It Was All About Her: Julia "Butterfly" Hill

Political people are of two types. The first being one who seeks political office or notoriety for the sake of individual gratification. The other type is the movement person who may run for office or become an activists for a particular issue they are passsionate about. The difference in the two is with the formenr its all about them and the latter its about the common good.

The Waterbury Observer just published an interview with Julia Butterfly Hill. "Butterfly" is a name given to her when, as she tells it, as a "7 and a half" year old while hiking a butterfly landed on her and stayed for "hours and hours" to which the interviewer reminded her that butterflies "come to the peaceful people, so that must mean you're very peaceful". It's doubtful that the story is true but if true the meaning to it is utterly ridiculous but this is the gist of the interview: A fawning puff piece on a narcissistic subject.

Julia Butterfly Hill is famous for climbing a tree, giving it a name (Luna) and live on it, tick-like. for two years in order to protect it from loggers. So the message seems to be that loggers ought to be curtailed from taking trees to make paper and building material. Certainly an extreme and harsh way to get the message out. Julia lets us know that she organized a concert once and the audiance were fed vegan hot dogs and hambergers and the entire affair was done with little to no disposable waste. Fair enough. The logical question here is shouldn't Ms Hill have insisted that her interview not be published on parchment made out of the carcas of Luna's siblings?

With all the concern of saving Luna there is no mention at all about the evils of paper or lumber just a passing reference to deforestation. Instead Julia throughout the interview rambles on and on about what she knows best, Julia. "Part of the reason why people resonate with me is because I'm honest and I just speak from my own experience. I use my own experience. My life experiences are a big part of who I am." and how do people "resonate" with her? "I have the people that love me. I have the people that hate me. I have the people that don't care. I have the poeple that think I should save the world and the people that think I'm the devil, I get all kinds of feedback." her impression of how people see her is either a saviour or a destroyer of the world. How she thinks of herself?: "..."I'm good at being with myself. I loved playing by myself since I was a little girl...I like my alone time." and when she climbed the tree to draw atttention to the horrors of the process of wood and paper products (yea right) it

challenged whom I am as a person. People don't know that because they only know me for celebrity and the story that they herad about... When the spotlight came then everybody's stuff came along with it. I literally got to a point where I was starting to feel schizophrenic becuase I was taking the fall for all this different stuff. The beauty of that is that it made me put myself under a microscope and be willing to be really authentic and really true and really honest. That's all. And it was also a courageous thing. So I put myself under the micoscope and I got really clear aand continued to make this an ongoing journey and got really clear on what is it I'm called to be. What does my spirit call me to be? What does my heart...

Julila is so wonderful and you know what, the more she looks at her favorite subject the more she thinks she is even more awesome and cool. "I know this sounds weird to you. Trust me sometimees I question even myself." no trust us Julia we know we know. "Because the reason we react to people is partly because we don't want to own the ways we question ourselves. It somebody questions us we get triggered part of the reason we are getting triggered is because we doubt ourselves." Can't have that, more important we shouldn't "own it" whatever that means. She was courageous about herself and honest about herself and put herself under a microscope and got clear about her journey "I" "me" "my"...what does any of this have to do with the lumber business and climbing Luna, was all this a cover for an elaborate exercise in self-aggrandizement?

Julia Hill may mean well and the interviewer, Chelsea Murray, who were told is contemplating a trip to Africa also has a heart to do well in a cause. To this there there is somehting to be commmended. Also at 19 Murray has done an impressive job as a journalist in running a publication Young Voices and in getting this insightful interview however the insight may not be the one intended.

Above one of the pages of the interview is an ad about a film being developed on Julia Hill. Really. Just what is it about a tree sitter does Hollywood think is particulary film worthy? Oh, just so we don't think this is a firvoulous project we're told it's with an "A-list cast." Without a doubt the lumber company will be portrayed as cigar smoking fat cat greedy figures up against poor B-fly Hill in a tree. Hill tells us in her own article that she was shot at by hunters and that loggers also tried to kill her (by what means were not told). A bit dramatic and extremely suspect. Surly crimminal charges could have been filed. Certainly with all the narcississm and self righteousness Hill and Hollywood are a perfect fit.