El Camino

I’ve never watched a better TV show than Breaking Bad. One summer, I watched four and a half seasons in about three weeks, just in time to catch the last half of Season 5 as it aired live. It was one of the greatest journeys of my entertainment pursuits.

El Camino just came out today. It’s a two hour movie continuing from where the show ended. It follows the pursuit of fugitive Jessie Pinkman (played by Aaron Paul) after the massive fallout between drug lord and drug maker. This movie, like the series, was expertly crafted and well made. It met every expectation I had for it.

Great stories never die. Even when you think the story’s been told entirely, there’s always more to say, more to investigate. On a deeper note, there’s more to every story than you think. You can never know the entirety of a story—to do so would mean to understand each perspective of the characters and every motive behind their actions. This is an impossible task, so there is always more to learn.

If only professors, teachers, and educators understood this… Maybe there would be less students who hate learning and more meaningful discoveries.

I am John Muir

In American Environmental History, we’re utilizing a teaching/learning method called Reacting to the Past. The premise is interesting but relatively simple. Instead of being lectured on certain events throughout world history, students are all assigned roles of important people during that period. We are divided into different factions who each have select victory objectives. Then we take turns giving speeches, presenting arguments, and voting on issues depending on the “game” we’re playing. Students might be in the Assembly in Ancient Greece or the Constitutional Congress in Revolutionary America. Possibilities are only limited to the number of games played in one semester.

For this class, we are having hearings before the Senate in the 1913 Hetch Hetchy Debate. This debate is to determine if the Raker Bill is to go into law. The Raker Bill proposed that the Tuolomne River which flows through the Hetch Hetchy Valley should be dammed to provide water and power for the city of San Francisco. This bill makes sense being as the Hetch Hetchy dam would be the most cost effective and powerful solution. The major problem is that the Hetch Hetchy is within the confines of Yosemite National Park.

Nobody wants this beautiful land to fall into the hands of corporate greed, but opposing factions have different ideas about what should become of the land. The Conservationists are in favor of the dam while the Preservationists radically oppose it. I play John Muir, founder of the famed Sierra Club and head of the Preservationists. John Muir is a real historical figure with profound writings. He is often called the first American environmentalist because of his efforts in this Hetch Hetchy dispute.

Though Muir never testified before the Senate, my character John Muir does. So tomorrow I’m set to give a 2 minute testimony about why I believe the Hetch Hetchy valley shouldn’t be dammed. I’ve decided to share with you what I wrote.

Yosemite is a National Park.  National Parks have been protected, set aside from municipalities and private interests, because thousands of tired, nerve-shaken people have found that going to the mountains is going home.  The Hetch Hetchy valley is not only in Yosemite, it is Yosemite.  It is a National Park.  As previously decided, no Right of Way Act ought to destroy such a temple forged by God Himself.

The pithy politicians who testified last session were more concerned with their reputations and reelections than the spiritual well-being of their own people, for from my journeys I know one thing: civilization needs wilderness.  These money changers and water-power pushers are interested in saving money, not saving this priceless land.  They want personal legacies, not peace of mind and refuge for American citizens. They live on the world but not in it—separate and rigidly alone in their marble homes, disconnected from the reality of this wild land.

My friends, I have lived in the world.  I have swam in the Tuolumne and slept on the grasses of these meadows.  I’ve scaled the granite walls of this valley and inhaled the fresh air of these pines.  This canyon is the heart of the Sierras.  To dam such a land would be to cut off this national treasure, the lifeblood of this region, from the public.  To dam such a land would set a relentless precedent for all protected places.  To dam Hetch Hetchy!  Why not dam the Grand Canyon of Arizona and harvest the rocks of the Yellowstone?  What’s stopping you from chopping down sequoias for lumber and building towers in Central Park?  To dam this valley would be the same as damming your churches and cathedrals.  This is a place of worship.

The Hetch Hetchy valley is the future of our country.  If we allow it to be removed from Yosemite and exploited for its infrastructure, then every future park will be at risk.  The 90 million people of this country need beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in.  Your choice determines our country’s future.

