Fall 2004, Volume 9 Number 3

Table of Contents

Always Question...
by Julia Butterfly Hill

We live in challenging times.  From hunger and poverty to the industrial prisons and military complex, air and water pollution to deforestation and global warming, everywhere we look, there are problems facing our country and our world.  It is easy to become overwhelmed  when trying to find ways to make a positive difference.

When people hear that I lived in an ancient redwood tree for over 2 years to keep it from being cut down, they often respond by saying, “I could never do that.”  I always respond, “Well, neither could I.”  There is no way I could have ever—even in my wildest dreams—

imagined what I lived through and experienced in those years without touching the ground.  But as I look back now, I can see how I was uniquely positioned to take that stand and how each and every one of us is uniquely gifted to help make our world a better place.  It is often the parts of ourselves that we are taught are bad that can be some of our greatest strengths. 

For example, I have been stubborn and getting into trouble since I was about two years old.  There is a joke about me that the first cry out of my mouth when I was born was, “Whyyyyyyy????” and I have been questioning everything ever since.  Because I often felt different, bad, and wrong for the way I saw, questioned, and experienced life, I became very rebellious.  As I hit my teenage years, I unfortunately did some pretty stupid things as I struck out at the world I saw, the people around me, and even myself.  I am lucky and grateful to be alive.  Many of my friends from those years didn’t make it.

But the deep questioner in me—the part of me that has always asked, “Why?” over and over until I got an answer that felt like deep truth—never gave up.  I even questioned myself, which I think is really important.  Always asking why, even of myself, is what eventually led me into activism.  I found a way to channel my rebellious, stubborn, truth-seeking nature into positive ways of being.  I have learned how to use exactly who I am to help create a better world.

This is something that lives within each and every one of us.  Who we are, is exactly who we are meant to be.  We grow when we find the courage to find answers through asking really difficult questions of everyone, including ourselves.  So often, we want someone else to give us the answers.  We look to see what others—our friends, teachers, commercials, or movies to name a few—are doing or saying to decide what we should do.  And even though it is important to be able to learn from others, we should always ask if it is important and really the truth for ourselves.  If we are willing to risk looking silly, not fitting in, or even being laughed at or yelled at, then we can be really powerful and make a big difference in the world.

Using world hunger as an example for all of this, when we ask the questions, “Why are people hungry?  Why do people die from hunger and diseases caused from malnutrition?”  The first, easy answer would be, “Because they don’t have food.”  But when we ask deeper and deeper questions, we begin to realize that a big part of the reason is that too many people have taken more than their share of the Earth’s resources for too many years and even today.  This causes an imbalance in our world that allows for some people to have more than they could ever possibly need, while others starve and go without.  When asking tough questions, we can also see that destruction of our natural environment contributes to food shortages, water shortage and pollution, soil erosion, global warming and so much more—all of which affect people’s access to healthy food.  These and so many more answers can only be found by asking question after question until we uncover what is at the heart, the center, the reason and cause of what we truly need to know. 

It is not always easy to be this kind of person.  But when we choose to live our lives to make a difference, the first step always comes in being a good student and asking tough questions.  For me, life itself is about always being a student.  I want to be learning for as long as I am alive.  I know the more I learn the more positive difference I can make in the world.

I am proud and happy to know of all the young people all over the world—just like you—who are committed to making our world a better place for all.  YOU are the ones to make the difference.  It is not really a question of, “Can we make a difference?” Every choice we make changes the world.  Each and every one of us does make a difference.  The question we must begin with then is, “What kind of a difference do we want to make?”

© Copyright 1999, Kids Can Make A Difference