Rainforesteco's Blog

Sometimes I just have to stop, take a deep breath and ask myself “Why do this?” Why spend hours in front of a computer, having conversations with the world – not sure if anyone’s reading unless a non-spam comment comes through? Why keep putting out non-profit proposals to fund education of rural farm communities to become rainforest nurserymen? Why put out funding pitches for the company to have the resources needed to go into full launch and production, to create rainforest conversation starters and fundraising gifts? Why not do something with more immediate rewards that are tangible?

So before launching into yet another proposal tonight (we’re applying for our educational work to become a project held by Earth Island Institute), I had to take a moment to go to a beautiful and sacred spot at the very center of San Francisco. There, I planted some Brazilian coins and a stone in the ground to earth my intention to fund Rainforest ECObank, to build our rainforest nurseries and replant a rainforest most people have never even heard of. As as I sat on a bench watching the last of the sunlight fade into night, a group of four beautiful young people came to share my perch.

We talked a bit, and I learned they were from Washington state, where I’d lived for many years, where my daughter still lives. They live here now, and asked me (without knowing what I was up to) if I’d ever heard of the rainforest up there. “Yes, the Olympic National Forest…” They were surprised I knew about it.

I told them I lived up there before the old growth had all been logged. I didn’t tell them I used to follow the logging trucks coming out of the forest, crying so hard I could barely see straight, talking to the trees they carried, apologizing for mankind’s love of paper and lack of foresight. In those days my daughter was so little, that my main job was to be the best mom I could be, which left little time to be a rainforest activist other than painting a portrait of an endangered snowy owl. And, there was little hope to stop the process while the loggers were racing the clock to get the old growth out before any legislation could possibly stop them…

So when these beautiful young people heard that my work now was devoted to replanting a rainforest in Brazil, where we have cooperation for the idea even from the government, they wanted to help. They asked if they could volunteer – what could they do? I asked them to help me spread the word and build our social media presence.

I knew then that my planted seeds of intention had been accepted by our Mother Earth, and that the help I’m seeking is here, now. I remembered (hadn’t really forgotten, but it’s nice to get some affirmation from time to time) that it was for them, for their children, for my unborn grandchildren that we do this.

So very grateful for signs, that come from Life itself…

If you’d like to be a part of our start-up process and receive a gifted silk shawl, please click here.

There are a lot of people who’ve inspired me over the last couple of decades: Jean Houston who first planted the idea of being a social artist in my mind; Lynne Twist who gave me a fundraising lesson by phone, after Jean suggested it. Little did I know then how much those two women would still be influencing me more than 20 years later, and that I would become an ardent supporter of the Pachamama Alliance and the work of Awakening the Dreamer.

Marianne Williamson started to influence my thinking during the 90′s when I first read “A Woman’s Worth.” Food for a lot of (at the time unsettling) thought. In 2004 I followed her to Washington, D.C. to learn how to lobby with Love, for Peace. A Department of Peace.

Then along came John. Amazon John. Amazon John Easterling that is. He influenced me tremendously as a social entrepreneur who was making a real difference to the people of the Amazon rainforest by creating an enterprise for them to share their healing plants with the people of the North, for the forest itself through the Amazon Herb Company’s support of the Aceer Foundation, and through those of us who consumed the products they marketed here for health. I was blessed to discover the company in 2001 and to illustrate a small book for them on the healing properties of the plants they used.

Working on those illustrations, knowing they would be part of a circulating stream benefit really moved me beyond words. I am extremely grateful for the gifts I’ve been given – my long standing relationship with the plant kingdom as one of its spokespeople, my skill as an artist to portray their messages, and for to the mentors who helped to show me a path I could walk upon, as a person who can make a difference in this world by applying the experiences and gifts of a lifetime for something much bigger than I would dare to dream, by myself.

What are your gifts? What’s your big dream? Wake it up – it’s time to live it.

Would you take our survey to help us design your ideal rainforest scarf?

We’re now sourcing organic cotton that we can use to make scarves at a lower price than we can with the silk we’ve been using for the first donor gifts. As we get the new fabrics in, we’d like to know what patterns YOU would like to see printed first, how long, how much fringe – lots of choices to create your ideal scarf.

And, we’d like to get an idea of your favorite rainforest causes. You know about our rainforest nursery plans, but if enough of you would like to gather round the organization you are already connected with: Aceer Foundation in Peru, Amazon Watch in Brazil, Pachamama Alliance in Ecuador and see then benefit from funds these scarves can generate with your support, let us know.