John Muir on October 11, 1913

Your Mission Statement

What is your mission statement? Why are you here? What are you here to do?

What is the next step you must take?

Bartram’s Garden

Last week, I went on my first ever field trip in college. It was for my American Environmental History class. We visited Bartram’s Garden in Southwest Philly. Sitting right on the bank of the Schuylkill, this garden was started in the mid 1700s by John Bartram, a botanist and friend to many of the founding fathers. Bartram travelled from Ontario to Florida, collected different species of flora, and propagated them back on his garden. This place soon became a spot of refuge for the founding fathers when they wanted to get away from the busyness of dmeocracy planning.

I decided to share part of my essay for my post today. I think it was meaningful. Hopefully you find it to be, too.

Though the origin story of United States is a rather sad story of Indian removal and genocide, the sentiment of a democratic republic which offers opportunities for all people to flourish is at the core of this country.  From the beginning, people from opposing cultures, beliefs, and ideologies were welcomed to come together, have difficult discussions, and learn to coexist among each other.  This is exactly what Bartram did in his garden: he brought plants together from opposite lands and helped them live next to one another in a symbiotic relationship. Just as different plants needed different soils and nutrients, so too do different ethnic groups and cultures have different needs.  

In the 18th century Philadelphia was the center of the nation, a true melting pot of ideas and initiatives.  If Independence Hall was the brain of the city, then Bartram’s Garden was the heart.  As in the body the heart is separated from the brain by about 18 inches, so too is Bartram’s separated from Center City.  The Schuylkill River, being the main artery that connected the head and the heart, could be likened to the aorta.  This primary blood vessel carried the lifeblood of liberalism and democracy from the floral assemblage of Bartram’s to the rest of the city, the nation, and the continent.  As we are sprung into action by the beating of the heart, so too were the founding fathers inspired to bring people from all nations, races, and cultures together in this one, United States.

Though my analogy may not be wholly accurate, I believe it touches on the importance of this garden in the history of our nation.  It’s really no wonder Bartram’s has withstood the test of time: the diversity of the plants and the community that keeps it thriving are the same diversity and community at the core of American identity.  Though our culture has moved away from the land, agriculture, and the love of the natural world, I believe places like Bartram’s can bring us back into harmony with one another.  Maybe a better understanding of our ecological home and the beauty within it might just help elevate us to a higher octave of humanity, an octave rich in appreciation of diversity and communal support of one another.  

I’ll be sure to visit Bartram’s again soon so I can be reminded of how, together, we can make this a better home for everybody.

Aaron Lemma

Back to the Basics

When embarking on a journey towards better health and more vibrant wellness, you must remember to keep things simple.

If the basics are not the cornerstone of your endeavor, you’ll soon find yourself overwhelmed. When things are too complicated and you can’t commit to all the changes you held yourself too, you’ll feel defeated. You’ll stop progress altogether because if you’re not all in you’re not getting the most benefit, right? Instead, your complicated plan shortly becomes too much to bear and you remain the same, still holding that extra 20 pounds, still gasping for breath after going up the stairs.

Let me take a moment to remind you of the basics, the bare necessities of living a healthy, balanced life. This doesn’t include a food scale or calorie counting, and there’s no need for a fancy fitness program.

The Basics:

  • Eat plants and animals
  • Avoid processed foods
  • Cook your own meals
  • Eat until you feel full
  • Pack your lunch
  • Find healthy snacks that don’t have too many simple sugars
  • Drink filtered water
  • Steer clear of sugar-sweetened beverages
  • Don’t have caffeine past 2pm
  • Move your body every day
  • Go for a walk
  • Run, lift weights, or go to a yoga class if you want to
  • Get 7-9 hours of sleep each night, depending on your own needs
  • Limit your screen time, especially at night
  • Take deep breaths
  • Spend time with your loved ones
  • Spend time with yourself
  • Allow yourself to laugh
  • If you slip up, forgive yourself and get back on track

If you implement these lifestyle practices, things will start to change. You’ll feel more energized and less lethargic. You’ll need less coffee and have more time to spend with your loved ones. Once you start, the momentum will keep you going. That cupcake you have in celebration of a good week won’t feel like a defeat but a victory. Small victories will compound and you’ll soon be miles ahead of where you started

It’s all about balance. If 80% of the things you do are healthy and 20% aren’t the best for you, you’re living a pretty balanced, enjoyable life. Forgive yourself if you slip up and move forward with a grateful heart. This is all about learning and growing.

