Next week for my birthday I’ll take a walk in the woods. Silently, surrounded by friends, we’ll celebrate life by listening. The idea came from a panel discussion on potable water. A couple of scientist stars, one of which is awfully well known for the show Cosmos, sat with RFK Jr., two young comedians and His Holiness the Gyalwang Drukpa. His Holiness spoke my two favorite lines of the night. One in response to a request for advice — how to best educate people towards ecology. His answer: by example. The audience may have been moved into action, but today HH is doing it himself. Peddling bikes and picking up trash over a course of ten days, His Holiness is leading an Eco Bicycle Yatra, complete with elders and his awesome kung fu nuns.

The second line that stuck was a suggestion, perfectly suited to the crowd of science geeks and so called liberals — to go listen (literally) to nature. Not to read about it, or test it, or talk. Rather to go outside and listen, and see if you can hear what the trees have to say.