Shirley and Jenny

Posted on January 27, 2012 by tyler@eoproducts.com

These two circus elephants – Shirley and Jenny – were reunited at a refuge for abused animals after 22 years apart. Shirley hadn’t seen another elephant during all of that time. Their reunion was surprising, and intense.
Carol Buckley, the director of the refuge, tells the story:

“Jenny came into the barn for the first time since Shirley’s arrival at around 7:00 p.m. There was an immediate urgency in Jenny’s behavior. She wanted to get close to Shirley who was divided by two stalls. Once Shirley was allowed into the adjacent stall the interaction between her and Jenny became quite intense. Jenny wanted to get into the stall with Shirley desperately.She became agitated, banging on the gate and trying to climb through and over.

After several minutes of touching and exploring each other, Shirley started to ROAR and I mean ROAR—Jenny joined in immediately. The interaction was dramatic, to say the least, with both elephants trying to climb in with each other and frantically touching each other through the bars. I have never experienced anything even close to this depth of emotion”.

We opened the gate and let them in together….they are as one bonded physically together. One moves, and the other shows in unison. It is a miracle and joy to behold. All day yesterday (July 7) they moved side by side and when Jenny lay down, Shirley straddled her in the most obvious protective manner and shaded her body from the sun and harm. This relationship is intense and resembles that of mother and daughter.

These two videos tell their story… and in the second one, show the moments when they’re reunited.

I think it’s a story about love. Which isn’t just the territory of the human heart.

Enjoy.

Part 1

Part 2

Written by Susan Griffin-Black, EO’s co-CEO

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Walk, breathe, repeat.

Posted on January 23, 2012 by tyler@eoproducts.com

I can be on the brink of (perceived) hell and an hour of hiking alone will not only pull me back from the edge but will swing my inner pendulum all the way back to gratitude, balance and even, joy. It’s kind of a miracle.

(What is also amazing is how suffering demands its slice of every life, no matter how outwardly privileged, lucky or happy we may seem to be. Another post…)

When I move my body, the world re-friends me. Things get noticeably lighter, both visually and heavy-wise.

Breathing the good clean air that the mountain/woods/coastal scrub has made for me, soaking in how beautiful it all is and feeling myself to be an undeniable part of nature – instead of just an observer – is a healing. I might carry a piece of sage or bay leaf in my hand and let its fragrance renew me, and sometimes if no one is looking (I’ll be a treehugger but not a public one) I’ll put my hands on the nearby trees, close my eyes, and let their quiet strength flow through me.

I find that I get much of the same benefit on a walk around the block, when a mountain or forest isn’t handy. Just the moving, breathing, can cleanse me of troubled thoughts and serve as a reset button.

For me, it’s the right kind of prescription. Take as needed.

This Mary Oliver poem lines right up on this, for me. Hope you like it too.

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

-Mary Oliver

Written by Susan Griffin-Black, EO’s co-CEO

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Occupy your health

Posted on January 20, 2012 by tyler@eoproducts.com

Should everyone have access to healthy products? Or is it the exclusive territory of people who make a lot of money?

The uncomfortable truth is, many of the people who buy EO (or shop at Whole Foods, or drive hybrid cars, or use “green” cleaning products, paint, bed linen,…) have incomes well above the median.

Ouch. That feels wrong to me.

We started EO because we believe in living a life that is deliberate, and healthful, and thoughtful. It isn’t our intention to be making “luxury products”.

But the truth is, its expensive to make good stuff. Many of the short cuts that would make our products more affordable (like synthetic fragrances or lower-quality ingredients) would mean we aren’t meeting our values on what is clean, good and honorable.

Also, we make our products ourselves, something you might be surprised to know many companies don’t do. We could save a whole lot of money by outsourcing this, but we would lose our ability to control purity and quality. And, we wouldn’t be part of our community anymore, and that’s fundamental to what’s important to us.

We are working to innovate our way out of what sometimes feels like a double bind. We’ve recently started a new brand called EveryOne, with products that still perform, are natural, are more affordable (soap and lotion will be in 32oz bottles for $9.99) and still live up to our quality standards.

I’m also brainstorming on how we can use ideas like a sliding scale or community projects to make our products accessible to every one, and every body. Please share any thoughts that you have on this.

We will keep on finding ways to make the good things about EO less of a niche and more of a norm.

Written by Brad Black, EO’s co-CEO

Photo by Brad Black

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My Man Van

Posted on January 18, 2012 by tyler@eoproducts.com

“If my heart could do my thinking
And my head begin to feel
I would look upon the world anew
And know what’s truly real”

I’ve always really liked this Van Morrison song.

Maybe because I strive to be like this and need more of it. My head does a hell of a lot of thinking, nonstop sometimes. Thinking is great for survival, however not so great in seeking my truth.