I’m telling you, if you get back to the basics, things will change.

Pumpkin French Toast

I made French Toast for the first time this morning. Many don’t know this, but pumpkin spice is one of my favorite flavors. It’s my guilty pleasure. With some canned pumpkin and sprouted Sesame Ezekiel Bread laying around, I decided to try my hand at an American class, but with a healthy, fall twist.

Here’s my Pumpkin French Toast recipe:

The Batter:

  • 1/2 cup coconut cream
  • 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
  • 2 eggs
  • ground cinnamon
  • maple syrup
  • sea salt

The Process

  • mix batter ingredients together
  • put coconut oil in a medium saucepan
  • turn on medium heat
  • dunk both sides of bread into batter and place on warmed pan
  • cook until brown on both sides
  • serve with whatever you want (maple syrup is a good idea)

And voilà. There you have it. A not-too-sweet, not-too-savory Pumpkin Breakfast treat for these cooler fall months.

I sincerely hope you enjoy it as much as Camille and I did.

Our Sun

Our sun is hot. Because of its hotness, it produces heat that travels to Earth as electromagnetic radiation. This radiation bounces off Earth’s surface and goes back towards the sky. As it travels back up, atmospheric gases trap the heat and Earth is warmed.

There’s a big difference between the sun being hot and the sun producing heat. Because the sun is hot, it produces heat. But the sun does not become hot because it produces heat; therefore, the sun’s hotness is a cause while the sun’s heat is its effect.

Our bodies are typically warmer than our environment. All the heat in our bodies came from heat (or energy) generated by the sun that’s travelled to Earth. Once here, it’s been been stored in the chemical bonds of plants through photosynthesis. When we eat these plants (or animals that ate these plants), we breakdown the chemical energy and use it for various reactions within our bodies. These reactions produce heat, so we produce heat. In this way we hold the power of the sun within us, but we are not the sun. We produce heat like the sun produces heat, but our likeness to the sun doesn’t make us the sun.

Instead, we are extensions of the sun’s rays that have made it to Earth. The warmth you feel while standing is the sun is the same warmth you feel when you touch your skin. This once unbounded, untethered solar energy is now inside you. Though seemingly contained, this energy is still free to change its environment by bonding unlike substances together. This is how bridges are built.

We are not the sun, but we can be like the sun (if we try to be).

Primal Patterns

My favorite health & fitness guru of all time is Paul Chek. He’s the founder of the CHEK Institute, a therapist, a coach, a father, a husband, a certified shaman, and more. He does medicine journeys, helps people heal themselves from the inside-out, and likes to stack rocks in his rock garden. He’s 58 years old and still does heavy deadlifts and one-arm pull ups. He has some deep insight into human experience and what it means to really live and love. If you want to hear him in a podcast, he has his own (Living 4D) and he’s a guest many times on the Aubrey Marcus Podcast and the Kyle Kingsbury Podcast (formerly called the Onnit Podcast).

Paul’s most famous work is his 2004 book titled How to Eat, Move, and be Healthy! It’s still in print, now in it’s second addition. This book is the health & wellness Bible, only it’s not full of general dogmas but specific, individualized program planning and execution strategies. I’ve been following the principles within this book for years with great success. As the result of this book, right now I’m in the best physical shape of my life.

Alongside dietary guidelines and lifestyle design protocols is a movement section. Here, Paul walks you through his trademark movement system called the Primal Patterns®. This system claims that no matter the exercises, there’s basically 7 patterns the human body can (and should) move. These 7 patterns are: Squat, Lunge, Bend, Push, Pull, Twist, and Gait (the movement associated with walking). These 7 movement patterns should be the basis of every training program—macrocycles and microcycles alike.

