I have been waiting until I had some new news to report to update, but then I saw this video on upworthy: The Upsetting Difference Between Men & Women, According to the World's Biggest Search Engine. Like a lot of things lately, it made me cry.

Until recently, I did not consider myself a feminist, because I didn't ever feel that my being a female impinged upon my freedom to be a successful, fully self-expressed person. (Like the folks "unaffected by racism," who are naive enough to believe we live in a post-racial world) I fancied myself more of a humanist. Not in the literal sense (maybe I should say human beingist), but in the sense that we are not "separate, but equal," we are simply, "equal." But, on a global scale, we are not equal. Not on the un-level playing field into which we were born. And, the older I get - the more experience points I amass - the more I come to terms with the fact that males & females are (physiologically) wired & (culturally) programmed so very differently. Those differences can be tiring and heartbreaking, disgusting and infuriating, and occasionally...beautiful.

I don't want to go off on a feminist rant. I imagine most of my readers are already well versed in the rationale, the statistics, the evidence, the personal experiences to grok that of which I speak.
I thought I should take this opportunity to make it clear to people why I am moving to Ecuador - or, more importantly, why I am moving away from the US; away from Hollywood; away from my successful career.

Just as I am finally fully waking up to the necessity of feminism, I am also coming to the brutal truth of the physical reality we humans have created on this planet. It. Is. Bleak. I don't need to post a bunch of links, articles, youtube videos, etc. to substantiate my assertion. The human population (primarily the western/developed world) has overshot the carrying capacity of the planet with it's rampant consumerism, toxic fuel production/consumption, incessant wars, and generally rapey mindset.

Americans make up 5% of the world's population, yet consume 20% of its energy. I feel I have done my part to get closer to that 5% mark (plant-based diet, car-free, not procreating, etc.), but I make a living hawking automobiles, petroleum and "healthcare." I have long since seen the irony in this, but have rationalized/justified it by saying, "If I don't take these gigs, some other actress will just fill my spot. However, when I do take the money, I am spending it on locally-grown organic produce, handmade one-of-a-kind dresses and custom-built bicycles." While I still stand by this, I think I would just as soon remove myself from the sick system.

"So why don't you just move to small-town America and start growing your own food?" Well, I would love to, except the US corporate/kleptocracy is making it increasingly difficult to do so - with legislation against subsistence farming, GMOs, fracking, etc. This country has become a downright creeper, and is only getting more sinister. Again, if you don't know what I am talking about, then you're probably following the wrong blog.

I had my share of "the good life" (42 years to be exact) - readily available fuel, food, water and (most importantly) entertainment at my fingertips. I have lived an extremely blessed, safe, easy, comfortable life. I just don't want to continue doing so on the backs of the bottom half of the world. So it's partially moving towards a simpler, more earth-centered lifestyle, as well as jumping the sinking ship. If there were a gender-balanced, nurturing-focused country on the planet, I would move there in a heartbeat. Ecuador seems to me one of the healthiest places left, so there I go.

Which brings me to this week's update:
I found yet another beauty of a home - that can accommodate 8!
Since they never responded to my inquiry, I am assuming the home has already sold. It does show me, however, what I am able to afford on my limited budget. I envision eventually being able to host 12 beings, so I have to keep it simple!

Also, my friend with whom I was planning to travel the country (not my real estate agent, but an old friend from college days) in search of our new home, has decided she cannot join me. Well, that throws a bit of a wrench in my plans, since I'm departing in a month and had planned it around her availability. sigh

Not to worry, I have spent a lifetime flying solo and am fully capable of doing so the rest of the way. I am extra grateful for Noelia's help at this point, since I just lost my translator as well. Anyone (Spanish-speaking) want to go to Ecuador with me next month? Better still, want to take a workshop where we learn how to build our earth home? Ahhh, adventure time!

And I cannot help but mention the 14,000 Hiroshimas hanging by their fingernails over in Japan. They begin moving the 1,500 spent fuel rods on Friday. Fingers (toes, legs, arms, eyes, ears and nostrils) crossed! Again, the Southern Hemisphere is looking quite a bit friendlier.

Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood, by William Wordsworth

...Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,	60
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come	65
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
Shades of the prison-house begin to close
Upon the growing Boy,
But he beholds the light, and whence it flows,	70
He sees it in his joy;
The Youth, who daily farther from the east
Must travel, still is Nature's priest,
And by the vision splendid
Is on his way attended;	75
At length the Man perceives it die away,
And fade into the light of common day...