From the moment of my birth, my family taught me that being good, believing in God, and being "saved" were the most important things I would ever do with my life. Society taught me that getting good grades so I could go to a good college so I could get a good job and make good money and spend even more were the most important things I would ever do with my life. "Good" in whose eyes? Until I reached my teens, I followed what was virtuous in my parents' eyes. They would tell you that I did what was good in God's eyes.

When I became a teenager, I did what every good child of that age does- I rebelled. I was very attracted by other rebels, though they were mostly the ones without a clue or a cause. Then I bought right into the sales pitch of the American economic system and began to work very hare to be good in society's eyes. My life's value was based on how much money I could make and spend, what I looked like and how others perceived me. I lived this way until a severe car wreck altered my life. This intense experience changed the way I viewed the world and my place in it. My spirituality broke free from the confines of my parents' religion, and my heart overflowed with a desire to find my true purpose in this life. Not the supposed purpose placed upon me by others, but the purpose intrinsic to who I am - the purpose given to me by the Creator.

When I found out that 97 percent of the original redwoods had already been cut down, and that the little left was still being destroyed in an extremely toxic and devastating way, I was sickened, heartbroken and angrier than I can ever remember being. How could this be happening in "America the Beautiful"? My naivete was washed away by my flood of tears. I had seen what was beautiful, profound, sacred. Then I saw that the Sacred was being destroyed. I knew I had to do something to try to stop it.

When I first began to consider getting involved with the environmental issue, I - being the human that I am - came up with 101 reasons why I could not, and should not, take action. Reasons like, "I don't know enough or have enough experience." Or, "There are plenty of people working on this issue, so I should just go on my planned travels to find my sought-after purpose in life." I have since learned that anytime we come up with excuses why we can't or shouldn't do something, it's usually because we are afraid that we can and that we will do it. In my prayers, I received a message loud and clear: "Julia, if you walk away from this injustice, your inactions will be as much a part of the destruction of the redwoods as the actions of the CEO's of those lumber companies." Over and over in my mind like a mantra: My inactions are a part of the injustice in the world, just as surely as the actions and inactions of others.

I ended up climbing into a redwood tree, estimated to be more than one thousand years old, that was marked to be cut down by the Maxxam-controlled Pacific Lumber Company. I had planned on staying in the tree for three weeks to a month. I wound up living in it for 738 days without ever once touching the ground. I did this in order to protect this tree called Luna and to bring attention to the destruction of our old-growth forests around the world. I saw intimately how interconnected all of life truly is and how everything we do affects this beautiful planet and us, the people and animals who call it home. This book is about learning what is wrong and what is right and finding the love and power to decide to do something about it.

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