During the fall semester I lift with the track team two times a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. The lifts have been solid so far and I’m happy with my progress; however, I’m still trying to do some resistance training 4 days a week, leaving two lifts up to me and my programming. For these individual lifts I’ve been designing them with Primal Patterns in mind. I try to hit most of the primal patterns in a single session, ensuring my whole body is activated and staying balanced.

Here’s an example of my lift earlier this week and how the exercises match the Primal Patters:

  • Warmup Series
    • SL RDL into Curtsy Lunge (Bend + Lunge)
    • SL Tuck Jump (Squat)
    • Handstand Hop into Sit Through (Push + Twist)
  • Strength Series
    • Back Load Reverse Lunge (Lunge)
    • Wide Grip Pull Ups (Pull)
    • OH Floor Press (Push)
    • Cable Rotations (Twist)
    • Step Ups (Lunge + Squat)
    • Calf Raises (Push + Squat)

I highly recommend this style of training. It leaves no stones unturned and keeps your body loose but toned. It’s important to ensure your lifts support your whole body, not isolated systems. After all, our ancestors weren’t doing biceps curls. While there is a time and place for curls, the bulk of our movements should be moving in patterns our bodies were designed to move in.

Please look into Paul Chek, his Chek Institute, and his Living 4D Podcast. I can’t express how much I’ve learned from him (for free) on the internet. He and his teachings have truly changed the trajectory of my life. I hope they change yours, too.

Buy Organic to Save the World

Recent scientific studies have indicated that glyphosate, the active component in RoundUp, causes cancer. RoundUp and other pesticides, herbicides, rodenticides, and fungicides are sprayed on commercially grown produce to maximize product yields while decreasing crops lost to insects, unwanted weeds, small mammals, and fungus. But these substances would be better categorized as “biocides” because they don’t just kill pests, weeds, rodents, and fungus but every living organism on a plot of land. This includes microorganisms which shape the soil’s microbiome. These microorganisms are critical for maintaining healthy soil, upholding humus (decaying, nutrient rich organic matter) integrity, supporting water retention, and recycling minerals for uptake by plants. When biocides are sprayed, these organisms are killed and what remains isn’t so much as soil, but dirt.

The crops produced on these commercial farms may have greater crop yields; however, there are many issues. These crops are loaded with carcinogenic pesticides like RoundUp, are less nutrient dense than similar crops grown organically (without pesticides), and result in massive food waste. It’s estimated that about half of the food produced in the United States is thrown away every day due to spoilage. Because these soils are devoid of microorganisms, there’s very little recycling of key and trace minerals necessary for healthy crop growth. The result is sick crops that strip the soil of life. When people eat these crops, they get sick (because of chemicals) and don’t feel satisfied (because the food isn’t nutrient dense), causing overconsumption and, eventually, obesity.

Organic farms work to rotate crops and avoid the use of damaging chemicals. These practices uphold soil integrity and yield healthier crops. Biodynamic farming is the gold standard of agriculture. This method of farming intermingles many different crops and animals on the same plot of land. As the crops use different minerals, the animals naturally fertilize the soil. The result is an ecosystem rich in diversity and microbial life. It’s been show that this method of farming can produce far more crops than the same portion of commercial farm, all keeping the surrounding environment intact. Commercial farming fails to do this because it’s labor intensive and cannot be scaled to levels satisfying to investors (yet).

Buying organic is better for your health and the planet’s health, but not all organic farms are created equal. Some “organic” companies are owned by large corporations like Kellog’s and Coke. Because there’s a demand for organic in the market, these organizations lobby to create laws around organic farming, lessening the once strict requirements to uphold an organic farm. To avoid confusion while shopping, try to only buy “Certified Organic” produce. If it’s not certified by an organization outside of the USDA (from which the bad standards come from) then you’re wasting your money on “organic” food that is pretty much commercial food.

Big Agriculture, Big Pharma, and Big Food are all massive entities that don’t care about consumer health but about their profit margins and return on investments. This is capitalism gone bad, where organizations lose their morals to make profits. But there is a silver lining to this whole capitalistic system: we can make a difference with every dollar we spend.