I spend a lot of my day analyzing one thing or another – balancing my checkbook, creating a sales plan, driving on the freeway and making sure I have gas in my car.

There’s not much creativity in all that, and there’s no escaping it either. It’s the “chop wood, carry water” part of things. I know there can be magic hiding in the mundane, but for me, it tends to be elusive.

What moves me forward in my life, what excites me? It’s getting out of my head and tuning into my body, my heart and my feelings. My 6th sense and intuition kick in. The sweetness of looking “upon the world anew” is right there, available to me and full of potential. The world looks pretty good to my heart, sometimes better than to my head.

Things tend to fall into place. A new product. Solving a relationship issue. Something that seemed intractable suddenly shifts, and eases.

I’m letting my heart drive the bus more often these days. Living in the space of “what’s truly real”.

Thanks Van.

Written by Brad Black, EO’s co-CEO

Photo by Brad Black

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to hell or the landfill

Posted on January 16, 2012 by tyler@eoproducts.com

Sometimes when I am rinsing out the peanut-butter jar for recycling, the little devil on my shoulder says hey man, just throw it in the trash. It’s such a hassle.

When I was a kid, we threw EVERYTHING in the trash. We had no concept of recycling.

Now, we sort. And that takes commitment, every day.

I walked by the dumpster at EO yesterday and it was heavily sprinkled of things that belonged in the recycle bin. My happy vision of a blissful but earnest team of EO people wearing their green halos blurred and crashed.

We all want to throw out that crappy peanut butter jar sometimes, or 25 pounds of corrugated cardboard, as the case may be. However, while halos are overrated, I want mine anyway. Because I love our planet. And my children. And I know there is no “away” when we throw things out.

There’s only here. Us.

So get to sorting. And tell that little devil to go to hell. Or the landfill… same difference.

 

photo: by brad black

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Cranked

Posted on January 11, 2012 by tyler@eoproducts.com

That’s what the surfers call it. Stuck inside a wave, or a series of waves, being pounded mercilessly into the sand until you think you are going to die. And I’m here to tell you that its one of the very few things that middle-aged women hanging with their children on a beach have with the dudes at Mavericks.

It was a near-death experience, I was sure of it, so much so that when I managed to get my head above the water, gasping and coughing, my bathing suit top no doubt horribly arranged in a profoundly non-flattering way, I screamed out to my friend Robert, swimming a few feet in front of me, help me get out Robert!!!!! I didn’t even care about my bathing suit top. I just wanted out of the sucking jaws of Atlantic death.

“Stand up and turn around,” he said.

I did.

Surprising to find I was in shallow enough water to actually stand up. Even more surprising when I turned around… the beach was about 4 feet away from my shaking legs and mal-arranged bathing suit.

I staggered from the ocean and took note of the apparent calm of everyone else, who seemed to have been obliviously occupied with ham sandwiches and getting sunscreen on while I was close to death.

And all I had to do was stand up and turn around.

That’s my picture for 2012. Everything can seem so complicated. And while sometimes it really is, a lot of the time all that is needed is a yank on that bathing suit top and a wrenching of one’s obsessive gaze from whatever it is rising up before us while we freeze in fear.

Maybe all it takes to quietly claim the reality we want to see in our lives is to turn away from what scares us, and then stand up and turn around.

See you at the beach.

Written by Susan Griffin-Black, EO’s co-CEO

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This could be a good time!

Posted on January 10, 2012 by tyler@eoproducts.com

I think a lot about how fast this river of life we’re all swimming in together seems to be flowing. I can vaguely remember the concept of long, empty afternoons, from some trip in 1992, or maybe from when I was in 4th grade. I’ll even bet that one could find multiple uses of the phrase “long empty afternoon” in books written by people born not so very long ago… Willa Cather, or Wallace Stegner or maybe Dr. Seuss. It wasn’t such a foreign concept in the not-so-distant past.

It is now. We’re fast. Frantic even. I see it in the Peet’s line (try waiting in line, alone, without looking at your phone, even once),where we’re all fueling up to tackle the to-do list of the day. In my friends’ eyes as they recount what’s happening in their lives while we multi-task with a hike. And in my own heart when the check-out lady and the person in front of my in the grocery store pause for a moment of conversation.

We are moving towards an unknown future, like all people before us including, I’m sure, both Willa Cather and Dr. Seuss. But unlike them, the unknowingness we face holds the potential for a level of change that might be unprecedented.

Some of the people whose ancestors have walked this part of the planet for much longer than mine are tapped into that. And what they have to say about it, below, is a message of hope and being open to what is coming, instead of fearfully holding onto the shore we think is safe.

I’m doing my best to let go. How about you?

