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OH! The drama!

Emy Minzel

Why do I seem to be so drawn to drama when it is the one of the things I say I do not want? I seem to always be seeking peace, yet I find my personality is sometimes rather dramatic about events happening in the world or around me. I recently came down with a cold and I lost my smell, it frightened me but how I reacted was kind of funny now that I am well, and the fog of my sickness has cleared.  You would think that the world was collapsing around me and all I was able to think about was that I couldn’t smell it or my coffee! The drama I tell you! (Insert fainting gesture here.)

For real, I SAY I don’t like drama, but when life is going well, and I have nothing to complain about I seem to make things up to add a little excitement into life. Have you ever notice yourself doing that? It’s kind of hilarious. I over think like it is an Olympic sport. If I could get ‘steps’ for the laps I run around up in my head I would exceed my goal every day. Isn’t it great that we can notice these things about ourselves, so we can try to act in a different way next time the opportunity to over react comes around? Self- awareness is a liberating, eye opening and sometimes humbling experience if you can let it be. I am choosing to laugh at myself now that I can see my situation from a calmer perspective. I can also choose to see that I do in fact have a tendency to be just slightly dramatic….. sigh.

I just find how contradicting I can be as a person fascinating. I SAY it is my goal to be peaceful, content, kind, and full of love. Then I create controversy where there may not be a need to stir things up. I wonder what part of me needs this chaos to feel fulfilled? What is the purpose of choosing to fluff up the negative aspects of a day or situation instead of finding the blessings or good things instead?  Is it my inner child in need of attention? Is it my ego saying look at me? Is it need to feel soothed, and loved?

Of course; I don’t always over react, I try to be calm and easy going about most of the situations life offers. It is just funny to me that I see how I can, and do, get carried away sometimes. To be fair, I mean I temporarily lost one for the five senses… That’s kind of a big deal! However; I see I probably should have cooled my dramatic acting scene and let my cold pass before declaring anosmia. But what fun is that?

Scene End.

Have your ever caught yourself adding drama in your life? What do you think makes you do it? I’d love to hear from you.

Blessings,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

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Stop and smell the flowers…

Emy Minzel

I recently came down with a doozy of a cold, the day I felt it coming on, I started taking a homeopathic remedy containing zinc that were rapid melt tabs. It was supposed to lessen the severity and duration of my illness. But what it did was rob me of my sense of smell completely for a week now and I am still not smelling the same as I once did. This over the counter remedy has had FDA recalls on some of this company’s products for this exact reason, although I did not know this until it happened to me of course. After a google search I learned over load of zinc in your body can steal your smell and taste sometimes forever! There are lawsuits against the manufacture that claims these products are safe when they can harm you for a lifetime.

Today I sense some of my smell working slightly, I was able to smell strong odors finally and I was ecstatic about it. I had taken my nose for granted, not understanding or appreciating its function and the depth it adds to my life. When you cannot smell your sense of taste is severely diminished, I love to cook, and I really love to eat, I find contentment in my kitchen. Can you imagine what it would be like to love the smell of your fresh brewed coffee in the morning and when you go to pour a cup you don’t smell a thing and the taste is bitter and blah. Just like that, one of my favorite rituals was snatched away because I took an over the counter medication that was supposed to help me. I feel duped and livid all at the same time.

I used to think “Oh man, it would be terrible to be deaf or blind.” And it really would be! I never once thought of how I would feel if I could not smell or taste. Here I am telling you what it’s like, it’s also awful. I do not get to sniff my husband and tell him he smells like home. I do not get to smell coffee, bacon, essential oils I love to use or even the smell of my beautiful daughter. I would miss the smell of clean clothes fresh out of the dryer, soup simmering on the stove, smoke from the wood stove or smoke if the house was on fire for that matter. I also wouldn’t be able to enjoy the perfume I just got for Christmas. Or Christmas cookies, I can tell they are sweet but that is it, I do not taste the creamy peanut butter and chocolate in them only the taste of sweet. So sad. If there were a gas leak or fire I would not be able to tell or if I stink to high heaven I would not know. That is horrifying.

I feel lucky that I sense some of my olfactory coming back to life. I am very hopeful that this is temporary, and my body knows how to fix what I broke. Until this happened I never thought once about the richness the sense of smell brings to my life, have you? Sure, I wouldn’t have to smell bad things, but that also means I could not tell if my food was spoiled or if I stepped in dog poop either. Here is my cautionary tale, please be careful of the things you put into your body even if it says homeopathic or natural. Research it first! As my husband likes to remind me “arsenic is organic too, that doesn’t make it safe.”

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Kind of a dick…

Emy Minzel

It’s recently occurred to me that I am kind of a dick. I don’t mean to be, I very much try to be a nice person to everyone I encounter, even unkind folks. That’s who my best self likes to be, open minded and compassionate. Lately I have had low tolerance for people who aren’t accepting of others, or my opinion of the environment, how hypocritical is that? I am a dick to the dicks I come across and I realize that it is my ego saying “No not like that. Do it my way.”

