Hi!
The next three subjects of “111 Faces of Klamath Falls” are Emma, Sarah, and Ashanti.
Meet Emma. There’s nothing I can tell you about Emma that she can’t say 5000 times better in her own words, writings, and works. I’m not slacking here…this is the truth! I’ll share some links - please check them out! This is an incredible woman who does incredible things, and I just really want you to get to know Emma and her environmental and social justice work. She has a TED TALK ! See what I mean - it’s much more direct and effective just to check Emma’s work for yourself.) Check out her TED video and you’ll begin to look for, and see that, nature is everywhere. Solutions are all around us.
Emma - 19
Emma - 19/111
I first learned of Emma a few years ago when I listened to a random podcast on which she was the guest. I was happy to hear someone from Klamath Falls and began to follow her on twitter. I didn’t know at that time that our paths would intersect. Emma is a member of the Equity Task Force, and I’m honored for the opportunity to work with her. Emma is an indefatigable social justice warrior and ally. (Emma, thank you. Sincerely.) I intended to share that first podcast interview with you, but when searching to see if I could locate that episode, I discovered that she’s been interviewed on several podcasts. Search for Emma Marris on whatever podcast app you use and be prepared to be enlightened about nature and our planet, and our responsibility to it, and for it. Emma’s ability to communicate complex ideas is admirable and impressive. Emma is able to organize thoughts, ideas, and information, and present it to even the most unwilling of recipients with just enough softness for the message to be heard, but also with logic and data so that the message is irrefutable. She’s convincing. She’s persuasive. She’s powerful.
Q: What’s something that brings you delight?
A: “Music really brings me delight.”
Emma grew up in Seattle in the 90’s. She joked that her Seattle upbringing tends to make her a bit of a music snob, but she’s been finding delight in her kids’ top 40/pop music since coronavirus. (Is this a thing? Since COVID, I’ve been finding myself, uncharacteristically, listening to top 40/pop too!.)
Q: What’s something great about yourself? (a trait or accomplishment.)
A: “Great is a high bar,” Emma prefaced, “I guess I would say that I don’t settle for stuff. I want things to get better in my life and in the world.”
Again, these aren’t just words. Emma lives it in every way imaginable.
Q: Is there a problem for which you have a solution?
A: For the problem of climate change, Emma’s solution is for us “to demand change!” “It’s not too late. We get organized and demand big changes,” Emma instructed. She cautioned that we can’t allow ourselves to feel so guilty about our own personal footprint that it paralyzes us and prevents us from making the real changes needed, which are so much bigger than our own personal footprint.
Emma also offered a solution for a smaller problem, “Everybody in America needs to learn how to cook fried rice and stop throwing out their take-out white rice.”
Q: What is your life’s dream/goal, and how are you working towards it?
A: “I just want people to say, ‘She did her best…she tried.’” Emma added that she’s working on not letting herself get too overwhelmed because her desire to always want to improve things extends to her entire life. “I’m going to keep trying to make things better,” Emma said.
Q: How would you like to be remembered? (Personal Legacy Statement.)
A: Emma wants to be remembered for her work. “I’ve written one book, and a new book is coming out this summer. Writers want their work to live on forever.”
Congratulations on your second book, Emma! Click here to pre-order Emma’s second book, “Wild Souls”
Learn more about Emma here on her website!
Sarah - 20
Sarah - 20/111
Q: What’s something that brings you delight?
A: “Mt. Shasta!”
Sarah grew up near the ocean for most of her life. She liked being so close to something as vast as the Pacific because it forces some perspective. “The ocean keeps us in scale,” Sarah explained. The view of Mt. Shasta provides her with that reminder now that she lives here.
Q: What’s something great about yourself? (a trait or accomplishment.)
A: “I’m optimistic!” (“Or maybe hopeful,” Sarah added.)
Q: Is there a problem for which you have a solution?
A: “I don’t have a solution, no. I’m just a cog in the gears.” A problem that was on Sarah’s mind the morning we met is how we assign categories or labels to people, and how much better we could be if we just identified “people” as “people” instead labeling or categorizing.
Q: What is your life’s dream/goal, and how are you working towards it?
A: “To be part of something that makes others’ lives easier.”
Again, these aren’t just fluffy words. Sarah lives it! I’ve observed Sarah’s kindness firsthand, when she assisted a group of elderly travelers who were displaced by the 242 Fire this past fall. I won’t get into the complicated story, but Sarah didn’t hesitate in providing assistance and she continues to help our community and community members.
Sarah’s parents raised her with a sense of responsibility to be part of the solution. “I was born with a silver spoon that tarnished, but I haven’t had to have any more than my share of struggles. I like lifting others up”
Q: How would you like to be remembered? (Personal Legacy Statement.)
A: “I wan’t to be remembered as being kind and cheerful.” Sarah added that she also wants to be remembered for being funny!
Sarah is one of the most kind, cheerful, inviting people I’ve ever met! She’s also a woman who is as equally fierce in activism as she is sweet and kind! Thank you for being you, Sarah! (I’m grateful to have met you!)
Sarah and I left our mini-photoshoot dreaming of the day when it’s safe enough to be able to have a cup of coffee together on a sunny patio, finish the rest of this conversation and begin some new ones. I’m looking forward to it!
Ashanti - 21
Ashanti - 21/111
Ashanti is a brand new friend I hadn’t met yet!
Q: What’s something that brings you delight?
A: “Music always brings me delight!”
Q: What’s something great about yourself? (a trait or accomplishment.)
A: “I think I make really good fish tacos!”
Q: Is there a problem for which you have a solution?
A: Ashanti explained that he’s been finding himself thinking about how selfish man can be at times, with our own self-serving behaviors, our own agenda and our own desires. “The solution is to be considerate and treat others how you want to be treated,” Ashanti said, “and not just treating people that way, but the planet too.”
Q: What is your life’s dream/goal, and how are you working towards it?
A: “My biggest commitment to myself is to become content with my life.” Ashanti explained that to get to that point, he’s always pushing himself toward a better tomorrow and regularly asks himself, “what’s next?”
Best wishes to you, Ashanti, may all of your hard work take you to your destination.
Q: How would you like to be remembered? (Personal Legacy Statement.)
A: Ashanti wants to be remembered as someone who lived without self-imposed boundaries or limitations, and encouraged others to do the same. “If you want something, go get it,” Ashanti said.
Thank you, Emma, Sarah & Ashanti!
The idea of “curating community” and “cultivating community” has been a reoccurring thought. As I was reviewing photos of previous subjects and working on the photos for this week, I was struck and impressed by the incredible group of people who’ve participated in the project so far. ‘This is a great community we’re curating,’ I thought. I’ve used the hashtag #creatingklamath on Instagram. I’m inspired and motivated by the people in this project who are sincerely and actively working towards creating a community of which we can all be proud. Some people are working quietly, and some people are working boldly! I’m optimistic that in spite of everything we’ve lived through recently, or maybe it’s because of all that we’ve lived through, we have the ability to unite and curate the community we desire. All of these amazing, vibrant people in our community, create a vibrant community! We have the ability to curate, cultivate, and create a community that’s safe, welcoming, happy, equitable, sustainable, and prosperous for us all. These people are making it happen!
Thanks again for reading along and special thanks to everyone who’s allowed me to photograph them. Spring is coming and soon we’ll have more beautiful blue skies and impressive sunsets. I’m looking forward to pushing myself to look for, see, and capture better lighting. I know the quality of the images will improve as I learn how to see and capture the light.