An Interview With Gramicci and My Many Different Shoes
In the late fall of 2007 I got a phone call from Lucas, a friend and an employee for Gramicci. He asked if Little Yoga Warriors and I would like to be featured in their 2008 Catalog. This offers a great deal of information about the foundation of what Little Yoga Warriors is all about and the Expedition that will take place in Nepal in May 2008.
THE INTERVIEW:
LG: What draws you to finding a sustainable way to live?
KT: There are so many variables. I think part of it is in my blood, to go down a path that is less trampled on, more treasured, a path more respectful of the natural environment. Part of this eagerness to live sustainably came later on in life while I was studying at University. I kept stumbling upon these courses, with professors that literally dropped their students off in the middle of nowhere, abandoned farm country and would say things like, “ Ok kids, what do you see? What do you hear? Report back at the van after sunrise." We would follow deer, rabbit, fox, and squirrel tracks on ski’s. We could be there all day, nose to the snow, tracking these animals around to see where their dens were. I started seeing the world with completely new eyes, far away from a world where they first opened back in Connecticut. I was mesmerized by this world.
I once had to take an exam in the middle of a snow storm, my gloves were icing over, my hair soaked, and every time I put my pencil down to write on the paper, it would slowly tear, as paper will often do when it’s wet. By then end of the four hour exam I got back in the bus, grinned, handed my paper over to my professor and said, “good luck reading that, how do you feel about a redo?” we all laughed, there were about 12 of us frozen solid and with the same results. THAT is what education is all about. Not so much the test results but the experience that takes place while learning.
LG: What draws you to teaching children?
KT: CHILDREN draw me to teach children. They are the most intuitive, free loving, laughter based, brilliant beings on this earth. They scream, “Let’s play outside and discover EVERYTHING!” Where there is only black and white, they see color. They can take one look around and see everything as a magical land. Children are SO right on in everything they say or do. They haven’t been molded yet into the close-mouthed, close-minded; keep your thoughts to yourself, way of life. I can very much relate to them.
They say it how it is; they SEE it how it is. They are so dam creative that sometimes I put my hands up in the air and say, “I am doomed, I just got stumped by a 4 year old” Children want to play, they want to dream, and they are all ART. They can turn ANYTHING into an art project and transform sand into small cities just by looking at a mound of it on the beach. They talk to animals and can relate to them on a deeper level. They don’t judge unless they are taught to judge.
Children are the only hope we have because THEY get it. They love ALL that is in this world; sometimes I think the only reason LOVE is still here is purely because of them. Children love everything and everyone with no guards up and no walls to break down. They teach US how to love because they let us love them under no condition.
LG: Tell us how your first book Sasha and Mishoo: Little Yoga Warriors came about?
KT: Jeff, my business partner and I met at a local coffee shop back in the summer of 2005. He and his wife had just moved to boulder from Seattle, and I had just come back from living in New Zealand. He had these grand plans of writing a children’s book about yoga and I jumped at the chance to illustrate it. My skills were a bit rusty, I hadn't picked up any sort of art medium, anything but my camera and guitar in two years, but lied and told him, “oh piece of cake”. Very far from it.
LG: What has been the response and feedback?
KT: You know, everyone wanted to have their own say in this project. We have gotten everything from doubt and warning to excitement and praise. People tend to be very afraid of trying something new and I found that there were some people who were hesitant about this project; “not enough money too much time” kind of thing. Then there were those who kept getting goose bumps by our concepts and dreams. And in the end, creating a bridge between children all over the world through environmental and cultural education, is worth all the risk.
As for how we published, A LOT of respect there, for printing the way we thought it should be done. To get a book published is one thing, to self publish and to self publish SUSTAINABLY is entirely different. I was practically married to our printing firm for 7 months solid. My hands were decorated in reds/yellows/purples/blues. People have loved the final product and it’s been such an incredible journey to have everyone from major publishing houses, and big name companies in the yoga and outdoor industries, supporting us so for what we have been doing. I think the biggest honor: my friends constantly tell me that by following my dreams and making it happen, has give them hope to follow their own.
LG: With all the new publicity regarding the Green Sustainable movement, what do you think is most important for people to know right now?
KT: There is so much to take in; I mean it’s kind of ridiculous in a sense. It’s become such a trend, who has the most eco friendly grocery bag, the most energy efficient car, home, lifestyle. BUT this trend I commend because people LOVE trendiness and the people behind the environmental movement have created a spectacle out of the “green movement” connecting to a great amount of people who normally wouldn’t really take notice of a more ecological and friendly lifestyle. We are growing as a society and every day more and more people say YES to going local and NO to corporate. Oh wait, maybe It’s just because I live in Boulder, CO that I see this.
But really, the most important thing to know: BABY STEPS. Don’t take too much on, do what you can. We all know our ability to over use energy and raw materials and thus creating quite a large environmental footprint and every day we read more and more about new animals being added on to the endangered species list, ice in the arctic that is melting at an astonishing speed, natural disasters due to the rise in temperature, I mean the list is endless. Where is the list of HOW DO WE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT? We need to take action, get involved, clean up the trash that sits on the sidewalks outside our house, change our light bulbs, turn off our heat, and our air conditioning, open the windows or insulate our homes better. Learn how other cultures are living peacefully with the land. There is a TON we can learn from them.
LG: What inspires you today?
KT: EVERYONE. My greatest teachers are the people I pass on the street or seeing a friend elude compassion towards themselves and life. Travel, LAUGHTER, and living a more peaceful and simple lifestyle inspires me to keep growing. I get all worked up about all the things we have to do this lifetime to make a difference within this world but I try to stay focused on the beauty I see daily and go from there.
LG: Who is your favorite artist?
KT: I can’t answer this. Picasso? The way he saw the world has fascinated me since I was a kid. Every day I see something new from a “just discovered” artist, that BLOWS my mind, and I am like, “why didn’t I think of that?” I have profound, never dwindling respect, for ALL artists. They take the time to see the world differently; that’s admirable. Even if I don’t like a piece of art I have appreciation for it. I can always find something that I like. It’s my absurdly POSITIVE attitude. I can’t help it. I just recently found out Katie means ABSOLUTELY in Hindi.