I have been writing about environmental awareness this week, it is one of my passions. I feel that it is part of my life’s purpose to speak up about the injustices happening to Mother Earth. Especially when it come to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota because it means so much to me. When my Adventure Sister Stacy and I go deep in to the forest of the BWCA we reconnect with spirit and ourselves. It is a magical time for us to recharge our souls by connecting with The Universe through nature. We would not be able to do that if it were to be poisoned my mining for its resources. It would not be the same place at all.

The thought of losing such a treasure makes my blood boil and my warrior spirit or ego gets all worked up. This is a stark contradiction to my other self! In my other life I am a massage therapist and light worker that believes the energy you give out comes back to you. On one hand I am a healer, a caretaker and a generally happy person, on the other hand I am human, I have a darker side too. We all do.

I struggle at times to keep the balance between keeping my thoughts and vibrations high by counting my blessings. Then when I start thinking about the possibility of something I cherish so profoundly, such as the Boundary Waters, becoming polluted, my love turns to fear, my fear turns to anger then I turn into that dick I was just talking about. I think this reaction is universal to most people I know when something or someone they love seems to be threatened.

So, what do I do to keep my vibrations and thoughts positive about a subject like environmental pollution that is not a happy subject at all? How do I stay true to my values of kindness and compassion when I am feeling the exact opposite? I must accept the duality of my true self, we all have light and dark energy for a reason, our emotions spur us to take action when we feel it is necessary. Our Yin Yang energy is variable it is meant to flow in balanced state, yet it is altered by our thoughts and actions. I know this, and I try so hard to keep it balanced yet someday’s I fail miserably.

So next time I come across a dick being a dick, I will try not to be a dick too. I will acknowledge that maybe they are reacting the same way that I do. They may be fearful or angry about something and I must listen to them if they are to listen to me.  This is the only way we can make progress, we are all on the same team on the same planet. I will do my best to keep my words and message positive, yet I know that life isn’t always joyful and there are subjects that do need to be discussed even if they are uncomfortable.

So here I am still a good person, with good intentions, sometimes a dick, most of the time I am not. My reasons are not excuses to be rude, yet I will not be mute on a subject that must be addressed. In the end I don’t need others to like me, I need them to listen, so that I can fulfill my purpose of environmental awareness. I know that I don’t like to listen to someone I don’t like, so I must be more aware of the words I use and how I use them to get my message across. I am a work in progress we all are.

Blessings ~

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

https://emyminzel.com

@emyminzel

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Stacy Crep ~ Adventure Sister

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Save the Boundary Waters Canoe Area!

Emy Minzel

The environment is very important to me, it is my passion. We take so much from her, doing something anything to give back and help her out she would appreciate, so will our children and grandchildren. My intention, is to spread awareness of our effects on the planet, whether they are intentional or not we CAN and must, change our direction of unsustainable consumption of its resources.

There is currently controversy surrounding the area called the Iron Range, of Minnesota it is a taconite mining community. Minnesota State officials are currently under pressure to grant a mining permit to Twin Metals Minnesota Mining to mine sulfite-ore copper at The Boundary Waters Canoe Area headwaters and pressure keeps building.

The Taconite/Iron Ore mines employ a great number of families in the area. I grew up on the Iron Range, it’s made up of good hearted regular families like yours. What I aim to do is spread education to the well-intentioned citizens of the area that the proposed Sulfite-ore copper mining is very different.

Sulfite Mining is not the same as the Iron Ore mining culture that they are used too. Sulfide-ore copper mining is much more toxic than Minnesota’s taconite mining. Sulfite-ore copper produces giant waste piles that, when exposed to air and water, leach sulfuric acid, heavy metals and sulfates. Sulfide-ore copper mines pollute groundwater, rivers and lakes. In the history of sulfide mining, pollution has never been avoided.

Hard rock mining, most of which is sulfide mining, contributes to more superfund sites than any other activity. A Superfund site is any land in the United States that has been contaminated by hazardous waste and identified by the EPA as a candidate for cleanup because it poses a risk to human health and/or the environment.*

Sulfite-Copper mining is dangerous very toxic, waste from this type of mining generates sulfuric acid historically seen to have disastrous consequences in a previous site located in Canada. This type of toxic waste cannot be cleaned up for centuries…CENTURIES! As in 500 years plus… or probably never.

I do not know of any company in the whole wide world to have that kind of money or morals to be responsible for an environmental clean-up that last for centuries. Do you? It is unheard of. That’s what bankruptcy is for… Then you know who gets to foot the bill?! That’s right… Tax payers. Slick trick right?! They get what they want and move on to the next area to ravage.

This is happening and common practice in places all over the US our environment is under attack by money hungry corporations that take no responsibility for their actions. Currently there is talk of opening Federal Land for Resource grabbing as in Fracking Yellow Stone National Park, Grand Canyon, etc.

