"Every six year old is an environmentalist; some of us just never grow up"

The above quote was emailed to me the other day by my dear friend, Rob Wynia, of the band Floater (shameless plug: www.floater.com ). A University friend of his said this to him and Rob claimed that it reminded him of me. But if we all reach deep within ourselves, we will remember what it was like to be a child; full of wonder at the big world, a strong desire to learn the secrets that are held within the universe and a magical feeling of intrigue and mystery. Even though I will be 31 in less than a week, I still feel all of these things; I still feel like that little girl full of wonder. I’m happy to have kept that aspect of my personality despite the things that life has thrown my way. As a child, being taken to the zoo, the aquarium or the circus is the most exciting thing; to be taken to a place where you can see animals up close and awe at the sight of such magnificent creatures. And although I’m now an activist and against captivity, these types of experiences as a child are part of what led me to the life I am currently living. When I was eight years old, my mother took me to Marineland (similar to SeaWorld) in San Diego and I will forever remember the overwhelming excitement that bubbled within my little body when I saw the dolphins and killer whales with my very own eyes. It was the fuel for the fire that now governs my life. Just recently, my good friend and I organized a circus protest that took place last Saturday in the outer Melbourne suburb of Mooroolbark. The Stardust Circus is one of two Australian circuses that still keep animals (both circuses are owned by the same husband/wife team). Georgia and I were both very adamant about this not being an in-your-face protest where families are screamed at about the exploitation of animals. Despite the time I’ve put in with an aggressive organization and the fact that I’m considered a terrorist in Japan, I’ve never subscribed to the belief that violence and intimidation is the correct tactic for all situations. Indeed, there is a time and place for all approaches, but the key is to know which approaches work for which situations. If you took your five year old child to the circus and were screamed at by protesters, would you listen to what they had to say? No. You would guard your now-crying child while ushering them as quickly as you could through the gates and away from the attack you’ve just had hurled upon you. It takes strength to control your temper and those activists that do so in a diplomatic manner are the true heroes of the liberation world. The circus protest turned out to be more of a success than I had hoped; we were able to have a chat with the owner and while there were times when things became heated, there was never a time when any of the protestors lost temper and became aggressive. On the contrary, the owner lost her temper and began shouting at us, which, in turn, made her look the fool. My belief in civil disobedience has just recently been reiterated to me by the discovery of a book called From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation written by Gene Sharp (thanks for giving me the book, Greg). I won’t bore you with the details but basically this man, who was just nominated for a Nobel Prize, stands by the reasoning that all protest must be peaceful and that all disobedience must be civil. By all means, stand up for your beliefs. Speak out! But do so in a responsible and educated way. No one likes the bully that storms the joint and tries to force people to bend to his will through intimidation and/or violence. More importantly, no one respects such a person. Think back to when you were a kid: when your mother forbade you to do something, didn’t it make you want to do it that much more just to spite her? You know it did. It’s human nature to be defiant. So, I would like to extend my thanks to each of the protestors that joined Georgia and me last Saturday at the circus protest. Thank you for being civil and friendly to the families attending the circus. But most importantly, thank you for standing with us and speaking out for the animals.