I promise to raise you as a loving-nature human.

The most important thing in my life is you, which means that as your mom – I am doing my very best to make sure that when you read this letter, Earth is a cleaner and safer place for you and your children.

I am writing this to keep myself accountable and push myself towards taking action towards a sustainable future. I hope children of the future can still appreciate the wonders that nature and all its beings have to offer, appreciate the beauty in the world around us.

I imagine at this point we have dropped our addiction to coal, gas, and oil and that our environment has made a turn for the better with the solar, wind, and other unimagined (at this point) alternative energy choices are in place.

I will promise to help climate change as much as I can.

Thank you — Thank you — without you, I would not hear butterflies singing, without you, I would not understand black bear humor, or the creativity of jays planning their breakfast, without you, I would not feel flora whispers of long-lived wisdom on the back of my neck while sitting in Padmasana.

As I write this, I consider giving up as it sometimes seems that all is lost. But then I think of you.

I want clean air, clean energy and muddy feet for you. I want this for all children.

Right now you are only a little over 5 weeks old, but you have truly changed my whole world. Your Mom and I always say that we thought we loved before you were born, but now that you have come into the world and we met you, our ability to love just expanded exponentially.

We’re presenting at conferences, writing articles, and organizing events with the goal of mobilizing our profession to act on climate, and to help them understand that it will deeply impact our mission to preserve history for future generations.