With your busy schedule, how do you find time to work out and stay in shape? I think it’s been about momentum. I had the good fortune of training and eating well since I went off to play volleyball in college. That sort of steam made it easier as I added work, a partner and children. I think it’s more difficult for women that don’t have that experience. When they enter “the real world” and add a big career or long hours, a partner or fam- ily, it becomes difficult to establish that grounding in healthy practices. You have to create the environ-
ment in which you are going to suc- ceed. That takes years. At some point, you have to be honest with yourself. For me, I know I won’t get exercise or anything else done if I stay home. There are some things I can go to a gym to do that I can also do at home but know I won’t, so it’s about creating an environ- ment that activates good intentions.
How do you choose to expend your volunteer efforts? Laird and I are usually quick to be on board with anything that involves the environment and people. These causes are near and dear to everybody, but make special sense for us, given the amount of time we have lived and worked outside.
As a mother, do you feel a special concern for being a good environmental steward? I felt this way even before I had chil- dren because I had the luxury of play- ing beach volleyball. I grew up in the Caribbean and have always tried to be a benefactor of the beautiful outdoors. It adds another layer of motivation when you start thinking about your kids and the opportunities they will or will not have in their future. In Hawaii, the Polynesians tradi-
tionally didn’t believe in ownership, but in being stewards of an area. That’s how I feel about the place where we live now. The ultimate for me would be to leave it better than I found it.
Christine MacDonald is a freelance journalist in Washington, D.C., whose specialties include health and science. Visit
ChristineMacDonald.info.
natural awakenings May 2014 37
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