Peru holds a special place in my heart.

Just before the pandemic shut the world down, my family and I were fortunate to explore parts of this beautiful country.

A highlight was hiking and camping along the ancient Inca Trail on the way to Machu Picchu.

It was here, surrounded by nature’s beauty and abundance, where I channeled the Earth Healing Meditation which I shared during my official launch of Ascended Presence.

However, our predawn hike up Rainbow Mountain -- left us conflicted. Until recently, the mountain had been a cold, harsh, snow-covered glacier.

Climate change has melted the snow – revealing a treasure trove of minerals hidden in the earth below.

At first, our Peruvian guide only shared the standard, tourist-friendly facts about the stunning Rainbow Mountain. When he realized he’d found a kindred spirit in my love for our Earth, he broke protocol with his training.

He divulged the government had already auctioned off sections of the mountain! It had sold the mining rights to big, international companies who had plans to blow up parts of the mountain to extract the sought-after minerals.

Please click here to see the impact gold mining has, not only on our Earth, but on the local people and wildlife.

What does this have to do with Ascended Presence?

As we head into the gift-giving season, I wanted to raise awareness around some of the ramifications of our purchases.

Since it may take a little more time to buy holiday gifts with intention, it’s helpful to start thinking about this sooner rather than later.

Speaking of Gold Mining…

For example, if you are going to buy jewelry this season for yourself or a special someone, could you find a jeweler who uses recycled or fair trade materials?

Could you support a local artisan rather than a big box store? Could you support a woman or minority-owned business?

A favorite artisanal jeweler is Santa Barbara’s Jules Kramer of Jules by the Sea. She offers jewelry repair services in addition to her original creations allowing people to repair their jewelry before buying new - similar to Patagonia's model. Jules also uses non-conflict diamonds, and her business is a 1% For The Planet member!

Another fave is Seattle’s Kim Caron Jewelry. Not only does Kim craft heirloom-quality pieces using primarily recycled metals and fair trade jewels, she creates in small quantities and/or custom pieces. This means she’s not using resources unnecessarily. Kim even donates 100% of proceeds from a darling heart pendant she created to support Seattle Children's Hospital.

Conscious-gifting Challenge

These are just two of countless consciously-driven small businesses we can seek out and support with our purchases.

This gift-giving season, can you make it a fun challenge to intentionally buy gifts from small, local, and women- and minority-owned businesses? Even if it takes more time and effort?

Then, could you take it to the next level and share those small businesses and their products and services with your social network to amplify your support?

You'll be delighted by how good it feels to not only support conscious business owners and their communities but our Earth, too!