Every time you buy local, organic produce over commercially farmed crops, you are voting with your dollars. Have you noticed that the perimeters of grocery stores (where the fresh food is) have been growing and the aisles have been shrinking? That’s due to consumer behavior. When there’s a greater demand for real, organic produce and sustainable raised meat, companies will have no choice but to adapt. If you stop buying packaged, processed foods and instead buy local produce and products, that money is supporting organic farmers instead of big corporations.

It may not seem like you or I can make a difference with our purchases. But here’s a thought experiment: what if everybody in your town decided to stop buying packaged foods altogether. What would happen to your grocery stores? Odds are, there would be less cereals and more apples, less bonbons and more grass fed ice cream. This is a systems problem, but it’s solved by our own personal choices to buy organic, local food.

For all those people who say “but we can’t feed the world on organic agriculture,” let me remind you that it’s never been tried before. The market has never shifted so severely to produce that seemingly radical outcome. But we vote with our forks and our knives. If YOU begin buying organic tomorrow and buy organic for the rest of your life, I guarantee you will make more ripples than you think. This problem is not solved all at once but in the choices we make every day, every week, and every month.

The future is in our hands and our wallets. Will you be a part of the real food movement?

No Man Left Behind

Over 2,800 people died at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001. If I told yo the death toll could have been doubled because of one man, would you believe me? Let me tell you about Rick Rescorla.

Rick Rescorla was born in Cornwall, England. He always wanted to be a soldier. He eventually got his wish in 1963, moving to the United States and joining the fight against communism in Vietnam. Rick worked his way up to platoon leader, and was called one of the most effective and compassionate platoon leaders of the war effort. Fast forward about 20 years and he became head of security for Dean Witters, a stock brokerage/investment company later acquired by Morgan Stanley. The company occupied nearly 40 floors in the South Tower of the World Trace Center.

Rick did not take his job lightly. He had a profound sense of responsibility for the safety of the Morgan Stanley-Dean Witter employees, and every day he came to work to serve them. At the time, the Twin Towers were essentially the center of world capitalism. Rick believed this significance made the Towers subject to attack by terrorist forces. He brought in outside contractors to assess the building’s weaknesses. Alongside these contractor, Rick predicted the WTC would be bombed from the basement garage. He tried to warn Port Authority, but nobody listened to him. On February 26, 1993, Rick’s vision came true: a bomb was set off in the basement of the WTC and six people were killed.

Rick believed this wouldn’t be the last terrorist attack on the WTC. He advised his company to relocate to New Jersey, but the lease wasn’t up until 2005. So Rick took initiative. He did quarterly fire drills and required all Morgan Stanley employees to comply and evacuate (their offices were on floors 40-70). He prepared for what he believed was the inevitable, though nobody believed him.

On September 11, 2001, a plane flew into the North Tower. Port Authority got on the intercom of the South Tower and told everybody to stay put, that they were safe where they were. Rick didn’t buy it for a second. Instead, he grabbed his megaphone and evacuated every floor of Morgan Stanley. While people were running down the stairs (which had failsafe lighting he installed), Rick was going back up the stairs, singing “God Bless America” and making sure people moved calmly. He was last seen on the 10th floor, after the plane flew into the South Tower. He was going back up to make sure everybody had evacuated.

Rick successfully evacuated 2,700 WTC employees on September 11. Over 2,800 died. This is the untold story of American history, the story of a hero who wouldn’t settle for anything less than excellent peroration and effective execution. When the time came, he sprung into action, defying the odds and seeing his mission through until the end. One of the mottos of his life was “Leave No Man Behind.” Rick Died when the South Tower collapsed.

This is a truly remarkable story, but Rick is not superhuman. He was like all of us. He had his opinions and his shortcomings. He had fearful situations in life and went through divorce. He was always fighting authority and nobody listened to him. Regardless he was a leader, a hero. He was empathetic, compassionate, aware, selfless, prepared, confident, intelligent, and didn’t settle for anything less than his best. He had the Heart of a Soldier, as the book by James Steward attests (read this book and also the New Yorker article The Real Heroes are Dead if you want to learn more about Rick and his magnificent life).

Rick Rescorla changed the history of the world because he believed in himself and his mission. So can we.