Blind No More - The Importance of Understanding

Open your mind and your heart and just listen.

Click the VIDEO below to watch...

Here are our thoughts... read with an open mind. We felt it to be very important to take a pause from our regular short film finding wonder adventures to add our voice to the collective need for racial equality. We stand in solidarity for racial equality.

We co-founded Sea Tree Wonder to be intentional seekers & sharers of wonder, joy and reasons for gratitude because we wanted to commit to being intentional people. We share our life adventures, wonderments, and reasons for wonder with you so that you can be inspired to be intentional, mindful and more joyful too. That’s what Sea Tree Wonder is all about…. Being grateful, seeing the beauty, feeling the joy and then sharing it with others, because the more happiness that anyone one of us can nurture in ourselves or others, the happier world we can help to create.

That being said, to really be an appreciator of wonder requires an open mind, an open heart, open eyes, and listening ears. Over the last couple of weeks, we have realized that we have even more learning, listening, discussing, and seeing to do than we thought… we have realized that as people loving, world peace dreaming, color blind white people we have a lot of learning to do.

We are lost for words. We are angered by the extreme inequality of the justice system. We want a just, fair and equal society for every person, regardless of the color of their skin. We don’t know what is the correct thing to say, or even what exactly would be the best thing to do right now.

We know we are absolutely horrified, angered, and saddened to see people get their air pressed out of them until they die under someone’s knee, get shot because of the color of their skin, or have their everyday law abiding human actions questioned because of the color of their skin. That is unacceptable.

The two of us have the privilege of waking up with white skin every day. We were born white. It’s not our fault that we were born white. It is our privilege that we were born white, and we accept that having white skin is a privilege in America. Facing other hardships because of other factors has been a reality in our lives, though the color of our skin has not been one of those hardships.

We grew up being taught and seeing people as people and people as equals… we grew up being “non-racist” and essentially color blind. We now see that being color blind does not solve the racial inequality that abounds in America, nor does it change laws. Being color blind does not stop police brutality, and being color blind does not stop racism from occurring. Being color blind has not stopped any of the brutality from occurring, and it won’t stop it from continuing to happen until we open our eyes to seeing the true colors of racism.

We do not know what the answer to all of this messed up, angering, and totally unfair situation is, though we are open minded to learning about how we can open our eyes, so that we are blind no more. What does that really mean? We don’t know, but we aren’t going to tip toe around this matter.

We get to go for a walk in a park to appreciate the wonder of trees and not have a policeman question what we are doing and then if we move our arms get shot and killed. That’s a privilege that our white skin affords us. Doesn’t everyone deserve the opportunity to walk through the park appreciating trees or go for an exercise jog, and not get shot because of the color of your skin?

Trees are beautiful, wondrous, and inspiring, and spending time in nature brings so much wonderment into your life when you bathe in nature. When we make our short films about appreciating natural wonders, we make those films for EVERYBODY!!

Over the last couple of weeks, we have realized that while we make these finding wonder videos for everybody… that not everybody can feel or go do the same after the video ends. We acknowledge now that if your skin is dark, you may have to watch our video, think about how nice it would be to go to the park, then decide if it’s actually worth it to go to the park…because it may cost you your life.

That is not acceptable! That is not acceptable! Racial justice & equality is not a black person issue, it’s an every person issue… every person should get to go for a walk in a park to appreciate trees.

We don’t know what to say. We are trying to grapple with all of our feelings on this whole concept of race and skin color… probably because we have spent our whole lives believing that all people are created equal and that skin color didn’t matter. But guess what? No matter how uncomfortable or frustrating it is… skin color does matter. It mattered 400 years ago, it mattered 150 years ago, it mattered 50 years ago, and it matters today. What are we going to do about it? Nothing is not the answer.

We are going to learn, we are going to read, we are going to listen to stories, we are going to have discussion, we are going to vote and we are going to be open minded. We are probably going to say something wrong… we are going to say something that sounds really “white privelagy”. We apologize in advance. Amidst it all, we are certainly going to appreciate wonders and be celebrating joys… because life is all about those moments of wonder and awe. But we will not be blind. Our eyes are open.

We don’t know how many people will watch this or are even still watching it now… we don’t know if this video or this conversation will have any impact on helping to create true, lasting, and meaningful human perception changes, racial equality or actually fair policing, though we speak up because this matters. To be quiet is to be ok with the way things have been. The “have beens” are not acceptable… and isn’t it a giant big wondrous wonderment that so many people’s eyes have been opened, that voices are being heard, that actions are being taken… and must be until we ALL have the people loving peaceful world we have all been imagining.

What is a wonder if it can’t be appreciated fairly? What is a joy if it be based on race? And what is thankfulness if it’s blind?

Say something. Do something. Read something… learn. Your fellow humans count on you. We decided that just being silent crying watchers was not enough. Friends, the wonder of love, kindness, and equality depends upon our open-mindedness, not our comfort. None of this is comfortable… but paradigm shifting, human growth, isn’t usually comfortable. We are uncomfortable and we whole heartedly admit it.

Friends, reasons for wonder abound as much today as they abounded yesterday, and isn’t it wonderful that tomorrow more wonders can abound based on the solidarity of today.

Life is a journey of growth and action. That is a wonderment worth celebrating. If we can appreciate this powerful moment in all of our life stories, we can help create the happier world we all want to live and thrive in.

Friends, may we let our love for wonder keep our eyes, ears, hearts, minds, voices and votes filled with compassion, understanding, kindness, and equality.

If all lives matter, then BLACK LIVES MATTER too.

We stand in solidarity for racial equality.

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Episode Credits:

In this film, all video & photos were filmed by the two of us.

The WONDERful MUSIC that goes into underscoring our videos

is ALL licensed through Artlist.

Musical Artists heard in THIS FILM:

~ Logan Pilcher, Stanley Gurvich & Anna Yarbrough

THANK YOU for your APPRECIATION & support

of the Sea Tree Wonder journey!

We invite you to connect, follow and share the Sea Tree Wonder journey online with your friends & family! YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Patreon

Friends, may we let our love for wonder keep our eyes, ears, hearts, minds, voices and votes filled with compassion, understanding, kindness, and equality.

If all lives matter, then black lives matter too.

Your friends,

Wendy (Sequoia Win’Ni) & Megan

and "Wonder DOGS" Uluru & Konane