—

This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water. See who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally. Least of all, ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

The Elders Oraibi
Arizona Hopi Nation

—

Written by Susan Griffin-Black, EO’s co-CEO

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Interconnected with everything, even jet fuel

Posted on January 6, 2012 by tyler@eoproducts.com

Our bodies carry a “chemical body burden”… traces of over 700 chemicals that we breathe, eat, drink and absorb through our skin. This is pretty much true of all of us – including little babies, junk-food junkies and organic food-eating cultural creatives.

I do what I can to cut down on what I’m exposed to. But it’s coming at me from all directions – cars offgas all kinds of unpronouceable stuff, computers and smartphones have issues, the radiation at the dentist and the airport just keeps on coming. Good intentions only go so far.

I’m no doctor, but common sense tells me that 700 chemicals in my body doesn’t help me stay healthy. I want our government to take the responsibility to ensure that products sold in the US are safe for us to use. This means that they need to require proper testing from the companies that sell these products, as well as do testing themselves. It’s called the precautionary principle, and its’ use is legislated in most other first-world countries. The US doesn’t require that businesses prove that their products are safe for people to use. And so, 1+1+1=700.

My approach in the meantime is to hedge my bets. If bromated flame retardents are in our body fat and pesticides are in our thyroid glands, its all the more important that we…

•move our bodies
•eat nourishing, local and low on the food chain
•drink purified water (not bottled please)
•meditate, make love, laugh and enjoy life
•sleep, more than we think we need
•support companies you know who make clean products
•drink certified organic bourbon (anyone know of any? shameless use of blog as personal bourbon- sourcing mechanism)

Our bodies are under siege. Let’s give them what they need to respond and power them up.

As serious as this kind of bad news really is, we can’t forget to enjoy ourselves and love the people we’re with. Because that old clock is ticking. Every. Single. Day.

Written by Brad Black, EO’s co-CEO

Photo by Brad Black

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We are the they

Posted on January 4, 2012 by tyler@eoproducts.com

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

When most of us hear the words “peak oil” or “climate change”, we cringe. They are cringe-worthy concepts, living as we do embedded in a system that feels inescapable… a cycle of earning, spending, consuming and debt that has become our norm.

Change is in the air.

People are starting to question the five-planets-worth of consumption that we’ve told ourselves is normal. Everywhere I look, read and tune in, there are conversations going on about new (old) ideas about how we eat, spend, interact and work and a growing unwillingness to buy into the status quo.

The Transistion Movement is one of those conversations. It’s a grassroots network of communities that are working to build resilience in response to peak oil, climate change and economic instability. The idea is that small-scale local responses to the global challenges we are facing is the way to go.

It’s about real people, doing real things in partnership with one another.

It’s about a transition to a future beyond fossil fuels.

It’s about finding ways to reduce our reliance on long supply chains that are dependent on fossil fuels for essential needs.

It’s about shifting our mind-set so we can actually recognize the coming post-cheap oil era as an opportunity rather than a threat, and design the future to be thriving, resilient and abundant — somewhere much better to live than our current alienated consumer culture based on greed and the myth of perpetual growth.

And its about how the outer work of transition needs to be matched by inner transition. That is, in order to move down the energy descent pathways effectively we need to rebuild our relations with ourselves, with each other and with the natural world.

It’s the opposite of sitting on the couch and complaining about what isn’t right and what “they” need to do to fix it.

We are the they.

We can join our neighbors, look to ourselves to lead and find ways to solve the problems we and our children do and will face.

We might even find a better, happier, simpler life in the meantime.

To learn more, check out transitionus.org – or write your own.

Written by Brad Black, EO’s co-CEO

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Love everyone you meet for one day

Posted on December 31, 2011 by tyler@eoproducts.com

Sartre said “hell is other people”. We all know what he meant. The challenges of living side by side with others, strangers and loved ones alike, never cease.

Try something today, for the rest of your day. A thought experiment, a piece of performance art for the heart.

Hold each person you interact with in love.

That can be hard, even, depending on who it is, alarming.

Try it anyway. Hold onto His Holiness Dalai Lama’s words: “my religion is kindness”. Be the light, that light we all need more of, and be a blessing to everyone you meet. Just for a day. See what it feels like.

Some tricks:

*Imagine them as a small child, someone’s beloved girl or boy.
*Remind yourself that the ache and pang and longing and sorrow that your heart knows so well are familiar companions to their heart as well.
*Consider that the things about them you don’t like, their harshness, or unconsciousness or cluelessness, are evidence of the wounds they’ve experienced

It doesn’t mean doing anything. Or even talking. It just means sending love their way, from your heart to theirs.

No small thing.

You’ll will never know the difference it might make to someone, and to everyone whose lives THEY touch that day.

Sending you love.

Written by Susan Griffin-Black, EO’s co-CEO

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