Really looking forward to your responses. Please pass the link to this page to your friends, make comments and help us make a great wave with this campaign.

Thank you in advance!

Frank Maguire.

Who’d know that I had the same wonderful mentor that Fred Smith had during his napkin days of dreaming impossible dreams about flying small objects around the world from a central hub, if I didn’t write this post today?

Frank was a founding executive of FedEx, an advisor to Colonel Saunders when he was starting KFC, a White House correspondent for JFK and LBJ, and he discovered, then hired Ted Koppel at ABC. The only thing he remembered as a regret, was not sitting down to share a Coke with JFK when he bumped into him one night in a dark, quiet White House. He was feeling shy in that moment – but never would again after that.

This is the 77th anniversary of Frank’s utterly astounding life, and we all wish he would be physically here with us to share the occasion. But he is here through a remarkable spirit who still puts wind beneath my wings, while I remember what he taught me.

1 – Never, ever, ever believe anyone who tells you you can’t do what you’re dreaming or that your dream is too big. Nuts. Just leave them alone and find the people who will help you, they’re out there.

2 – Trust your gut. When you feel that something’s going sideways in a relationship, trust it, it is. Take care of yourself and your business baby right away. Walk if you have to, with your head held high. When you find the people who you know are there to help achieve the goal, be there for them. They’re family.

3 – Always keep listening and learning and adapting to the flow of the moment. You can always learn more.

I remember sitting in his home, telling him about my dream of starting RainforestECO to benefit the forests of Brazil before going in Dec. 2008. His wife Carmel was making us lunch, and I was explaining how we could make fabrics from my rainforest art that would inspire people to become rainforest ambassadors. Uh huh. It didn’t sound like much of a business to him, but he was kind and he was listening to a dreamer. Carmel was able to see that dream more easily from her background as an interior designer.

But by the time I came back from my trip and was completely fired up that we could make a massive difference by creating a revenue stream for rural families to reforest the degraded lands, and I’d found the people who could make that happen, everything changed. We were in the same kitchen, while Carmel was making us another amazing lunch, and this time Frank said “I want to help, what can I do? What do you need? We have to do this…”

A few meetings later (some on their lazy river boat, some on their back deck, some in restaurants where Carmel always knew how to make the staff know they too were the most important people in the room), I developed the courage to let this Dream be the keynote of rest of my life. Even if the economy looks like it’s crumbling. So what. We’ll rebuild it.

There’s always a way when the wind is beneath your wings, and Frank Maguire is at your back. I love you Frank, and I refuse to miss you because you are still at my back and I feel your strength when my own is flagging. Thank you and Carmel for your extraordinary generosity of time and spirit. Thank you for sharing your tears with me when we watched Van Jones together, and your laughter when we watched Peter Sellers. Thank you for showing me how to lead a legendary life.

This movie clip is from a small gathering hosted at the home of Carmel and Frank Maguire last summer, as a fundraiser for RainforestECObank.

In this wonderful world of marketing that we have today, everybody’s got these massive brand phrases. Not only the ‘Absolutely, positively overnight,’ Federal Express is famous for, but I’m talking to you about the fact that we as a group, have taken on a very ambitious, but also a doable goal. It is our role and the role of everyone who gets involved with us, is to have an effect and an impact on every single human being on the face of this globe… And our job is to reestablish, to revitalize, to renew, to regenerate the lungs of this great planet earth.

Join us physically, join us emotionally, and if you are blessed, join us financially, because our journey has just begun. And, we are so fortunate to have been involved in this wonderful opportunity…

So as I said to my friend,”Count me in!”

Francis X. Maguire
Founding Executive of FedEx

Can’t wait for the photo shoot on Friday – our throw pillow samples arrived before the gardener did!

We’ll have fresh photos with pillows listed in our online shop by this weekend…while they won’t be for sale for another month or two… we’re just teasing you!

I’ve been looking for out-of-the-box options to raise the seed funds we need to get the fabric business moving forward a bit faster AND to raise literal seed money for our friends in the forest to go about their work. Finally found what looks like a good solution: IndyGoGo.

Hope you’ll visit our page and make a contribution of as little as $10 or as much as…. you name it! For the $100 up contributions you’ll receive gifts that will make it well worth your while.

We are sowing win-win seeds!