By Julius Calasicas
I can't deny it any longer. I'm an environmentalist.
I don't care what anyone says about me - ecofreak, hippie, tree-hugger - I've heard it all and I don't give a flying Frisbee anymore! This is who I am, world! This is what I love. I love planet Earth, nature and the elements. I love the seasons, biodiversity and sustainability. Honestly, it's not a choice. I can't help my attraction to life.
I haven't told my parents yet, but I think they're starting to suspect. I recycle. I bicycle and ride the bus to get around. Sometimes, I even spend a little more money to eat organic food. This is more than a lifestyle choice, my friends; this is part of my identity.
I've been like this for as long as I can remember. How I recall looking into the grass as a child and always finding movement: cockroaches, beetles, ants. Once, when I was in kindergarten, I found a trail of smooshed potato bugs during recess beside the playground. It was a path of insect carcasses that led to a classmate of mine. I cried when I encountered her anthropocentric maliciousness. I cried straight to Kupuna Kam, my class' Hawaiian language and culture instructor; he seemed surprised that my tears were real. This is my earliest memory of seeing intrinsic value in all living things.
As I grew older, assimilation became the norm and I hid these feelings. I thought I could be like everyone else, craving more of everything - better, bigger, newer, shinier. I thought I wanted what society wanted me to desire. Secretly, I longed to run through a flower patch or open meadow.
During my senior year of high school, I was blown away by how green Portland was when I first came to visit Oregon. I couldn't resist the wild forests and mountains surrounding the city and began experimenting with nature. The experiences were amazing. Each contact I had with the earth during these years made me feel so alive, like I was one part of a larger living essence that is this planet. It was mind-expanding and passionate. The overhanging old growth trees that towered over me the way buildings and skyscrapers did in civilization was daring enough to make me dream of a future without pollution, to teach my unborn children how life grows and coexists, interconnecting without presuming to judge one form of life as better than another.
I started to accept my unorthodox tendencies - I went vegan for a short while, dabbled in gardening, and even took an introductory environmental science class at the university. Since then, all my college friends know about my practices and preferences, and they still accept me like they would anyone else. I'm lucky to have such support.
Now, as my college career comes to an end, I look forward to the future knowing full well that I am not alone in this industrial world. There are millions of people out there who are like me and I shouldn't be ashamed any longer. Heck, I even registered with the Green Party! I think changing policies will have the largest impact to our world's condition.
For all my deep-ecologist and "environ-mental" friends and allies out there, I implore you to stand proud in your conviction and keep in mind the little things you can do to make a difference. Sure, everyone is going green nowadays, but beyond the trends and fads of this a la mode movement is a cause worth living.
I, for one, intend to live it.
Julius Calasicas is a staff writer ?for The Beacon
