Spring Equinox Issue of Pariah, A Healing Journal, 2009

Have you ever felt you were a trailblazer? Are you the first person in your family,

Let's face it, we are our own science experiments, and we all know the drill.

workplace or community to be injured from radiation, mold or chemicals? The first house on the block to post a "pesticide free zone" sign in the yard? The first employee in the office to simply say "no" to perfumes? Or perhaps the first member of your support group to try Complimentary and Alternative Medicine? Yes? Then you are blazing trail.

Let's face it, we are our own science experiments, and we all know the drill. Despite the fact an estimated 36.5 million Americans are afflicted by chemical sensitivities we are still relegated to the back of the bus. We are merely collateral damage -- that unintended, but acceptable outcome quantified into the EPA's scientific risk assessment.

But, just what are we to do about it? I say, it's time to blaze some trail!

After all, we are already well down the trail into the next century. Why not make it count and be Pathfinders for the next generation?

Let's start by taking our seat on the bus bound for truth and justice. After all, we are already well down the trail into the next century. Why not make it count and be Pathfinders for the next generation?

Whether it is medical, financial, social, scientific, political, environmental, or judicial inequities we are all duly affected. This is the age of globalism. We now know the Butterfly Effect is real. Poisoned milk products from China will harm American children. Mercury freely released from chlorine factories in Louisiana will taint every fish in the sea. An African ill wind will sicken Floridians enjoying a sunset stroll on the beach.

And while many Americans are asking, "where is my bailout?" I am wondering,

While many Americans are asking, "where is my bailout?" I am wondering, "where is our justice?"

"where is our justice?" I also can't help but ask, "what would Gandhi think of the world we have created?" Would he want us to join him on another Satyagrapha? Or, is he having the last laugh from the heavens as he observes his meager, yet treasured, possessions auctioned to the highest bidder? What action would he take, as greed and tyranny simply walk off with every resource on the planet, right down to the very air we breathe?

Deepak Chopra captured it best in his recent series of articles on Diabolical Science. I agree with him wholeheartedly -- we are entering into a new era of humanity and it's time to put an end to "diabolical creativity." I think Mr. Chopra is framing the problem with perfection when he writes, "So before we continue to worship blindly at the altar of scientific progress, we need to stop and consider what kind of existence we actually want 20, 30, 50 years from now. The moral choices we make today will determine how healthy the planet is tomorrow. "

The history of chemical injury is full of people with this same level of humane and creative thinking. They are true trailblazers. People who lived valiantly, who gave everything they had to give, including their lives, pursuing truth and justice. Cindy Duehring is one shining example of that, but there are many, many more unsung heroes and heroines who have paved the way for us.

There is a very well blazed trail for us to follow if we will take the time to explore it, acknowledge it and benefit from it. It is, our shared and sacred chain of custody, and we should cherish and protect that chain. It is our strongest link to who we are as a community.

I choose to believe we can make a difference. Together we can blaze the trail ahead to take us where we want it to take us. What we know now about surviving chemical injury far surpasses the information which was available to us ten years ago, much less twenty or even thirty years ago. There is a very well-blazed trail for us to follow if we will take the time to explore it, acknowledge it and benefit from it. It is, our shared and sacred chain of custody, and we should cherish and protect that chain. It is our strongest link to who we are as a community. It is the joining of our individual narratives into one voice. Without that base of knowledge, we won't know where we have been, so how can we know where we are going?

For me, we are all trailblazers here to guide the next generation who will need to know how to cope, heal and live in this toxic world. If we don't figure out how to do that; mankind won't survive. The poisons we have created are not going away for many lifetimes to come, so the chemical injury skills we are perfecting are going to be invaluable for our children and their children.

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