When I proposed to teach an Environmental Sociology class back in the mid-90s at the University of Washington, people thought I was a little strange. I was told that “the environment” was a luxurious problem, that problems about race relations, gender relations, and socio-economic inequality were more pressing in the United States at that time.

You have no idea how many times I have started to write this over the past 16 months. I would sit down to write my Blog and I just didn’t know where to start. Not for a lack of things to say, but rather, too many. It felt like a tsunami of ideas was crashing over me and I was almost drowning.

People often ask me: how did a girl born in suburban Connecticut in the United States, with Russian-Italian ancestry, end up living with indigenous people in Africa and now, guiding people all over the world to live with greater well-being and joy?

Well, here’s my story…

This is my first blog since this lockdown to stop the spread of the novel Coronavirus started. I haven't written too much at all as there is so much to say I didn't know where to start. So here goes...

In the United States, I feel like a salmon swimming upstream, as the climate of opinion here, for decades, if not from the dawn of the country, is more about the new ideas of the youth, staying young, acting young, and doing everything in one's power to not grow old. But what about the wisdom that comes from living?

I never thought I would make a big deal about turning 50, in part knowing these 'milestones' to be social constructions. I never saw the chimps in Tanzania celebrating birthdays! But, given that age does bring wisdom, I recalled a while back that I did get emotional upon turning 30, and 40, and wanted to prevent any potential anxiety about whether or not I am where I want to be in my life. So, I planned a party in Barcelona, with a few loved ones. It was awesome. And the memories will last forever.

I used to enjoy watching news reports on TV and reading multiple newspapers and magazines to get both facts and analysis from interesting writers. The Sociologist in me got excited to see how our theories of human behavior either were playing out in realtime, or needed some serious revision.

One Thursday, I was sitting with the President of the Rotary Club and he introduced me to his friend who passed by our table. The gentleman was a prominent attorney in town. The man greeted me in English and I responded in English. He then asked if I was British or American as he could not detect my accent. I said I was born and raised in the States. He then looked me directly in the eye and said, “I hate Americans.”

Sometimes you can hear the ruckus from metres away. And then…something happens, and it all stops. Calm returns. It is really cool to be inside the jungle during these times. You can feel your own mind-body chill out. Even if you have no idea what restored order in animal kingdom.

It dawned on me back then, almost 15 years ago, in the heart of Tanzania, East Africa (which, by the way, is a cradle of humanity, genetically speaking) that individuals and groups, CAN embody two or more ways of being in the world, in essence, embody complimentary opposites, that work in harmony together and, most importantly, allow us to live peacefully with ourselves and others.

What is The Happy Middle? Some of you may know of the concept from Ancient Eastern traditions, specifically in Buddhism and Taoism. I actually like to visualize it as the yin-yang. Or, as I learned at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC earlier this week, the Quechua people of Peru have the concept of yanantin, meaning the union of opposing yet interdependent energies, or “complementary opposites”.

Big words said "America Under Attack" and smoke and fire and crumbling buildings were on the screen. I said to my European colleague "It is really sad when they play these terribly violent videos in these places, I think it gives a bad impression of the West". I started to walk away. Then, something stopped me. I looked at the screen again and saw the CNN icon. My knees weakened as it hit me that this was no video

I realize I let one rip last week here on the blog….

"Remember, we do have the ability to create time, rather than be ruled by it."

And then, quietly, I snuck away. Maybe it was all the fireworks in the air, exploding out of seemingly nowhere and then fizzling out.

I was nervous to leave Africa — at the time I was in South Africa — and return to the USA. I wasn't sure I had the energy and capacity to survive in a country so ruled by competition, violence, and the almighty Dollar.

For a decade of my life in Africa, I enjoyed holidays, a time to un-plug, relax and rejuvenate. When I came back to the States, I was surprised to see all the shops open on holidays, in fact, enticing people inside with sales and special offers. And more often than not, friends would tell me "Sorry, I can't come for lunch, I have to work." When did anybody relax and rejuvenate?

Pillars. Structure. Something to hang onto to remind you where your feet are. Where your roots are. And during times of rapid change and 'crises' these things can be the most basic, the 'rocks' in your life.

My surname -- Pergola -- actually does mean a garden structure that offers protection from the glare of direct sunlight and gives climbing plants a structure to grow on. The Pergola provides beautiful support during times of growth and transformation. In this rapidly changing, often unstable-feeling era we are all in