how we eat,think, behave,how we perceive ourselves and the world around us.Think about it.   A baby may want to do all kinds of things, but he/she can’t survive on their own without the guidance of others .  What changes about that concept after we get older? The concept of  individualism doesn’t exist and is degenerative to our intellect because a human being can’t survive without another human being or the environment that they live in.  So how can we save the planet if we depend on the earth for our own survival and not the other way around?   Simply put, we just can’t do it.   But what we can do is collectively save ourselves.  Survival is my only message for those who choose to  make the connection between them and nature.  So whether it is a rock ,a tree, an animal, or whatever takes form as we perceive it, is a different expression of the earths existence.   No matter how different we may look we all come from the same place, the earth.  If we depend on nature for our survival and we allow things to steer us away from that path, then the only path other than life would  be death.  But the road to a destructive path takes on many forms along the way and hides in our ability to be comfortable in any and all situations.  So we must be mindful of our actions because everything that we do from how we live and how we treat each other reflects on our environment and it is our environment that dictates our behavior.  So if we truly want change in our respective communities it is going to take us “as a community” to make it happen by being the change that we want to see.  So I just wanted to offer a small piece of where I’m coming from and what brought me here to hopefully put your mind in the right perspective for receiving what I will have to share in the future.  We all have to start somewhere right? Why not GroundworkSanDiego/ChollasCreek? The work that we do is the least we can do to show our appreciation for what the earth has given us and building our community to do the same.
    Since I’ve been here I’ve made 2 wonderful friends by the name of Genevieve and Claire Parker.  Although I interacted with Claire for a short moment , there is plenty of time to build with Genevieve. I’ve been out to see Chollas Creek and there is a lot of work that needs to be done but I’m up for the challenge.  Thanks to Kim I will become more computer savvy then when i came in by the time I’m done here(if there comes a time lol). But so far I've been doing administrative work.   I’ve been doing research on other groundwork branches all over the country to see what we can learn from them and how we can improve.  I look forward to gaining the experience in being more active in my community.Whether it’s out in the field or behind the desk. I don’t really know what to expect but I’ll know when I get to that point.  I’m just very fortunate for the opportunity to have some exposure outside of my element to expand my awareness of how to go about change in a positive way.  I look forward to the challenges because it won’t be a walk in the park. I need  more clarity on the meetings and conversations I've been having about the politically correct terminology that everyone uses around me. But other than that, this is an opportunity to expand my vocabulary and see where I can be of service.