Our “resources” like clean water and air are what keep us alive. A few years of jobs is not worth the risk of ruining the region for the next 500 years of toxic pollution; ruining the precious wilderness we all hold as a pride in the natural beauty our native home of Minnesota boasts.

There are already many people in the Ely, MN area that are protesting and voicing their avid rejection of the sulfite-ore copper mining proposal. There are also people who are in favor of it, because it will bring jobs to the area. I do understand the need for jobs, I do not understand the need to poison ourselves and the land we love for short term reward.

This ball is rolling right now my friends and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area NEEDS YOU to be its voice! The trees, pristine waters, fish and wild life in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area cannot defend or speak for themselves. We need to take responsibility for our land before someone else takes it from us. If it’s accidental or on purpose if this area is polluted and ravaged by toxic waste, we will have lost one of the last pristine wild areas left in the United States of America.

You may think I am exaggerating but I am not friends. Do your own research and discover for yourself the depth of water pollution in the US, it will frighten and astound you. We are on the verge of water wars because of our misuse of the natural resources we have been blessed with. It is not every day citizens like you and me doing this polluting and pillaging.

We must unite and say enough is enough, this is happening in all states in some area not too far from you, and it’s up to us to be paying attention. We are letting the Fox guard the Hen house, government officials are not doing their jobs, looking the other way of the citizens protesting the impending pollution.

Please help by signing this petition to stop sulfite-ore copper mining from impending devastation in Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

https://www.savetheboundarywaters.org/

Sending love and blessing to my fellow Earth Warriors,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister

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(https://www.savetheboundarywaters.org/how-help/distribute-fact-sheets)

(www.bwcasulfitemining.org)

(http://www.friends-bwca.org/issues/sulfide-mining)

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#batshitpassionate

Emy Minzel

I am an avid nature lover, I consider myself an Earth Warrior or in other words… an Environmental Activist. After finding out the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota is under looming threat of toxic sulfite-ore copper mining threatening imminent devastating pollution lasting for over 500 years, I feel deep in my soul that I NEED to do something, ANYTHING to raise awareness and call the rest of my fellow Earth Warriors in to battle against this mining proposal. The BWCA is a magical place, it deserves our protection and nurturing, we must not allow corporate interests to spoil this beautiful treasure of Minnesota.

I have always loved nature, but I never got to involved with politics. After doing my research on why and how all this pollution is happening, that is exactly how my political interests kicked. You follow the money, when it comes to large corporations polluting the planet it will surprise many people to know that it is all legal thanks to the Clean Air and Water Act which just happens to be very corporate polluter friendly.

Special interests have paid for the right to desolate, devastate and pollute, while ‘our’ politicians paid to represent us, are happy to sign those bills for a big enough check. It is regular practice of polluting Corporations to just pay the fine by the EPA instead of complying with the regulations continuing with business as usual polluting anyway.

As an environmentalist, I am horrified how we treat the Earth. How we  brazenly manipulate or destroy nature to somehow make it work “better” for us is downright ego-maniacal. We need to work with her forces; we will never better ourselves by trying to poison the earth and battle against the nature of life.

Corporations (which are “people” according to Citizens United) are irresponsibly ravaging the planet, consuming her relentlessly, buying our government, taking all they want to support our demand for a high tech, fast paced, modern, and may I add unhealthy way of life, with no regard for life or the communities they affect by doing so.

We can start to help by doing little things, voting with your dollar, composting, reducing waste, and recycling. I have heard people say, “I don’t have time for recycling!” Really?! You don’t have time to put an aluminum can in a separate garbage can? They make big garbage containers just for that now they even come to your house and take it away. We need to recycle so much more then cans.

It blows my mind how obtuse people can be about the pollution problem of the planet, yet if we all put in just a little effort it would add up. There’s garbage in the oceans, acidifying and killing the coral reefs and poisoning the fish we over consume. What are we doing about the nuclear radiation still leaking into the ocean in Fukushima, Japan? Nothing. We are doing nothing.

I have learned factory farming leaving toxic cesspools of feces leading to increasing emissions, I’ve learned Fracking for “natural gas” is clearly poisoning land and drinking water, but is conveniently exempt from the Clean Water Act or any form of prosecution?! Fracking waste has been proven to cause all kinds of health issues not to mention how to get “rid” of the waste and the gasses that come up from sites polluting the air and everyone around it. Now they are using the polluted water from fracking waste solution to water crops of the food you buy in the super market near you.

I wish being informed on the health of the earth and our environment was part of the nightly news along with the nightly weather report. We would all be astonished if it were to learn the truth of things. You would worry for your children’s future and you would be as angry about it as I am. This is where my involvement in politics kicks in, I do encourage you to get involved if these words ring true to you.

We can and will make a difference if we do it together.

Please help by signing this petition to stop sulfite-ore copper mining from impending devastation that could destroy the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

https://www.savetheboundarywaters.org/

Sending love and blessing to my fellow Earth Warriors,

Emy Minzel ~ Adventure Sister