Julia Butterfly Hill American Heroin

“Why should I care about some lady living in a tree?” Is the question that I asked myself before I read the book ‘The Legacy of Luna’. Like most people, I glanced at its contents ran my fingers through the pages and decided that it would not interest me. However it was not long before I changed my mind after reading about her magnificent inner strength and my doubts were soon disbanded for I began to realize its inspiration and the author’s inner strength.

‘The Legacy of Luna’ is filled with self-determination, love and sacrifice. These commodities outline the path of which Julia embarked upon to discover her true character. It’s an epic battle between our heroine of the novel and her oppressors, also known as the lumbering companies, which were owned by Charles Hurwitz. Was she just a girl in a tree? I think not for I believe her purpose was more valuable that one could imagine.

The beginning of the story speaks of her near fatal car accident and how the result of this altered her reflection on life. She began to believe that her days could not be spent ‘thinking of tomorrow’, thus appreciated each day that passed rather than taking life for granted.

On further examination of her life, she realized her lack of direction and purpose thus decided to follow a more spiritual path. Julia decided that she should take a ‘journey’, although little did she know her journey would be more spiritual than physical. This journey started off with a group of friends, and left her isolated upon arrival at the grizzly creek state park, where the ‘redwoods’ had enveloped a spiritual feeling inside her. Julia quoted "Surrounded by these huge, ancient giants, I felt the film covering my senses from the imbalance of our fast-paced, technologically dependent society melt away’’. We may hereby conclude that she found her comfort within nature and believed that from this feeling her purpose may be revealed.

As her passion became ignited it seemed clear that her intuition was sparked by nature and although she was still slightly unsure, she began to gather ideas and set goals that awaited her accomplishment. It was at this very moment that she realized that one of her goals was to be protector of these majestic trees.

Upon her volunteering for a tree-sit (something she knew nothing about) in her effort to become part of the solution, her journey began. Her calling in life had found her, and she was determined not to shirk her responsibilities, but rather live up to the task she believed to have been presented with. So strongly she felt about this task, that she was very determined to overcome any obstacles that could be put in her way.

Julia speaks of her childhood at the very beginning of the novel. She speaks of her preparations for the challenges of life, how she was poor and deprived of luxuries that most children desired and how religion played a very important roll in her families’ life.

Indeed, Julia was the daughter of a preacher and this family environment set the tone of her spiritual beliefs and morals. One may argue that her home environment may have prepared her well for the future events, considering she did not abandon her spiritual feeling when she came upon the redwoods in the park.

She survived sorrowful nights, braved many a storm and kept her strength against media scrutiny. To add insult to injury she also survived the harsh battle with lumbering organizations as well as the opposition from the home team as even some of her fellow activists stood against her.

Julia’s amazing faith coincided with her strength in her belief had overcome these very obstacles. We